Prologue: Goodbye Earth (Edited)

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Somewhere in The United Kingdom was a town called Romsey, in this town was a family of six. There were Diana and John the Parents, their oldest son Scott, their two daughters Rebecca and Kerry, and their youngest son Sam. Joe was the oldest at the age of 22, Rebecca and Kerry were born at the same time so they were both 16 and Sam was the youngest at the age of 10.

Diana and John met during their final year of college. It was love at first sight and they got married a few years later. On their honeymoon, they decided to do it and have kids. They loved their children very dearly and always spent time with them. Until Scott went off to university and Rebecca and Kerry off to college leaving them with Sam.

Then one day, when Sam was nine years old, John passed away after he had grown sick. Before he passed away he told his youngest son to fight on and be strong. After that, it was only Sam and Diana in their house.

Over the months, Sam promised to stay by his mother’s side until the day she would join John. Diana could only hug her son for that statement. However, that day would come sooner than they thought. Then one day, Diana read on the news that a new disease was spreading around the world turning people into animals, it was hard to believe but it was true. The news reporter even had fox ears to prove it.

Then one day when Sam was ten years old, it happened.

Sam came downstairs ready for breakfast. He greeted his mother in the kitchen who had placed a plate of pancakes on the table. Sam hugged his mother and sat at the table and started to eat the pancakes. As he ate, Diana suddenly felt dizzy, she went upstairs to the bathroom, and a few minutes later, screamed.

Sam jumped at her scream, he quickly finished his breakfast, and ran upstairs to check on his mother.

“Mum?!” he asked, only to go silent when Diana turned to look at him with a patch of grey fur on the top of her breasts. The transformation from human to animal happened over a week, and Sam and Diana dreaded the final day that Diana would be a donkey.

Monday, her ears started to become pointy as fur slowly grew over her body and the beginning of a tail started to grow. Tuesday, her ears had grown into donkey ears as her nose swollen and her tail grew longer. Wednesday, her hands became stiff and morph into hooves and her teeth became blockier. Thursday, fur had covered her body from her feet and face. Friday, Diana had grown, and she couldn’t get into any of her clothes, as her feet started to morph into hooves too. Saturday, Diana was almost a donkey, she still had her human head left. Sam had been comforting her the whole time she’s been changing, but he was the one who needed comfort too. It felt weird to be nuzzled by his mother, but she couldn’t hug him or anything otherwise she would.

Diana made Sam look into her eyes, “Sweetheart, no matter what happens to me, please do me a favour and don’t feel sad, be strong and I’ll always love you no matter what,” she said, as Sam broke down into tears and hugged his mother’s thick furry neck.

Sunday, the dreaded day had come. Sam didn’t sleep at all last night. He went downstairs and saw his mother standing in the middle of the living room. However, she had a donkey face, she had completely changed.

“Mum?” Sam asked to see if she was still herself, but Diana didn’t respond. She was no one, and in her place was a full-grown jenny.

Sam sighed, as tears leaked from his eyes, he then decided to let the jenny out. He made her follow him with some carrots and opened the front door. The Jenny wandered outside once he placed the carrots on the ground.

Sam just sat on his couch in the living room, thinking of what to do now. He had no phone to call his family, but he assumed that they were turned into animals as well. After sitting there for about thirty minutes, Sam made a decision.

He packed up his things in his backpack and headed out of town and into the forest that was near his hometown.

“I’ve seen Bear Grylls,” he said to his little chameleon plush, “even though it’s fake.” This was a thing Sam would often do, he would talk to himself out loud to make sure he wouldn't go insane. Sometimes he would have a plush toy with him, or he would talk to his imaginary friend, when his others weren’t around.

Sam soon entered the forest, as the time was nearly lunchtime by the time he had gotten into the forest, he found a tree to lay against and stopped to have a lunch break. Waking for so long made his feet hurt so after lunch, he had a little nap. By the time he woke up, he noticed that he had slept for a long time, as the sun was starting to set.

Sam assumed that it was maybe four or five o’clock, so he had to find somewhere to sleep for the night. After walking for about an hour or so, he found a cave.

“I hope it’s empty,” he remarked nervously. But he was wrong.

In the cave, snoring could be heard. Sam quietly crept in, he knew that this cave used to be empty, as he saw two bears sleeping, and there were no bears in this forest. Sam thought that the bears were a couple that were turned into bears. Judging by the bags, and torn up clothes, these two were college students recently turned into bears.

He noticed that the cave went onward, so he snuck around the bears as quietly as he could. Once getting past the bears, he breathed a silent sigh of relief. And then accidently kicked a rock. He heard movement from behind him, Sam slowly looked behind himself as saw the two bears slowly move to face him.

Sam sighed, “Son of a…”

The bears growl as Sam makes a run for it, running deeper into the cave. Sam wasn’t a good runner and the bears caught up with him. But like a dog in water, if Sam saw something he would keep running. And something he did see, the cave seemed to get lighter.

Soon Sam came to an opening, where light came from a hole in the ceiling, and there was a giant pool of water. He came to the edge of the pool and looked into the water. Then heard the bears from behind him, he wanted to run, but the bears blocked him.

Sam felt scared, as the bears came closer. One stood up on its back paws, this caused Sam to walk back and fall into the pool. Now Sam wasn’t the best swimmer but had a rucksack that was clipped to him, dragging him down to the seemingly bottomless lake. Sam was running out of oxygen, as he tried to unclip himself. But he couldn’t. His vision started to fade as he struggled to hold his breath any longer. But just as he was about to drown, he floated down into a giant hand. Sam gave a look up before everything turned to black.

Sam suddenly gasped for air, breathing heavily as he spat out water that had entered his lungs. He then looked around, he saw that he was in the opening, but it looked different. For one thing, the pool was bluer, and there was greenery around the pool. Sam was a little confused.

“What happened?” he asked himself.

“I saved you,” said a voice, Sam jumped as he wasn’t expecting a reply.

Sam looked around but he couldn’t see who the voice belonged to. “Is anyone there?” Sam asked. Then suddenly, a holographic projection appeared in front of Sam. The hologram showed a figure that was silver and red, and looked a little like Iron man.

“I am a technorganic being known as Ultraman,” he said, “I come from a far away planet that has higher technology than you earthlings, and we used our technology to upgrade us to robotic forms possessed by the light from our Plasma Spark. And I was the one that saved you before you drowned.”

Sam was taken aback, “Urm… thanks,” was all he could say.

“But unfortunately, I wasn’t able to save you fully,” Ultraman said, “so I have given you my light to live once more.”

“Say what now?” Sam said as he then followed where the projection was coming from, he looked down at his chest, and pulled down his shirt to see a light on his chest. “Ok, now I’m Iron man.”

“Because I have given you my light, you can dawn my suit,” Ultraman said as the holographic projection faded. All of a sudden, Sam felt his body get covered by the suit. “You can call upon the Ultrasuit by said ‘Ultrasuit on’.”

Sam was so shocked he didn’t what to do, so he called out, “Ultrasuit off,” and the suit retracted into the colour timer on his chest.

“As I have mentally bonded to you, you can hear me in your head,” Ultraman said.

“Now, I need to know where I am,” Sam said out loud. He saw an exit, grabbed his things, and made his way out. He walked through a tunnel until he came out into a forest under the light of the moon. “Wow,” Sam said, as he made his way through the forest and came to a little cottage on the outside of the forest, the cottage led all the way to a small town. Sam walked up the path to the little cottage and saw that the lights were still on. He was about to knock when his hand stopped just before hitting the door.

“Why did you halt?” Ultraman asked.

“I have Asperger’s,” Sam replied, and he told him what he can’t and can do, “I can’t ask for help or anything like that.”

“Well, I won’t press you on to do something you don’t want to do,” Ultraman said, “so I won’t bother you.”

Sam then decided to sleep on the doorstep that night, and hopefully inside would see him in the morning. Before Sam closed his eyes to sleep, he looked to the sky. “Goodnight mum,” he said as a tear fell from his eye. Just as he closed his eyes and went to sleep, the door opened, and a calm soothing voice spoke.

“What is this at my door? Oh the poor thing must be cold.” Then the one to voice belonged to picked up Sam and took him inside.

Chapter 1: Meeting the Elements, Start with Kindness, end with Laughter (Edited)

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In the cottage above the small town, lived a yellow pegasus, named Fluttershy. Fluttershy had cream fur, light pink mane, and tails, three butterflies on each side of her rump, and tear eyes. She had just put all her animal friends asleep and was happy that her animals were sound asleep and having sweet dreams. She was about to turn in for the night, when she heard a thud on her door.

“I wonder who that can be at this time of night,” she said to herself as she opened the door, “Hello?” she asked, no one was there.

She looked around, thinking it might have been a bat hitting her door. She shrugged and was about to shut the door, until she looked down to see Sam curled up on her doorstep.

“What is this at my door? Oh the poor thing must be cold.” Then she picked up Sam and took him inside. Fluttershy flew over to her couch and lay Sam down gently on it. She then felt his skin, and it felt cold.

“Poor little creature,” she remarked as she made a hot water bottle and put it on his head, “how did you get here? I’ve never seen a creature like you before.”

Fluttershy continued to watch him for as long as she could, she shortly realised the time. “Oh my, it’s getting rather late,” she said. She was about to trot to her room, but then thought about Sam. “If he wakes up and I’m not there to greet him, he might get confused and scared,” she thought, “I’ll take him with me to bed, my fur and body warmth might help him in warming up.”

She picked him up and wrapped him in her wings, as she walked to her room. She carefully placed him on her bed, took his glasses off and placed them on the side table, then climbed in on the other side. She pulled the covers up and wrapped him in a hug. She kissed his forehead and whispered, “Goodnight little one.”

Sam, who had heard Fluttershy say goodnight, thought it was his mother, and replied, “Goodnight mum.” Fluttershy was shocked by this but then just smiled as she snuggled him closer.

Sam found himself in a dark landscape that seemed to go on forever. He felt a little uneasy, then he saw his mother, just standing there. He ran to her.

“Mum!” She said as he cried into her chest, “I thought I’d lost you.” Sam waited for her to wrap her arms around him and hug him.

But Diana didn’t move. She didn’t say anything. Sam looked up to her face, as was horrified that her left half of her face was black with a red eye, and her ‘corrupted’ side of her mouth was also red and dripping blood from it.

Sam backed up slowly, but Diana grabbed him and held him still, as her left arm turned black and corrupted as her nails turned neo red and sharpened into claws. “What’s wrong Honey?” she said, her voice was a mixture of her own and a twisted and deepened version of her voice.

Tears streamed down Sam’s face, he was too scared. Then a three-clawed hand shot out her stomach and grabbed his face.

The night morning, Sam awoke screaming and painting. He looked around, due to not wearing his glasses, he couldn’t see very well, but he thought he was back in his bedroom as he got his breath under control, he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was all a dream. He managed to see his classes, he put them on, but then his smile faded as he now saw that the room wasn’t his.

Fluttershy had woken up before him and was downstairs making breakfast from her animal friends. Once she was done, she smiled, “I wonder if that little one is awake yet?” she said to herself, when she heard a scream come from her room, she started to make her way up the stairs to check on Sam.

Sam heard someone coming upstairs and began to panic, in reflex, he dove up the covers and didn’t dare make a sound. Fluttershy saw that Sam was under the covers, she slowly removed them, and Sam, didn’t know what to do, just froze. Fluttershy looked at Sam and saw that he froze, she felt worried that she might have scared him, or worse. She nuzzled him gently, her fur on her muzzle felt really soft on Sam’s cheek and he relaxed and giggled a bit as it tickled him.

Fluttershy started to smile upon seeing Sam happy. “Are you ok, little one?” She asked.

Sam was a little taken aback, not excepting her to speak, “Y-Yes miss,” Sam spoke up politely.

“What nice manners,” Fluttershy responded, “But there’s no need to be formal little one. My name is Fluttershy.”

“M-my name is Sam,” He replied.

“Aww, what a cute name,” Fluttershy said, making Sam blush, “Are you hungry Sam?”

“I am a little,” Sam replied, rubbing his stomach.

“Come on then,” Fluttershy said as she allowed Sam to get on her back. Sam climbed on and she took him downstairs. Sam was surprised by all the animals. Fluttershy took Sam into the kitchen and placed him on a stool, while she went to fix him something to eat. She prepared a bowl of porridge for Sam and added some fruit to make it taste sweeter.

“Enjoy, Little One,” she said as she placed the bowl in front of Sam. Now Sam wasn’t a big fan of porridge, but he hated to say no to something that took time to make.

Sam picked up a spoon and took a bite of the porridge. His eyes shot open, “AHHH! This is the best porridge I’ve ever eaten,” Sam squealed. It took another bite, it seemed to taste sweeter than the last bite. Fluttershy was glad he liked it. Soon Sam finished his breakfast, letting off a little burp which seemed to warm Fluttershy’s heart even more.

“Thank you Fluttershy,” Sam said as he licked his lips.

“You're very welcome Sam,” she replied with a smile, before having a question on her mind, “Sam, if I may ask, can you tell me where you came from?”

The moment she asked the question, Sam went quiet, his smile fell, he was happy anymore, he was sad. Fluttershy grew concerned, “Sam? What’s wrong?”

“I have no more home?” Sam said softly, as tears started to leak from his eyes.

Fluttershy was a little confused by that, “what do you mean, ‘you have no more home’?” she asked.

“I-I came from another world, and everyone in that world were turned into common animals, including my mother,” Sam whimpered as he started to cry. Fluttershy’s mother instincts kicked in, as she rushed to Sam’s side and gave him a hug.

“Oh you poor, poor little dear,” Fluttershy comforted him, she rubbed his side and kissed his forehead. Sam embraced the hug, and returned him, rubbing his face into her soft fur. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

Sam calmed down enough to thank Fluttershy for comforting him. Fluttershy rubbed his remaining tears away. “Sam, I have a friend coming over shortly that I would like to help you.”

“W-Who?” Sam asked in a groggy voice from his crying.

“Her name is Twilight Sparkle,” Fluttershy said, as if it was planned, a knock came from the door, “and that should be her.”

“Wow, talk about timing,” Sam said. Fluttershy went to answer the door. When she opened it, she was greeted by Twilight Sparkle. She was a lavender unicorn, with pink eyes, purple tail and mane with pink streaks running through and a six-pointed star with five smaller stars surrounding it on her rump.

“Good morning Fluttershy,” she greeted her yellow friend.

“Good Morning Twilight,” Fluttershy returned, “here to pick up Owlowiscious’ food?”

“Yes,” Twilight replied.

“Ok, come on in,” Fluttershy said, “I have someone I want you to meet.”

“Oh? Who’s that?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy brought Twilight in and showed her Sam, who stood in the middle of the room. “Twilight, I like you to meet, Sam,” Fluttershy said as Sam gave a little wave.

“Oh my,” Twilight said shocked at Sam, “Fluttershy, do you know what that is?”

“No?” Fluttershy replies slowly before Twilight quickly answers, “this is a human, I thought they all went extinct after Nightmare Moon was defeated and was trapped in the moon.”

“I do have a name you know,” Sam spoke bluntly.

“Sorry, I was geeking out again,” Twilight said before calming down, “I’m Twilight Sparkle, nice to meet you Sam.” She stretched her hoof for a shake. Sam reached out his arm and grabbed her hoof and shook it.

“Sam, if you don’t mind me asking, I was told that all humans in Equestria went extinct, so where did you come from?” Twilight asked.

Sam’s face dropped again, his colour seemed to drain from his face. “Twilight,” Fluttershy said, “Sam came from another world, and that all the human’s were turned to animals, including his mother.”

“Sweet Celestia,” Twilight remarked, shocked, feeling sorry for asking the question. Twilight walked up to Sam and embraced him, “I’m sorry for asking you.”

“It’s-it’s ok, you didn’t know,” Sam responded.

“Say, how would you like to meet my other friends?” Twilight asked.

“Are they nice like you and Fluttershy?” Sam asked back.

“Yes, very nice and friendly,” Twilight giggled at his question. Using her magic, she levitated Sam onto her back, as well as the bird food for her pet. “Goodbye Fluttershy,” Twilight called as she waved to her friend.

“Bye Twilight,” Fluttershy waved back, “bye Sam.”

“Bye-Bye Fluttershy,” Sam replied as he waved bye to Fluttershy.

Twilight closed the door as she, with Sam on her back, walked down to the little town.

“Who are we going to meet first, Twilight,” Sam asked.

“Well one of them is coming up right now,” Twilight said. Sam looked up to see a bright pink pony, with light blue eyes, brighter pink puffy mane, and tail, with three balloons on her rump.

“Heya Twi,” the pony greeted happily.

“Hello Pinkie Pie,” Twilight replied, Pinkie then noticed Sam’s leg on Twilight's back.

“Hey Twilight? What’s that on your back?” she asked.

“Pinkie, I'd like you to meet Sam,” Twilight said. Sam waved to Pinkie, excepting a wave back. But Pinkie didn’t wave. Her eyes shrank, she did a massive gasp as she jumped in the air and ran away.

“Was it something I said?” Sam asked, thinking he did something wrong.

“No, don’t worry,” Twilight assured him, “That was Pinkie being Pinkie.”

Twilight continued to walk into town, Sam looked around, ponies looked at him, Sam felt uneasy. Twilight looked around too, ponies seemed to look away when she looked at them. Twilight then felt the wing suddenly push from behind her, she looked up and saw one of her friends. “HEY RAINBOW!” she called out. Rainbow heard her and looked down.

“HEY TWILIGHT!” she called back as she flew down. But she came down too fast and couldn’t stop herself. Twilight threw Sam off her back just as Rainbow crashed into Twilight.

Sam landed in a barrel of apples, so he had a sort of soft landing. But his feet were sticking out. “Help!” he called out. He then felt something slowly pull him out, it was a magic aura, but it felt different to Twilight’s. He was placed back on the ground, in front of a white unicorn with a gorgeous purple styled mane and tail, blue eyes and three diamonds on her rump. Standing next to her was an orange pony with freckles, green eyes, blonde mane, and tail, three apples on her rump, and a Stetson hat. Standing next to her, was a little olive pony, with a red mane, and tail, and a big pink bow.

“You ok little fella?” the orange pony asked, “that was a nasty throw Twilight did.

“Don’t blame me,” Twilight said as she and Rainbow walked to them, “Rainbow was the one that crashed into me.”

“I said I was sorry,” Rainbow replied, “anyway, I was distracted by this little thing here.”

“Rainbow Dash, don’t insult the poor darling,” the white unicorn said, “Sorry darling about Rainbow, she can be a bit hard-headed sometimes.”

“Hey!” Rainbow yelled, “anyway, Rainbow Dash’s the name.”

“I’m Applejack,” the orange pony said.

“I’m Apple Bloom,” the little pony spoke up.

“And I’m Rarity,” the white unicorn responded, “what’s your name darling?”

“I’m Sam,” Sam replied.

“Where did you come from, little guy?” Rainbow asked. Once again, Sam’s face dropped as tears slowly leaked out his eyes.

“Rainbow! Look what you have done!” Rarity shouted as she wrapped Sam in a hug, “you’ve upset the poor darling.”

“Girls, Sam is from a different universe, where all the humans in his world were turned into animals, including his mother,” Twilight told them. They all gasped and Apple Bloom went to hug Sam, she was roughly the same height as him.

“Twilight? Is it ok if I take Sam to meet my friends?” Apple Bloom asked.

Twilight thought about it, then replied, “that’s fine with me.”

Apple Bloom was happy, “Come on Sam,” she said, Sam, who had stopped crying, followed her.

Once they were out of earshot and sight, Applejack asked, “was that a good idea Twilight?”

“Yeah, it gives us time to get ready for his surprise party, Pinkie's planning.”

Sam followed Apple Bloom around the town, and to a tree house on a farm that Apple Bloom explained that was her home, called Sweet Apple Acres.

“Welcome to the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse Sam!” Apple Bloom declared.

“Not bad,” Sam remarked looking around, “so what do you do here?”

“Me and my friends look for ways to get our Cutie Marks,” she explained.

“What’s a Cutie Mark?” Sam asked.

“It’s these marks that we get on our flanks,” Apple Bloom told him.

“Like what Twilight and Fluttershy have?” Sam asked again.

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom answered, “we could help you find one!”

“I don’t think human’s have cutie marks,” Sam said before walking over to a board with drawings of ponies on it, “who are they?”

“Those are me and my friends,” Apple Bloom answered, “the white one is Sweetie Belle and the orange one is Scootaloo.” Before Apple Bloom could say anything else to reply, she heard voices. “Hey, my friends are here!” she said happily.

“What is up with the time,” Sam said to no one in particular.

Apple Bloom opened the door to greet her friends. Sam saw a white filly unicorn with a pink and purple mane and tail, and green eyes, and an orange filly pegasus with a purple mane and tail and purple eyes. Like Apple Bloom, neither of them had cutie marks.

“Hey Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle greeted, giving her friend a hug.

“We got lunch,” Scootaloo said, holding three pizza boxes, then she noticed Sam standing nervously, “Oh, we have company.”

“Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, this my new friend, Sam,” Apple Bloom introduced Sam. Sam was too nervous to do anything, so he just waved and gave a small smile.

“Oh my Celestia! He’s so cute!” Sweetie Belle squealed as she ran up and gave Sam a hug. Sam felt his muscle get squeezed and struggled to breathe and he then heard his Colour Timer flashing.

“Sweetie you don’t want to strangle our new friend to death,” Scootaloo jokes, “he’s already turning blue in the face.

“Oops,” Sweetie Belle said as she let go of Sam, “sorry.” Sam gasped for air as his Colour Timer stopped flashing.

“Hey bud, don’t worry about Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo walked up to him and patted his back, “she had a strong grip when it comes to hugs, but she’s really nice. Are you good?”

“Yep,” Sam panted, getting his breath back, “I’m good.” Then his nose caught the smell of the pizzas. “Is that pizza?”

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle replied, “we had two plain cheese pizzas and one pineapple and ham.”

Sam perked up when he heard ham and pineapple, “did you say pineapple and ham?”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said, “that’s mine but you can share with me if you would like.” Sam nodded.

While the four had lunch, the girls told Sam about themselves. How they met and what adventures and trouble they would get themselves into. Sam laughed how they made Apple Bloom’s older brother and their teacher fall in love with each other. Sam then told them about him and his life back on earth and how he ended up in Equestria. And how he lost his mother. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo felt sorry for Sam and gave him a softer hug.

After that, the girls decided to show Sam around the town. Apple Bloom showed him her home Sweet Apple Acres, Sweetie Belle showed him her home the Carousel Boutique and Scootaloo showed him their school house. Sam was really impressed. The four were just walking through town, when Sam had the feeling of being watched and followed. He turned around and saw too many earth pony fillies following them.

One was pink with a violet mane and tail with white streaks, blue eyes, and a tiara as her cutie mark, as well as one on her head. The second was grey, was a lighter grey mane and tail, violet eyes, pearl opal glasses and necklace, and a spoon for a cutie mark. Sam turned back around as asked Apple Bloom.

“Apple Bloom, who are those two following us?” he asked.

Apple Bloom turned around as saw the two fillies and sighed. “What do you two want now?” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo turned around and saw them too and sighed as well.

“We want nothing to do with you blank flanks,” the pink one said, “we’re more interested in your new pet.”

‘Ouch that hurt,’ Sam thought.

“He is not a pet, he’s a human and our friend,” Sweetie Belle stood up for Sam.

“Really, he looks like a hairless ape,” the grey one responded.

“Who are these two?” Sam asked quietly to Sweetie Belle who was standing close to him to get him safe.

“Those are the school bullies, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon,” Sweetie Belle told him.

“Oh, so the snubby rich kids who think they're better than everyone, but probably have a hard time at home so they make themselves seem tough by bullying others,” Sam said.

“How do you know that?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Hey, I was bullied before, so I know how it feels,” Sam replied, “how did these two get their cutie marks, Diamond being ‘daddy’s little princess’ and Silver collecting a lot of spoons.”

Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara growled, “Watch what you said ape,” Diamond snarled at him.

“Or what, I’ve been called worse by a parrot,” Sam retorted, “what makes you think you can scare me?”

“This,” before anyone could say anything, Diamond jumped and punched Sam in the face. This caused Sam to fall to the ground, luckily his glasses didn’t crack or break, but his nose was bleeding. “Could a parrot punch you in the face?” Diamond said with an evil grin on her face.

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo went to his aid. “What was that for?!” shouted Apple Bloom.

“What, he asked for it,” Diamond said as she came closer and got in Sam’s face, “now you listen here, if you get in my way again, I do something much worse.”

Sam gulped as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walked away chuckling to themselves, though Silver Spoon seemed quieter than usual. When the two were far enough, they helped Sam up and helped him clean up. Soon his nose stopped bleeding.

“Are you ok Sam?” Apple Bloom said, worried.

“Yeah, I’m ok now,” he said, rubbing his face.

“Are you sure?” Sweetie Belle asked, “she hit you pretty hard.”

“Yeah, I’ve been through worse pain,” Sam told them.

“What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked.

Sam knew that he would have to tell them. “Like I said, I was bullied, but when my old bullies hurt me, the damage was more… permanent,” Sam then lifted his t-shirt and the girls gasped in horror. Under Sam’s shirt, his body was marked with scars, on his torso, back and shoulders. “Each mark is every time they bullied me and lost the fight.” A tear sneaked out from his eyes.

The girls felt even more sorry for him and hugged him again. Scootaloo then noticed the sun was going down, “looks like we need to get back home, it’s getting late.”

“Do you have a place to stay Sam?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I think Twilight's going to look after me,” Sam replied, “do you know where she lives?”

“I’ll show you,” Sweetie said, “I need to walk to Twilight’s to get home.”

“Ok,” Apple Bloom said before she and Scootaloo gave Sam one more hug. “Bye Sam.”

“See ya Bud,” Scootaloo said as the two walked their ways home. Sam and Sweetie walked their way to Twilight’s house.

Soon Sam and Sweetie Belle came to a big tree that was hollowed out into a library, all the lights were off inside so Sam couldn’t see inside. “Thanks for taking me to Twilight’s Sweetie Belle,” Sam responded.

“That’s ok,” Sweetie replied, “I’m just glad you're ok, from that punch from Diamond.”

“Well I guess I will see you tomorrow,” Sam said as he stood on the doorstep.

“Not guess, you will see me tomorrow,” Sweetie said, “we need to make you a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” Before leaving, she gave Sam a nuzzle on the cheek, and waved goodbye.

Sam turned around and let himself in. After today he was a little more confident and went inside, but it was so dark, he couldn’t see a thing.

“Twilight, are you here?” he called out, no response came back, “where’s that light switch?” Just as he said that, the lights came on and Sam was greeted by a lot of ponies looking at him with happy faces.

“Surprise!” they all shouted, this scared Sam so much he actually screamed in fright, then he started to laugh.

“Wow, holy cow, who planned this?” Sam asked, chuckling still.

“I DID!” cried a familiar voice, Sam looked forward as saw Pinkie hopping up to him with the rest of her friends. “Hi, we didn’t meet properly, I’m Pinkie Pie,” she said, "Element of Laughter and Ponyville's best and only Party Planner."

“Hi, I’m Sam,” he said but then Pinkie grabbed him and gave him a massive hug, surprisingly she wasn’t crushing him like Sweetie Belle did. Probably because she was softer and fluffier.

“Pinkie,” Twilight said with a defeated smile, “you trying to suffocate him in your mane.”

Pinkie let go of Sam and apologised for that. “Hope you enjoy your party,” she said.

“What’s the party for,” Sam asked, “my birthday isn’t until September.”

“It’s your ‘welcome to Ponyville party’,” Pinkie exclaimed, before hopping for some food.

“It’s a Pinkie thing,” Twilight assured Sam.

“Couple of months ago she celebrated my half birthday,” Rainbow said.

“And before that she wanted to celebrate Gummy’s after birthday party,” Rarity said, “but we had plans for her birthday party.”

They all laughed, “You go and have some fun Sugarcube,” Applejack told him. Sam then went off.

Sam really enjoyed his party, he met a lot of ponies, like Lyra and Bon-Bon, Lyra was really happy to see Sam and Bon-Bon explained that Lyra had an obsession with hands and humans. Then he met a wall-eyed pony named Derpy, and the pony who was applying the music for the party, Vinyl Scratch, or her DJ name DJ Pon3. Sam was taking a little snack break when he felt a hoof tap his shoulder. He turned around too looked at the pony who had tapped his shoulder. She was dark grey, with a black mane and tail, she had a pink bowtie and a cutie mark of a pink musical note.

“Hello, dear,” she introduced herself while clearing her throat, “I’m Octavia Melody.”

“I’m Sam, nice to meet you,” he said, holding out his hand.

“It’s very nice to meet you too,” Octavia replied.

“If I may ask,” Sam said, “what do you do here in Ponyville?”

“I run a music shop here in Ponyville with my housemate, Vinyl Scratch,” Octavia stated, “she is the pony over there creating the music.”

“Yeah I met her earlier,” Sam responded.

“I’m just curious,” Octavia said, “but do you play any instruments?”

“Well, I don’t mean to brag but,” he chuckled to himself, “I can play Keyboard, Saxophone, Key-tar, Drums, but my favourites are electric and normal guitar.”

“Oh wow,” Octavia was a little surprised that a 10-year-old could be that talented.

“But I didn’t bring any of them with me,” Sam said, looking at the floor.

“Aww, don’t be sad dear,” Octavia said, “tell you what, when you come by my music shop, I’ll give you your own guitar, keyboard, etc. in the house.”

“Really?” Sam asked, receiving a nod from Octavia, “oh thank you, Miss. Octavia.” Hugging her leg.

“You're very welcome,” she replied, “And please, there is no need to be formal, just Octavia is fine.”

“Ok, Octavia,” Sam said, as Octavia broke the hug.

“Well, enjoy your party,” she said, “and I’ll see you whenever you come over.” As she starts walking off.

“Ok, bye,” Sam waved.

“Goodbye dear,” Octavia replied.

Sam heard his stomach growl, “Ok, ok settle down,” he said as ate a chocolate cupcake.

Later Sam was drinking some Lemonade when he heard a cloak chime, it was 10 o’clock. Ponies said goodbye to Sam and started to leave. The Elements bid farewell to Sam and gave him hugs and kisses on the cheeks. Soon the only ones left were Sam and Twilight.

“Fluttershy has asked me if I would like to take you and drop off your stuff,” Twilight told him, “and I agreed, so come on, time for bed, I bet you’re really tired.”

Sam nodded and yawned as he hugged her leg. “Thank you for taking me in,” Sam muttered loud enough for Twilight to hear. Twilight smiled and patted his head.

“I got Spike to clean this up in the morning,” Twilight said, “we have a busy day tomorrow.”

“Who’s Spike?” Sam asked.

“He’s my baby dragon assistant,” Twilight replied, “he’s probably asleep now.”

As Twilight and Sam went upstairs to the bedroom, Sam had a question in mind, “Twilight? When Pinkie greeted me, she said she was the 'Element of Laughter', what does that mean?”

“She along with the rest of us, are know as the Elements of Harmony and we represent each element,” Twilight answered, “Fluttershy is the element of Kindness, Rainbow is loyalty, Rarity is Generosity, Applejack is Honesty, Pinkie is Laughter, and I’m Magic.”

“Oh ok,” Sam responded, “So are you like the leader?”

“I guess I am,” Twilight replied, “but there are still six elements left, Justice, Empathy, Forgiveness, Dependability, Leadership, and Encouragement.”

They soon came into the bedroom, there was a giant window near the bed and a little basket with a sleeping baby dragon in it. Sam went to the bathroom and got ready for bed. When he came back Twilight was in her bed all ready. Sam came closer and Twilight opened the covers to allow him to sleep with her. Sam climbed in and smiled at Twilight.

“Goodnight Sam,” Twilight said as she kissed his forehead.

“Goodnight Twilight,” Sam replied and he snuggled closer.

Sam felt that he would get a goodnight sleep, with someone as kind and caring as Twilight sleeping with him.

Chapter 2: An encounter with the Princesses (Edited)

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Sam woke up to the sound and smell of breakfast being made. He noticed that he was still wrapped in Twilight’s arms. He gently wormed out and got changed. He then went downstairs to see who was cooking Breakfast. He saw that Spike was cooking what looked like pancakes, Sam thought it would be best to introduce himself properly.

“Good Morning,” he greeted, Spike turned around and saw Sam, he hopped off his stool, and went to greet him.

“Good morning, you must be Sam,” Spike replied, shaking his hand, “I’m Spike.”

“Yes, I’m Sam, but how did you know,” Sam asked.

“I helped Pinkie with her party for you, and when Twilight came back she told me about you,” Spike replied.

“How much has she told you?” Sam asked, a bit worried.

“Everything,” Spike replied, “but don’t worry, If you ever get upset about something in your past again, just talk to me ok buddy?”

“Ok, thanks Spike,” Sam said with a smile and a tear falling out as he hugged Spike.

“Are you hungry?” Spike asked, as Sam’s stomach rumbled, “take that as a yes.”

Sam gave a small chuckle, as he took a seat at the table. Soon Spike laid three plates, and a giant stack of pancakes in the middle. Spike then went to go wake Twilight up.

“Help yourself,” Spike said as he went to get Twilight. Sam counted how many pancakes there were. There were 15 pancakes so that meant 5 pancakes each. Sam took his 5 pancakes and put them on his plate. As he took a bite of the top pancake, no words could describe how much he loved it.

Twilight and Spike returned, Twilight smiled upon seeing Sam’s happy face eating his pancakes.

“Good Morning Sam,” Twilight greeted Sam.

Sam looked up from his breakfast, swallowed and smiled back at Twilight, “Morning Twilight,” he said as she shoved another pancake into his mouth.

“I guess you like Spike’s cooking?” she giggled, Sam nodded, “Well save some for us!”

She and Spike hopped up at the table and ate their pancakes. Soon all the pancakes were eaten, Sam then burped. “Pardon me,” he remarked slightly blushed.

Then Twilight let off a small burp, “excuse me,” she replied.

Then Spike let off a louder burp, he also burped fire, “pardon me,” he said, as the green flames turned into a scroll. He picked it up, “Oh a message from the Princess.”

The message said:

Dear Twilight,

Last night, Luna told me before I went to sleep that she felt a new presence entering Equestria a couple of nights ago. She would have told me early, but she was tired, and I was busy. I would like you to investigate this with your friends, and report back to me.

Kind Regards,

Princess Celestia.

“Oh I guess she means Sam,” Spike said as he rolled up the scroll.

“Yeah, Princess Luna must have sensed him coming into this world,” Twilight remarked.

“Who’s the Princesses?” Sam asked.

“They’re the rulers of all Equestria,” Twilight told him, “They have very important jobs, Princess Celestia raises and lowers the sun, and looks over Equestria, Princess Luna raises and lowers the moon, and looks over ponies in their sleep.”

“That sounds very creepy,” Sam responded.

“I don’t mean it like that,” Twilight assured him, “She goes to the realm of dreams and watches over ponies in their dreams and stops nightmares from corrupting the ponies.”

‘If she’s meant to stop nightmares, why didn’t she appear to stop my nightmare when I first arrived?’ Sam thought to himself, before responding to Twilight, “Oh ok that makes… some sense.”

“I think you should meet the Princesses,” Twilight said.

“She did say ‘report back to her when you find Sam’,” Spike said.

“Yeah,” Twilight remarked, “well it’s settled, we’re going to meet the Princesses!”

“Oh, joy,” Sam said, feeling nervous while putting on a fake smile.

Later, Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy had met Twilight and Sam at the train station ready to go to Canterlot to meet the Princesses.

“Ooh! I’m so nervicited!” exclaimed Pinkie, bouncing up and down.

“You’re what?” asked Rainbow.

“Nervicited,” Pinkie replied, “I’m nervous that the Princesses may not like Sam and I’m excited that Sam is meeting the Princesses.”

“Riiiiight,” Rainbow said as she turned back around.

“Do you think Princess Celestia and Luna will welcome Sam into Equestria?” Fluttershy asked softly.

“Of course they will darling,” Rarity assured her, “I don’t see why they won’t.”

“He’s kind, sweet and a great kid,” Applejack responded. Sam overheard what Applejack said and blushed a bit. Though he was dreadfully nervous. Twilight saw that he was nervous and nuzzled his cheek to calm him down.

“Don’t worry, the Princesses will love you,” Twilight assured him. Sam smiled as he heard the train coming.

The train stopped at the platform and the doors of the coaches opened. Out stepped the Conducer. “This stop is Ponyville, next stop, Canterlot!” he called out.

The Girls showed him their tickets and Twilight showed him hers and Sam’s tickets. He nodded and Twilight got on with Sam holding her tail and following her. They found their seats and the train started to move. As Sam wasn’t so big, he sat in between Twilight and Fluttershy, with Applejack and Rarity sitting across and Rainbow and Pinkie sitting behind him.

“It’s going to be a long ride,” Twilight told Sam.

“Ok,” he replied, he felt his eyes getting heavy, he yawned and laid on Twilight’s side.

“Aww,” Rarity said, “someone’s tired.”

Twilight looked down at Sam and nuzzled him while smiling. “I wonder what he’s dreaming,” she commented.

“Probably some nice,” said Fluttershy.

But it wasn’t.

All around Sam was darkness, he couldn’t see anything. He walked around calling out his friends' names.

“Hello!” Sam called out, “Twilight! Fluttershy! Rainbow!”

“No one can hear you,” said a spine-chilling voice, from behind him.

Sam turned around and looked up at the scariest monster he had ever seen. The Monster's right side of his head and neck were cyan, while his head is split in two, with the left half being corrupted. His body is navy blue with neon blue stripes around the arms, while his fingers and toes glow neon pink. The left half of his body is also corrupted, resulting in exposed ribs, and the back of his leg bone being exposed.

Sam backed up in fear. He wanted to scream.

“Go ahead and scream,” the monster said, “no one is going to hear you as I said.”

“What do you want with me?” Sam said as he backed up more.

“Calm down…” the monster said slowly, “there's nothing to worry about little child...”

“I don’t trust you,” Sam said as the monster walked closer, “shouldn’t Princess Luna be here to fight you off.”

“Because you're not of Equestria origin, you’re not connected to this world,” he replied, “as long as I’m here in the back of your mind, Princess Luna cannot enter your dreams. Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!”

“Please stay back,” Sam cried out as the monster went for him, “NO!!!!”

“Sam wake up!!!!” Twilight shouted, shaking Sam awake. Sam’s eyes shot wide open with tears streaming down his face. He looked around and saw he was still on the train, with Twilight and the rest looking at him with worry and concern.

“Are you ok little bud?” Rainbow asked. Sam immediately wrapped his arms around Twilight’s neck and started to cry. Twilight placed a hoof around his back and tried to calm him down.

“Did you have a bad dream?” Twilight asked. Sam only nodded in reply, “Can you tell us what happens when you’re ready.”

Sam calmed down and told them about the monster as well as his nightmare when he first came to Equestria. The ponies felt very sorry for Sam and comforted him the rest of the way to Canterlot.

After Sam had calmed down, the train soon arrived in Canterlot, the girls got off with Sam holding Twilight’s tail. They soon enter the streets of Canterlot and already, Sam felt nervous. He looked around at all the ponies, they looked really posh and stuck-up. Back on earth he had heard that rich, posh, and stuck-up people didn’t care for those lower than themselves. He stayed close to Twilight. Rarity noticed that Sam was feeling nervous around these posh ponies.

“Sam darling,” she said, Sam looked over to her, “not all of these ponies are snobby and stuck-up.”

“Really?” he asked.

“Oh yes, there are two friends of mine that live here,” Rarity replied, “and they’re really not like these higher ups. Hopefully you get to meet them soon.”

After walking for a bit, they reached the castle, Sam was amazed by it. All the castles he had seen were old and in ruins, but this was beautiful. They came to the entrance where some guards were standing in front of the door.

“Good day, Miss Sparkle,” one of them said.

“Good morning,” Twilight replied, “we have a meeting with the Princesses.”

“Of course go right on in,” the second said. Twilight and the rest thanked them as they walked in, Sam tried to stay hidden within the group.

After walking through the halls, they soon came to the throne room. Sam grew even more nervous. There were guards at the throne room doors as well.

“We have a meeting with the Princesses,” Twilight told the guards.

“Of course wait here,” one of the guards said as he went into the throne to tell the Princesses. A few minutes later, he came back, “Ok you can go in.”

He opened the door and Twilight and the rest walked in. The door closed behind them as Sam looked from behind Twilight and saw two tail ponies with horns and wings. The taller one had white fur with a light pink tone to it with a multi coloured mane and tail, a sun for a cutie mark and purple eyes. The second was slightly smaller, with dark blue fur, and midnight blue mane and tail, a crescent moon for a cutie mark and blue eyes. Also, their manes and tail were flowing like they were getting blown in an invisible breeze. The taller one smiled as the ponies came closer.

“Good morning, Princesses,” Twilight said to them.

“Good morning Twilight and everyone,” Celestia spoke back, her voice soothing, “did you find the new presence that had entered Equestria?”

“More like he found us,” Rainbow commented.

“What do you mean by ‘he’, Miss Rainbow,” Luna asked.

“Well basically, he told us he came from another world called earth, and when he arrived he ended up in the Everfree Forest,” Fluttershy said, “and I found him on my doorstep, he looked so cold and sad, I couldn’t leave him outside in the cold.”

“And out of the kindness in your heart Fluttershy, you took him in,” Celestia said.

“Where is this ‘he’ we are speaking of,” Luna asked. Everyone made room for Sam to come out, but he stayed behind Twilight. Twilight nuzzled his cheek.

“Don’t worry, the Princesses are really kind, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” she said softly.

“Ok,” Sam replied as he came out from behind Twilight. He spoke in front of the girls. Celestia and Luna were amazed.

“He’s a child,” Luna whispered to her sister.

“Yes,” Celestia whispered back.

“Hello, your highnesses,” Sam exclaimed with a nervous tone as he bowed to them.

Celestia and Luna got up from their thrones and walked down to Sam. Celestia placed a golden slipper hoof on his shoulder. Sam looked up into Celestia’s beautiful eyes.

“There’s no need to be so formal around us little one,” Celestia spoke softly, “you may raise.”

Sam nodded and stood up, as he did, he could smell the sweet aroma of cake coming from Celestia. Celestia and Luna smiled upon Sam.

“What is your name, little one?” Luna asked kindly.

“Sam,” he told them, “It’s Sam.”

“Well Sam, can you tell us how you got here?” Celestia asked.

Upon her saying that, Sam’s mood soon dropped. His smile fell into a frown as he looked down in sadness. Celestia and Luna grew concerned.

“What’s wrong sweetie?” Celestia asked.

“I can tell you where he came from and what happened to him,” Twilight said. She told the Princesses about Sam, about where he came from, where he lived and what happened to make him come here. After Twilight finished, both Princesses were completely speechless and felt sorry for Sam. Celestia knelt down and nuzzled Sam’s cheek.

“Please don't be upset, sweetheart,” Celestia said softly and motherly, “with us, you’ll never be alone or abandoned again.”

Sam wrapped his arms around Celestia's neck. Her fur was equally as soft and Twilight’s and the rest. Celestia placed a hoof around his back. And spoke softly and calmly to him. Sam soon started to calm down, Celestia reminded him of his mother a lot. But just as he started to smile, a female guard burst in the throne room.

“Your Highnesses!” She sounded panicked, “a monster has appeared in town!”

“WHAT!” Celestia shouted, “Go help the ponies to get to cover.”

“Roger,” and the guard flew to the streets.

“Come on let’s go see what we can do,” Twilight said, her friends agreed and ran off. Sam was going to follow but Celestia put a hoof in front of him.

“Sam, you stay here where it’s safe,” Celestia told him.

“I want to help,” Sam said.

“No it's too dangerous,” Celestia replied.

“She’s right,” Luna responded, “this monster could be dangerous.”

“Ok,” Sam said, sounding defeated.

“Good, let’s go,” Celestia declared as they all ran off to the monster.

However, Sam may have sounded defeated, but once everyone had left and the throne doors shut behind them, He smirked, and went to a window.

The monster in question was about 60 metres tall, was blue, had a horn on its head, and looked rather dinosaur-like. No one knew its name, but they were calling it Arstron.

Arstron was rampaging through the streets, roaring at the screaming ponies it was barely missing with its large feet. Celestia had lined up her unicorn guards to fire at Arstron.

“Ready, aim, fire,” she shouted. The unicorn started to fire a blast of magic at Arstron, but this only annoyed it.

Luna then told her pegasus guards to try and lead the monster out of the streets. But Arstron just swotted them away or to the ground. Celestia and Luna were running out of ideas.

“I don’t know what else to do,” Celestia said.

“Neither do I,” Luna responded.

“If only some superhero could just show up and take care of the monster,” Pinkie commented.

“Yeah but what are the chances that’s going to happen,” Rainbow Remarked. Suddenly something appeared and kicked Arstron in the nose, causing the monster to fall backwards. Everyone looked and saw a red and silver suit of armour land on the ground and pull a battle stance. Of course this was Sam in the Ultraman Suit, but no one knew.

Rainbow’s jaw dropped, not believing that Pinkie was right. Pinkie was shocked too and wanted to test her luck again. “I wish I had some cupcakes in all my favourite flavour,” she said, but nothing happened, “aww, what a shame.”

Ultraman tried to jump onto Arstron, but the monster kicked him back with its feet. Ultraman fell to the ground and tried to get back up but Arstron smacked him in the face and held him down. The Ponies down on the ground managed to get to a safe distance away, and watched the two fight. The Metal Giant and the Violent Monster scuffled around on the ground, Arstron tried to bite Ultraman’s face, but he held it back with his arms, and forced Arstron off him.

Ultraman and Arstron got back to their feet, Ultraman landed a kick to the monster’s chest, and a chop to its face. He grabbed it by the arm, but Arstron punched Ultraman in the face, getting him to let go. Arstron then fired a magma beam at Ultraman, which blew up in his face. Arstron charged at Ultraman, but he dodged it in time and grabbed Arstron by the neck. But Arstron was stronger, and threw Ultraman over his back.

With Ultraman on the ground, Arstron used his tail to whip Ultraman around, then kicked him in the shoulder. Arstron then started to shove and press down its foot into Ultraman’s face, Ultraman struggled to get it off, as his Colour timers started to blink. Running out of time, Ultraman kicked Arstron in the stomach, causing the monster to get off of Ultraman.

After deflecting Arstron’s attacks, Ultraman grabbed it by the neck, flipped it over his shoulder, and slammed it onto the ground, causing Arstron to roll away. Ultraman kicked it and forced it back to the ground as Arstron was getting up, but the Violent Monster pushed Ultraman off him with its feet. Ultraman tried to get up again, only to get smacked in the face by Arstron.

Arstron tried to pin Ultraman to the ground, but Ultraman managed to force Arstron back to get up off the floor. The two continued to grapple with each other, until Ultraman picked up Arstron and started to spin around while holding Arstron above his head. He then threw Arstron to the ground hard, and jumped onto its back to prevent it from getting up again. Ultraman started to beat down on Arstron, getting its head in a headlock and even chopped off its horn.

Ultraman allowed Arstron to get up as it roared in pain at the loss of its horn, with its back to him, he grabbed Arstron’s tail, and started to spin around, before letting go and causing Arstron to fly into a building. Arstron roared in pain again, as it turned to face Ultraman. The Metal giant jumped back, and started to charge up his energy before firing a beam at Arstron, striking it on its head. Arstron stumbled back and fell off the edge of Canterlot, before colliding with the ground and exploding.

Sam smiled from inside the suit as he shrank back down to a more suitable size. He was about to fly back to the throne room. But he noticed everyone was looking at him, he just saluted and took to the skies. The ponies watched him fly around the castle and disappear.

Sam quickly called off the armour once he went back to the Throne room. He didn’t have to wait long until the rest came back. They were talking about the strange being in the armour.

“What happened?” Sam asked, pretending to not know what happened, “I couldn’t see much from up here, all I saw was this cool looking superhero fly away.”

“That superhero beat up the monster then threw it off the side of Canterlot,” Rainbow exclaimed, “it was awesome!”

“Are you ok though, Sam?” Celestia asked, “the being didn’t hurt you when it flew round?”

“Of course not,” Sam assured them.

“That’s good,” Twilight said as she hugged him.

Soon, after having lunch with the Princesses where Rainbow tried to scare Sam about how scared Arstron was in which she was slapped around the head by Applejack and being shown around the castle while riding on Celestia’s back, Twilight and everyone thought it was time to go home. They bid farewell to the Princesses and after Sam gave one last hug to Celestia and Luna they left the castle.

Sam felt really tired again, so he rested on Twilight’s side. He hoped that he wouldn’t get the monster in his nightmares again. He really wished that Luna could find a way into his dream.

Later that night, Luna was in her dreamscape, and was walking down a long hall with doors on each side that led to ponies dreams, but she wasn’t thinking about these doors. She had one door on her mind. She soon came to a lone door on her right, it was chained up and bolted shut and had a sort of shield around it.

“Well, I now know this is Sam’s dream door,” she said to herself, “I just need to find a way to open it.” She put a note on the door that said, Sam’s dreams. She tried blasting the door, but it did nothing. She sighed and then went to do her duty.

Chapter 3: Enrolment (Edited)

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It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, birds were singing, and Sam was snoring. Twilight shook him awake gently, hoping to not startle him. Sam slowly opened his eyes to see the smile on Twilight’s face. She kisses him on the forehead.

“Good morning sleepy head,” she giggled, “you snore almost as loud as Spike.”

“Good morning Twilight,” Sam replied, “sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry Sam,” Twilight assured him, “I’m used to it. Come on, we got something important to do today.”

“What’s happening?” Sam asked as he got out of bed.

“I’m going to enrol you at the Cheerilee’s schoolhouse,” Twilight said.

“School,” Sam muttered, his face seeming to freeze in fear.

“Yeah, as you’re ten years old, you haven’t finished school,” Twilight said, she had her back turned to Sam so she didn’t see his face, “so I thought it would be best if you went to school. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo go there so you’ll have some friends.”

Hearing the CMC’s names made Sam less nervous. “Come on then, get ready,” Twilight told him.

Sam soon got dressed and had breakfast provided by Spike. Then he and Twilight made their way to the Schoolhouse, as it was a Sunday the schoolhouse wasn’t open, but Cheerilee was still there as she had stuff to do to get ready for the next day. As Sam and Twilight walked through town, ponies would give Sam a friendly wave, which he responded with a wave of his own. Soon they arrived at the Schoolhouse, Sam noticed that Fluttershy’s cottage was close by.

“If I’m too busy when school finishes, I’ll get one of my friends to take you home ok?” Twilight asked, as she knocked on the door.

“Ok,” Sam replied.

Not long after Twilight knocked, the door opened to reveal a moderate cerise earth pony, with a pale rose and greyish rose mane and tail, she had greyish green eyes and her cutie mark was three smiling faced flowers.

“Oh Good morning Twilight,” Cheerilee greeted her, “I wasn’t expecting you today.”

“Good morning Cheerilee,” Twilight returned the greeting, “I was hoping that you could enrol Sam here into your school.” She nudged Sam closer.

“Oh my goodness,” Cheerilee said, rubbing his cheek with a hoof, “he’s a cute one. Of course he can be enrolled here.”

“That was quick,” Sam thought to himself, “what’s going to get this chapter to over 1,000 words long? The script so far only goes on two pages.”

“You’ll just need to sign some papers,” Cheerilee told her.

“Of course,” Twilight replied, “Sam you wait out here.”

Cheerilee led Twilight into the schoolhouse as Sam waited outside. This gave Sam some time to think about something. His school life. He thought back to his friends.

Chloe, the sweet and kind one. Reece, the fancy talking and gay one. Erin, the cheeky prankster. James the overconfident hot head. Oscar, the lone-wolf. Kelly, the artist, hippie, and nudist. Sophia, the Miss Bossy Boots. Sommer, the hard-working New Zealander. Millie, the shy, quiet one. Phoebe, the Queen of Kisses. Thomas, the short-tempered one. Tyler, the big, strong one, that scares the bullies away. Joe, the team leader before Sam came along. And Elena, In Sam’s option, the most beautiful, the most caring and the most lovable girl in his life.

He thought about his teacher, Anna Dickson. He viewed her as a sort of second mother, she would help support him when he got bullied, and would help him a lot in class. He thought about the schoolwork and how English was one of his favourite as most of the time, it would be learning about a book he’s read or how to write a story.

But then he thought about his bullies. He remembered what they did to him. He looked around to make sure no one was around and took his shirt off. His eyes widened in horror as he screamed.

Twilight and Cheerilee were just finishing up Sam’s enrolment papers, when they heard him scream. Twilight and Cheerilee ran out to see Sam with his shirt off, and scars on his back.

“Sam!” Twilight ran to him, worried about him, “What happened?”

Sam slowly turned around, to reveal more scars on his torso, and tears in his eyes. He ran to Twilight and wrapped his arms around her neck. He cried into her fur as she rubbed his back. She could feel his scars on his back.

“Shhh, Shhh, Shhh,” Twilight hushed him. Sam still had tears falling out of his eyes, as he started to slowly calm down. Twilight used a hoof to wipe his tears away, “Can you tell me how you got these scars.”

Sam took a deep breath and told her and Cheerilee what happened. “It was when I was five,” Sam began, “When I first joined my primary school, I was a lonely boy, but I was also a target for bullies. They bullied me for a really long time, and they forced me to do their schoolwork and when I talked back to them, they gave me one of these. I called them Terror-Scars, because whenever I have nightmares, the scars would give me unbearable pain.”

Twilight and Cheerilee were silent, they had never heard such a sad story. “Did anyone not help sweetheart?” Cheerilee asked, breaking the silence.

“When I got my first scar,” he said, “two kids came to me and felt bad for me. So they became my first friends. But the problem is that they're bigger than before.”

“So are you saying that they somehow grew,” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know,” Sam said as he cried some more.

“You poor, poor child,” Twilight stated as she wrapped her arms around him, she started to tear up herself, “I’m so, so sorry you went through those terrible times. But don’t worry Sam, I would let anything like that happen to you again.”

“Thank you,” he said as she snuggled up into Twilight’s fur.

“You’re all signed up Sam,” Cheerilee said nuzzling his cheek, “so you’re all ready for tomorrow.”

“Thank you Miss Cheerilee,” Sam said, hugging her neck. He then turned to put his shirt back on.

Twilight then had an idea, “Sam, how about we pop over to Fluttershy’s to get you a companion,” she said.

“Do you mean like a pet?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, but I’ll help you in taking care of it,” Twilight replied.

“Ok, sure,” Sam said, “I always wanted a pet of my own.”

“Come on then,” Twilight said, “Thank you for your time Cheerilee.”

“Thank you Miss Cheerilee,” Sam called to her as he waved her goodbye.

“See you later in class, Sam!” Cheerilee called back as Twilight and Sam made their way to Fluttershy’s cottage.

Sam was still a little shaken up from finding out that his scars had grown bigger. Twilight noticed he was still a bit sad and shaken about his scars, she placed a hoof on his shoulder.

“Are you feeling any better Sweetie?” Twilight asked with a worried look on her face.

“Better, but I’m still a bit shaken”, Sam replied, “I just don’t understand how they started to grow.”

“Maybe because you said that when you have a nightmare, they gave you pain,” Twilight said, “maybe the magic of you being teleported here affected them to grow when you have nightmares as well.”

Sam thought that that could be a good reason. Soon Fluttershy’s cottage came into view and the two could see she was attending to her birds. When they got nearer, Fluttershy noticed them.

“Hello Twilight, Hello Sam,” she greeted sweetly, “what brings you all up to my cottage?”

“Hello Fluttershy,” Twilight began, “Sam has been having nightmares and has been in real pain from his uh… Terror-Scars.”

“Oh my,” Fluttershy gasped as she wrapped a hoof around Sam, letting him in one of her ‘Flutter-Hugs’, “What’s a Terror-Scar?”

Sam lifted her t-shirt and showed Fluttershy his scars. “Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy exclaimed, “How did you get those?” Sam then Told Fluttershy his story, when he was finished, Fluttershy had tears in her eyes. “You poor baby,” she muttered while hugging him.

“We don’t even know how they got bigger though,” Twilight said, “but I thought it’s due to the magic of how he arrived here.”

“It’s very possible,” Fluttershy replied.

“So Sam said that he would like a pet”, Twilight finished.

“Well come in and choose one,” Fluttershy said as she calmed down and broke the embrace, she went back inside followed by Twilight and Sam

Inside her cottage, Fluttershy started to show Sam her animals.

“Would you like a dog?” Fluttershy asked.

“No thank you,” Sam replied, “Although I do love dogs, they’re just too full of energy.”

“Ok, then maybe a cat,” Fluttershy said.

“No thanks,” Sam responded, “They’re too lazy and demanding.”

“A bunny.”

“Too cute.”

“A mouse.”

“Too small.”

“A bear.”

“Too big.”

“A parrot.”

“Too loud.”

“A snake.”

“Too long.”

“A squirrel.”

“Too hyper.”

“A spider.”

“Too scary.”

“Well I’m afraid that’s it,” Fluttershy said.

Sam felt defeated, as he walked to Twilight, something caught his attention at the corner of his eye. There, in a cage, was a middle-sized chameleon. It was grey, with a pink underbelly, and blue spots.

“Fluttershy, who’s this?” Sam asked.

“Oh, that’s Camillia,” she answered, “I found her in the Everfree forest just last week.”

“Can… I have her please?” Sam asked hopefully.

“Of course,” Fluttershy replied smiling, “I bet she makes a wonderful pet.”

Camillia seemed to nod. “She is quite cute,” Twilight stated.

“Thank you Fluttershy,” Sam said, giving her a hug around the neck, “I take good care of her”.

“Your very welcome sweetie,” Fluttershy responded, as he left smiling with his new pet.

“It’s nice to see him smile”, Fluttershy remarked as Sam walked down the path to Ponyville.

Twilight could only agree.

“Twilight, are you coming?” Sam called to her.

“Just coming!” Twilight called back, “thank you Fluttershy.”

“No problem, Twilight,” Fluttershy said as she hugged her friend, and Twilight left to catch up to Sam.

Chapter 4: First day at school (Edited)

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Sam woke up the next morning, happy but nervous at the same time. Luckily that night, he didn’t have a nightmare with Camillia sleeping next to him to keep him safe. But even so, he barely spoke that morning, only speaking when spoken to. Twilight understood this.

“You ok honey?” she asked as she walked Sam to the schoolhouse.

“I’m a little nervous,” he replied.

“Don’t worry honey,” Twilight assured him, “like I said yesterday, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle go there so they can help you fit in.”

“I know, but what if the other students don’t like me?” Sam asked.

“Now don’t think like that,” Twilight replied, “sure there’s a couple that like to make a few jokes, but they all mean well. Well most of them.”

“Do you mean…?” Sam asked again.

“Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon,” Twilight replied, “The CMC talk about them all the time.”

Soon the schoolhouse came into view, with Cheerilee starting out greeting the foals and fillies. She turned to see Twilight walking up.

“Good morning Twilight,” Cheerilee spoke happily.

“Good morning Cheerilee,” Twilight greeted. Cheerilee then looked down at Sam.

“Good morning Sam,” she said with a smile, “Are you feeling better?”

“Morning Miss Cheerilee,” Sam replied, “Yes I am, thank you for asking.”

Sam smiled at her, then hugged Twilight. She nuzzled his head, and Sam walked into the schoolhouse. “Have a good day sweetie,” Twilight called out.

Sam waved back at her. Once he got inside, Sam saw the foals and fillies talking amongst themselves. He could see Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo talking to each other. Cheerilee walked around him and stood at her desk. “Good morning Class,” Cheerilee called out.

“Good morning Miss Cheerilee,” the students replied.

“Before we get started with the day, I like you all to meet a new student that will be joining us,” Cheerilee said as she motioned Sam to come forward.

Sam slowly walked to the front of the class with a brave expression on his face. Even though he was dreadfully nervous. Sam waved at everyone; the students could help but find Sam interesting.

“I know Sam seems a bit… different, but he’s just like all of you,” Cheerilee assured them, “a boy that wants to learn. Now Sam, you can go take a seat.”

Sam nodded as he made his way to an empty seat. As he made his way to the back, some of the students stared at him, and when he wasn’t expecting it, a student stuck a leg out and tripped Sam up. He fell to the ground with a thud. The students gasped as Sweetie Belle went to help him.

“Ouch,” Sam remarked as he struggled to get up.

“Oh my,” Cheerilee said, “Are you ok Sam?”

“A little,” Sam replied, Sam looked at the one that tripped him up, and wasn’t surprised to see it was Diamond Tiara.

Diamond gave innocent looks as if it was an accident. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo just stared at her with angry looks.

Sweetie Belle helped Sam to a seat, and comforted him as he sat down. Sweetie stared at the Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon as she went back to her seat. Cheerilee then became the lesson.

“Who does he think he is, he just shows up out of nowhere, and tries to steal my spotlight away,” Diamond whispered to her friend.

“He’s a fool to think that he has a chance,” Silver chuckled.

“I’ll show him who rules the school,” the pink filly said, “and it’s me.”

Breaktime soon came around. Sam was sitting on a bench, looking at his Colour timer, when he heard a voice call him. He looked up to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon coming towards him.

“Hey, twerp!” she called out to him, Sam didn’t reply, “are you deaf? I’m talking to you.”

Sam still didn’t respond, he just ignored her. Annoyed with being ignored, Diamond picked up a rock and threw it at Sam.

“Ouch,” Sam responded, rubbing his head where the rock had hit him.

“Now that I have your attention,” Diamond Tiara said, “Do you think, you can just walk in here, and steal my spotlight?”

“What spotlight?” Sam spoke back, “now one here likes you.”

“Quiet, Shrimp!” Silver Spoon said as she smacked him.

“Well let me tell you this,” Diamond said before stepping on his foot, “I run this school, and I don't like anypony that is new to try, and show me up, understand?"

“But I…” Sam tried to speak up.

“"Be quiet!" She stomped a hoof down on Sam’s other foot making him wince in pain, "Now, if you just stay out of my way there won't be a problem. You can do whatever you want outside School," She looked at him with a mean smirk, “but within school, I can do what I want with you. Understand?”

“Yes,” Sam squeaked, “can you get off my feet now?”

Diamond got off his feet, but then Silver Spoon kicked the back of his legs, causing him to fall forward, and then with his hands on the ground, Diamond slammed her front hooves on his hands. Sam screamed in pain, now he knows how Tom from Tom and Jerry must have felt half the time.

“Oh, one more thing twerp,” she said, getting in his face, speaking in a whiny mocking tone, “you really think that Ms. Cheerilee, those Blank Flanks, and everypony else really cares for you, and loves you? No they don’t.”

“Your… Lying,” Sam winced he could feel his hands.

“Oh please, why would they?” Diamond said, “you aren't even a pony. You’re just a dumb, hairless, ape."

She finally got off Sam’s hands and walked away smiling to herself. Sam tried moving his hands, but he could barely lift a finger. He heard voices coming towards him, he looked up to see Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo running to him.

“Sam!” Sweetie called out to him as she helped pick him up.

“Are you ok bud?” Scootaloo asked.

“I can’t move my hands,” Sam cried softly, tears began to form.

“Come on, let’s get you to Miss Cheerilee,” Apple Bloom said.

The CMC told Sam to Miss Cheerilee, who was getting the next lesson ready.

“Miss Cheerilee!” called out Sweetie Belle, “we need medical help!”

“Girls? What happened?” Cheerilee asked as she turned around.

“Diamond Tiara…” Sam tried to speak by flashback to his old school, showing what happened the last time he told his old bullies off on.

“Diamond Tiara did what?” Cheerilee asked, sounding worried, “What did she do?”

“Go on Sam, you can tell her,” Apple Bloom said. But Sam couldn’t, he feared that Diamond and Silver would do the same as his old bullies.

“Sam I can’t help you if you don’t tell me,” Cheerilee told Sam in a motherly tone.

“Excuse me, Miss Cheerilee,” said a voice from the door, everyone turned to see a little unicorn filly with a yellow mane and tail, and pinkish grey fur coat, “I know what happened to Sam.

“Dinky?” Scootaloo said.

“I saw Diamond Tiara stomp her hooves on to his hands, after Silver Spoon kicked his legs making them collapse and him falling to the ground,” Dinky said as she walked over to Sam. Sam looked at her, as she rubbed his back and kissed his hands.

“Is that true Sam?” Cheerilee asked, Sam just nodded, “Well she’s going to have a stern talking to after school. But for now, let me help you with your hands.”

Cheerilee got out her medical bag, and covered Sam’s hands in a special healing cream then wrapped them in bandages.

“Try not to move your fingers so much,” Cheerilee told him.

“Ok, thank you,” Sam said while hugging Cheerilee’s neck.

“You’re very welcome,” Cheerilee replied, “Sam if Diamond Tiara does anything else to you, please tell me.”

“I will,” Sam replied, as Cheerilee called the fillies and colts back in for the next lesson.

When the next lesson started, Sam learnt a bit about Pony history and found it was pretty similar to human history back on earth. Well, save for the evil magical ponies and other mythical creatures. Next, they did a little art, and Sam put his art skills to the test. When Cheerilee came over to see how he was doing, she was amazed to see Sam’s drawings. He did five drawings of monsters based on a crocodile, a monkey, a rat, a mammoth, and an armadillo mixed with a pangolin.

Lunchtime soon came around. Sam was sitting on the same bench, looking at his hands. He looked up to see Scootaloo coming towards him.

“Hey Sam,” she said, “are you ok, how are your hands?”

“Hey Scootaloo,” he said while rubbing his arm, “yeah, they still sting both Cheerilee said I can take them off once I get home? But I didn’t do anything to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon,” Sam said, “Why are they picking on me?”

“They pick on the new students because they think that they’re stealing their spotlight,” Scootaloo responded, “It’s not just the new kids they bully, they also bully those that they think are lower than them. Ones with no cutie marks like us, or those that are sort of special.”

“Special? In what way?” Sam asked.

“You see Lily Longsocks over there?” Scootaloo said, pointing to a little pink earth filly with a two-toned magenta mane and tail, blue eyes, and a hedgehog for a cutie mark. She was standing near a broken tree branch with some other students who were trying to move it from the playground.

“She seems normal,” Sam remarked, but he quickly ate his words once a colt called her over to help and she lifted the heavy branch with ease and moved it completely off the playground.

“As I said, special,” Scootaloo responded.

“Wow is all I can say,” Sam said.

“Anyway, I came over to see how you’re doing after this morning,” Scootaloo said.

“Thanks for your concern, Scootaloo,” Sam told her, “but I’m ok.”

“Do you want to come and play with us?” Scootaloo asked, “we can keep you safe from Diamond Tiara.”

“Thanks, but I think I'll stay here and watch,” Sam told her.

“Well if you’re sure,” Scootaloo said as she patted his shoulder and went to go and play with her friends. Sam just sighed as he lay back and ate his lunch and waited for the day to continue.

Once the day was over, Twilight came to pick Sam from the school. As the school fillies and colt came running out, came out with the CMC, his hands still in the bandages.

“Hey Twilight,” he called out to her.

“Hey Sam,” Twilight called back as she hugged him, “did you enjoy your first day of school?”

“Well… almost,” Sam said as he showed her his hands.

“Sweet Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed, “what happened?”

As she said that, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walked out the schoolhouse and stared daggers and Sam. “This isn’t over,” she whispered loud enough for Sam to hear.

“Twilight,” Cheerilee called out from the doorway, “Can I have a word with you. It’s about Sam day today!”

“Ok,” Twilight said, “Sam, can you wait here for me?”

Sam nodded as she went to talk with Cheerilee. As Twilight spoke with Cheerilee, Diamond Tiara’s words echoed around his head. Twilight came back out and gave Sam a big hug.

“Cheerilee told me everything,” Twilight said, “come on let’s go home, I bet you’re hungry.”

“I am actually,” Sam replied as both Twilight and Sam started to make their way back to the library. As they did, Sam wanted to ask Twilight what Diamond said.

“Twilight?” Sam asked, “do you and the others really love me, even though I’m not a pony?”

Twilight was taken aback by the question, “Of course we all still love you. I don’t care if you’re not a pony, I think you are one of the cutest creatures to ever come into Equestria. What in Equestria makes you think that?”

“It was something Diamond Tiara said,” Sam replied, saddened, “she said that you and the rest don’t really care and love me because I’m not a pony. I’m a dumb, hairless ape.”

Twilight stopped walking when Sam finished. “Sam, listen to me, you’re not a dumb, hairless ape,” she said as she looked into Sam’s eyes with her hooves on his shoulders, “you’re a human being, and… I was going to tell you this later, but… I’ve been talking to the girls today and we’ve considered making you my son.”

“R…R…Really?” Sam stuttered, tears in each of his eyes, “you really want me as your son?”

“Yes, Sam,” Twilight replied with tears of her own starting to build up, “I would like you to be my son. I don’t want you to feel like you have no mother so I was hoping that I would be your new mother. And don’t worry, I don’t want to replace your old mother, but she’ll still be your old mother within your heart.”

Sam couldn’t hold it anymore, he burst into tears as he hugged Twilight, crying into her neck fur. “Yes! I would love you to be my new mother,” he cried happily.

“And I would love you to be my very own children,” Twilight started to happily cry too, “I love you my baby.”

“I love you too mum,” Sam replied sobbing. The sight was adorable to anypony walking by. Twilight stopped crying as she pulled away from Sam, kissed his forehead, and whipped away his tears.

“Come on sweetie,” she said sniffling, “Let’s go home for some dinner. We can sort out the adoption papers with the mayor tomorrow.”

“Ok, mum,” Sam replied, as he held Twilight’s tail in his hand, and they made their way back home.

That night, it had started to rain as a hooded mare gallops into an empty marketplace and enters a darkened curio shop. She begins to rummage around the shop until a small candle is lit.

“May I help you, traveller?” said the Shopkeeper as he examined the cloaked mare, “Hmm, something drew you to my shop... something powerful.”

The cloaked mare points to an amulet inlaid with a crimson gem kept under glass on the shelf behind him.

“Ah, you have a keen eye,” the Shopkeeper responded, “the Alicorn Amulet is one of the most mysterious and powerful of all the known magical charms.”

The cloaked mare indicates that this is what she's looking for.

“Uh, ah— I'm afraid this is... far too dangerous,” the shopkeeper warned her, “they say that the magic in it corrupts the user, turning them into monsters. On the inside and outside.”

The cloaked mare then threw a large bag of bits on the counter. “Would you like that gift-wrapped?” the Shopkeeper quickly said, changing his mind once seeing all the bits.

The mare walks slowly to the amulet and an evil smile is reflected onto the glass dome.

Chapter 5: Magic Dual (Edited)

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The next morning, Twilight and Sam went to see Mayor Mare about Sam’s adoption. The process was quick and after signing some papers, Sam was Twilight’s son. The new mother and son hugged each other and thanked Mayor Mare for her help. Later that day, Sam and Twilight were at Fluttershy’s Cottage where Fluttershy was telling her animal friends not to be scared of what Twilight was going to do to them.

“Don't be scared, little friends. Twilight is wonderful with magic,” Fluttershy said before turning around to glare at Twilight, “Anything happens to them, Twilight, so help me...”

“Aww don’t worry Fluttershy”, Sam said, giving her a smile.

“Of course she's good with magic. Twilight's great with magic. I guess I just don't want my little friends to be scared. Oh, oh, look how scared they are!” the yellow pegasus commented with fear while pointing at her animal friends.

However, the animals appear to be excited about helping Twilight with her trick.

“I promise, Fluttershy. Nothing bad will happen to them,” Twilight assured her shy friend.

“I know”, Fluttershy said, calming down a bit. Twilight then walked closer to the animals. “Stop, stop!” Fluttershy cried out, “They can't take it!” But Twilight hadn’t even picked the little critters up.

The animal’s glow with Twilight's magic and starts to fly in the air while Fluttershy starts biting her hooves. The animals happily flew around in the air in the shape of an infinity symbol, and safely landed on the ground.

“Mum, that looked amazing!” Sam called out.

“Phew!” Twilight sighed, “That's all for now, little ones. Maybe we can practise again later, if Fluttershy says it's alright.”

The animals chittered as they all ran up to a still very scared Fluttershy.

Twilight thanked her child, “I have to be at my best when she arrives with the delegates from Saddle Arabia. I can't believe she's trusting me with the entertainment.”

Sam snorted at the name, “Saddle Arabia,” he chuckled.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash zooms in and crashes into Twilight. She looks frantic about something. “Twilight! Come quick! It's an emergency!” She told her.

“What?!” Sam asked, a little worried.

“Somepony is causing havoc in town”, Rainbow said before taking flight, “hurry, quickly.”

When Twilight, Rainbow, Sam and Fluttershy ran into Ponyville they spotted a hooded mare, who just zapped Rarity, spawning a brown dress on her.

“You beast!” Rarity pouts, “this shade of brown should only be used for accents!” She faints as Applejack catches her on her back and walks away with Pinkie Pie.

“Come on, Applejack,” Pinkie said, “we've got to get her in a nice, soothing pink, stat!”

“What's going on here?” Twilight asked in confusion.

“Well, well, well,” the hooded mare said before revealing who she was, “If it isn't... Twilight Sparkle.”

Everypony gasps to see who she was. Her fur colour was light blue while her mane was silver, she was also a unicorn. Or was she. She was three times bigger than a normal pony, she had long dragon like horns on her head, razor sharp fangs and claws coming from her hooves

“Trixie?” Twilight gasped in shock, “What happened to you?”

“Who’s Trixie?” Sam asked in confusion.

“You call that great and powerful?” Rainbow mocked her magic skills. but Trixie casts a spell on Rainbow, causing one of her wings to enlarge and making her lose balance.

“Oh! She's Rainbow Wobble, now!” Snips told Snails.

“Yeah! Ha ha ha ha!” Snails laughed. Snips and Snails still remained loyal to Trixie. “Good spell, oh Great and Powerful Trixie!”

But that does not move her. “You two! Quiet!” She zapped both of them, fusing the two colts by the tips of their horns.

“Stop picking on my friends, Trixie!” Twilight called out but Trixie didn’t listen.

“You and I have some unfinished business,” Trixie smirked, “my magic's gotten better since I was here last. And I'm going to prove it! Me and you, a magic duel. Winner stays, the loser leaves Ponyville forever!”

“Forget it!” Twilight said angrily, “I'd never make a deal like that!”

“Hm, suit yourself”, Trixie said, before she went back to causing havoc, she noticed Sam hiding behind Twilight. She used her magic to levitate Sam closer to her. “Oh and what do we have here, a hairless ape”.

“Please put me down”, Sam said nervously. He was shaking in Trixie’s grasp.

“Put my son down now Trixie!” Twilight shouted in anger.

“This freak is your child, Twilight?” Trixie asked evilly.

“MUM HELP ME!” Sam cried out helplessly.

“Duel with me Twilight, or you freak of a son will be turned into a copy of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” She threatened, already turning Sam’s hair silver. Judging by the painful expression on Sam’s face, Trixie was doing a number on his scars.

“Trixie please stop!” Twilight pleaded. She didn’t want to see her own son be in so much pain.

“So what will your answer be?” Trixie taunted.

“Alright, Trixie,” Twilight sighed, “let's duel!”

“Excellent,” Trixie explained. She then removes all the spells she made. Sam ran over to Fluttershy and Rarity for comfort, as they wrapped him up in a warm embrace. “If I lose, I won't set a hoof in Ponyville again,” she said, “but if you lose, you're the one banished from this one-horse town and your son will become my servant!”

Everypony gasped at that statement, Trixie makes the first move and blasts a heavy cart loaded with two barrels of apples into the air. Ponies scramble out of the way from where it's going to crash, but Shoeshine trips and is in danger of being crushed.

Twilight takes control of the cart in time and sets it and its contents right again, just as Trixie hurls six large pies at her. Thinking quickly, Twilight conjures a parasprite, which immediately gobbles up the incoming pies.

The creature burps up another parasprite, but Twilight removes both of them before they can reproduce again. She has barely recovered from the magical exertion when Trixie drops a large sheet of snow on Twilight and the vicinity. Twilight easily melts the snow and shoots a beam of magic at her opponent, causing a long moustache to grow on her face. Twilight's friends laugh and Trixie haughtily snips her facial hair off with conjured scissors.

Trixie then summons Snips and Snails, who fearfully bow to her. She suddenly zaps them with a helical ribbon of red magic that lifts them into the air. When they fall back to earth, Snips has become a wailing foal and Snails has become a withered elderly pony.

“An age spell?” Twilight gasped, “but... how could you do an age spell? That's only for the highest-level unicorns!”

“Well, Twilight? Give up?” Trixie mocked. Twilight determinedly tries to reverse the age spell, but the power required is beyond her capabilities. “Trixie is the highest-level unicorn!” she laughed, “And now it's time for you to leave Ponyville! FOREVER!”

“That's enough, Trixie!” Applejack said, as she and her friends protected Twilight.

“You proved your point,” Rarity said, “but you can't possibly expect Twilight to leave Ponyville!”

“You fools,” Trixie chuckled, “She’s already…”

But before she could finish, a buzzsaw of light fires towards Trixie from the side. Twilight and everyone look to their left.

“Who dares?!” Trixie roared, looking to her right. She was a little shocked to see it was the superhero from Canterlot.

“Back down unicorn,” Sam spoke in a different voice to try and disguise it.

“Who are you?” Trixie snarled.

“I. Am. Ultraman,” Sam replied.

“Whoever you are, you won’t stand in my way,” Trixie shouted and fired a blast of magic, but Sam grabbed it, and crushed it in his hand. Trixie was shocked then fired some more blasts. Sam just smacked them away. Trixie then tried to fire a beam of magic, but Sam defected it with a pair of arm mounted energy blades on his arms.

Trixie started to panic as Sam started to walk towards her. She used her magic to lift chunks of earth out of the ground, and threw them at Sam. But he just caught them and threw them to the ground. Trixie then summoned the barrel then placed it over Sam, but he just merely busted out of it. Trixie even tried to summon a wall to crush him. But Sam just fired a beam by crossing his arms and destroyed it. Trixie had started to back up in fear, no one had been that skilled to block her every attack.

Applejack and Rainbow stood behind her to stop her from running away, she noticed this and just teleported behind them and ran away. She looked behind to see if Sam was still there, but then he suddenly landed in front of her. She screamed and just before she could run away, Sam grabbed her by the amulet on her neck and lifted her up. Trixie could do nothing as Sam grabbed her horn and drained the alicorn amulet dry by absorbing the energy through the horn. As he did, Trixie reverted back to normal, normal hooves, normal teeth, no horns. Just a normal unicorn.

The now weak and powerless Trixie weakly looked at the Ultraman mask, as he then suddenly threw her into the air and into the lake. She tried to swim to keep her head above the water, but she couldn’t swim, and she started to sink. She tried to call out for help, but no one heard her. As Trixie sank to the bottom, she realised all the horrible things she did when she had the power of the amulet, and now she’ll die a sad mare in the bottom of the lake. But as she started to lose consciousness, she just got a glimpse of somepony diving in to save her, it was Sam back in human form.

Sam had jumped in as with his ultra-hearing herd Trixie needed his help and had to change back to human as the water would short circuit the Ultrasuit. He was in pain due to his scars being exposed to the water, but he pushed onward, determined to save her. He grabbed Trixie’s unconscious body and swam back to the surface. Ponies gathered round the lake to watch Sam swim to the edge with Trixie.

Twilight and her friends helped Sam out with Trixie still in his arms. Sam then gave Trixie CPR to help breath again. It worked as Trixie started to cough up water.

“Oh thank god,” Sam said, as Trixie sat up, a bit confused about why Sam just saved her.

“Why did you save me?” she asked, “After I called you a freak”.

“Trust me I’ve been called worse”, Sam told her, before his face turned to one of concern, “Trixie why did you do this to yourself? Turning yourself into a monster.”

Trixie gave up and it was no use hiding her past anymore. “A long time ago, after my mother passed, my father grew angry and blamed everything that went wrong on me. I wasn’t troublesome, I meant well, but he didn’t think so. He treated me poorly and anything I would do; he would call me a failure.”

Everyone listened to Trixie with sadness in their heart for her. “So I ran away from him hoping to be a good mare, however his attitude rubbed off on me and I started to boast that I was the Great and Powerful Trixie. And all the while, I was trying to make my father proud of me, but he never even smiled at me let alone care.”

Trixie had tears stinging her eyes, as Twilight and her friends listened. Trixie felt something wrapped around her necks, she looked down to see Sam hugging her.

“I forgive you”, Sam said, with tears of his own running down his cheeks. Trixie was taken aback by this, not expecting it at all. But for the first time in a long time, she felt loved. She then wrapped her hooves around Sam’s back returning the hug.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, as she sobbed happily, Twilight, Pinkie and the rest joined in.

That night, under the starry night sky, Princess Celestia and the two delegates from Saddle Arabia are watching Twilight's magic performance, in which she once again levitates Fluttershy's animal friends in an infinity symbol. Fluttershy finds it nerve-wracking, and Spike tries to comfort her as Twilight puts on her show for the delegates. The delegates were very impressed, but as she placed the animals down, some fancy fireworks went off in the background.

“Huh?” she said in confusion, but then Sam who was standing beside her noticed that Trixie had set them off.

“Trixie?” Twilight said, now noticing that Trixie was getting ready to leave.

“It's the least I could do,” She said as she put her hat and coat on, “I treated you and your friends so horribly when I was wearing that Alicorn Amulet. I just couldn't control myself. You can forgive me, can't you?”

“Of course,” Twilight replied, “If Sam forgave you, then so can I.”

“Oh thank you,” Trixie said as she then turned around and started to walk away.

“Hey!” Sam called out as he ran to her, “where are you going?”

“I’m leaving Ponyville to continue my magic show,” Trixie replied, “and to hope I can find somewhere to call home.”

“You don't have a home?” Sam asked.

“I have my cart,” Trixie replied, “but that’s just a place where I can sleep, I haven’t had a place where I can settle down and call home.” She looked to the ground sadly.

Sam looked at Twilight with a sad expression. “Well why don’t you live here,” Twilight told her, “you’ll have ponies to talk to, fresh food, have a proper bath, everything.”

“Y-you really mean it?” Trixie asked with a shocked expression, “after everything I did today and last time?”

“The past is in the past Trixie, and you can’t change it,” Twilight said, placing a hoof on her shoulder, “but you can change the future. So what do you say?”

“Oh thank you so much Twilight,” Trixie cried as she hugged Twilight.

“And I can help you get better at magic,” Twilight told her.

“You can be part of our team,” Sam said, stroking Trixie’s neck.

“Thank you, both of you, thank you so much,” Trixie said.

As the night went on, Sam and Twilight helped Trixie settle down in Ponyville, they chose an empty spot in town for Trixie’s cart to stay until they could get her a proper house. Trixie is very grateful for Twilight to let her stay in Ponyville, she would even get a job as a babysitter, and she was amazing at it. She would even babysit Sam a few times and both she and him cherish the moments they spent together. But that’s a story from another day.

Chapter 6: An Eventful Day with Spike (Edited)

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It had been about two weeks since Sam came to Equestria, and he felt like he finally belonged in Equestria. Everypony treated him fair and kindly. Last week, Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow took Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo on a camping trip, and from what Scootaloo told Sam, she was scared of an old, creepy pony and headless horse. But she calmed down thanks to Sam and her friends. A few days ago, Rainbow had been recruited into the Wonderbolts Academy, and made a new rival in Lightning Dust.

But after he defeated Arstron and Trixie, more monsters had been discovered roaming around Equestria. One monster even rose up in Sweet Apple Acres during Applejack’s Apple Family reunion. The monster was named Zambolar which was brown with glowing, orange spikes and horns on his back and face.

Zambolar was hungry and had risen up to find food. It ate the apples, but what was scary about it was that Zumbolar's presence is able to create a sort of heat cyclone. The temperatures around his body can become even hotter than six hundred degrees Celsius, enough to create massive forest fires and burn steel. So it set the surrounding trees on fire. Zambolar was killed thanks to Sam in his Ultraman Suit, but during the battle, Twilight tried to help, but she got injured, and had to go to the hospital. Fortunately, Trixie was more than happy to look after Sam while Twilight was in hospital.

Spike, and Sam went to sleep that night, but we were worried about Twilight.

“...am...”

“S... m.”

“Sam.”

Sam felt somepony shaking his shoulder to wake him up. He opened his eyes and saw Trixie standing there looking at him.

“Good morning, Sam,” she said.

“Good morning, Trixie,” he said, “Is Twilight back from the hospital yet?”

“No, not yet,” she replied, “But I just got word from the Hospital that Twilight should be out by the end of the week.”

“Oh,” Sam said, “that’s good then.”

“Yeah,” Trixie said, “Come on, I made some breakfast.”

Sam climbed out of bed and gave Trixie a good morning hug. She then went downstairs while Sam went to the bathroom to change clothes. After he did that, he walked downstairs and was about to go to the kitchen when he felt something touch his head. Sam looked out and saw Owlowiscious had sat on his head.

“Oh Owlowiscious,” Sam said as he grabbed Owlowiscious, “What are you doing on my head?”

“Who.” Called Owlowiscious.

“You,” Sam replied, “what were you doing on my head?”

“Who.”

“Stop while you’re ahead, Sam,” Spike laughed, “He doesn’t say anything else. Anyway, Trixie made pancakes.”

“I love pancakes!” Sam said happily.

Sam went into the kitchen, where Trixie placed a plate of pancakes in front of him. Sam took a bite, the moment he swallowed his bite, his eyes lit up and he began to devour his pancakes.

“I’m guessing you like them,” Trixie said with a grin.

“Yes, I do,” Sam replied, with a pancake in his mouth, “I’d say she makes better pancakes than Spike.”

“Hey!” Spike remarked.

Trixie laughed, but then she remembered something. “Hey Sam,” she said, “Pinkie said she wanted my help with something today, so you’ll be with Spike today, alright?”

“Okay,” Sam said.

After they finished breakfast, Trixie left to go see Pinkie, leaving Spike and Sam alone in the library.

“Hey Sam,” Spike called.

“Yes?” he said, walking over to him. Sam saw Spike had train tickets in his claws, "what are those for?"

“We're going to Canterlot,” he told him, "It's time for Celestia and Luna's personal rub down.”

Sam just stared blankly at him.

Spike smacked his forehead, 'of course you don't know what I'm talking about.' "We are going to give Celestia and Luna a message."

“Oh, now I got ya,” Sam said. Spike first put a piece of paper in case Trixie and or Twilight came back to let them know where they all were. Spike and Sam soon were walking through Ponyville, ponies waved at them as they strolled along the path. Soon they reached the Ponyville train station and waited for the train.

“Do you like trains, Sam?” asked Spike.

“Oh I loved them,” Sam replied happily, “In fact, I brought with me when I came to Equestria, the whole collection of Thomas the Tank Engine books. Also known as The Railway Series.”

“What are they about?” Spike asked again, he wanted to know what this ‘Railway Series’ was.

“They’re about talking steam engines that have lots of adventures,” Sam answered, “I'll tell you once we get home.”

“Ok,” Spike stated, as the train started to come into view, “look here comes the train.”

Once the train stopped, and Sam and Spike were on board, the train started to move and headed towards Canterlot.

Sam was still amazed by the size of Canterlot once he got off the train. He had been to Canterlot before, when he came to see the princesses, but he still couldn’t believe it. Sam felt like he was six again.

“Sam, If I were you,” Spike remarked, “I’ll keep myself hidden but enough to see where I was going.”

“Why?” Sam asked curiously that he might need to hide himself, “I was alright last time I was here.”

“Yeah,” Spike warned, “but you were with Twilight and the girls, and probably didn’t see you. As it’s just me, you’ll be noticed and the ponies here are of a higher class and stuck up. They can be very judgemental around other ponies' appearances.”

“Oh,” Sam said as he got behind Spike.

“Just stay close ok,” Spike responded, with a nod from Sam, Spike and Sam walked off through the streets of Canterlot.

Spike was right, Canterlot was of a higher class, and the ponies, mostly unicorns, held their noses in the air and looked very stuck up.

Most of the ponies didn’t pay much attention to the baby dragon and human child, but a few did remark how strange Sam looked. Soon, Spike and Sam reached the castle, two guards stood outside the entrance wearing golden armour. One was a pegasus stallion with a grey coat and lighter grey mane and tail and blue eyes, his cutie mark was of a shield made of pure steel. The second was a unicorn mare with a rose red coat and bright red mane and tail with a green streak running through them and her eye green with red eyeliner, her cutie mark was a bloody rose.

“Morning Steel Wing, Morning Blood Rose,” Spike greeted them.

“Morning Spike,” Steel Wing replied with a smile, “Ready for that time of the mouth again?”

“Yep and I brought a friend to help me,” Spike said as he stood aside for Sam to come forth, “Blood Rose, Steel Wing, I like you to meet Samuel Metters.” The two guards were amazed.

“Oh this must be the human child Celestia told us about,” Blood Rose commented but lowering herself to not seem so scary. “Hello little guy, I’m Blood Rose, but you can call me Rosy.”

“And I’m Steel Wing,” he announced proudly, “but you can call me Steel.”

“It’s nice to meet you two,” Sam replied, he thought these two were very nice, and possibly saw them together in the future.

“The Princess’ are ready and waiting in their salon,” Blood Rose stated, as she and Steel Wing led Spike and Sam into the castle.

The two guards led Sam and Spike through the castle and into the Salon room, Celestia and Luna were just taking off their crowns, slippers, and chest armour.

“Ah Spike you’re here, I was worried we would have to message ourselves,” Luna joked, before seeing Sam by Spike’s side, “Oh, and Young Samuel is with you as well, nice to see you again little one.”

“Nice to see you again as well, Princess Luna,” Sam smiled.

“So shall we start,” Celestia stated.

“We shall, sister,” Luna replied as walked to two massage beds. Spike handled Celestia while Sam handled Luna. “Samuel, honey, do you know what you need to do?”

“Yeah I’ve done this many times with my family in the past,” Sam stated as he began to rub his fingers into Luna’s fur.

“Oh yes, oh, oh yes, that feels so nice,” Luna breathed, clearly enjoying it.

“Your fur is really soft, Princess Luna,” Sam said to her.

“Thank you little one,” Luna replied.

“Is Sam treating you well over there, Lulu?” giggled Celestia.

“Yes he is, Tia,” Luna wheezed. Sam made his way up and down Luna’s back. “So how are you feeling today Samuel?”

“I’m ok,” Sam replied, “except I ‘m worried about Twilight.”

“Yes,” Luna said, “Spike wrote us a letter expanding what happened with Twilight and the monster in Ponyville.”

“It's a good thing that Ultraman came in to save everyone,” Celestia declared. Everyone agreed.

Suddenly the earth started to shake. Everyone was very confused until they looked out the window and saw two monsters rise from the ground. One was blue and looked like a mutated sea ray. The other was red and crawled on all fours.

The monsters stood about fifty metres tall and were fighting in the middle of the city. Sam knew what he had to do. When no one was looking, he snuck out of the room, and ran out of the castle. He activated his Ultrasuit and grew to fifty metres tall before landing on top of the monsters while they fought each other. Sam’s impact down onto them blasted the monster back.

Ultraman stood proud as the lava monster Grangon and the Freezing monster Lagoras roared and started to charge towards Ultraman. Ultraman decided to attack Lagoras first. Ultraman kicked Lagoras in the chest then roundhouse kicked it in the face. Lagoras roared in pain as it fell back. Ultraman then grabbed Grangon’s head as the monster charged towards him, Ultraman held it back.

The ponies on the ground watched as Ultraman pushed Grangon back, then performed an uppercut to the jaw, making Grangon’s chest exposed before Ultraman kicked it. Grangon stumbled back as Lagoras came charging up behind Ultraman. Ultraman turned around to see Lagoras coming. Celestia, Luna, Spike and the ponies watched as Ultraman flew into the sky dodging Lagoras’ tackled, the drop-kicked Lagoras on the head.

Ultraman landed next to Grangon then kicked its side, causing the monster to roll over. Ultraman stood in a fighting pose, before hearing Lagoras coming up from behind him. Ultraman punched Lagoras in the chest then elbowed it in the jaw causing it to fall back onto the ground. Ultraman turned around to see Grangon coming towards him. Ultraman dashed behind it with speed that Rainbow would be jealous of, grabbed its tail and then started to lift and swing the lava monster around in the air. After spinning around for a bit, Ultraman threw Grangon into Lagoras.

Ultraman started to pant as his colour timer started to flash. He was running out of energy. Grangon and Lagoras got off each other, then fired a fireball and Freezing beam at Ultraman. Thinking fast, Ultraman diploid his Specium Blades on his arms, he slashed at the fireball, destroying it, and blocked the freezing beam. He was about to fire his Specium Beam at them, Grangon ran forward, Ultraman was going to dodge but he was running out of energy and Grangon bit down on his leg. The bite was so powerful, and Grangon’s teeth were so sharp, they went through the metal armour and into Sam’s skin. Sam cried out in pain as Lagoras ran forward and punched Ultraman in the face, causing him to fall back, and releasing Grangon’s grip on his leg. Ultraman tried to crawl away as blood poured out his wound and as the monsters closed in. Ultraman charged up his energy and fired his Beam dubbed the Specium Beam at the monsters, first destroying Grangon, and then exploding Lagoras.

Panting and in pain, Ultraman returned back to Sam, who collapsed onto the ground. He then turned to the castle, ‘I got to get back to the castle, but I’m too tired to walk back.’ He started to limp back to the castle, but he felt so weak and tired and thanks to his leg injury, he could barely walk. His colour timer was still flashing. If it stopped Sam would completely shut down and fall unconscious until the colour timer had absorbed enough solar energy.

Then he just fell to the ground, “Oh mum's never going to hear the end of this,” he thought out loud. Then he heard a voice.

“Oh you poor thing,” it cried, Sam turned to see a tall unicorn mare with a white coat, pale pink mane and tail, light purple eyes, and a cutie mark of three fleurs-de-lis, “Are you Ok?”

“Nope,” Sam grunted in pain, as he grabbed his leg were Grangon’s bite mark was.

The mare got closer to Sam, “May I?” she said, Sam allowed her to. The mare lifted the trouser leg, and saw the bite mark, blood was seeping from the wound. “Oh dear,” she said, “That’s going to need to be patched up.” She levitated Sam on to her back and raced off the Canterlot Hospital.

“Where are you taking me?” Sam asked.

“To the Hospital,” the mare replied.

“No,” Sam muttered weakly, “Take me to Princess Celestia.”

The mare stopped and looked at him, “Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yes,” Sam breathed, he was getting weaker, his colour timer on his chest was flashing faster.

They knew she had to hurry, so she galloped off to the castle. Steel wing and Blood Rose were standing outside when they saw the mare galloping fast up to them.

“Fleur!” Steel yelled as the pony came to a stop, “What’s the matter?”

“It’s this child,” Fleur said, “he must have gotten hurt in the monster fight.”

“Sam! How did he get out of the castle!” Rose yelled, “Are you alright?”

“Blood… Rose…” Sam spoke weakly.

“Don’t worry champ,” Steel assured him, “you’ll be alright.”

Rose, Steel and Fleur ran inside the castle to the throne room where Princess Celestia, Luna and Spike were pacing around.

“Princess!” Steel called as they burst into the door.

“Did you find him?!” Celestia asked.

“Miss. Fleur Dis Lee did,” Steel stated as Fleur walked forward and levitated Sam in front of Celestia.

“Sam!” she cried, she went into full mother mode, she found the wound and started to heal it. But as she did, his Colour Timer started to malfunction, and a pulse of energy shot out from Sam’s chest sending everyone back.

“Tia! Stop!” Luna cried, as Celestia was about to heal Sam again. When she stopped, his colour timer was still blinking but it was flashing slower. Luna went to Sam and pulled down his shirt, to show his colour timer, then it clicked. For Celestia too.

“Sam,” Luna asked, “are you… Ultraman?”

Sam just nodded slowly as his strength started to come back slowly.

Celestia wrapped Sam in her arms, “Oh Sam,” Celestia muttered as tears started to build up in her eyes, “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I didn’t want to put you all in danger,” Sam said with more energy in his voice his colour timer started to flash even slowly, “I didn’t want anyone to find out.” He lifted his arms up and wrapped them around Celestia’s neck.

“Thanks to my Ultra powers, I can self-regenerate,” Sam said.

“Were you like that the whole time?” Spike asked, thinking that Sam was acting weak from the start.

“No, I literally fell outside,” Sam told him, “Thank you Grangon for biting my leg.”

Luna teleported in some bandages and wrapped around Sam’s leg, until the bite mark was completely covered. “There you go,” she said.

“Thank you, Princess Luna,” Sam thanked, “And thank you, Fleur was it? For bringing me here.”

“You're very welcome, little one,” Fleur replied with a smile.

“So… Care to explain your superhero persona?” asked Spike.

“Ok, so it goes like this,” Sam said, and he explained what happened to him.

“So before you came to Equestria, you almost drowned, but Ultraman saved you,” Luna said.

“And now you can become Ultraman to fight and protect Equestria,” Celestia said.

“Yeah,” Sam replied, “but can you not tell Twilight or anyone else please.”

“Pinkie Promise,” Spike said, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

“And you have our word,” Celestia said as Luna gave Sam a soft smile.

“So how are we going to explain this to Twilight,” Spike said, pointing at Sam’s broken leg.

“Don’t worry, Spike,” Celestia assured him, “I’ll take you two back home myself.” She Levitated Sam and Spike on her back.

“Twilight’s not good to let me out her sights again,” Sam chuckled.

Celestia opened her wings and took off. A few minutes later, they landed outside the Library, “it’s a good thing Twilight is still in the hospital,” Spike said as he opened the door, “it gives Sam time to recover.”

“What’s that about giving Sam time to recover?” said a voice behind Spike. Spike turned around to see Twilight. Her arm in a sling, and a raised eyebrow.

“Uh oh,” Sam said from Behind Celestia’s mane. He knew this was going to be a long evening.

Chapter 7: The Uncontrollable Rage of Fury (Edited)

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As time went on, Sam became more and more aggressive and violent in his battle with the monsters. He would beat the monsters to death with his bare hands, through up-rooted trees and weapons at them, and even growl and roar at them. What made this worse for him, was that Sam could see all of this, but he couldn’t do anything. Like he wasn’t in control of his body.

Sam couldn’t tell anyone about this, because no one knew he was Ultraman. But Sam had also noticed that his Terror-Scars were getting even-so-bigger night he had nightmares. Which was nearly twice or third times a week.

One night, Sam was having another nightmare. He found himself in a dark void of nothingness, but he knew he wasn’t alone. He swung around to see the Corrupted Monster standing behind him.

“What do you want now?!” Sam yelled at him, trying to sound brave but he knew he wasn’t, “why are you torturing me?!”

“Why?” the monster answered with a chuckle, “because it’s fun, child. You might be wondering what’s been happening to you these past few weeks.”

“What?” Sam stuttered.

“You, losing control over yourself in your battles,” the monster said.

“You… you haven’t…” Sam spluttered.

“Yes,” the monster replied, “I’ve been slowly taking control of your body. And soon, I’ll be completely in control.”

“No, no,” Sam sobbed as he broke down into tears.

“Don’t believe me?” the monster said, “look at yourself.”

A mirror suddenly appeared, and Sam saw what he meant, his Terror-Scars were getting bigger. Sam cried harder as the monster laughed behind him. The monster started to sink into the ground as his shadow started to absorb Sam. His skin turned inky black, as his scars turned a glowing pink. Sam looked into the mirror again, only to see that he was nearly completely corrupted by the monster, except for a patch on his face with one of his eyes. Sam could only watch helplessly as the corruption slowly finished as a single tear dropped.

“Sam! Sam! Wake up!” cried Spike, as he shook Sam awake. Sam’s eyes shot open as he sat up quickly, panting and crying.

“Wha…? Where…?” he faltered in between each pant.

“Calm down, sweetie,” came Twilight's calm, and caring voice as she wrapped Sam in a hug, “it’s ok. You’re safe with me.”

Sam just cried into her soft fur, soon he calmed down.

“What happened? Another Nightmare?” Twilight asked, Sam just nodded.

“It wasn’t just that,” remarked Spike, “your scars were glowing pink. That’s what woke us up.”

“What?!” Sam said, his eyes widening in fear. He lifted up his pyjama top as his scars were much bigger. ‘He’s getting stronger.’ He thought to himself. Sam just cried a bit more into Twilight’s chest, while she soothed him to sleep. She placed him in her bed to keep him close as safe.

The next day, Twilight was thinking about Sam. She was worried about him, and his now glowing scars.

"INCOMING!!!" cried out a voice, Twilight was worrying about Sam so much that she didn’t hear until Derpy crashed into her.

“Ow!” Twilight said, underneath Derpy's body.

“Oh sorry Twi,” she said as she got up. She helped Twilight back on her hooves. “You ok Twilight?”

“Not really,” Twilight replied.

“Did Derpy crush into you too hard, Twi?” Came Octavia's pose reply, she, Lyra Heartstrings, Bon-Bon and Vinyl Scratch galloped up.

“No, I don't mean Derpy’s stunt,” Twilight assured them, “I’m just worried about Sam."

“What’s the matter with him?” Bon-Bon asked.

“His nightmares are getting worse,” Twilight replied, “And his Terror-Scars are getting much bigger and now glow pink.”

“Jeez,” Derpy said, wincing a little bit.

“Aww, poor dear,” Octavia cooed.

“Have you spoken to Princess Celestia or Luna about it?” Lyra asked.

“I have,” Twilight replied, “and Luna says that in the dreamscape, there’s a door chained shut, that must be Sam’s dreams then.”

“Sweet Celestia I hope so,” Bon-Bon said.

“Well, give him best wishes from five of us, old Friend,” Lyra said, as Derpy took off again, her friends ran after her to make sure she didn’t crash into anyone else. Twilight then continued her walk through town. Eventually she found herself in front of Sugarcube Corner. When she walked in, they saw her friends talking at one of the tables.

“Hey Twilight!” Pinkie yelled, waving at them.

“Hey girls,” Twilight said to them.

“How are you today?” Rarity asked.

“Not the best,” Twilight replied, “I’m worried about Sam.”

“Why? what’s wrong with the little fellow?” Applejack asked.

Twilight looked around, making sure nopony would be listening in. “His nightmares are getting worse, his Terror-Scars are getting bigger, and they’re starting to glow pink when he’s in pain,” she told them.

“Oh goodness!” Fluttershy said surprised, “Is he alright?”

“He said he’s fine,” Twilight replied, “but I don’t think he is. I think he’s hiding something from me.”

“Like what?” Rainbow asked.

“Some sort of deep secret he really doesn’t want to tell anyone,” Twilight answered, “but I can’t help him unless he tells me what’s wrong.”

“Maybe he thinks we’ll judge him,” Applejack said.

“Where is Sam anyway?” Fluttershy asked.

“He’s with Trixie,” Twilight replied, “I don’t know if they’re at the library or Trixie’s wagons.”

“Oh ok,” Pinkie said as she ate a cupcake.

“I’m just really worried about him,” Twilight said, sighing.

“Cheer up Sugarcube,” Applejack comfited her friend, “you’re his new mother, and I doubt he would want to see her upset.”

“AJ’s right,” Rarity chimed in, “he probably had to watch his old mother worry as she became a donkey. He probably feels scared that you’ll change too.”

“Yeah, I guess you girls are right,” Twilight said.

“Of course we are,” Pinkie replied, “we’re best friends!” all the girls started to chat more happily.

Sam was currently on his own while Trixie was getting some things. He was alright on his own, he could be alone with his thoughts. He didn’t know what was happening to him. Why this corrupted monster was trying to control him. He had also noticed that morning that one of his scars was starting to poke up from his shirt on his neck. He was worried about what the ponies would do if they saw him with it. It was pretty quiet where he was save for the sound of Trixie’s voice not being too far from him, but he then heard more voices. And they sounded angry, they sounded like Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

“You told us off didn’t you?!” shouted Diamond Tiara. “What did I say would happen if you tattled on us!”

“I...I... I...” Stuttered another voice. It was Dinky! Sam guess Diamond Tiara found out who told Cheerilee what she did to Sam.

‘God that took a while,’ Sam thought.

“Quiet blank flank!” Diamond shouted, striking Dinky across the face, “You’ll pay for this!”

“Stop that!” Sam sounded as he ran over. Dinky was crying on the ground, as Sam petted her mane gently to try and calm her down.

When Sam saw them, Diamond Tiara's eyes flared up in anger. Silver Spoon eyes did the same.

“Leave her alone!” Sam yelled at Diamond Tiara, trying to sound more confident.

“Well, well, well,” Diamond Tiara said as Sam stood between her and Dinky, “The monkey wants to get tough. Beat it you ape. This has nothing to do with you.”

“Yes it does!” Sam snapped back at her, “Dinky told Miss Cheerilee what you did to me. About how you hurt my hands. I’m not scared of you Diamond, I’ve pigeons make better insults than you ever can you dirtbag!”

“How dare you!” Diamond Tiara said crossly. Sam didn’t back up though, he kept standing there, weirdly his emotions won’t build up which was a good thing too. “So, it’s not this Blank Flank’s fault for getting us into trouble, it’s your fault for showing up here.”

“No, it’s your fault for being a bully in the first place,” Sam said back.

“I knew you’d give me trouble the minute the moment I saw you,” Diamond said, “You’re gonna pay for having this Blank Flank getting us in trouble.” She then pushed him back.

Dinky was still behind him, and Sam tripped backwards over her, and he then felt a cold breeze blow on his stomach. Sam realised his suit had revealed his chest. Sam quickly pulled it back down, but it was too late. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had seen his scarred chest. Diamond Tiara had a mean grin on her face, but Silver Spoon looked as if she had just seen a ghost. Diamond grabbed Sam’s top and pulled it off. Sam’s fear was out, everyone could see his scars.

“Well, well, well,” Diamond Tiara said trotting over, “looks like I was right, huh? You’re even more of a freak than I thought.”

Sam didn’t say anything because his eyes started filling up this time. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had found out his secret, and they were going to tease him for it. By now some ponies were gathering.

Trixie came back and squeezed through the crowd to see what was happening.

“Sam!” she called out. But Sam couldn’t hear her from Diamond Tiara’s words echoing around his head.

“You’ll never fit in with us, weirdo,” she said, “You know why? Because you don’t belong here. I freak like you should be put into a cage and kept in a zoo. Maybe if you stay long enough, that will happen. Jeez your mother must’ve been blinded to have loved someone as gross and as freakish as you.”

Then something snapped, Sam stood up slowly, his eyes a blazing red, as Diamond Tiara was laughing Sam dawned his Ultrasuit and suddenly shot forward, grabbing her by the throat and choking her.

“You don’t know what I’ve been through,” Sam said but it didn’t sound like him, “every day I would wake up to see my scars still there, all the bullying and abuse I went through. LEAVE MY MOTHER OUT OF THIS!! AT LEAST MINE WAS CARING AND LOVING UNLIKE YOUR STUCK-UP STRUMPET OF A MOTHER!!! YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT HELL I WENT THROUGH YOU LITTLE PINK BITCH!!!!”

“SAM PLEASE STOP!!!” called a voice, Sam turned his head and saw Trixie, his eyes widening behind his mask, “please calm down and put her down.”

Sam snapped out of his fit of rage, he looked around to see a crowd had gathered around. Sam looked at what he was doing, his Ultrasuit deactivated and unwrapped from Sam’s body, he put Diamond back on the ground and as tears started to build again.

“I’m sorry,” he sobbed quietly, “I’m so sorry.”

Then it happened. Sam kneeled down in pain as he clutched his stomach. Everypony watched as his scars glowed pink and grew larger, the scars crawled down his arms and up his neck. Sam cried in pain and the scars stopped growing. Everyone had seen this and now he just wanted to get out of here.

“Sam, come to me,” Trixie said calmly, as she slowly came closer to Sam.

But Sam dawned his Ultrasuit again and then flew away. He didn’t care where he was going, he just wanted to get away from everyone.

“Sam!” Trixie called out, “come back!!! Sam!!!” It was no use; Sam was already too far away to hear. Trixie turned to Diamond who had stopped coughing and was looking in the direction Sam had flown away.

“So long you demon”, Diamond cried out.

“Sam…” Dinky whimpered, as she stood up and hugged Trixie.

Twilight was getting nervous, Sam had said he’ll be back in a few minutes, a few hours ago and it was getting late. She hoped that maybe Sam had lost track of time, but that was two hours ago. She then thought that Sam was hanging out with his friends but when she got no word from anyone about Sam she grew ever more nervous.

“Twilight calm down,” Spike tried to assure her, “he’s properly at a friend’s house or something.”

“But wouldn’t their parents contact me and say Sam is spending time with them,” Twilight said as she paced back and forth, “It’s getting really late.”

Just then there was a knock at the door. Spike went over to it and opened the door. On the other side was Trixie with a very worried expression and out of breath.

“Trixie?” Twilight said a little shocked, “what are you two doing here? And where’s Sam?”

“Twilight, he’s the reason I’m out of breath,” Trixie breathed worriedly.

“Why what happened?” Twilight asked.

“Sam’s Ultraman and has run away,” Trixie told her, the colour seemed to drain from Twilight’s face.

“WHAT?!” Twilight yelled.

“Sam was being bullied by Diamond Tiara and she revealed his scars, which then made him really angry and he turned into Ultraman to strangle her,” Trixie told her, “then after his dropped Diamond, his scars started to glow and grow bigger, then his suit came back, and he flew off. I tried to find him, but I couldn’t find him.” Twilight was worried and frightened for Sam’s safety. She couldn’t believe it, the thought that Sam was Ultraman and that he ran away was all too much for her and she broke down into tears.

“Spike”, she sobbed, “s-send a l-letter to P-Princess Celestia”.

“Right”, Spike said as he started to write down a letter to Princess Celestia and Luna. Once he was done writing, he sent it away to the princesses.

“What do we do now?” Trixie asked her.

“Now… we wait for… the Princesses response,” Twilight answered through sobs. No sooner had she said that, Spike burped as a scroll appeared. He opened it and began to read it.

“Dear Twilight Sparkle,

This is terrible news; it appears Sam’s anger has become stronger from the description you told me. I would say to you to go look for him right away but due to this late hour and the fog that’s due tonight, I’m afraid that it’s going to have to wait until morning. Luna’s night guards are too busy tonight to even send one out. In the meantime, try to calm down and get some sleep.

Your Mentor,

Princess Celestia.”

Twilight was even more worried now, knowing that Sam was out there all alone and cold. But she trusted her mentor, so she made a decision.

“Okay we’ll go to sleep and find Sam in the morning”, She said. Everyone agreed as they had their dinner and got ready for bed. Trixie decided to stay with Twilight tonight to make sure she’ll be all right. As Twilight was brushing her teeth, she thought to herself, “Oh Sam, where are you?”

Sam was making his way through the Everfree Forest, he didn’t know where he was going but he thought care, he just wanted to get away from everyone. Ponies had watched him trying to commit a murder and seen him donned his Ultrasuit. Soon a thick fog rolled in, what’s worse Sam hadn’t eaten anything all day. He saw a tree in the distance so he went to it and sat at the bottom of it.

“Well I had a good run,” he said weakly as his colour timer started flashing, “I’m doing this for your safety mum, brother and aunties.” He closed his eyes and waited for the day to come out.

But before he closed his eyes completely, he saw two figures walk up to him through the fog. Sam couldn’t make out who it was through the thick fog but heard the creatures speak to each other before passing out.

“Oh look at this. Oh it looks cold and hungry.”

“Ooh, we should take it back to our hut.”

“Good idea.”

“Come help me get it on my back.”

Chapter 8: The search for Sam (Edited)

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All night Twilight was tossing and turning in her sleep. She was thinking about Sam. From what Trixie told her, his eyes were red, and his voice was much deeper than before. And she couldn’t get her head around the fact that Sam was Ultraman. Twilight was very worried about him. She couldn’t stop thinking about him, and soon she decided to get a drink of water to try and help her sleep. She got one and was just about to go back upstairs but stopped when she saw Trixie standing at the bottom of the stairs. She seemed to have been crying.

“Trixie?” Twilight questioned.

“You can’t stop thinking about Sam?” she asked quietly, “me neither.” Trixie walked over to her to give her a hug.

They then heard sad chittering, Twilight and Trixie saw it was Camillia who was looking up at her with a look of sadness and worry.

“I hope he’s okay too,” Twilight said as she picked up the chameleon and patted her head, “I really do.”

“I’m so sorry, Twilight,” Trixie said, “I should have tried to stop him from flying away.”

“It’s not your fault Trixie,” Twilight assured her, “Diamond shouldn’t have pushed him too far.” The two continued to hug for a little longer.

Early next morning, Celestia’s sun was just coming over the mountains, as Twilight gathered together her friends in front of her home. Twilight and Trixie told them what had happened to Sam, and they were shocked, worried, and sad for Sam’s safety. Rainbow and Applejack were determined to find him and bring him home safely.

“Rainbow and Fluttershy look for him from above,” Twilight asked.

“Right Twilight,” Rainbow said as she flew away.

“Don’t worry Twi,” Fluttershy assured her, “We’ll find him.” Before taking off after Rainbow.

“Pinkie and Applejack search the north and west side of Ponyville,” Twilight asked. The two earth ponies nodded and ran off. Pinkie taking the north and Applejack taking the west.

“Trixie and Rarity, you two are with me in checking the Everfree forest,” Twilight said to her remaining friends. So the trio went into the Everfree forest.

Sam woke up in a room unfamiliar to him, the wall seemed to be made out of wood, he also noticed he was in a bed.

“How did I get here?” Sam thought out loud, “I was at the bottom of a tree, last thing I remember.”

Just then he heard two voices coming from the other side of the door.

“You reckon that kid is awake yet,” one said.

“I don’t know,” said the other, “let’s go check.”

Sam watched in fear at the door leading out the room, only to feel less scared when two Alpacas walked in. One was white and the other was brown.

“Oh look,” the white one said, “he’s awake.”

“I can see that,” the brown replied.

“Llamas?” Sam questioned, a little nervous.

“Llama?!” the alpacas cried, they seemed offended.

“We are not llamas,” said the brown one, “we are alpacas.”

“Ok, but who are you two?” Sam asked.

“He doesn’t know who we are, Scratch,” said the white one, “why don’t we tell him.”

“Hmm, yes Nuzzle,” said the brown one, “but instead of tell, we shall sing.”

“Please don’t,” Sam said but the two alpacas sang anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsEBtSSk3H0

“Here we are! Nuzzle and Scratch!"

"Best by far! Nuzzle and Scratch!”

“We’re alpacas from the Andes.”

“With hooves instead of handies.”

“No two other’s can match Nuzzle and Scratch."

"Nuzzle and Scratch!”

When the two stopped their little song, Sam was just staring at them.

“So you’re Nuzzle, and you’re Scratch,” Sam said pointing at the white one then the brown one.

“Yes that is us,” Nuzzle replied.

“Now answer our question,” Scratch said, “what’s a little kid doing here in the Everfree Forest?”

Sam then began to tell Nuzzle and Scratch everything since he got to Equestria, while the two alpacas listened with interest.

“So I ran away, so I won’t hurt anyone else,” Sam finished, his eyes tearing up again, “I did it to protect mum and everyone close to me.”

“Aww you poor thing,” Nuzzle said, patting Sam on the head.

“You can stay here as long as you would like,” Scratch replied, “but I think you should go back to your mother. She must be so worried about you.”

“I know,” Sam sighed as the tears started to fall down his face.

“Come here,” Nuzzle said as he and Scratch wrapped their arms around Sam.

“Will take you back to your mother,” Scratch declared.

Once they broke the embrace, Sam’s stomach began to rumble.

“I guess I’m pretty hungry,” he retorted.

“Nuzzle, prepare the breakfast,” Scratch told him.

“Ok Scratch,” and Nuzzle went off to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Twilight, Rarity and Trixie had been searching for Sam almost all day and it was almost noon. The Everfree Forest was very big.

“Oh Sam, where are you?” Twilight sighed, she was getting worried again.

“Rarity, Twilight,” Trixie said, “maybe we should look near Zecora’s house.”

“I agree,” Rarity said, “maybe Zecora has seen Sam.”

Twilight nodded and they made their way to Zecora’s. Little did they know that something was following them, or rather hunting them. Twilight stopped after sensing something.

“Twilight what’s wrong?” Rarity asked.

“I sense something following us,” she said, looking around.

“Is it the others?” Trixie asked, looking around as well.

“No…” Twilight paused as she noticed Rarity and Trixie were staring at something right behind her, “It’s behind me, isn’t it.”

Rarity and Trixie nodded slowly as Twilight turned around to look at the follower. It was big and brown and had red enzymes under its jaw. It stared down at them with hunger in its eyes.

After Sam had eaten, Nuzzle and Scratch gave him a ride back to Ponyville. They were just walking down a path, when they heard a rumbling sound.

“What was that?” Sam asked.

“Well it wasn’t me,” Nuzzle remarked, “was that you Scratch?”

“No it wasn’t Nuzzle,” Scratch replied. Then came a roar.

“Ok that definitely wasn’t me,” Nuzzle said.

“Look!” Sam yelled, pointing at the dragon that seemed to be chasing something.

“Dragon!” Called Nuzzle.

“And look it must be hunting,” Scratch said, pointing at Twilight, Rarity and Trixie running from the monster.

“MUM!” cried Sam so loud, Twilight heard him.

Sam?” she called out to Sam hoping she wasn’t hearing things. She looked to her left as saw Sam on top of Nuzzle’s back. Without thinking properly. She turned left and ran towards Sam, Rarity and Trixie followed her and the dragon followed them.

When Twilight, Trixie and Rarity came closer to Sam, Nuzzle and Scratch, the dragon fired a fire ball at them, it exploded upon hitting the ground, sending everyone flying.

Sam was thrown a good distance away. He rolled on the ground and stopped, he looked up to see Twilight and everyone was knocked out from the fire blast. Trixie had broken a leg, Rarity’s mane and tail were messed up as well as some cuts and grazes, Nuzzle and Scratch were laying on top of each other up against a tree and Twilight had blood pouring from a wound on her head.

Sam ran to Twilight to try and shake her awake, but she didn’t wake up. The dragon chuckled and licked his lips. Sam felt his anger rising as he stood up and donned his Ultrasuit.

Ultraman flew to the dragon and punched it, the dragon fell back and breathed fire at Ultraman. Ultraman dodged it and punched the dragon in the stomach, the dragon grabbed Sam and then threw him to the ground. The impact made his suit retract as he rolled on the floor.

The dragon swooped down and grabbed Twilight, and everyone in his claws. Then flew back to his cave. Sam slowly stood up, but he couldn’t walk. He had broken his leg upon the impact on the ground.

Within his mind, Sam was feeling weak as the corrupted monster chuckled.

“You’re too weak,” he mocked as he slowly started to take control. Sam’s body started to turn black and his scars glowed pink. The monster laughed, but just before he could completely corrupt Sam, the corruption stopped.

“No,” Sam muttered.

“What?” the monster said as he looked at Sam.

“The one thing that makes me more angry than Diamond Tiara telling me I'm a freak…” Sam said as he slowly stood up, “Is demons like you trying to control me!”

Suddenly the Corruption was blown off Sam as he screamed. Ultra-energy surrounded him in a ring of blue fire which grew brighter and pushed the monster back. Sam turned to face him with his eyes blazing blue.

“NO!” cried the monster, “I’m supposed to stay here until the second act.”

“Plans change,” Sam said as his rage became too much for the corrupted monster, and he was incinerated from Sam’s mind.

Sam was at last freed from his anger, his scars were gone, and his eyes were blazing blue. He donned his Ultrasuit again and flew after the dragon.

The Dragon wasn’t too far from his cave, when suddenly Ultraman flew past it. The Dragon, now getting annoyed, shot a powerful fireball at Ultraman, but he just grabbed it and threw it back. The fire ball struck the dragon in the face, making it far out the sky. Ultraman created a saw-like dice of light and used it to slice off the dragon’s claw holding Twilight and the rest. The Dragon crashed onto the ground, as Ultraman caught the claws and gently dropped it on the ground. The Dragon got up as Ultraman flew high into the sky. Twilight slowly opened her eyes to see the dragon breathe a powerful breath of Fire as Ultraman. The flames engulfed Sam, as Twilight slowly got up and cried out to him.

“SAM!” she yelled fearing she may have lost her son again. But when the dragon stopped breathing fire, Ultraman was still there, completely unharmed.

Ultraman placed his arms on a plus sign on his right side, and with a swipe of his left arm down to his elbow, fired a powerful Specium Beam that sliced the dragon clean in half. The dragon’s sliced body fell to the ground, as Ultraman slowly calmed down and lowered to the ground in front of Twilight and everyone, who were now starting to wake up. He retracted his Ultrasuit and collapsed to the exhausted.

“Oh I was so worried about you Sam,” Twilight cried, tears rolling down her cheeks as she slowly made her way to Sam and gave him a tight motherly hug.

“I’m sorry mum,” Sam replied petting her mane, “I’m sorry for running away, I was afraid that I could hurt you in the same way I did to Diamond.”

“Please don’t blame yourself,” Twilight cried more, “I don’t want to lose you again.”

“Can we go home now mum?” Sam asked.

“Yes,” Twilight sniffed, “yes we can.”

“But first, we need to go to the hospital,” remarked Trixie as she limped over.

When everyone walked out the Everfree Forest, the other Elements were waiting and started cheering when they saw Sam on Twilight’s back. They then saw them limping and helped them to the hospital. After getting checked up, Twilight and everyone sat in the lobby as Celestia, and Luna came in.

“We’re so glad you’re safe Sam,” Celestia said, as she nuzzled Sam’s cheek, making him giggle a bit.

“Yes indeed,” Luna retorted.

Sam then explained the battle in the forest, when Sam finished, Celestia and Luna were interested and scanned Sam to see if he was still the same. But they didn’t detect anything wrong.

“Sam?” Celestia asked, “Could you please lift up your shirt.”

Sam did so and was gobsmacked to see that his chest was clean, no scar to be seen.

“What the?” Sam expressed, “HOW!?”

“Do you not remember how they’re gone?” Luna asked.

“No,” Sam replied, “I fact I can’t remember much I was knocked out of my Ultrasuit.”

“Maybe your anger got so powerful that you burned the scars right off,” Pinkie suggested.

“I guess that makes sense,” Sam said while shrugging his shoulders.

The rest of the day was celebrating Sam’s return and finally letting go of his anger. Night came and Sam was more tired than ever as Twilight tucked him into her bed with her next to him she wanted to make sure Sam was safe and hopefully got no nightmare.

“I’m so happy that you are finally back to normal, and home safe and sound sweetheart,” she said, giving him a kiss on the forehead.

“Thanks mum,” Sam replied, “and again, I’m sorry for running away. I didn't know what else to do after I attacked Diamond Tiara.”

“Just next time she is annoying you tell me or anyone else or just to control your anger,” Twilight responded, “now have a good night sleep honey, sweet dreams.”

“Good night mum, I love you,” Sam said before closing his eyes.

“Mummy loves you too,” Twilight replied as she got into bed and turned off the light.

Sam felt safe snuggled next to Twilight, and he knew tonight he wasn’t going to get any nightmares as he had incinerated the corrupted monster from his mind. He snuggled in closer, kissed Twilight on the forehead and fell asleep. Knowing that this was going to be the first best night he has had in a long time.

Chapter 9: Luna Therapy (Edited)

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Sam found himself in his mind once again but seemed different. It wasn’t pitch black like last time. It was a deep blue, and the atmosphere felt warm and comforting.

“Is this my mind?” Sam asked out loud to no one in particular.

“This is your dream young one,” said a familiar voice. Sam turned and saw Luna standing behind him, “Greetings young Sam.”

“Princess Luna!” Sam said as she came close and hugged him.

“It’s good to see you too,” Luna replied.

“But how did you get here?” Sam asked.

“Through the door,” Luna said, pointing to an open door with Sam’s dreams on the front, “but for the past weeks since you’ve been here, it’s been locked shut.”

“Oh,” Sam commented, “I think I know why.”

“What do you mean?” asked Luna.

“It was this demonic corrupted monster with a head like a lemon but completely slipping down the middle,” Sam said, “he must have been the one that was making me go berserk and making my scars grow.”

“About that,” Luna said, “do you mind telling me about your scars?”

“No, I don’t mind,” Sam replied, “but could we talk somewhere else?”

“Like a therapy room?” Luna asked as a door suddenly appeared. It opened to reveal a room with red carpeting, large windows, a desk with a swivel chair, a coffee table with a turquoise coach behind it.

“Woah,” Sam remarked.

“Right should we get started,” Luna said, Sam turned to look at her, and she had changed forms. She was human but with her normal fur, her hair was done up in a bun and she had glasses on. On her shirt, she had a name tag that said, Dr lunabel.

“Woah!” Sam replied again.

“What? Is my bust too big,” Luna asked.

Sam didn’t reply as he walked in and sat down on the couch. Luna went over to the chair as sat down, she then got out a black notebook with a crescent moon on the front.

“Now, throughout these sessions, should there be more, I would like you to call me Lunabel,” Luna said, “understood.”

“Yes Lunabel,” replied Sam.

“Now, please tell me about how you got your scars,” Lunabel told him.

“Ok, it all started back in primary school,” Sam began.

And this was the story he told.

(From his point of view.)

I joined my primary school at the age of five. I was a little late in joining after not being able to cope with how difficult the last primary school was. I was quiet and sat at the back of the class, so I felt like no one knew I was there, and I felt lonely. At break and lunch I would find a bench and be on my own eating my snack or lunch. I think because I was so quiet and that no one knew me, that’s how I was an easy target for bullying.

The first time was just name calling, but as time went on, they became more physical. They would punch me, kick me, slam my head against walls if I tried talking back, the lot. I couldn’t talk back to them or tell my family because I was scared and nervous of what they could do or say. One day, after having my homework tore up in front of me, I was crying in the halls but then I heard the sweetest voice ever.

“Hey, are you all right?” I looked up to see a girl that was in my class named Elena, “why are you crying?”

“My homework was torn up,” I replied, sobbing of course.

Elena got out a tissue and wiped my tears away, she then helped me up and took me to the teacher. She explained that the reason I didn’t have my home was that the bullies had torn it up and insulted me that I wasn’t smart. I expected the teacher to be angry with me, because, like I say, I was scared of what she could have said or done. But she just smiled at me and told me it was alright and that she would like to see me after class.

After the class, I waited for everyone to leave and went to the teacher. She told me that she wasn’t mad, she just wanted to know if I was ok. I broke down and told her everything, she comforted me and told me it was ok, and if I had any problems to tell her straight away. From that day on, I sort of saw her as a second mother.

The next day, everything went fine, I wasn’t bullied, I spoke up a bit more and I was even smiling at the end of the day. But the day after, was the beginning of the torture. The bullies confronted me again, but they took me to an area far from everyone else, then with two holding me back, the leader pulled out a switch-blade and cut me deeply. Then they dropped me and left, but not before beating the heck out of me. I felt too weak to stand up, and they had timed it so they would get back to class on time while I got told off for being late.

I tried to crawl to the doors that would get me back in the building, but I felt like I wouldn’t get there, but then just before I could give up, I noticed Elena, running up to me, with two other boys, who were named Joe and Thomas. The three of them had come to help me. Thomas and Joe helped me up and Elena looked at my stomach, they took me to the medical office where the nurses patched me up. When my mother heard the news, she rushed to school to make sure I was ok.

I went home for the rest of the day and came back the next day to find out the bullies had been ordered to stay at home for a week. I was happy and made the most of that week without them. I made friends with an overconfident hothead named James, another loner named Oscar, a nudist Kelly, and some others. But this wasn’t all just happiness, because with one lot of bullies out, there’s always more.

Now these weren’t as bad as the others that cut me, these were more of the queen of the school like girls, they were rude to everyone, not just me. I remember there being three, but I could only remember one, her name was Tazmin or Taz for short. I think she was the leader of the trio, but yeah she was rude to me, saying that I was ugly and a loser. They never got physical because they didn’t want to ruin their makeup and nails. But other than that, it was a good week. But it was just that week.

The next time the bullies came back and were worse than ever, they started to cut me more, every day at lunch, they would take me to the spot where I was cut and do it again and again. They would also keep cutting the scars that were already there, which then became permanent, and I started getting nightmares which made me gasp in pain as the scars would hurt me so much. I barely slept, barely ate, the scars really did a number on me. Years passed, my siblings moved out the house, my father passed away, and then came the day the TF-Virus hit my town. And you know the rest.

“Yeah, that was my school life and how I got my scars,” Sam finished his story. He was lying on the coach now.

Lunabel just listened, asking questions at times, but mostly listened with sorrow in her heart for the child.

“I’m so sorry to hear that, little one,” she said as she leaned down and kissed his forehead.

“Thanks for that,” Sam replied.

“Your friends must have supported you through those years right?” Lunabel asked.

“Yes they did,” Sam answered, “they were like a second family to me.”

“Can you tell me about them?” she asked.

“Sure,” Sam said.

First, there’s Elena, she was the kindest, sweetest girl in the class. Like I told you earlier, she helped me tell the teacher about my homework. She was always by my side, she would sometimes tell the bullies to back off from me and sometimes it worked. And I… may have a crush on her.

Thomas was a great friend too, but he did have some bad anger issues. This was due to him being the smallest in our friend group and would often rage quit when playing games. But he would try to hold them back, sometimes by breaking something he brought to school that was easier fixable by going outside and screaming his head off.

Joe was an amazing friend. He was very prideful with his work and would take charge as team leader if I wasn’t around. He was like an older brother, always looking after us and jokingly telling us off if we got out of line.

Sommer was a hard working girl. She lived in New Zealand on a farm for about 3-4 years so she had a bit of a New Zealand accent. She was the second smallest in our group of friends, but just like Thomas she was tough, she stood up to a bully and to prove that she was someone not to be messed with, she grabbed his arms and flipped him over her shoulder. She was epic and I’m glad she was my friend.

If Sommer was strong enough to flip someone over her shoulder, then Tyler could break someone in half. He was the tank of our group, he was bigger than the bullies, so they didn’t mess with him. Tyler was our bodyguard if you will, big, brave, and bold.

Millie was the quietest in our group, I was the quietest but then I became the team leader, so Millie became the quietest. She wouldn’t say much, in fact we guess she was mute, as no one had ever properly heard her speak, but she confirmed us wrong and she does have a voice, she would talk when trying to point out the obvious or to scream in terror.

Reece is a weird one to talk about. He’s a great guy but he’s on the gay side. We could tell in how he spoke and would often hold a rose. At first we considered him to be fancy, but then he started to tell us how much he had a thing for men and then we just went yeah he’s gay.

Erin wasn’t a bully, but she wasn’t the nicest to me, she would harass me and pull pranks on me, finally my friends stood up for me and told her to back off. I later found out that she had never had a friend, so I decided to befriend her. and it worked. She would still pull a prank or two on me, but it wasn't as bad as her previous ones.

Chloe was a nice girl too. She would help me with homework, personal problems, and other problems. Although she was nice to me, you wouldn’t want to get her on her bad side, because, like with Tyler and Sommer she would beat up those who would hurt me.

Oscar is another funny case, me and him weren’t really that close to begin with. Before, he didn't really want to have friends, he said he was perfectly fine being on his own, but he found out that playing on your own was really boring. So, seeing how many friends I had, he asked me if he could play with us. And the two of us became good friends.

James, as I said earlier, was an overconfident hothead. He was my most overconfident friend, thinking he was very brave and often jumps to conclusions first. Me and my friends often had to get him out of trouble, but he would still help out, though he would often annoy everyone with his bosting.

Kelly is the strangest case of them all, she was a three in one type of girl. She was a nudist, an artist, and a hippie. she would often be the voice of reason when an argument was happening between us. She would wear clothes, when she was at school, and parties but at her home, and in her private life she would be in the nude.

Sophia was a bit of a bossy boots. When in a team, she would boss everyone in a way that she thinks would work. But it never did. I had enough and told her off and put her in her place, now she holds off on her bossy side. But it still would come out when trying to argue about something.

And Lastly, I think, is Phoebe. She is another strange case. She was known as the Queen of Kisses. She was given this nickname, due to how she kisses, she could literally kiss off your face, which came in handy if someone fainted and she would give you the kiss of life. Or rather the vacuum kiss. She would always act like a dumb bimbo, but we knew she wasn’t, she just did that to get attention.

“Yeah, those are my friends,” Sam finished. He was lying on the other side of the coach now. Lunabel listens carefully, nodding and adding a comment every once in a while.

“Do you miss your friends?” Lunabel asked.

“Yeah, I really do,” Sam replied, “I just want to see them again, but they’re probably turned into animals by now.”

“Well, as much as I want to continue talking,” Lunabel said looking at the time, “our time is up.”

Sam looked to the time, it was getting close to morning. He got up and gave Lunabel a hug.

“Thank you so much Lunabel,” he said.

“you’re very welcome,” she replied, hugging him tighter, “and remember, you don’t need to be afraid to tell us what’s wrong. If something is bothering you, please tell me, Tia, or your mother and aunts. Ok?”

“Yes Lunabel,” Sam remarked as Lunabel led him to the door.

With one more hug and kiss on the forehead, Sam opened the door and a bright light shone from the open door. And Sam was gone. Lunabel grinned, as she reverted back to Luna, and opened Sam’s dream door back to the dreamscape and went to check on the other ponies.

Chapter 10: To the Empire of Crystal (Edited)

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Twilight woke Sam up early, she had made plans not long after Sam fell asleep that last night. She had woken up in the middle of the night and wrote a letter to her brother and sister-in-law, telling them about Sam. And that morning, she had gotten a reply that they would love to meet the little kid. Twilight replied that she and Sam will come up to see them today.

Sam wasn’t a fan of waking up early. He liked to stay in bed as he would be in a comfy spot and would refuse to leave. But Twilight forced him to get up and get ready.

“Come on Sam,” she said, “We got something important to do today.”

Sam just looked at her with a tired look, “What are we doing today that was so important to disturb my peaceful sleep?”

“you’ll find out,” she told him as she rushed around the library, “now get packing.”

Sam sighed and packed a few things, some clothes, his toothbrush, and his chameleon plush. Twilight made Sam a quick breakfast of toast and after that the two headed to the train station.

“Mum, you still haven't told me where we’re going or why we’re going,” Sam said, still feeling rather tired as they walked, “plus why did we have to get up just as Celestia is raising the sun?” He mentioned how the sun wasn’t even halfway over the mountains.

“So we can get to the earliest train to get to our destination on time,” Twilight assured him, “and don’t worry, if you’re still tired, you can sleep on the train.”

Sam just sighed as the train arrived at the train station, While Twilight was buying the tickets, Sam noticed Rainbow Dash flying towards him.

“Hey there, sport!” she said, “What’s going on?”

“We’re going somewhere by train, Rainbow,” Sam said, “but Twilight hasn’t told me where we’re going yet.”

“Oh,” she said, “Well wherever she’s taking you, and you feel bored, maybe read this. I’ve been meaning to give it to you.” She then pulled out a book from her bag and gave it to Sam.

It had a picture of a tan pegasus with a black mane and tail wearing explorer clothes in a jungle. Her cutie mark was a compass. There were big words on the front cover. She looked a little like Rainbow, but with a mane and tail that were different shades of grey.

“Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone,” Sam read out loud.

“It’s the first book in the series. I think you’ll like Daring Do, Sam,” Rainbow said, “She is undeniably, unquestionably, un-put-down-able!”

“That’s not a word,” Sam bluntly said, “but thank you Rainbow Dash.”

“Your welcome little dude,” Rainbow replied rubbing her hoof through his hair, she then flew off. Twilight then came up to him carrying two tickets in her magic.

“Was that Rainbow you were talking to?” she asked.

“It was,” Sam said, “She gave me the first Daring Do book to read.”

“Well, at least you’ll have something else to do on the train ride. It takes a long time to get to where we are going.”

“How long does it take?” Sam asked.

“About five hours,” she said, Sam’s eyes widened, “don’t worry, that book will keep you occupied.” She then gave him his tickets. Then there was a loud whistle, and Sam saw a train coming up to the station.

“Oh my Celestia!” Sam shouted in glee when he saw the train, “it’s a green E2 Tank Engine.”

“How do you know that?” Twilight asked.

“I’m a big steam locomotive fan,” Sam replied.

The train stopped in front of them, and the passenger doors opened. Ponies started walking out of the coaches.

“Come on Sam, this is our train,” Twilight said as she and Sam showed the Conductor their tickets.

The two of them walked onto the train coach and found a seat to sit down at. As the whistle blew and the train started moving, Sam laid against Twilight’s side, closing his eyes. Twilight wrapped a hoof around his body and brought him closer as Sam fell back asleep.

After a while of sleeping, Twilight gently nudged Sam awake.

“Sam, sweetie,” She said, as Sam slowly opened his eyes, “We’re here.”

Sam slowly sat up and looked out the window. It was really bright outside, but as his eyes got used to it, he saw that he was in a kingdom made of crystals. He looked at Twilight and she smiled.

Twilight and Sam got off the train, and Twilight made her way to the streets of the crystal kingdom. Sam saw crystal ponies going about their business, as happy as they could be. Some even gave Twilight waves as they passed by.

“So what is this place mum?” Sam asked.

“Sam, Welcome to the Crystal Empire!” Twilight exclaimed.

Sam was amazed, he looked around at all the crystal ponies, and houses. They walked a bit further and the giant Crystal castle came into view. Sam saw underneath was a heart made of crystal.

“This is the Crystal Heart,” Twilight said, “this is what gives this place the power to shield it from the frozen north, and what gives the ponies their crystal look.”

“So they’re not made of crystal?” Sam asked.

“No, they’re not,” chuckled Twilight. Sam reached out a hand to touch the heart.

“It feels really warm,” he said, taking his hand off.

“That’s the power of the love and unity the crystal ponies have in the empire,” Twilight told him.

They then walked up to the castle doors. A couple guards were at the doors when they walked up. Two stood at each side of the door one male and one female, while the third, who was unlike the other two, being orange, and had gold armour, and blue mane and tail, stood between them.

“Twilight Sparkle, sister-in-law to the Princess and Element of Magic, we welcome you,” one of them said.

“Prince Shining Armour and Princess Cadence are waiting inside for you and your human son here,” said the other one.

“Thank you kind sir and madam,” Twilight told them.

“if you follow me, miss Sparkle to the Throne room,” the middle guard said.

They walked past the guards at the doors, but the female guard held out a hoof to Sam.

“Welcome to the Crystal Empire young man,” she said.

“Thank you sir,” Sam replied nervously. He then walked up next to catch up with Twilight.

“You were never nice to me,” the male guard commented.

“We’re not dating Silver Sword,” the female spoke back.

Sam was admiring the interior as they walked towards the throne room. About halfway there, Twilight saw her brother coming up to them.

“Twily!” he said. Twilight ran up to him, and they embraced each other, “Good to see ya again, little sis. How have you and Spike been since the whole Sombra incident?”

“We’ve been getting along just fine, Shining,” Twilight told him, “How’s Cadence doing?”

“She’s been doing okay,” he said.

“That’s good to hear,” Twilight said.

“So, where’s the little human you told us about?” asked Shining.

“He's right here,” Twilight replied, turning to the side so Shining could see Sam, “Shining, this is Sam. Sam, this is my older brother, Prince Shining Armour.”

Sam came out from behind Twilight and bowed his head to Shining. “It’s nice to meet you, Prince Shining Armor,” he said.

“Nice to meet ya too, Sam,” Shining replied, putting a hoof on Sam’s shoulder, “And you can just call me Shining.”

“Where’s Cadence anyway?” Twilight asked.

“She’s in the throne room holding the day’s court at the moment. She should be done pretty soon though,” Shining said, “I’ll take it from here Flash Sentry, you can go back to your post.”

“Yes sir,” replied Flash as he went back on duty.

“Follow me everypony.” Shining then led them to where the throne room and Cadence were. They eventually came up to the throne room doors.

“Wait here you two,” he said, “I need to make sure she’s finished before bringing you all in.” He then went inside leaving Twilight and Sam to wait. After waiting a few minutes, the door opened up, and a couple crystal ponies left after talking with Cadence.

“Come on in you two,” Shining called. Twilight and Sam walked inside and saw Cadence and Shining at the other end of the room, Cadence smiling brightly upon spotting me.

“Twilight! Long time no see!” she exclaimed, trotting up to me.

“Cadence!” Twilight said, happy to see her as well. They then began their nursery rhyme and dance once meeting in the middle of the room.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” They recited giggling and embracing each other afterwards.

“What was that?” Sam asked.

“That’s our little dance we do every time we meet each other,” Twilight replied.

“You do that every time?” Sam question.

“Every. Since. Time,” Twilight answered intensely.

“How’ve you been since you were last here, Twilight?” Cadence asked.

“I’ve been getting along just fine,” Twilight tells her, “been taking care of a little child.”

“I’m 10,” Sam spoke up, with a deadpan expression.

“ooh, can I see the little guy?” Cadence asked.

“Of course,” Twilight said as she stood aside, and Sam walked forward.

“You must be Sam,” Cadence said, “My name is Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can just call me Cadence."

“It’s nice to meet you too Cadence,” Sam said, as his stomach then gave a low growl.

“My, someone must be hungry,” Cadence chuckled.

“Yeah I didn’t eat much for breakfast,” Sam said, rubbing it.

“Did you rush out of the house again?” Shining asked his sister.

“Maybe…” Twilight replied innocently, as her own stomach rumbled.

“You could have gotten the next train,” Shining said, “then you would have had time to have something to eat.”

Cadence wrapped Sam up in her magic and levitated him onto her back.

“Let’s go have some lunch then,” she said as she started to lead them out of the throne room and toward the dining hall.

Cadence with Sam on her back, led Twilight, and Shining into the dining room. She levitated Sam into a chair as she, Twilight and Shining sat down at the table. Some servants shortly came in with a pretty big lunch. These were special foods that were made and grown in the Crystal Empire. There was crystal corn on the cob, Crystal Empire nectar, Crystal Empire fritters, and a Crystal Empire berry pie for dessert. But for Sam he was lucky to have a takeaway pretty much, as his food was a burger, some fries, and a lemonade for his drink.

Sam took a bite of his burger, and his eyes lit up. “Mmm!” he said after swallowing a bite of my lunch, “This crystal burger is delicious!”

“We were told by Twilight that you really like fast food, so we ordered some from the fast food place in town,” said Shining.

“What was that place called again?” Cadence asked, “was it Freddy Fazbear’s Fast food.”

Sam almost choked on his food when he heard that. “Wait what?” he exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Shining assured her, “thought it’s his little sister’s who runs this fast place, Circus Baby I believe is her name.”

Sam’s eyes widened, “Is she a pony or animatronic?” Sam asked, his voice a bit nervous.

“I think she and all the others are sentient animatronics,” Cadence replied, “why?”

“No real reason,” Sam said as he drank his lemonade in fear.

“So, how about after lunch, we go for a walk and show Sam around the kingdom?” Shining Armour said.

“That sounds like a great idea, Shining,” Twilight said, “what do you think Sam?”

Sam nodded in response. So after lunch, Twilight used her magic to lift Sam onto her back and they walked out of the castle.

For the next few hours, Cadence and Shining showed Sam around the Crystal Empire. First, they went to the spa. Twilight took a dip in the crystal mud bath. Shining gave Cadence a massage, and one of the crystal spa ponies was giving Sam a massage too. Sam felt more relaxed than he ever felt. Later they went out in the fields behind the castle and picked crystal berries. Sam snuck a few into his mouth while picking.

But as they were about to go back inside, a monster arose from the ice and snow. It had a face similar to a walrus and had bat-like wings. It was the Freezing monster Peguila.

Sam dropped his berries and ran towards the monster, Cadence and Shining Armour tried to stop him, but Twilight blocked them, and then watched Sam dawn his Ultrasuit and growl to match Peguila’s height.

Ultraman kicked Peguila in the neck, making the monster fall back, as Ultraman stood in a fighting pose. Ultraman and Peguila charged at one another, Ultraman went to punch Peguila, but the monster blocked the attack with its wing. Ultraman then chopped at Peguila’s neck. The monster went to back slap Ultraman, making Ultraman recoil. Sam felt the suit starting to stiffen up

“Ultras must not do very well in freezing temperature,” he said as he roundhouse kicked Peguila.

Peguila went to slap Ultraman with his wing, but Ultraman blocked it, and elbowed Peguila in the side of the head. Peguila tried to slap him with the other wing, but Ultraman stopped it too, and kicked Peguila in the stomach. Peguila recoiled in pain and Ultraman threw him aside. The Ultrasuit was getting harder to move around.

“I must finish this quick,” Sam remarked, as he flipped over Peguila and then slashed at his face.

Peguila fell back in pain as Ultraman brought his left arm up to his right and performed his Specium Beam. He fired and it struck Peguila, exploding him in the process.

Sam breathed heavily, he found out one weakness to his superhero form, he can’t stand cold/freezing temperatures. He snack back down to now size and shrivelled into Cadence’s arms. Cadence and Shining Armour looked to Twilight for an explanation.

“It’s a long story,” Twilight replied.

After they went back inside, had dinner, warmed Sam up and played some board games, Twilight explained about Sam’s alter ego. Cadence and Shining understood and congratulated Sam for defeating his demons. Twilight then told Sam that they were going to be sleeping in the castle tonight and going back to Ponyville tomorrow morning.

Cadence led Twilight and a still shivering Sam to the guess room. Sam was on Twilight’s back, feeling cold and tired from the fight.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you have a cold in the morning,” Cadence chuckled.

“Just doing a superhero’s job,” Sam replied.

“But did you have fun today?” Twilight asked him as he went to the guess room.

“I did,” Sam said with a yawn.

“That’s good to hear,” Cadence, As she hugged him, “goodnight Sam.”

“Goodnight Cadence,” Sam replied.

“Goodnight Twily,” Cadence said as she hugged her sister-in-law.

“Goodnight Cadence,” Twilight said as she returned it, after they broke the hug, Cadence left, “now you get ready for bed, and I’ll help you warm up with my body heat.

“Ok mum,” Sam answered, after he put his pyjamas on, and brushed his teeth, he went to sleep next to Twilight.

A few hours later, the door creaked open which woke Sam up. He looked and thought he saw something. He reached for his glasses and saw nothing there. He snuck out of bed and went to investigate.

He snuck around the castle trying to find what he thought was a pony peeking in at Twilight and him. He was going to give up and go back to bed, but then he heard another door creak. He looked to see a door slightly open. He crept to the door and peaked in. It was a storage room, with artefacts and other stuff. But what stood out to him was that there was a mirror in the far corner of the room, and there was a cloaked figure standing in front of it. Sam couldn’t tell who this was because they were hidden by the cloak.

Suddenly the figure jumped into the mirror and then they were gone in a flash. Sam ran into the room and looked around to see where they had gone, then he looked at the mirror. He went over and touched the surface of the mirror, and it rippled like water.

‘Is this a portal?’ Sam thought to himself.

Suddenly a yellow hoof shot out of it, Sam jumped, and backed up a bit. The hoof then tried to tempt Sam to come closer. Sam slowly approached it, and was about to grab a hold of it, but suddenly he was yanked back by Cadence. The hoof then retracted into the mirror.

“Sam, are you ok?!” Cadence asked, sounding a little panicked, “what are you doing out of bed and in here?”

“Yeah I’m fine,” Sam replied, “I thought I saw someone watching me and Twilight, and I think they went through… there.” He pointed to the mirror.

“Well, let's get you back to Twilight,” she said as she placed Sam on her back.

As Cadence left the room with Sam on her back, Sam looked back at the mirror wondering who was watching him, and what was up with that portal.

Chapter 11: A True Friend with a Brave Heart (Edited)

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Cadence was right. Sam caught a cold once getting back to Ponyville. He had it for a few days even to the day Twilight and her friends went back to the Crystal Empire to sort something out with the up-come friendship games. So Twilight got Trixie to look after him. Both boy and pony were delighted. Sam really liked Trixie. She performed some magic tricks for him, and they even spent time with some of the townsfolk. Derpy made him some special chocolate chip muffins. Octavia and Vinyl play him some of their music. And Lyra Heartstrings and Bon-Bon, took Sam for a picnic, before a Usar Minor ruining it.

Some time had passed. And Sam wasn’t sick with a cold anymore. But more monsters had started to rise up more frequently. He had to defeat a monster that was draining magic, a monster that resembled a green lizard like monster but was actually a mammal and a worm looking monster that was hiding in the cooler at Sugarcube corner.

One evening, Sam had just defeated another monster, this one had whips for hands and was slowly making his way back to the Library. He was really tired, once he opened the door he collapsed on the floor.

“Evening Sam,” Twilight said, not even looking up from her book.

“Evening… mum,” Sam panted. Twilight turned her head to see him on the ground. She placed her book down and helped him up.

“Are you ok sweetheart?” Twilight asked caringly.

“Yeah, just tired,” Sam replied, as Twilight used her magic to help him up, “Man, it’s hard work defending the town from monsters.”

“And you’ve done a great job today,” Twilight said, giving him a kiss on the cheek, “now go upstairs and get washed and ready for bed.”

“But it’s 7PM,” Sam responded.

“I said wash and ready, not wash and straight to bed,” Twilight said, “you have to wait to get yourself washed though, Spike’s having one of his seven-hour bubble baths.”

“Again!” Sam groaned.

“But he should be nearly done,” Twilight assured him, “His seven hours is almost up.”

“Ok,” Sam replied as he walked to the stairs. Just before he went upstairs, he passed the case with the Elements of Harmony inside.

He always found them stunning to look at. Twilight would often tell him about the times that they used them to defeat Nightmare Moon and Discord. He sometimes believed that if he tried them on, he could perform magic like Twilight, or run as fast as Rainbow, or be as strong as Applejack, or be able to talk to animals like Fluttershy, or whatever Pinkie and Rarity do.

As he got to the bathroom, Spike was just coming out.

“Oh hey Sam,” he greeted him.

“Spike, why do you take such long baths?” Sam asked.

"Uh... Because I like water..." Spike replied feeling kind of embarrassed as he walked out.

Sam sighed as he took his clothes off and went into the bathroom. Sam got into the tub and turned on the shower. He sighed at the nice feeling the water felt on his body.

‘This feels so nice,’ he thought, as he sighed and closed his eyes.

He then started to wash his hair and body but as he was cleaning, he saw a flash of light in the corner of his eye. The light looked like it came from where Twilight was.

"What was that?" he said to himself as he looked around the shower curtain. "That was weird."

Sam soon stopped cleaning himself and got out of the tub drying himself off. As he did, Twilight walked passed.

“Feeling better?” she asked.

“Yes,” Sam replied.

“Come on then,” Twilight said, “I’ll tell you more of our adventures before bed.”

“Ok,” Sam responded as he followed Twilight to the bedroom.

That night, Twilight told Sam about Cadence and Shining Armour’s wedding, and about how they were set in charge to run the Crystal empire. And how Spike saved the day. Soon the realm of dream teased Sam and he soon fell asleep next to Twilight.

“I really need to get him a bed of his own,” Twilight remarked as she turned off the light and fell asleep herself.

As the sun shined into the room, Sam noticed that Twilight was gone. Sam just guessed maybe she had gotten up early, as he got up and got ready for the day. He walked down the stairs to the kitchen. He then felt something climb up his legs, he looked down and saw Camillia.

“Oh Good morning, Camie,” Sam said as he let her crawl onto his hand and he placed her on his shoulder, “you hungry?”

But Camillia seems distressed and concerned about something.

“What’s wrong, Camie?” Sam asked, as Camillia gestured to the Elements of Harmony.

Sam walked closer and started to see what was wrong. Twilight’s Element was fine, but the others weren’t, they were all the wrong colours. Rarity’s was red, Rainbow’s was pink, Fluttershy’s was blue, Pinkie’s was orange and Applejack’s was purple.

“Ok, that doesn’t look right,” Sam remarked, then he heard a knock at the door. He went to answer it and was surprised when Lyra, Bon-Bon and Derpy all tried to squeeze through the door at once and then all fell onto the floor, Octavia came in after them.

“Uh, Good morning,” Sam responded, not sure what else to say.

“Morning Sam,” Derpy replied, giving him a wave.

“Sam, where's Twilight?!” Lyra exclaimed.

“I don’t know, why?” Sam asked, in a more calm tone.

“Because something is wrong with the sky,” Octavia replied sounding concern.

Sam stood outside and looked up, he saw that the sky was a patchwork of sorts. Some clouds were raining, and others were snowing, with the sun barely able to shine out.

“What the?” Sam questioned, “why isn’t Rainbow doing her job?”

“Because It’s not Rainbow that’s trying to sort everything out,” everyone looked and saw Twilight galloping up to the front of the library.

“What do you mean?” Octavia asked.

“It’s Rarity, she’s trying to sort everything out,” Twilight replied.

“Why?” Bon-Bon questioned.

“Because she has Rainbow’s Cutie Mark!” exclaimed Twilight. Everyone gasped.

“That would explain why the Elements are different colours,” Sam remarked.

“Show me,” Twilight said. Sam showed her the elements, Twilight gasped and brought out a notebook, “Starswirl’s spell.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Sam.

“After you went upstairs to have a shower, the Postpony showed up with a package from Celestia,” she replied as she levitated the book to Sam, “this was Starswirl’s journal and had an incomplete spell, the spell must have done something to the elements.”

At that moment, Spike came downstairs. “Twilight?” he asked, “what’s wrong?”

Twilight looked at the Elements, “If Rarity is doing Rainbow’s job, then where’s…” she stopped mid-sentences when she saw the colours of the elements. She levitated Spike and Sam onto her back and dashed out the door.

“What about us?” called Derpy.

“You five make sure no one gets hurt,” Twilight called to them as she dashed out of town to Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Where are we going!?" Sam exclaimed as Twilight galloped down the path. She was galloping so fast and so roughly, that Spike bounced off her back.

"When I asked where Rainbow Dash was, Rarity told me that she was at her cottage! Rainbow Dash's cottage!" She exclaimed. "I have a very bad feeling about this..."

As Twilight ran, Sam could see how nervous she was. "Mum, please calm down... I'm sure you can fix it." Twilight slowed down when they got closer to the Cottage. Twilight knocked on the door and to everyone’s surprise, Rainbow Dash was the one who answered.

"Hey guys..." Rainbow said, sticking her head out the door.

"Rainbow Dash, what's going on? Why aren't you controlling the weather?" Twilight asked. Just as Rainbow was about to answer, there was a loud noise coming from inside, and Rainbow ran back in. "And what is going on in... Here...?" Twilight, Sam, and Spike were shocked to see the place was a mess of animals running around. Rainbow Dash was desperately trying to calm the animals down inside but putting them in the wrong cages and just having a hard time.

"Mum, I'm gonna go find my friends... I want to make sure that they're okay." Sam said as he turned to walk back to the town.

"Wait! Sam, are you sure? It could be dangerous!" Twilight exclaimed.

"I know, but that's why I have to make sure they're ok!" Sam exclaimed running out the door, donned his Ultrasuit and flew back down to the town.

"Sam!" Twilight exclaimed, but Sam was already gone.

"Where to go, where to go..." Sam said, looking around. He then saw Rarity as she was making the clouds in the sky into a patchwork pattern. "Rarity?" He shouted as he landed near her and took off his mask.

"Oh Sam! You startled me,” she responded, “what brings you here darling?"

"Have you seen Sweetie Belle?” Sam asked.

"I can't say that I have... Why don't you check Pinkie Pie's farm?" She said getting back to the weather.

"Pinkie Pie's farm?!" Sam exclaimed and ran towards 'Pinkie's' farm, Sam decided it was best to keep the Ultrasuit on. Finally he reached the farm. He called out to his friends, when he heard sounds coming from the trees, but when he turned to look up, he saw Pinkie Pie except her hair and tail was flat.

"Pinkie Pie!?" he exclaimed, running to her. "What happened to you!?"

"Oh hi Sammy," She sighed, "Nothing, just having trouble getting apples..."

"but... those trees don’t have apples in them," Sam said, pointing at the empty tree.

"Oh... That explains it," She sighed moving to a different tree. "If you're looking for Apple Bloom, she's at her Clubhouse with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle."

Sam thanked her and ran into the clubhouse, only to find the three confused and scared. "Girls? Ouch!" Sam exclaimed as he banged his head on the door frame. Having his Ultrasuit on increased his height to almost as tall as Celestia, and Celestia would not fit through the door.

They all looked at him and quickly went to see if he was alright. "Sam!" They exclaimed.

“Are you ok,” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” Sam replied as the Suit retracted to his Colour timer, “just banged my head on the door frame.”

"We're so happy that nothing happened to you!" Scootaloo exclaimed as she helped him up.

"So what happened? Where's my big sis?" Apple Bloom asked.

"You didn't see her this morning?" Sam asked.

"No... She just vanished," Apple Bloom replied, “and next thing I knew, Pinkie came and started to work, like she lived here.”

"And Rarity was trying to control the weather when I woke up," Sweetie Belle added.

"She still is..." Sam sighed. "And right now, mum is trying to fix all of this." Just as Sam was about to sit down at the table, the four of them heard Silver Spoon’s voice.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders! Help!" Silver Spoon said, the Scootaloo opened the door, and a scared grey filly came running in, "Diamond Tiara has ran into the Everfree Forest, she wouldn't listen when I told her that we should find some place safe to be!"

Sam looked down for a moment. "Well if you ask me, she'll get what she deserves if she gets hurt!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

“After all the stuff she’s done to Sam,” Apple Bloom added.

“Including you,” Sweetie Belle pointed at Silver Spoon.

“I know, and I want to apologise,” Silver Spoon said, “I’ve realised that what Diamond has done was not fair, and she’s been technically racist. I don’t want to torment Sam anymore. He’s special and special ponies should be treated fairly and with more kindness from anyone.”

“Wow,” Scootaloo remarked, “I didn’t expect to hear you say that.”

“Well I didn’t really do much, Diamond was the one that did everything,” Silver Spoon responded, “I just followed along and last night, I started to think what I was doing was really good.”

“Well you’ve done a good thing in coming to apologise,” Apple Bloom said as she placed a hoof on Silver’s shoulder.

“What do you have to say to that Sam,” Sweetie asked, but Sam wasn’t there anymore.

“Where did he go?” Scootaloo asked, when they all looked at each other with worry.

“You don’t think he…?” Sweetie questioned.

“He wouldn’t! Would he…?” Apple Bloom asked.

“He must have!” Scootaloo added.

“Oh no!” Silver Spoon commented.

He did. Sam had donned his Ultrasuit again and was hurrying to the Everfree forest to get Diamond. But by the time he got to the entrance to the forest, his Colour timer started to flash.

“I better hurry and find her,” he said to himself, “I’m running out of energy. I would fly but that just uses more energy.” So he decided to go after her on foot.

It was dark in the Everfree Forest, but luckily, the Ultrasuit had night vision so Sam could see perfectly. A few minutes later, he saw Diamond jumping, hopping on rock over a swamp.

“Diamond Tiara!” he called out to her. Diamond Tiara turned and saw Sam, but she just scowled and ran on, “Diamond Tiara wait!”

Sam chased Diamond over the swamp, passed Everfree beasts like Manticore and Cragadile, and up a mountain. Diamond finally stopped running at the edge of a cliff, and Sam was still onto her, but his Colour was blinking faster.

“Stay away from there,” Sam called to her.

“Why are you following me?!” Diamond yelled at him.

“Why did you run into the Everfree Forest?!” Sam called back.

“To get away from the weather!” Diamond replied, “and you!”

“Why me?” Sam asked, “I hadn’t done anything to you since I came here.”

“Because you took away Silver Spoon!” snapped Diamond Tiara, “after I broke your hands, and you strangled me, she’s been getting quieter and stops me from harassing the Blank Flanks.”

“And that’s a bad thing because…” Sam said.

“because she was my friend! She told me this morning about how she didn’t want to torment you and the Blank Flanks anymore!” Diamond shouted, “and that it wasn’t fun to bully you.”

“So you came to the Everfree Forest to avoid me!” Sam shouted back, “Diamond, Silver Spoon made the right choice to stop, she’ll be happier, and have more friends, isn’t that what everyone wants. Friends that can help you, make you laugh, have fun with. I don’t know what you’ve been through to lead you to become such a bratty Princess, but I’ll tell you, I know what you’re going through.”

“You… you do?” Diamond asked, it seemed like Sam’s words were getting to her.

“Yes, back where I came from, I was like you now,” Sam said, “I was scared, alone, sad, just wanting to have a friend. I was tormented by bullies, but then I gained friends and they became like my second family. You can have that too.”

“I… Can…?” Diamond asked.

“Yes, you just have to come with me, back to girls, you can apologise, and they’ll welcome you with open arms,” Sam said as he reached out his hand.

Diamond was not sure, Sam was right, she would pretend to act all high and mighty, but behind the scenes, she was constantly talked down to by her mother. And she secretly wanted to be friends with the CMC, she just acted the way she did to impress her mother. She reached out a hoof to Sam, but then, things went from bad the worse.

A stray lightning bolt shot from the sky, and struck the cliff where Diamond was standing on. It started to crumble, Diamond didn’t move in fear, as she fell off the cliff. Sam tried to grab her hoof, but he didn’t grab it in time. Diamond screamed as she fell, Sam could only do what came to mind, he jumped off after her. He managed to get past her, and then spun around to protect her from the ground below.

“What are you doing?!” Diamond screamed, “now we’re both going to die!”

“Nope!” Sam yelled, “I’m willing to sacrifice my life for a friend to live on!”

Those words melted into Diamond’s mind, soul, and heart. As the ground came closer, she embraced Sam and he wrapped his arms around her body. The ground came with an uncomfortable thud. Diamond rounded out of Sam’s embrace. She groaned as she slowly got up and looked at Sam.

Sam was laying in a cross with his arms out and legs together. Diamond Tiara ran to him, worried.

“Sam? Sam wake up!” she said, nudging him gently, “Sam! Come on Sam, you have to get up!”

But Diamond’s affords were useless as Sam's Colour timer stopped flashing, and the suit retracted back into the colour timer. Sam lay there lifelessly, Diamond pressed her ear on his chest, she could hear his heart beat which eased her a bit, but she was still very worried. Diamond could only do one thing. Call out for help.

“HELP!” she yelled out, her voice echoed around the trees, “HELP! HELP!” A few minutes later, Diamond heard a voice from behind her.

“What is this I have found, you must have fallen quite a height to hit the ground with a pound.” Diamond looked up to see a familiar face. A familiar stripey face.

“Zecora!” Diamond Tiara cried as she ran to hug the zebra, Diamond started to cry into Zecora’s chest.

“Well this is something unexpected coming from you, what had gotten you so down and blue?” Zecora rhymed, as she patted Diamond’s head.

Diamond Tiara didn’t say much, “It’s…It’s…It’s Sam,” she stuttered, “h…he saved m… me from the fall from all the way up there.” She pointed all the way up to the cliff she and Sam fell off of.

“My, my that is quite a far fall, it’s amazing how your even able to crawl,” Zecora said as she looked down at Sam, “It would seem that Twilight’s son is in a comatose like state, we should get him to the hospital, there’s no time to wait.”

Zecora walked to Sam and managed to lift him onto her back. She then started to make her way out the Everfree Forest with Diamond Tiara walking much slower than her. Zecora noticed this, she knew about Diamond Tiara from Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo and how she would bully and mock them for being talentless. But here she was, worried for someone else rather than herself.

“You seem quiet back there, something must be on your mind,” Zecora spoke up to Diamond Tiara, “I’ve heard that you’re normally very rude, but here you are being caring and kind.”

“Well, It feels like this is my fault,” Diamond replied, “when Sam first got here, I’ve been rude and harsh to him, and in reality, he’s never done anything to me. True he did strangle me, but I now see that I deserved that. I don’t deserve to be around anypony.” Diamond was looking at the ground, so she didn’t see Zecora stop, and she walked into the back of her.

“Tell me this Diamond Tiara, what would've happened if the roles were reversed,” Zecora asked, “would you save him, or experience an outburst?”

“I… I… would have let him fall, and then everyone would never talk to me again,” Diamond replied, “but why did he save me after all that I’ve done to him?”

“Because that’s what sort of a friend that is Sam,” Zecora replied as she started to walk again, “he’ll help friends out even ones like you out of a jam.”

Diamond didn’t say anything, she just followed Zecora out the forest and to the hospital.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville hours later, Applejack, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie came running out the library. They seemed panicked.

“Where did she go?!” Rainbow yelled.

“I don’t know!” Applejack replied.

“Did we…” Fluttershy gasped, “did we… vaporised her?”

“Don’t be silly,” Rarity retorted.

“Sis?!” called a voice, the girls turned to see Apple Bloom running up to them with her friends.

“What’s wrong Sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“Have you seen Sam?” Sweetie questioned.

“I saw him this morning,” Pinkie replied.

“That doesn’t help Pinkie,” Rainbow said.

“Where did you last see him?” Applejack asked.

But before Apple Bloom could reply, In the night sky over Ponyville, a variation of Twilight's cutie mark appears and floats down to the ground. Twilight's friends watch as the light fades away, they could see a silhouette of a pony.

“Twilight, is that you?” Applejack asked as the light faded. As Twilight got up, she then extended her new wings, leaving the other ponies in shock. “I… I’ve never seen anything like it.”

““Twilight’s got wings!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed excitedly, “Awesome! A new flying buddy!”

“Why, you've become an Alicorn,” Rarity said as she looked at Twilight’s wings, “I didn't even know that was possible.”

“Alicorn Party!” screamed Pinkie.

“Wow,” Fluttershy started. “You look just like a princess.”

“That’s because she is a princess,” Celestia said, flying down.

“Huh?!” Everypony said in unison.

“Hold on a second!” Pinkie said as she pulled out a glass of water and pretty much did a spit take.

“A… A Princess?” Twilight let out.

Celestia placed a hoof on Twilight. “Since you’ve come to Ponyville, you have displayed the charity, compassion, devotion, integrity, optimism, and of course the leadership of a true princess.”

“But… does this mean I won’t be your student anymore?” Twilight asked.

“Not in the same way as before.” Celestia answered. “I’ll still be here to help and guide you, but we’re all your students now too.” She bowed her head “You are an inspiration to us all Twilight,” everypony else and Spike bowed as well… however Twilight noticed the concern looks on the CMC’s faces.

“Hang on a second,” Twilight said looking around, “where’s Sam?” she asked looking at the three crusaders. “he told me he was going to find you. Where is he?”

“We don’t know,” Scootaloo said, “he was with us, the Silver Spoon showed up and then he was gone.”

“Probably scared of her or something,” Rainbow suggested.

“He didn’t seem scared when she showed up,” Sweetie Belle replied.

“I know what happened to him,” Zecora’s voice came into earshot as everyone looked to see her coming up to them, “but the chances of you being relieved are very slim.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, tears could be seen starting to form in her eyes, “Zecora, where is my son?”

Twilight ran toward the direction of the hospital as quickly as she could with everypony, including Princess Celestia, following me.

‘Please… Please be alright! You promised me you would be!’ she thought to herself as tears were practically streaming down her face. Twilight soon ran into the hospital. “Where is he!?” was the first thing she yelled out, “Where’s my son!?”

“He’s alright Twilight,” Nurse Redheart spoke to her, “unconscious, but alright.”

“What happened to him?” Twilight asked in a panicked and sad tone.

“From what Zecora has said, he fell of a cliffside trying to save a young fillies life,” Nurse Redheart replied calmly to try and calm Twilight down, “he was wearing his Ultrasuit, so he was mostly fine.”

“Mostly?” Twilight asked again, “what do you mean mostly?”

“His Colour Timer stopped blinking,” Nurse Redheart replied, “his heart’s still beating, but he’s in a coma-like state.”

“Where is he?” Twilight asked, she was on the verge of tears again.

“He’s on the second floor, room 123,” Nurse Redheart said, “but he already has a visitor.”

“Who?” Twilight questioned.

“The filly he saved, Diamond Tiara,” Nurse Redheart said.

Twilight thanked her and went to find room 123. She found it and went inside to see her son lying unconsciously, with a blank Colour Timer, next to him she said Diamond Tiara, she had a hoof over Sam’s hand, and tears were falling down her face.

Diamond slowly looked up to see Twilight, she felt nervous to say anything. Twilight could see how scared she looked, She slowly made her way over to her and sat next to her. She then draped a wing over Diamond in a comforting way.

Diamond Tiara tilted her head to look at Twilight’s wing, and then to Twilight. “Since when did you have wings?” she asked.

“About 10 minutes ago,” Twilight answered with a little chuckle, “I’m a princess now.” Saying this made Diamond Tiara become totally shocked.

“A… princess…?” She let out, “You’re a princess now?!”

Twilight just nodded again… more focused on Sam.

All Diamond could do was turn back to Sam and sniff. “Thank you for being here…” Twilight quietly said to her.

“It’s all my fault,” Diamond Tiara, sniffed, “if I had just listened to Silver Spoon, he wouldn’t be here.”

Celestia slowly walked into the room looking down at Sam. “Nurse, may I ask you to step out of the room for a moment?” Celestia asked.

“Yes your highness,” Redheart said before leaving the room.

Celestia moved closer to Sam’s bed, looking down upon him. She sat on the other side of the bed and gently started to stroke Sam’s hair.

“I believe Sam needs to stay here and rest, Twilight,” Celestia spoke calmly, “he can’t be healed by a spell.”

“No, I must take him home and…” Twilight tried to speak but was cut off by Celestia.

“In normal cases yes, but you got to remember, Sam died and bonded to Ultraman,” Celestia replied sternly but calmly, “The Colour Timer will probably get affected by your magic and possibly put Sam into a deeper coma.”

“But…” Twilight tried to argue but Celestia’s point was true. Twilight could have tried to heal Sam but that would only put him into a deeper coma. She sighed as she looked at Sam’s peaceful face, sleeping away. Tears started to stream down her face again as she hugged Sam. She hated seeing her child hurt, and there was nothing she could do to help. Celestia and Twilight were just about to leave, but Diamond didn’t get up.

“Diamond come on, we need to leave so Sam can start to heal,” Twilight called out.

“I’ll go in a minute,” Diamond Tiara replied, “I just want to say a few things to him.”

“Of course,” Celestia said, “take all the time you need.” Twilight and Celestia left Diamond with Sam.

“Sam…” Diamond began, “I… I just want to say… I’m sorry. I’m sorry for making you run away, I’m sorry for bullying you on your first day, I’m sorry for everything. You didn’t deserve to save me, I should have died. I know you can’t hear me but when you’re better, I would like to be your friend. Actually, I want to be more than your friend. You see… I actually have a crush on you. I just didn’t know how to show my feelings. When you wake up, I want to know your past because everypony has been saying how awful it was. I’m just really, really sorry Sam and please forgive me.”

Diamond Tiara then gave a little kiss on Sam’s cheek, before leaving the room. Within Sam, his soul was smiling that Diamond Tiara had finally apologised to him.

Chapter 12: Reunition, An Ultra Encounter, and Back on Earth (edited)

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Sam was in the hospital for quite some time, his coma-like state meant that he was extremely unresponsive, not even his brainways were reacting. Luckily, the heart monitor was letting everyone know that he’s still alive, but it was incredibly hard to tell with Sam’s conditions. Even Princess Luna couldn’t do much, she could go into Sam’s dreams, but the problem was that it was a blank with nothing.

One day, Twilight, and Spike visited the hospital to see how Sam’s recovery was going. Sam had been visited by Applejack with a basket of freshly picked apples, Rainbow Dash with a few comic books, Rarity with a red and blue fox plush and Pinkie Pie with a box of cupcakes. Sam just laid there unresponsive and almost dead-like.

Twilight would sit next to him and tell Sam the things that had happened since he was put in the hospital. While being in his coma-like state, he had missed Twilight coronation, so he still had no idea she was now a princess. Twilight was growing concerned for Sam, she had the thought that when he woke up, he would have forgotten everything.

“Twilight?” Spike’s voice broke her out of her trance, “are you ok?”

“Oh Spike,” Twilight said as she wrapped Spike in a motherly embrace, “I just so worried for Sam.”

“I know, Twilight,” Spike said returning it, “but don’t worry, Sam’s going to get better and wake up real soon. We all got your back Twilight.”

“Thank you Spike,” Twilight said as she looked at Spike with tears falling down her face.

“So please stop crying,” Spike chuckled as he whipped some away.

“Hehe,” Twilight chuckled too as she whipped her eyes, “Come on, let's give Sam some space to recover.”

Spike and Twilight then left the room, with Twilight pausing for a moment to look at him. She quickly turned back, kissed her forehead, and then left him in peace.

The reason why Sam’s brainways weren’t active, was because it was far away in some blank, wide open space of nothingness. It also seemed really misty which didn’t make much sense to him. Sam took a step and the sound echoed everywhere. Sam took more steps and began to walk into the void of white.

“Hello?” Sam called out his voice echoing around, “Is anyone out there?” He started to feel a little scared, “I’m part Ultra and I’m not afraid to use my suit. Where am I? Am I dead?”

“No sweetheart, you are in between life and death,” called a gentle and familiar voice, “in limbo.”

Sam spun around, his eyes widened, he knew that voice. He knew that voice far too well to be true. Within the thick mist, he saw a figure coming closer, and the sound of what sounded like hooves on the ground. When the figure came into view, Sam felt his eyes water and build up with tears. He couldn’t believe it.

“M-M-Mum…?” he stuttered.

“Yes sweetheart, it's me,” Diana said as she opened her arms for a hug. Sam just ran into her arms crying his eyes out. He gripped her tightly like his life depended on it. After what seemed like an eternity, of hugging, crying and comfort, Sam let go of his mother. He then took notes of her appearance.

She looked human, and she wore her clothes on the day she first started to change. But she had the ears, tail, and the back hooves of a donkey, along with a bit of fur on her breasts.

“Am… Am I…?” Sam asked as he started to get himself together.

“No honey,” Diana assured him, “like I said, you’re in Limbo, in between life and death. But sadly, I am dead.”

“So the donkey…” Sam started but his mother cut him off.

“No the donkey is still alive,” she told him, “but my humanity and soul was forced out of my mind. So in some terms, I had an identity death.”

“Ok I guess that makes sense,” Sam said, “but if you're dead, then how are you here?”

“He helped him,” Diana replied, looking back into the mist. Suddenly Sam felt the ground shake, he looked up to see coming from the mist, a near fifty metre tall, blue, red, and silver Ultra, in a blue cape, and two blades on his head.

“Holy Mother of Ultra,” Sam said as he looked up at the Ultra. The Ultra got down on one knee to make him seem less threatening by his size, which didn’t really do much.

“This is Ultraman Zero,” Diana said, “he found my soul and had brought me to Limbo where I live now, where all the monsters that have been killed.”

“Wait what?” Sam asked. Ultraman Zero stood up and swished his cape around clearing the mist away and Sam could now see that he was in a dimension that had destroyed buildings, and monsters everywhere.

“You see Samuel, this is the place where monsters that have died, come and make their way to the monster graveyard,” the Ultra spoke. Sam looked around and saw monsters like Arstron and Lagoras, monsters that he had destroyed, “Some monsters choose to stay in this vast, endless void, as it makes them feel at peace with each other.”

“Humans that have died like me, can come here via the Train of the Vary Dimension,” Diana said.

“Oh,” was all Sam could say.

“Sam,” Ultraman Zero spoke, Sam looked up, Zero opened his hand and an orb of light floated down to Sam and landed on his left wrist. When the light went away, Sam saw that a device similar to his colour timer was on his wrist, “this device will allow you to connect to other Ultras like me and perform their attacks.”

“Wow cool,” Sam responded, “wait why did you give me this anyway?”

“It’s to prefer you for the future,” Sam turned to face his mother, “Sam, you're going to face new dangers that you can’t do alone, you must make new allies, and defeat new enemies. You’re going to travel to another dimension, go back to earth and face other threats along your journey. The fate of Equestria, Earth and the multiverse rest on your shoulders.”

“A bit much responsibility to have in the faith of a ten year old kid,” Sam remarked.

“That’s why you must assemble a team and face the threats together,” Ultraman Zero said, “it would also take the height of your shoulders.”

“Any fear I had of you is now gone because of that joke,” Sam remarked deadpanned, looking up at Zero.

“Yeah I’m not as serious as my dad,” Zero said, as he summoned some special armour and blade, then he opened a portal above and flew into it.

“Bye I guess,” Sam remarked. His mother chuckled. Sam then heard a train horn and both him and Diana looked to see an Odakyu 3100 series NSE train flew out through an open portal, it snaked around for a bit then came to a stop in front of Sam and Diana. Then another flew out another portal and came to a stop behind Sam.

“Well, my train’s here,” Diana said, as she turned back to Sam, her donkey ears dropping, “I have to get back to heaven.”

“Oh,” Sam said sadly, looking down, “I guess the train behind me would take me back to my comatose body.”

Diana hugged her son, and Sam returned it, “you have a new loving family and friends. I’m not mad that you took Twilight as your adopted mother, I’m just happy that you’ve found some place better than earth. So Please do mummy a favour and keep smiling. Ok sweetheart?”

“Yes, mum,” Sam said as he tried to stop crying and smile, when mother and son broke the embrace, Diana kissed Sam’s forehead, then turned to the train.

Sam watched her donkey tail sway back and forth with each step, this made him snicker a bit. Just as she stepped on board the train, the door closed behind her. She turned to face Sam and she waved goodbye to him. Sam waved back, trying his best to hold back his tears. The train then started to move and flew back through the open portal.

Sam then turned to get on his train. The doors closed behind him, and he took a set. The Train started to move, as it started to go through its portal, Sam looked down at the new device on his wrist.

“I wonder how it works,” he questioned as everything faded into white.

Sam slowly and weakly opened his eyes, to see Fluttershy reading him a book. Her eyes were focused on the book, so she didn’t see him open his eyes. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were also there, listening to Fluttershy tell the story. Even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were there. Sam turned his head to better see them. Fluttershy looked up to see how the fillies were enjoying the story, but then froze when she saw Sam’s head had turned and his eyes were opened.

“Fluttershy what’s wrong?” Sweetie asked.

“Yeah, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Sam remarked, this surprised the five fillies as they turned their heads around to face him, “you all look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

One moment they all were staring at Sam, the next all five fillies were on the hospital bed hugging me tightly.

“SAM, YOU’RE OK,” Diamond yelled.

“Girls… Can’t… Breath…” Sam gasped for air.

“Oh sorry,” Scootaloo said as she and the other girls backed off.

“Sam…” Diamond Tiara said sadly, Sam put up his hand stopping her from continuing.

“Don’t worry about an apology,” Sam replied, “I knew after saving your life, you would want to apologise, and yes I would love to be your friend too.”

Diamond was speechless but happy that Sam forgave her, and then tackled him in another more gentler hug.

“We must tell Twilight that you’re better,” Fluttershy said, but before Fluttershy opened the door.

“Take your time,” Sam replied, “I'm still feeling really weak.

“Probably because you haven’t eaten anything for a few weeks,” Silver Spoon said.

“Have I really been out that long?” Sam asked.

“Girls, can you go off and tell Twilight that Sam’s awake, and I’ll keep him company,” asked Fluttershy.

“Ok,” the fillies replied as they got off Sam’s bed and dashed off to get Twilight.

“So what did I miss?” Sam asked. Fluttershy chuckled and told Sam everything that he missed, while Sam had some of Pinkie’s cupcakes.

While Equestria was all calm and collected, earth was complete and utter chaos. The Animal Virus was still around, and what was left of humanity, chased the human-turned-animals out of their towns and cities. And it was the same for Sam’s siblings, Scott, Kerry, and Rebecca, along with Scott’s girlfriend Emily, and Kerry’s boyfriend Jake.

Once they heard that the virus had hit their little hometown, they dashed to get back and check on Sam and Diana. But they had gotten infected too. Scott had wolf fur growing on his body, Kerry had cheetah ears, Rebecca had a spider’s abdomen, Emily had a lizard’s tail and Jake had a rhino’s horn. The closer they got to Romsey, the further their changes went on, they rushed to the house. But only found a donkey in the front garden sleeping, and Sam nowhere to be seen.

Surprisingly, their minds never left them, so they were themselves, but their bodies were that of a wolf, cheetah, giant spider, lizard, and rhino. Some of the remaining humans in the town found them and chased them out of their town in hopes that would limit the chances of turning animals. The five were forced to live in the forest outside the town.

“I’m so worried,” Rebecca commented, as the five made their way deeper into the forest.

“About the people finding us and killing us?” Jake asked.

“No, about Sam,” Rebecca replied, “did he make it out alive? Did he become an animal?”

“Don’t focus on that,” Scott said, as he led the five, “you’ll just drive yourself mad thinking about what could you have done. You can’t change the past.”

“Bro where are we going?” Kerry asked her brother, “my legs are aching.”

“You’re a cheetah, you should be used to this,” Scott replied.

“We’re been animals for like a day!” Kerry snapped.

“Keep your fur on,” Scott told her, “I’m just trying to find some shelter for the night.”

“How about that cave,” Emily pointed out as her tongue flicked.

“That’s good enough,” Scott said as the five made their way inside the cave. Of course this is the same cave that Sam went into and fell into the lagoon in fright of the bears. Luckily, the bears were out hunting.

The five entered the cave and continued to walk until they reached the back with the lagoon. They all ran down to the water feeling extremely thirsty. As they drank, Scott picked up a familiar scent with his nose.

“Hey, I smell something,” Scott said, “it smells familiar.”

“What is it?” Emily asked.

“It smells like…” Scott paused as he sniffed he sniffed a bit more, “Sam…”

“What?!” they all exclaimed, they were all so surprised, Jake’s front leg slipped on the edge of the lagoon, and he fell into the water.

“Jake!” cried Kerry as she jumped in to help him.

“Sis!” Rebecca cried as she jumped in after her.

Emily and Scott looked at each other and both jumped in too. After they all had jumped in, everything went silent, and still, the only thing that was happening was the bubbles coming to the surface of the lagoon. And just as suddenly as Jake falling in the bubbles started to slow down until they stopped all together.

Chapter 13: Family Fight, Sam vs His Siblings (Edited)

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A few weeks have passed, and things couldn't be going any smoother ever since Sam’s recovery from his coma-like state. When Sam found out Twilight was a princess, he was both shocked and happy for her, he also told everyone what he saw in limbo and that his mother was happy for him, and that he had to be ready for dangers ahead. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had made up with him and everyone in their class and had become very close friends. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had even allowed them to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders, which the two really liked.

One day Sam was testing out his new Ultrix (that’s what he’s calling the device) in Sweet Apple Acres.

“So how does this work?” he asked his friends. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were there to watch him.

“How are we meant to know!” Scootaloo bluntly said.

Sam touched the Ultrix and it turned on with a blue flash. The Ultrix seemed to give Sam the knowledge of the Ultras and how the Ultrix worked.

“Ultraseven, Wide Shot!” Sam called out as a hologram of the said Ultra appeared above him.

Sam puts his arms in a L sign, with his left arm upright, his right arm bent, the holographic image of Ultraseven did the same, and fired a blue beam of energy through his vertical hand, destroying a nearby tree in an explosion.

“That. Was. AWESOME!” Scootaloo shouted as the group ran up to their friend.

“That could come in handy when fighting stronger foes,” Sam retorted. Just then Applejack and Big Mac ran out up to them after hearing the explosion.

“Is everyone al ’right!? What's happening’!?” Applejack asked out of breath.

“Sam blew up a tree”, Apple Bloom said, “and it was cool”.

The ponies and Sam all pointed to where a tree used to stand, Applejack and Big Mac looked in the direction they were pointing to see a smoking hole in the ground.

“Holy cow”, Applejack blurted out. Big Mac just stared.

“Urm, sorry”, Sam apologised, as Applejack turned back to him with a strict look on her face, “I was only testing out the Ultrix.”

AJ walked up to Sam and patted his head, “Next time, be more careful of your surroundings”, she said as she and Big Mac turned around and started to walk to the house, “Now, who's hungry?”

“ME!” the kids cried, but then Sam suddenly sensed something.

“What’s wrong Sam?” Applejack asked, Sam side-stepped, and Derpy fell from the sky.

“Ow,” she remarked, as she struggled to get up, "I just don't know what went wrong."

“Derpy?!” Applejack responded, helping her friend up, “What happened?”

“A weird creature is running around in town,” she replied, “it’s like a rhino but it’s on two legs.”

“Oh my,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac chimed in.

“Hey where did Sam go?” Diamond said.

“Oh for Pete’ Sake!” Applejack remarked.

Sam had dashed off to Ponyville to see what was happening. He reached the middle of town and saw ponies running in fear of something. Sam heard a roar come from the market area and saw a humanoid rhino going on a rampage. He was terrorising and destroying stuff. Sam was already in his Ultrasuit, so he ran forward and kicked the rhino in the back.

The Rhino turned and saw Ultraman and growled at him annoyed. Ultraman guessed this was like a simple animal, very strong but not very bright. The rhino roared and charged at Ultraman, but he merely stopped him by grabbing his horn, and tossed the beast aside. The rhino stumbled but didn’t fall, he growled and ran forward for a punch, but Ultraman jumped back to dodge, then jumped forward and kneed the rhino in the face, sending the rhino flying back and hitting his head on a building. Or rather through a building.

“That was easy,” Sam thought, “a little too easy.” Suddenly a surprise attack tackled him to the ground. It was a humanoid cheetah, who growled at Ultraman.

He tried to get up, but the cheetah held him down as she scratched his helmet with her claws. She then jumped off Ultraman just so he could get wrapped up in a spider web, from a humanoid spider.

“It would seem that these creatures are working together,” Sam thought.

The Spider eyed him while the cheetah went to check on the rhino. Ultraman could sense the presence of other creatures behind him, he turned to see a humanoid wolf and lizard on top of the houses behind him. Ultraman activated his Specium Blades on his arms and cut himself free.

The wolf jumped off the house to attack Sam, but he dodged him in time, but he wasn’t fast enough to dodge the lizard as she latched onto Ultraman’s back and tried biting his shoulder. Ultraman slammed his back into a wall to get the lizard off him. It was now a one versus five.

“Ok that’s just not fair,” Sam said aloud, but the mask disguise his voice so the creatures didn’t know it was him, “but I must stop them to matter what.”

The fight continued on until early afternoon, and Sam was getting tired. Fighting five enemies was hard work, he could keep up with the attacks. The Rhino would charge at him, making him go flying into a spider web created by the spider. The cheetah would sprint at him and scratch at his torso, she went so fast Sam couldn’t dodge her in time. And the lizard would swing her tail at Ultraman’s feet and cause him to fall and get a mauling from the wolf.

Ultraman did manage to get some hits in, he grabbed the wolf’s tail and swung him into the others, he managed to push back against the charging rhino and swing him over his shoulder and managed to at least land a hit on each of them. But they were still too much for him. His Colour timer started to blink, showing he was nearly out of energy. He looked up in time to see all five attack him at once, sending him flying and rolling on the ground.

The creatures started to close the distance between them and Sam, when out of nowhere, Twilight fired a beam in front of them from the sky to protect Sam. She landed in front of Sam and raised her wings up.

“Stay away from my son!” she shouted angrily, as the rest of her friends showed up and protected Sam. To save how much power he had left, Sam took off his Ultrasuit and spat blood onto the ground from when he was continuously hit in the stomach.

“Sam!” Fluttershy called out as she, Pinkie and Rarity rushed to Sam’s aid.

“I just came out of a coma for crying out loud,” Sam breathed, as Rainbow, AJ and Twilight stared daggers at the five creatures.

But all of a sudden, their snarls and growls stopped and looked for shocked than anything.

“S…Sam?” asked the cheetah as she tried to get closer, but Twilight shot a blast of magic at her first step.

Using her magic, Rarity helped Sam onto Pinkie’s back while Fluttershy used her wings to help balance him. The five beasts could see Sam on Pinkie’s back and their jaws dropped in pure shock and horror. The spider even started to cry, which took Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow by surprise.

“I didn’t expect that,” Rainbow muttered.

Twilight still didn’t trust them, they just attacked her son. “State your business, why did you attack my son?!” Twilight demanded.

“We only wanted to find him,” the wolf said, pointing at Sam.

“Why?” Twilight scowled.

“Because he’s our brother,” the cheetah said as she comforted the spider.

“WHAT?!” the ponies cried, Sam was equally as shocked.

“We thought we lost him,” the Rhino said, “we thought he was killed or turned into an animal like us.

“But now we know that he’s been here the whole time,” the lizard chimed in.

“And we attacked him, thinking he was attacking you’ll,” the Spider cried out, tears running from her eyes.

Sam listened to all their voices as tears started to leak from his eyes. “Pinkie, take me to them please,” he asked Pinkie. Pinkie just nodded and slowly walked to them. She kneeled down so Sam could get off, he stumbled forward to the creatures.

“Is it true? Is it really you?” Sam asked clutching his side, “Kerry? Rebecca? Scott? Emily? Jake?”

“Yes it is, Sammy,” Kerry said as she took a knee and outstretched her arms.

That was it for Sam. He stumbled into Kerry’s arms and cried his eyes out into her soft fur. Scott, Rebecca, Jake, and Emily joined in with the hug. Twilight and the rest could only smile that Sam was reunited with his original family.

"I... I missed you all," Sam said while weeping with joy.

"It's okay, Sammy. We’re here," Rebecca said soothingly.

Twilight and her friends finally came closer, as Twilight couldn’t help but smile and shed a few tears, to see her son so happy with his family again, even though she didn’t trust them after they attacked him.

"Ssh, it's okay, Sam," Emily said, "we’re here now. We’re just glad that you’re safe."

Sam smiled, "I missed you all, so much. But you did try to kill me."

"Hehe, sorry for that little bro," Joe replied, "But we will always love you, no matter what. I know mum and dad are.... not here anymore, but at least we can still be together," and Sam buried his face in Rebecca’s t-shirt.

“And can be with you forever now,” Jake said, “because we’re not leaving this place or your side from now on.”

"Aww,” Pinkie’s voice cooed from behind them. The group looked and saw Twilight, and her friends. Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie had tears of joy in their eyes, and of course, Rainbow and Applejack didn't but they were holding them back.

Sam looked up at his human family, "How did you all get here?"

“We were chased out of our town for being animals,” Kerry said, “We went into the forest and found a cave that led to a lagoon. Then Jake slipped in and sank to the bottom. We jumped in to save him and next thing we knew, we were these anthro animals in this world.”

"So, who and what are you guys?" Jake asked Twilight and her friends. "We have never seen creatures like you before."

"Yeah, you look very peculiar," Emily retorted.

“You’re one to talk,” Rainbow remarked.

“Fair point,” Emily replied.

"And rather adorable." Rebecca added.

They all blushed at the word adorable. "Oh well, thank you," said Rarity.

"I'm Twilight,” she said, “Sam's new mother."

"Mother?" they all asked, a little confused.

"That's a little weird." Jake blurted. Then Kerry jabbed her elbow into his stomach "Ow! what was that for?"

" Don't be rude like that," she stated.

"Sorry,” Jake said.

"Guys, please don't be mad at me,” Sam said as he limped to Twilight, “but she decided to take me in as her son, and she loves me very much."

"Oh no. It's quite alright, little man." Scott reassured him, "It's just.... not what we expected. So, who are the rest of you?"

"My name is Rarity," she said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

"I'm Applejack," she spoke, “howdy.”

"I'm Rainbow Dash,” she answered grandly, “the fastest flyer in all of Equestria."

“I’m Fluttershy,” she replied meekly, “it’s very nice to meet you all.”

“Heya I’m Pinkie Pie,” Pinkie then gasped, “I got to make a welcome to Ponyville party right away!” then she dashed off.

“What was that?” Scott asked.

“Don’t mind her,” Applejack said, “that’s just Pinkie being Pinkie. But you should be ready, because she’s off to throw you a welcome to Ponyville party.”

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet all of you." said Emily. "Now I guess it is time to introduce ourselves. I’m Emily, Sam’ old babysitter, Scott's girlfriend, and so to be wife."

“Woah hey now, let’s not get that far ahead,” Scott blushed, “well I’m Scott, Sam’s older brother.”

"I am Kerry,” she said, “the oldest sister."

"I'm Rebecca,” she chimed in, “the youngest sister bust older than Sam."

“And I’m Jake,” he replied, “I’m Kerry’s boyfriend.”

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet all of you," said Twilight, "You know, Sam told us about you.”

"Really?" they asked.

"Oh yes darlings,” Rarity said, “he told us how awesome you guys are, and a few of the nicest humans he has ever met."

"Oh well, you know," said Scott.

"What he said is true,” Emily clarified, “Sam is family.”

"Oh, that's good," said Applejack.

"So are you all a part of his new family?" Scott asked.

"Yes." they all said.

"Oh, that's good,” he responded, “It is good to see Sam being with ponies that care about him so much."

"I agree," said Jake.

"We do." said Fluttershy, then Sam got himself in a group hug with Twilight, her friends, and this anthropomorphic family.

It was a little.... unusual for the teens to see a new family for him that are ponies, but they were happy that Sam was happy and of course, still alive.

"So, I think we should go and have a look around." Scott clarified.

"Good idea. Come with us, and we can talk about where you'll stay,” Twilight said, “I would allow you all to stay with me, but I don’t have any guest rooms."

“I could use some extra muscles around the farm,” Applejack said to Jake, who gave a flex to show off his muscles.

“Your scales are simply divine darling,” Rarity said as she looked at Emily’s arms, “If you malt I can make a dress with your scales.”

“I don’t know if my house will support you,” Rainbow said to Scott, “I’m not calling you fat, I’m saying you’ll just fall right through the cloud it’s on.”

“I would love to have some extra company that’s not just normal animals,” Fluttershy said to Kerry.

“I guess I’ll be with Pinkie then,” Rebecca said.

“Don’t worry,” assured Sam, “you’ll love living with her. Maybe the Cakes will allow you to help with making desserts.”

Scott chuckled at his response. “Come here, you," then he gently picked Sam up and placed him on his shoulders. "Wow you’ve gotten heavier. Ready to go?"

"Yep," Sam cheered.

"Perfect. So, let's go,” Scott said. Then the older siblings followed Sam's family around Ponyville. Sam was overjoyed with being reunited with his old family and now he can be with both old and new at the same time. Of course these are going to be some ups and downs and some explaining to do regarding his scar-less chest but it’s all for the long run but for now, Sam is going to cherish these moments forever.

Chapter 14: in Pursuit to a new World (Edited)

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After showing them around Ponyville and their Welcome to Ponyville Party by Pinkie, Sam’s siblings moved into Ponyville and were welcomed with open hooves from everypony. They were temporarily staying with Twilight’s friends until they could get their own houses built. Rebecca was staying with Pinkie Pie, Emily with Rarity, Scott with Rainbow Dash, Kerry with Fluttershy and Jake with Applejack. But just as they got settled in, Twilight had received a letter from Princess Celestia regarding important princess matters in the Crystal Empire. They have no idea what she has in store for them, but Sam thought this could be a good opportunity for his family to meet the Princesses.

"Wow Twilight! Everything is so pretty!" Rebecca exclaimed as the train slowed to a stop near the Crystal Empire.

"Welcome to the Crystal Empire..." Twilight smiled as they walked out of the train.

"Oh, everything is as beautiful and dazzling as before!" Rarity exclaimed.

As they were walking, Applejack spoke out, "Hoo-wee! Your very first princess summit. You must be over the moon, Twilight."

“Oh, I am excited. But, to be honest, I'm a little nervous, too,” Twilight replied.

“You're nervousited! It just makes you wanna jump up and down and yell 'YAY ME!'" Pinkie exclaimed, "But it also makes you wanna curl up into a little ball at the same time!" She says curling up into a ball and standing back up with a transforming sound effect. "We've all been there!"

"I'm there almost every day," Fluttershy said, looking away.

"You've got no reason to fret, Twi," Applejack started "everything's gonna be just..."

"TWILIGHT!!" Rarity exclaimed running up to her, “oh, sorry, darling, but I just realised you're not wearing your crown. You haven't forgotten it back in Ponyville, have you?"

"It's in my bag," Twilight sighed, Sam patted her bag to assure her, "just feel a little self-conscious about wearing it. Haven't really gotten accustomed to these yet, either." She tried to fly but fell flat to the ground.

"You are a princess now Twilight, embrace it!" Rarity exclaimed, "I'm telling you, if I had a crown like that, I would never take it off. Why I'd sleep in the thing!"

Twilight rolled her eyes until Sam saw Emily going through Twilight’s bag. "Emily, what are you doing?" he then saw her pulling out Twilight’s crown.

She then placed it on Scott’s head with a goofy grin on her face. "All hail Princess Scott."

Everyone couldn't help but laugh. All but Joe, "Yes, ha, ha, very funny," he said sarcastically as he took it off and placed it on Emily’s head.

They then started to walk into the castle. As they did, Sam showed his siblings a few things in the castle. They just listened, excited to hear every word, as Emily secretly placed Twilight’s crown on Sam’s head. Eventually they found their way into Princess Cadence's chamber.

"Twilight!" She exclaimed, hugging her sister-in-law. "I haven't seen you since the coronation!" She moved over to see Sam. "And it's wonderful to see you again as well Sa--" she stopped and noticed Sam was wearing Twilight’s crown but was also a little taken aback by the appearance of Sam’s siblings. "Isn't that your mother’s crown?"

"Huh?" Sam asked as he took off his mother’s crown, then gave a look to Emily who had a guilty expression on her face. “Oh, Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadence, these are my siblings, Scott, Kerry, Rebecca, Emily and Jake.” He motioned to his family.

“Greetings your highnesses,” Scott said as they all bowed to the princesses.

“No need to be so formal,” Celestia said, as she came closer, “so you’ll the siblings that little Sam here, has told us about.”

“Yes we are,” Kerry replied.

“Not to be rude,” Cadence said, “but I was expecting you to be like Sam.”

“Well… we’re about 50% human, “Scott said, “and 50% animal.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Sam said as he ran up to Rebecca and hugged her, “all that matters is that you’re here with me.”

Celestia smiled down on Sam, then looked up at Twilight. "We have so much to discuss. But it can wait. You all look tired from your journey. Now off to bed, all of you."

They all bowed and turned walking toward their rooms. "I can't believe it’s so late already..." Jake yawned, “how is that possible.”

“Because it’s the same day as it was in the last chapter,” Sam said.

Sam, Twilight, and Spike all stayed in the same room as they did when it was Sam’s first visit to the Crystal Empire. Twilight sighed, placing the crown on her head.

"What's wrong Twilight?" Spike asked.

" I don't know, Spike. I'm just... worried, I guess,” Twilight replied.

“About what?” Sam asked.

“Well, it’s just Princess Cadence was given the Crystal Empire to rule over,” Twilight replied, “what if, now that I'm a princess, Celestia expects me to lead a kingdom of my own?"

"That would be awesome!" Spike and Sam exclaimed.

“Jinxed!” Sam shouted, smirking at Spike who just growled.

"No, it would not!" Twilight exclaimed, rubbing her forehead, "just because I have this crown and these wings, it doesn't mean I'll be a good leader!"

"I think you would," Sam spoke out. "You're in charge of a lot of things at home. Even though the mayor is the one that does all that stuff."

"He's got a point." Spike added and yawned. "But come on, we all need to get some shut-eye... Big day tomorrow." Twilight nodded as she got in the same bed while Sam got in his own. Sam closed his eyes, only to open them again and look at Twilight trying desperately to get comfortable!

"Can’t… Tuck..." she said trying to fold her wings rolling around in bed. "Just trying to get comfortable!" Twilight closed her wings and shut her eyes... Until they shot open again. "UGH!!"

“Mum, just relax yourself!” Sam softly yelled.

As the night progressed, Sam found he couldn't sleep. He was tired but he couldn’t get comfortable. He got up and tried to make the bed more comfortable. Suddenly he could hear the door slowly open, and he ran back into bed before anyone could see him. Sam carefully took a peek at who came in. His eyes widened, this was the same pony that he saw that night after defeating Peguila. He saw the pony slowly walk up to the bed and toward Twilight’s and crowns. ‘What is she...’ he then saw her levitate the crown and replace them with one that looks the same, ‘She's stealing mum’s crowns!!’

"Stop!!" Sam exclaimed, shocking the intruder and waking Twilight up.

“Sam? What’s going on?” Twilight yawned, waking up and looking at the intruder in shock. "My crown! She's got my crown!!" The intruder then ran out as Twilight and Sam ran after her. "Stop!! Thief!!"

The others walked out of their rooms in confusion, “What’s going on?” Scott asked.

"She's stolen my crown!!" Twilight exclaimed as they were all now chasing after her. Twilight teleported ahead and caught up to her, but the intruder teleported in front of her, revealing that it was an orange unicorn with red and yellow hair. She kept running and dodged attacks from everyone. She jumped when Jake tried to tackle her from the side, she teleported a few feet forward to avoid Rebecca’s webbing and as Kerry quickly caught up, the unicorn took a sharp leg to avoid her and made her crash into the wall. Twilight soon caught up with her then tackled the unknown unicorn into another room as the crown bounced off the walls and into a mirror. "What did you do with my crown!?"

"Sorry that it had to be this way, Princess!" The intruder exclaimed teleporting in front of the mirror, “Oh and Sam…” she said as she slowly walked backwards through, tempting him to follow her. Assuring him that that was her on that night.

"Who was that...?" Fluttershy asked.

"Princess Celestia!!" Twilight exclaimed and ran toward Celestia's room.

"Sunset Shimmer. A former student of mine." Celestia explained. “She began her studies with me not long before Twilight. But when she did not get what she wanted as quickly as she liked, she turned cruel and dishonest. I tried to help her, but she eventually decided to abandon her studies and pursue her own path. One that has sadly led to her stealing your crown.”

“She replaced Twilight’s with this one…” Spike said, showing her the fake crown.

“I suppose Sunset Shimmer thought you wouldn’t notice right away that this was not yours. And by the time you did, it would be too late to go after your crown and element of harmony.”

"But I don't understand..." Twilight started. "Where did she go? Where did she take the crown??"

“And why did she tempt me into following her?” Sam questioned, “just like that night when I first came to the Crystal Empire.”

“Wait what?!” Twilight retorted.

“Oops,” Sam said, placing his hands over his mouth.

Celestia started to lead everyone to the room with the mirror. "You'll soon know more about this place than even I do." She said walking into the room with the mirror, Luna already there.

"This is no ordinary mirror. It is a gateway into another world,” she said ominously “a gateway that opens once, every thirty moons."

“Sparkly!” Pinkie exclaimed, placing her hoof on the mirror, Luna used her magic to slowly move her away with a mused look on her face.

“It has always been kept in the throne room of Canterlot Castle.” Luna continued, “but when Princess Cadence took over the Crystal Empire, we sent it here for her to watch over.”

"I had always hoped that Sunset Shimmer would someday use it to return, to come back to Equestria seeking my guidance,” Celestia sighed, “obviously, this is not what has happened.”

“Twilight, you must use the mirror to go into this other world and retrieve your crown,” Cadence said to Twilight, “without it, the other Elements of Harmony have no power and Equestria is left without one of its most important means of defence.”

"Your crown does not belong in the place Sunset Shimmer now calls home." Luna said. “And in her possession your element of harmony will no doubt be used to bring harm to the inhabitants of this other realm. They will not have the power to defend themselves.”

"Do you understand the importance of your task?" Celestia asked.

"Of course," Twilight answered.

"Good... Then you must go at once." Celestia said as she made way for Twilight to go to the mirror. Twilight sighed as she was about to walk in through the portal.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rainbow Dash shouted cutting in front of her, "If she's goin, we're goin with her! Right girls?"

"Oooooh! I'm so nervousited!!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"You do realise that's not a real word, right?" Applejack asked.

Twilight just smiled, but Celestia didn’t think that was a good idea. "I'm afraid I can't let you go,” she denied.

“What?!” Rainbow exclaimed, “why not?!”

“Sending all of you could upset the balance of this alternate world, creating havoc that would make it impossible for Twilight to get the crown back from Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia told them, “this is something Princess Twilight must do alone.”

“Time is of the essence,” Luna declared, “on the third day, when the moon reaches its peak in the night sky, the gateway will close. And once it does, it will be another thirty moons before you will be able to use it to return.”

Mom sighed as she looked back at all of them and slowly walked through the mirror. Spike grew too nervous and ran through after Twilight. "Spike!!" Everypony exclaimed.

"Sam!!" his siblings cried out as Sam followed them.

"Ugh..." Twilight groaned, opening her eyes.

"Uh... Twilight?" called Spike’s voice.

"Huh?" she said looking around, "Spike...? You're not supposed to--" Twilight stopped mid-sentence when she saw him, "Spike? Are you a... dog?”

"I... think so,” he said looking at himself, "you look like Sam!”

“Huh?” Twilight questioned as she slowly raised her... Hands. Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs but quickly covered my mouth. I just kept examining my body in a sort of panic. Then she heard Sam scream from the statue and hit her in the back. “Sam? You’re here too?”

“Well yeah,” he said, looking up at me in shock. “You’re a human now! Well sort of.”

“What do you mean, sort of?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, you're not a skin colour like mine, you have your fur colour, and your hair isn’t like mine either, it’s your mane colours,” Sam said.

“Well you don’t completely look the same either,” Twilight said, Sam looked over himself. She was right, his skin was dark blue, while his hair was red, and his clothes were different too. His shorts were blue jean shorts, his t-shirt was a crimson red under an ocean blue denim jacket and his trainers were in Superman colours

“What the?! I look like my FNAF self, if he was human,” Sam sighed with relief, “where are we?”

“I don’t know… but it must have something to do with the portal that sent us from Equestria.” Twilight guessed, she stuck her through the portal and she could faintly see it as her hoof on the other side.

“We need to find my crown as soon as we can and get back there!” she said looking at the building in front of them, “I suggest we start searching the castle first.” She started running on all fours with Spike on top of her.

“That’s not a castle,” Sam said.

But Twilight didn’t hear him. Sam caught up with the crawling Twilight, Spike tapped Twilight’s shoulder, Twilight looked at him and saw where he was looking at. Another Human walking his dog.

“Yeah, I don’t think that's how the new you is supposed to..” Spike said, as Twilight quickly got on two legs dusting herself off, sending Spike flying to the ground, though Sam managed to catch him.

The dog looked at his owner with a happy pant, but the human just pointed to keep walking. Twilight struggled to walk on two legs as she made it to the steps and propped herself up on the handle bar.

“C’mon you two,” she said as she climbed up the step, “I do not want to be here like this longer than I have to be.”

“What’s wrong with being human?” Sam asked, offended by what Twilight said.

“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that honey,” Twilight assured him, as they walked up to the door she attempted to use her magic to teleport in, but she slammed into the glass door. “Hmm…” Twilight concentrated hard, but nothing happened, “My magic! It isn't working!”

“Makes sense,” Spike spoke up, “you don't exactly have your horn.”

“What?! Exclaimed Twilight looking up at her forehead.

“We really need to find you a mirror,” Spike said as he push open the glass door.

“How did Spike open the door with a mere push, but Twilight didn’t open it when she slammed her face into it,” Sam asked, knowing that he wasn’t going to get an answer.

Twilight, Spike and Sam entered the seemingly empty ‘castle’ and walked up to what looked like a trophy case. “What do you think Spike? Are there any artefacts that she’s stolen from Equestria?”

“No there’s trophies won by whoever comes here,” Sam replied.

Suddenly, a bell rang, and a large number of humans started passing through the halls. “Huh??” Twilight said, trying to make her way through, holding both Spike close to her chest and holding Sam’s hand. She was then knocked onto the ground, and I tried crawling her way out. She managed to get out of the swarm of humans, but got her leg stuck, she pulled, and tumbled over and rolled into someone’s leg.

“Whoa!” The boy exclaimed. “You okay?” he asked, holding his hand out to Twilight. She cautiously opened her hand and took his hand standing up and nodded. He then walked off.

“I don’t think this is a castle…” Spike said.

“No It’s a school,” Sam replied deadpanned.

Chapter 15: Familiar Faces (Edited)

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Twilight started to grow more accustomed to her human body and closely observes the inhabitants of the strange new world she's in. She passed new and familiar faces all the while holding Sam’s hand, which was an adorable sight. As they walked down the hallway, they could hear a conversation between two girls. One girl sounded considerably cruel and verbally abusive to the other, who sounded familiar.

"Oh... I'm really sorry," the familiar voice said which made Twilight stop in place, "I didn't know you had dropped it..."

“That sounds like…” Twilight said to herself, “no, no it can’t be.” She, Sam, and Spike peaked around a corner and saw the two girls talking.

"Well I did, and I would've gotten it back if you hadn't ruined everything! You shouldn't pick up things that don't belong to you," The red and yellow haired girl stated.

"It... Doesn't really belong to you either..." The pink haired girl said quietly.

"Excuse me!?" exclaimed the red and orange haired girl causing the pink haired girl to recoil and lower herself down.

"N... Nothing..." she squeaked.

“That's what I thought. It's as good as mine, and you know it,” the girl grinned evilly, she was making Twilight cross, as Sam sneered and Spike growled, “you really are pathetic. It's no wonder your best friends are all stray animals.”

“That does it,” Twilight remarked as she came around the corner, and stood her ground, “How dare you speak to her that way!”

"What did you say?" the orange skinned girl asked, turning around walking to Twilight.

"I said how dare you speak to her that way!" Twilight shouted walking to her as well and getting in her face.

"Hmph... You must be new here," the orange girl smirked, "I can talk to anyone any way I want..." She quickly glared at some boy who hid in his locker and walked away.

"I can't believe you did that," the pink haired girl said as she stood up.

"Well I couldn't just stand there," Twilight said, turning to her.

"Well, it's just that nobody ever stands up to Sunset Shimmer,” the girl said.

"So that’s Sunset Shimmer!?" Twilight said.

"You've heard of her?" the girl asked.

"Sort of..." Twilight replied.

"I don't think I've seen you around before," the girl added, "did you just transfer to Canterlot High from another school?"

"Um... yes! Another... heh, school!" Twilight replied, smiling nervously, "My name's Twilight."

"I'm... Fluttershy..." The girl whispered.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Twilight asked.

"It's Fluttershy." She said even quieter.

“It sounds like you're saying Fluttershy,” Twilight said, as Sam and Spike came up beside her, Fluttershy looked up from behind her hair and saw Sam and Spike, “but how can that...?”

“Oh, my goodness!” she cried as she dashed past Twilight, and kneeled in front of Sam and Spike “who are these sweet little guys?”

“That's Spike, my, uh... dog,” Twilight said, “and that’s… Smokescreen, my, uh… little brother.”

“Oh, he is just the sweetest boy I’ve ever seen!” Fluttershy said as she patted Sam’s head, making him blush, and pulling out a dog biscuit, “go on, eat up, little pup!”

Spike sniffed the dog treat and took a small bite. He surprisingly liked it and ate the whole thing at once.

“Oh, wouldn't ya just give anything to know what they're really thinking?” Fluttershy said as she watched Spike eat the dog treat.

“He usually just tells me,” Twilight said.

“Oh, what do you mean?” Fluttershy asked turning away from Spike and Sam, who motioned Twilight to not say stuff that reveals that they’re not from this world. She turned back to them, and Spike barked to show that he talks by barking.

Oh, uh, nothing! Never mind,” Twilight chuckled, “Sunset Shimmer said you picked something up. Something that belonged to her. It wasn't a crown, was it?”

“How did you know?” Fluttershy asked surprise, as she got up.

“Uh, lucky guess?” Twilight nervously chuckled, “do you still have it?” Fluttershy shocks her head. “But you know what happened to it.” Fluttershy nodded her head.

“Mm-hmm. This morning, I was passing out flyers for the animal shelter like I do every Wednesday,” Fluttershy told her, “when it suddenly banded me in the back of the head. I have no idea how it got there. But I didn't want anything to happen to it, so I decided to give it to Principal Celestia.”

“Principal Celestia?” Twilight questioned, “she's the ruler here?”

“You could say that,” Fluttershy replied, “technically, I guess she and Vice Principal Luna do make the rules.”

“Where is she now?” Twilight asked.

“She should be in her office,” Fluttershy said as Twilight, Spike and Sam ran off, only to come back to Fluttershy as they didn’t know where that was, “third door on your left."

“Thank you,” Twilight called to her, just as she was about to run off again, Fluttershy called to her.

"Oh wait! You're really not supposed to have pets on school grounds," She said referring to Spike, "might wanna tuck him into your backpack... That's what I do." As a cat, dog, bird, and hamster jumped out of her bag. “They just get so lonely when I'm in school all day.”

“Oh, okay,” Twilight replied, “Thank you.” Suddenly the bell went.

“Oh, no! I'm late for class!” Fluttershy cried. She scooped up her animals and dashed down the hall to go to her class. When she and most of the other humans were gone, Sam finally spoke up.

“Smokescreen,” he said, giving Twilight a deadpanned look, “that’s the best you could come up with.”

“What, I could tell you your name is Sam, you’re a human from another world and you’re my son,” Twilight argued.

“Still, Smokescreen,” Sam retorted, “I don’t even have them on me.”

“Should we be getting to Celestia’s office?” Spike asked with a mused face.

“Right, come on,” Twilight said, as Sam placed Spike in Twilight’s backpack, and holding Twilight’s hand, they walked to Principal Celestia’s office.

It didn’t take long for Twilight and Sam to get to Principal Celestia’s office, they stood outside and prepared to go in.

“Now remember,” Twilight said to Sam, “you’re my younger brother named Smokescreen.”

“And you’re not a princess from another world,” Sam remarked.

“And that I have to stay in here, and not speak,” Spike said, poking his head out of Twilight's bag.

“Yes,” Twilight responded, as she knocked on the door.

“Come in,” came a voice on the other side. Twilight shoved Spike back into her back and opened the door. Using her head. Sam just face planted and followed her. Principal Celestia had her face in a folder and didn’t look up at Twilight, “How many I help you?”

Twilight put her back on the ground, as Sam closed the door properly. “Um, uh... Whew,” Twilight stuttered, Celestia put her folder down and looked at Twilight with a raised eyebrow, she waited for Twilight to speak.

Sam stood next to Twilight, He thought it would be best for him to not say much. Twilight just smiled at Celestia before shaking her head to focus.

“My name's Twilight Sparkle, and that over there is my little brother Smokescreen. We’re new here, and... Well, I understand that Fluttershy found a crown this morning and gave it to you.”

“Yes. I've had Vice Principal Luna put it somewhere for safekeeping,” Principal Celestia replied, getting up from her seat and putting the folder back into a drawer, “no idea how it ended up in the front lawn. Were you interested in running for Princess of the Fall Formal this year?”

“Uh, no. Not exactly,” Twilight replied, “the truth is... Well, the truth is I... You see, the crown is actually... Princess of the Fall Formal?”

Sam perked up at what Principle Celestia had said, “What’s the Princess of the Fall Formal?”

“It's Canterlot High's big Fall dance,” Celestia replied as she walked over to a calendar and marked the day.

“Like the Grand Galloping Gala,” Twilight said before Sam pulled her down to his level.

“She’s not going to know what that is,” Sam whispered, “Heck I don’t know what that is.”

“I’ll tell you later,” Twilight muttered back.

“Uh, Grand Galloping Gala?” Principal Celestia asked, never hearing of anything like that.

“Oh, uh, it was a big deal at our old school,” Twilight replied, Spike Poked his head out of Twilight’s bag, but she shoved him back in.

“Yeah, and it was pony themed,” Sam spoke up, before getting a smack around the head by Twilight.

“And was there a princess?” Celestia questioned.

“Yes,” Twilight replied, “but she wasn't exactly a student.”

“Here at Canterlot High, the students select one of their peers to represent them,” Celestia said, jesting them to the wall with three photos of Sunset Shimmer with a fake crown, looking more evil towards the third picture, “she receives her crown at the Fall Formal.”

“Has Sunset won all the time?” Sam asked.

“Sadly yes,” Celestia replied, “other’s had tried by Sunset wouldn’t let anyone pass her.”

“Hmm. You asked me if I was interested in running for Princess, can anyone run?” Twilight asked.

“Yes. You just need to let the head of the Fall Formal planning committee know you'd like to be on the ballot,” Celestia replied as she opened the door for Twilight to leave, “was there anything else?”

“Um, nope! That was it!” Twilight replied.

“Well, if you do need anything else, my door is always open,” Celestia said as she closed the door.”

“Twilight, why didn't ya just tell her the crown was yours and ask for it back?” Spike asked.

“Because she really can’t,” Sam spoke up.

“Yeah, I was going to, but imagine if one of them showed up in Equestria saying they came from a place filled with tall, fleshy, two-legged creatures with these!” Twilight said, making herself look crazy, as a boy saw her and backed up, “we'd think they were crazy!”

“Yeah, because no one would believe it unless they saw it,” Sam remarked. Twilight then realised what Sam was referring to.

“Oh, sorry sweetie,” Twilight said, as she gave him a kiss on the forehead.

“Hmm. You make a good point,” Spike emitted.

“Looks like if I want my crown back, I'll have to become Princess of the Canterlot High Fall Formal,” Twilight announced, “so that's what I'm gonna do!”

“And how exactly do you plan on doing that?” Sam asked.

“I have no idea!” Twilight said, as the bell rang, and the students came flooding out their classes.

Lunchtime came around and Twilight and Sam met up with Fluttershy again. They met her at the cafeteria and got lunch with her.

“I know we've just met, but I was wondering if you might be able to help me with something,” Twilight asked her, as she reached for a burger and Sam reached for a hotdog.

“Of course!” Fluttershy replied as she reached for a bowl of fruit. Twilight also reached for one.

“I've decided to run for Princess of the Fall Formal, and…” Twilight said, but Fluttershy gasped and dropped her fruit bowl, causing it to splash onto Twilight.

“Oh! Oh, gosh! Sorry,” Fluttershy apologised, as she grabbed a stack of napkins and cleaned Twilight off, “It's just, oh, running for Fall Formal Princess is a really bad idea.”

“Why?” Sam asked as he added a burger to his lunch.

“Sunset Shimmer wants to be the Fall Formal Princess, and when she wants something, she gets it!” Fluttershy replied, as a human Granny Smith placed an apple on her tray, “she'll make life awful for anyone who stands in her way. Just ask the girl who ran against her for Princess of the Spring Fling.”

“I have to try,” Twilight said as she too was given an apple.

“You got any pineapple?” Sam asked the human Granny Smith.

“Oh, I don't think you understand,” Fluttershy said, “you'd have to convince everyone here to vote for you instead of her: the athletes, the fashionistas, the dramas, the eco-kids, the techies, the rockers...”

“Why is everypony…” Twilight said before Sam smacked her with his tail, “Uh, everybody separated this way?”

“Maybe it was different at your old school, but at CHS, everybody sticks to their own kind,” Fluttershy emitted as she took a seat, “one thing that they do have in common is that they know Sunset Shimmer is gonna rule the school until we graduate.”

“Not if I can help it!” Twilight declared as she sat down and munched on her apple like a pony. Sam just sighed and face planted again, while Fluttershy just looked at her confused, “So, uh, where would I find the head of the party planning committee?”

“You’ll find her in the auditorium,” Fluttershy replied, her voice sounded a little annoyed, only Sam caught that but thought nothing of it.

“Sam, please tell me that this is vegetarian,” Twilight whispered to Sam about her burger.

“Nope, it’s meat,” Sam replied, gagged, and then gave her burger to Sam, who was even happier.

Twilight, Sam, and Spike enter the school auditorium, which was in the process of being decorated.

“Fluttershy said she'd probably be in here,” Twilight said.

“But where exactly is she?” Sam asked.

“Incoming!” cried a voice, Twilight, Sam, and Spike looked up to see streamers fall from above towards them.

Twilight grabbed Sam ducked to the floor to protect him, as the streamers covered them from head to feet. Twilight as Sam stood up and saw a girl with big, puffy hair. She pulled a balloon off her dress and blew it up.

“How does that work,” remarked Sam, as Twilight went over to greet her.

“Hi, my name's Twilight Sparkle and...” she said, but then the girl spun around, and Twilight saw her face as well as ducking under the balloon, “Pinkie Pie?”

Pinkie stopped blowing her balloon, shocked that this new girl she just met knew her name. The balloon she was holding deflated in her face, and she suddenly appeared behind Twilight.

“Are you psychic?!” Pinkie gasped.

“Uh, no, I don't think so,” Twilight replied, “unless of course that's something you can do here.”

“Not usually,” Pinkie sighed.

“Wait what?” Sam questioned, as Pinkie blew up another balloon.

“Fluttershy said this is where I'd find the head of the Fall Formal planning committee,” Twilight responded.

“Fluttershy, huh?” Pinkie frowned, “don't let the whole ‘shy’ thing fool you. She can be a real meanie.”

“You two aren't friends?” Twilight questioned.

“What?! Why?! How?!” Sam asked.

“Waited a bit to get your name on the ballot, huh?” Pinkie asked, returning to her happy personality, “dance is the day after tomorrow.”

“I'm brand new here,” Twilight replied.

“Oooh!” Pinkie said before having a closer look at Twilight, “I thought you didn't look familiar. Though, now that I'm really looking at you... Do you have a twin sister who lives in the city, has a pet dog named Spike that looks just like that one? But I don’t think she has a younger brother like him.” She pointed at Spike that was biting at a balloon, and then to Sam who was throwing one up in the air and catching it.

“Uh, maybe?” Twilight replied, a little unsure.

“Thought so. Anyhoo,” Pinkie said as she pulled a clipboard and opened out her puffy hair, “just need to fill this out and you are officially up for the coveted Princess of the Fall Formal crown.”

Pinkie held the pen out in front of Twilight. Twilight gulped, this involved using her hands. She first bit down on the pen with her mouth, making Sam faceplant again.

“If I keep doing that I’m going to be in hospital for brain damage,” he remarked.

Pinkie just smiled and fluttered her eyes in a way that made her more cuter than she was, as she waited for Twilight to write her name down. Twilight tried to remember how Sam wrote and tried to copy how he held a pen. She grabbed it with her hand and wrote her name down on the clipboard. When she was done, Pinkie turned it back around.

“Wow!” she responded shocked, “you have really bad handwriting. It's like you've never held a pen before.”

“Hahaha,” Twilight laughed nervously, “is it?”

“Somebody order a dozen cases of fizzy apple cider?” called a country voice from the doors.

“Oh! Oh! Me, me-me-me, me, yeah, ha-ha, me!” cried Pinkie, she skipped over to where a human Applejack placed a crate of apple cider down on a table. Twilight gasped to see another one of her friends.

“Damn, I’m still too young to drink cider,” Sam remarked to himself.

“Can you bring in the rest?” Applejack called to her brother, as a human Big Mac came in with some more crates.

“Eeyup,” he replied, Applejack took one of the crates and spotted Twilight.

“Hey, I know you,” she said.

“You do?” Twilight asked.

“Sure,” she replied, pulling out a bottle of cider, “you're the new girl who gave Sunset Shimmer the what for today.”

“Twilight Sparkle here is gonna run against Sunset Shimmer for Princess of the Fall Formal,” Pinkie said, making Applejack spit her cider out, not realising that Sam was right in front of her.

“MY EYES!” Sam cried out in pain.

“Oops, sorry little fella,” Applejack said as Pinkie came over and her shirt cleaned Sam’s face, “I'd think twice about that. Oh, sure, she'll probably approach you all friendly like... ‘I sure am lookin' forward to some friendly competition,’” she spoke in an imitation of Sunset Shimmer’s voice while holding up balloon with her face on it, “‘That's so good to hear,’” she then spoke in an imitation of Twilight’s voice, holding up a balloon with a derpy Twilight face before speaking normally, “But then, here comes the backstabbin'.” She turned the Sunset balloon around, which had a nail taped to the back and popped the Twilight balloon, “About the only girl in this school you can trust less than Sunset Shimmer is Rainbow Dash.”

“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked, shocked that another friend of hers wasn’t friends with Applejack.

“She's the captain of, like, every team at Canterlot High,” Pinkie replied.

“She's also the captain of sayin' she's gonna do somethin' for ya, and then turnin' around and not even botherin' to show up,” Applejack complained.

“That doesn’t sound like something Rainbow would do,” Sam remarked, still rubbing his stinging eyes, “she’s meant to be loyal.”

“Well she ain’t,” Applejack replied to him.

“Thanks for the advice, Applejack,” Twilight said, “but this is something I really need to do.”

“Huh, suit yourself,” Applejack responded, “hey, how'd you know my name is Applejack?”

“Um, I uh... Hahaha,” Twilight laughed nervously, “Didn't you say?”

“Nnnope,” came Big Mac’s voice as he brought in another stack of crates.

“Well, it sure was nice meeting you both,” she said as shook Applejack’s hand and waved to Pinkie, “I'm sure I'll be seeing you around.” Then she and Spike in tow ran out the doors at the other end of the room and turned left. Sam was still rubbing his eyes, so he didn’t see Twilight run out. When he looked up, he saw that she was gone and ran out the door and turned right to try and catch up with her.

“That one's tryin' to hide a secret, but I am totally on to her,” Pinkie said then whispered to Applejack, “she's psychic!”

“Uh-huh, If you say so,” Applejack replied, as the doors to the auditorium were flung open to reveal an angry Sunset Shimmer, followed by human versions of Snips and Snails.

“This looks terrible!” she shouted, as she stormed in, “there should be more streamers near the stage and fewer balloons.”

“Yeah, streamers!” cried Snips as he tore one in half.

“And fewer balloons!” yelled Snails as he tried to pop one but couldn’t and fell to the ground.

“Fizzy apple cider? Ugh! This is my coronation, not a hoedown,” Sunset gagged in disgust as she dropped one of the bottles on the ground.

“Well, now, it ain't necessarily gonna be your coronation this time around,” Applejack shot back.

“Oh, is that so?” Sunset got right in front of Applejack, glaring daggers at her, she spun Applejack’s hat around and moved it in front of her face, “you country folk really aren't that bright. Must be why the other students say such awful things about you.” This made Applejack go red in the face and growl, “Obviously it's gonna be my coronation. I'm running unopposed,” Sunset replied in a cocky manner.

“Not this time,” Pinkie said, holding up the clipboard with Twilight’s name horribly written all over the page, “the new girl just signed up!”

“What?!” Sunset gasped as Pinkie gave her the clipboard.

“I know. Her handwriting is really bad,” Pinkie said, thinking Sunset was examining the handwriting.

“Where is this Twilight Sparkle?” Sunset glare and muttered to herself, before realising that Pinkie and Applejack were in earshot, she let off a nervous laugh, “I'm looking forward to meeting the competition!”

Applejack and Pinkie shared an uneasy look together and Sunset left.

Twilight walked down the halls of the school, passing unfamiliar faces. Spike was in her bag, but Sam wasn’t in sight. It was after Twilight and Spike left the auditorium that Sam wasn’t with them.

“Sam must have gotten lost,” Twilight sighed, worried for her son.

“Calm down Twilight,” assured Spike, “we’ll find him, or he’ll find us.”

“I’m sure you’re right Spike,” Twilight replied, “but this place is huge, and I’m worried he’s going to find something he doesn’t know.” She panicked as she quickly walked past a boy with white skin and purple hair and a girl with bright lilac skin and purple and black hair.

“What’s her hurry, Sparkler?” the boy asked.

“I don’t know, Ace,” the girl said, “But she does look rather cute.”

Twilight came to a dark empty hall that just led to a wall, it gave a creepy feel to it.

“Can't believe I didn't recognize you earlier,” Sunset Shimmer’s voice came from behind Twilight, she turned to see Sunset leaning against a locker, “shoulda known Princess Celestia would send her prized pupil here after my crown, and her little dog and sorry excuse of a son, too.”

“It's my crown!” Twilight snapped back.

“Whatever. This is just a minor setback for me,” Sunset replied, “you don't know the first thing about this place, and I already rule it.”

“If that's so, why do you even need my crown?” Twilight questioned “You went to an awful lot of trouble to switch it with the one that belongs here.”

“Pop quiz: what happens when you bring an Element of Harmony into an alternate world? You don't know? Seriously?” Sunset laughed, “And you're supposed to be Princess Celestia's star student? Then again, what were the chances she'd find somepony as bright as me to take under her wing after I decided to leave Equestria? It's a bit embarrassing that you were the best she could do.”

Spike popped his head out of Twilight’s bag and growled at Sunset, “Oh, and I'd keep an eye on your mutt and infant. Hate for them to be... taken away from you. But it looks like it’s already happened to your boy.”

“Is that a threat?” Spike snarled.

“Oh, of course not,” Sunset replied in an innocent tone, Spike barked at her annoyed, “But I'd cut down on the chatter if I were you. Don't want everyone to know you two don't belong here, now would you? You wanna be a princess here? Please. You don't know the first thing about fitting in.”

Sunset then walked off chuckling to herself, leaving Twilight and Spike annoyed with her, and more worried for Sam.

Sunset saw Snips and Snails walk out the auditorium, tangled up in streamers. “I want you to follow her,” she ordered as she grabbed the ends of the streamers and pulled, spinning Snips and Snails around and freeing them from the streamers, “bring me something I can use just like I did with that last girl who thought she could challenge me.”

“You got it, Sunset Shimmer,” Snips replied, as both saluted.

“When the crown and its power are mine, Twilight Sparkle will be sorry she ever set hoof into this world,” she spoke menacingly, “not that she would've been much safer if she'd stayed in Equestria.”

“Yeah, in Equestria,” Snips responded, trying to play along but clearly had no idea what she was referring to.

“What are you still doing here?! Go!” Sunset ordered. Snips and Snails panicked, ran into each other, and then ran down the hall. Sunset just snarled, “Oh why did I get those bozos, to work for me rather than, Hoops, High-Score and Dumbbell, or the Diamond boys.”

Chapter 16: Mending Friendships (Edited)

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Twilight was right about Sam, right now, he was wandering the halls of Canterlot High trying to find her and Spike. He passed lots of unfamiliar faces, and his nervosity was kicking back into motion. He started to pick up speed, passing more unfamiliar faces and rounded a bend too quickly, before bumping into two very familiar faces.

“Ow hey watch it,” said a voice, Sam looked up and saw that it was this world’s Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, “watch where you’re going Doofus!”

“Come to think of it, I don’t we’re seen you around here before,” Silver Spoon remarked.

“For your information,” Sam spoke, sounding confident as he stood up, this was just like speaking with Diamond and Silver from Equestria, only they were human and were still in their bully personas, “I’m new here with my older sister, and I’m a little lost.”

“Oh, would you like some help finding your older sister?” Diamond Tiara asked. Sam knew she was going to say something that was going to insult him.

“No thank you, I’m fully capable of finding her on my own,” he responded, as he started to walk away, “you can’t even find some decent manners.” He muttered under his breath, but Diamond Tiara heard that and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and came face to face with her.

“Listen here Dweeb,” Diamond snarled, Sam gulped, “Sunset might be the queen of this school, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have power and control of the freshmen here. So don’t you dare speak behind my back or I’ll…”

“You’ll have a Diamond Tiara!” called another familiar voice, Sam turned his head and saw this world’s Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

“Oh it’s you three,” Diamond Tiara remarked, “go away Crusaders, this has nothing to do with you.”

“Bullying other students has everything to do with us,” Apple Bloom said.

“Especially if they’re younger than you,” Scootaloo shouted.

“I’m ten,” Sam remarked.

“I don’t care how old you are!” Diamond Tiara shouted, going in for a punch. Sam didn’t want to go through this again, so he used the slightest bit of his Ultra Energy and grabbed Diamond’s fist, stopping her attack on him. Everyone was shocked, Sam slowly pushed the fist back, seeing how strong Sam was Diamond Tiara dropped him.

“Don’t mess with me,” Sam said darkly, Diamond Tiara just sneered at him and wandered off, followed by Silver Spoon.

“Wow,” Scootaloo remarked, “I didn’t expect you to stand up to Diamond Tiara.”

“Trust me, I’ve been bullied much harder,” Sam said.

“Well I guess you don’t need us to help you,” Apple Bloom said as she and the other two turned to walk away, “we’ll be seeing you around.”

“Wait!” called Sam, the three stopped and turned back to face him, “I do need help.”

“With what cutie,” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I’m new here and I lost my sister,” Sam told them, “could you help me find her?”

“Sure thing bud,” Scootaloo said, putting an arm around him.

“I know, we’ll take you to the library,” Apple Bloom said, “nearly everyone goes there for some peace and quiet.”

“Ok,” Sam replied, “if there’s any place my sister would be, she’ll be in the library.”

“Right, let’s go!” Sweetie Belle said as she took Sam’s hand, and they led him to the library.

Meanwhile Twilight had come across a vending machine. She looked inside at all the food, she licked her lips in hunger, but she didn’t know how it worked. First she tried opening it like a door, but it didn’t move. She then tried to push it but again nothing happened. For her third attempt she tried kicking it open pony-style, but she was interrupted by the human Trixie.

“Excuse me,” she said as she went to the machine, “The Great and Powerful Trixie…! Needs some peanut butter crackers.” She pulled out a coin, slotted it into the vending machine, and put in the number for her snack. The vending machine clanked into life as it dropped the packet of peanut butter crackers. “Voilà!” Trixie said as she took her snack and walked off.

“Sunset Shimmer is right. I don't know the first thing about this place,” Twilight said to Spike as she started to walk down the hallway, “If I'm gonna really fit in and win votes, we need to do some research.”

“Research?” Spike asked.

“This place has a school,” Twilight answered, “I have to believe it's got a... library!” She exclaimed as she dashed in. From behind the open doors, Snips and Snails peered out of hiding.

“Got your phone?” Snips whispered, Snail answered by pulling out his phone.

“Got yours?” Snails asked, and they both snickered and they both snuck in the library. In the most hilarious ways. Snips sidestepped like a pair of scissors and Snails slipped in like a snail. They went off to hide.

Twilight was facing her biggest challenge yet, how to work on a computer.

“So I just push the letters here, and then the words and moving pictures will come up here?” she asked the human Cheerilee, picking up the computer.

Cheerilee felt really annoyed at Twilight, she took a deep breath and sighed, then put on a smile. “That’s right,” she answered, placing the computer back down.

“Maybe this place does have magic,” Twilight remarked, Cheerilee just rolled her eyes, and walked away with her trolley of books. In doing so, she revealed Snips and Snails’ hiding spot. They crept away as Twilight pressed more buttons and suddenly loud music started to play.

Cheerilee scowled crossly as she placed a hand on her forehead. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sam had arrived earlier, and either knew Twilight had come in. The Crusaders were showing Sam their video they made. Cheerilee came over and turned to volume all the way down.

“Uh, girls, what are you doing?” Cheerilee asked.

“We're just showing Sam here our new music video,” Sweetie Belle replied.

“Wait Sam?!” Twilight shouted as she peered around the table.

“Twilight!” Sam exclaimed, running to her and giving her a hug.

“Where have you been?” Twilight asked him.

“I tried to find you when you left the auditorium,” Sam replied, “then I ran into the Crusaders.”

“Thank you girls,” Twilight said to the girls.

“You’re welcome,” Apple Bloom said as she turned the volume again. But Cheerilee couldn’t take it anymore and took away the speaker.

“No, just... No! The school computers are for research purposes only,” she said sternly as she walked away.

“It's just as well, y'all,” Apple Bloom said, “some of the comments about our song were really awful. ‘Epic fail’... ‘Funniest thing I've ever seen’?!”

“Funniest thing they've ever seen, huh?” Scootaloo remarked, and they all ran off with a new idea.

“Uh, I don't know that that's what you should take from…” Twilight tried to say, but the Crusaders were already gone.

Twilight went back to trying to figure out how to work on the computer. Seeing her fumble away and hitting the keyboard with her clenched up fists made Sam smack his face again. Unbeknownst to them, Snips and Snails were hiding behind a table recording her via their camera phone.

For the rest of the day, Twilight tried to do some research on this world with the help of Sam, who was basically correcting everything Twilight was doing wrong. Twilight tried to carry a stack of books that towered over her, she tripped and fell to the ground yelling, which made Cheerilee shoosh her. She tried to clean up her mess by picking up books in her mouth, drooling all over the books. Sam pointed out how she had to hold them with her hands. Twilight just spat out the book and sheepishly grind. Next Twilight tried to work a Photocopier, but she pressed a button, which activated it and a bright flash shone up and into Twilight’s face. She jumped back and fell on a pair of books, Sam just face palmed.

“Ow, that’s started to help now,” he remarked. Both were unaware that Snips and Snails were recording their every move.

The school day was going to an end, and everyone in the library had left. All except Twilight, Spike and Sam.

“The library will be closing in five minutes,” called the voice on the PA system.

“I hadn't even thought about where we're gonna sleep tonight!” Twilight gasped.

“Way ahead of you,” Spike remarked.

Later, after the School had closed up for the night, Spike led Sam and Twilight to a rarely used section tucked away on the second floor of the library, where he stood by some books covered with a dusty sheet.

“It's a little dusty,” he coughed, pulling off the sheet to reveal a makeshift bed out of books, “but it doesn't seem like anybody comes up here.”

“It's perfect, Spike,” Twilight said as she sat down on the books.

“So, how did your research go?” Spike asked.

“I found this book. It's called a yearbook. It seems to be something they use to keep a record of things that have happened at the school,” Twilight replied, “Look. That's Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and I'm gonna bet the girl on the far right is Rarity.”

“There's a Rarity here!?” Spike exclaimed, taking the book, and wagging his tail “Uh, I mean, uh... interesting photo.”

“It's interesting because they look like they're friends,” Twilight said.

“They do look like our friends,” Sam said, “but I thought we'd figured that out already.”

“No, I mean... they look like they're friends with each other,” Twilight responded, “but it doesn't seem like they're friends now.”

“Not so much,” Spike remarked.

“I just can't help but get the feeling that Sunset Shimmer had something to do with it,” Twilight said.

“I wouldn't put it past her. But she wanted your crown because she's planning on doing something even worse!” Sam responded “If we're gonna stop her, we have to focus on making friends here. Can't worry about why these girls aren't friends anymore. Even if they do remind you of our Ponyville friends.

“You're right, Sam,” Twilight sighed, “eye on the prize.”

“I know,” Sam replied as he yawned, Twilight shuffled over to make room for Sam on the book bed. She pulled the sheet up and with Spike on her right, Spike and Sam fell asleep, while Twilight continued to read the yearbook.

But not a moment later, the three jolted up to hear the library doors open.

“What was that?” Spike whispered, Sam slowly crept out from behind a shelf and saw Sunset Shimmer making her way in their direction.

“It’s Sunset!” Sam exclaimed quietly.

“Quick, hide!” Twilight responded by lifting the sheet up, Sam jumped into her arms and Twilight dropped the sheet over them, making them look like a pile of books up a sheet.

No one made a sound as Sunset’s footsteps came closer, Twilight peaked under the sheet and saw Sunset’s boots walk past. The three hardly dared to breathe, as they could hear Sunset talking with someone, they couldn’t hear much but just waited until Sunset had walked away. After what seemed like hours, Twilight saw Sunset’s boots walk past them again. They waited until they heard the library doors close.

Twilight threw off the sheet and went to check if Sunset was still here. She wasn’t.

“That was close,” Spike remarked.

“Why was she here?” Sam asked.

“And who was she talking to?” Twilight questioned.

They looked in the direction Sunset walked in when she came in. They saw a broom closet, Twilight slowly walked forward and opened it, but noting what was in there except the broom.

“Okay that’s just strange,” Sam remarked, “does she talk to herself?”

“I have no idea,” Twilight said, and she stepped inside the broom closet. She knocked on the left wall, it sounded solid, she knocked on the right wall, it too sounded solid. Then she knocked on the centre wall, and it sounded hollow.

“What the?” Sam remarked as he knocked on it, then they heard a bang on the other side of the wall, “It’s a fake wall.”

“And someone is on the other side,” Twilight exclaimed as she tried to get the wall off, “come on help me.”

Sam and Twilight managed to remove the fake wall and revealed a shocking sight that left the two speechless. What they saw was a tied up, hungry, thirsty, tired, Sunset Shimmer. Sam and Twilight were speechless as they looked upon Sunset Shimmer who had tears streaming down her face. Twilight snapped back to reality and removed the cloth on her face.

“Thank… You…” Sunset weakly said.

“Sam go get something for Sunset to eat and drink,” Twilight told him.

“Right,” Sam said as he ran off.

Twilight helped Sunset out the closet and laid her down on the books. A few minutes later, Sam came back with some water and some sandwiches.

“Luckily, the Cafeteria keeps out the food in their packaging,” Sam remarked. He handed Twilight the water and she helped Sunset drink it.

“There we go, just little sips,” Twilight said, after sipping the water a bit, Sunset slowly opened her eyes and saw Twilight and Sam.

“Wha… Where…” She seemed really confused.

“Shh, it’s ok, you’re safe,” Twilight assured her.

“Who… are you?” Sunset asked Twilight.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she replied, “And this is my dog Spike and my little brother Smokescreen.”

“I’m… Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset replied, “I’m so glad you found me.”

“How long have you been in there?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know,” Sunset replied, “even since that clone came here and took my place.”

“Oh, well the thing is, that Sunset isn't a clone,” Twilight replied, “It’s a little hard to believe, but she, and we are from another world.”

“Yeah that is rather hard to believe,” Sunset replied.

“But it’s true,” Spike said, catching Sunset off guard, “I’m a dragon in that world, and Sam’s a human from another dimension all together.”

“And I’m Twilight’s adopted son,” Sam remarked.

“Ok, I guess I can believe you,” Sunset replied, “I just feel really tired, hungry.”

“Here,” Sam said, offering her the sandwiches.

“Thank you,” Sunset replied quietly, she took a small bit of the sandwich, “the other Sunset told me just now that you were running for Princess of the Fall Formal, it’s this true?”

“Yes,” Twilight replied, “it’s because she came back to my world and stole my crown. I’m here to get it back.”

“So that crown she talked about that she got was yours?” Sunset asked, Twilight nodded, “Wow, well, I’m not sure what I can do, but I’ll help you out as much as I can. I want revenge for locking me away.”

“I’m surprised you don't act like Other Sunset,” Sam said.

“Oh I’m not like her,” Sunset replied, “I’m much more kind, caring and forgiving.”

“That’s good,” Twilight said, “but in order for you to not be feared by the other students, you need to be in disguise.”

“Maybe if we could find Rarity she could help us with that,” Sam remarked.

“Yeah,” Twilight said, “I think we should get some sleep now. It’s getting rather late.”

“Ok,” Sam said as he laid down on the book bed. Sunset laid down as well, but she couldn’t get to sleep as fast as Sam. She looked over to Twilight, who just smiled assuring her.

“Don’t worry,” Twilight whispered, “we’re here for you Sunset.”

“Thank you Twilight,” Sunset replied as she turned over and tried to fall asleep.

Twilight held Spike close to her, as she too closed her eyes and fell asleep. With one hand she placed it on Sunset’s to keep her calm.

The next morning, Sam woke up with a pain in his back. It wasn’t comfortable sleeping on a hardcover book. Twilight and Sunset were already up and getting ready to get started on the day, when Principal Celestia’s voice came on the PA system.

“Good morning, students, and happy Thursday,” she said, “just a reminder to pick up your ballots for the Princess of the Fall Formal today. They are due at the time the dance starts tomorrow night, so don't forget to turn them in and make your voice heard.”

“Nice to see you’re up Sam,” Twilight greeted him.

“And good morning to you too,” Sam replied. He jumped a bit when he saw Sunset and remembered last night, “sorry it’s going to take some time to get used to you.”

“Understandable, my copy didn’t have a good first impression on you,” Sunset replied.

“So what’s the plan today Twilight?” Spike asked.

“Fluttershy said I'd need to win over all those different groups if I wanna become Princess of the Fall Formal,” Twilight said, “so I've compiled a list of talking points.”

“You made a list? That's so unlike you!” laughed Spike, but Twilight gave him a stern look and pointed to her back for him to get into, “Uh... Please... Continue.”

“I'll start introducing myself, sprinkle in some things I learned about their world into the conversation, and show them how I fit in here!” Twilight said as she stood in front of the door to the library, “Okay, you three. Time to make a good first impression on my fellow students. The whole world sort of depends on it.”

Twilight, Sunset, and Sam started to walk out the library. Twilight gave a friendly wave to some students, but they just snickered at her, but then upon seeing Sunset and believing it was the other Sunset, they shut up and looked away. But then they started to chuckle again when they believed that Sunset was out of ear shot.

Twilight, and Spike were confused, but Sunset was feeling guilty, even though she wasn’t the one that bullied everyone, she felt sorry for them.

“Why is everybody looking at me funny?” Twilight asked Sam, but then suddenly someone grabbed Twilight’s arm and yanked her into a classroom. Sam and Sunset were shocked but before they could go after her, the door shut, and Sam slammed his face into the door.

“ouch,” he remarked.

“Are you ok?” Sunset asked, this act of kindness, made some of the students that were close be a little surprised.

“Yeah,” Sam said, as he got up and tried to open the door, “blast, it’s locked.

“Come on, there’s a door at the other end of that classroom,” Sunset said as she ran off followed by Sam.

Twilight was thrown into the classroom, she was very confused. She looked to see who threw her and was surprised to see that it was Rarity. Rarity started to measure and check over Twilight, before rummaging through her back and pulling out a green dress and pulling it over Twilight. Even a blonde wig sat on Twilight’s head.

“Perfect! Oh, yes. This is good!” Rarity remarked, “no one will recognize you!”

Twilight was even more confused. “Why wouldn't I wanna be…”

“And we'll need a disguise for your dog, which is too bad. He really is so adorable!” Rarity said, cutting Twilight off and petting Spike's head, “Y'know, with a little work, I think I could make him look like a rabbit instead.”

“Huh?” Spike questioned as he fell out of Twilight’s bag.

“A rabbit?” Twilight was even more confused. Suddenly a door opened behind her, revealed to be Applejack.

“There you are, Twilight,” she said.

“So much for the disguise,” Rarity sighed.

“I've been lookin' all over for ya!” Applejack said as she walked in.

“Me too,” came Fluttershy’s soft voice as she peered around the door frame.

“Me three!” came Pinkie’s high voice as she came down from the top of the door frame, “I like your new look.”

“I do have an eye for these sorts of things,” Rarity scoffed, “not that you seem to care.”

“What?!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Why do you think she doesn't care?” Twilight asked, when she looked back at Pinkie, she looked like she was going to burst with Applejack and Fluttershy signing Twilight to not ask that, “No, never mind. Why were you all looking for me? What's going on?”

“Oh, she hasn't seen it yet,” Fluttershy said worriedly.

“Seen What?” Twilight asked. Pinkie pulled out her laptop and got up a video that they were referring to.

“It’s not that bad,” Pinkie said, trying to assure Twilight ahead of time.

Pinkie presses play on the video. The video was posted by Sunset Shimmer, showing Twilight struggling to adapt to her human form and otherwise embarrassing herself on camera, Like smashing her fists into the keyboard like an ape, picking a book up in her mouth, leaving saliva on the cover, and jumping back in fright when the photocopier flashed in her face.

“Wha… I…” Twilight stuttered, mortified.

“I take that back,” Pinkie said, “it’s pretty bad!”

“But this all happened yesterday! At the library!” Twilight said, “Has everyone in the school seen this? Is that why they were all looking at me that way?”

No one replied, but Twilight could tell that was a yes. “What am I gonna do?” she questioned, “no one's gonna vote for me after seeing this!”

“Not that it'll make any difference, but I'll still vote for you,” Fluttershy said sweetly, Twilight just planted her head on the table with a thud, “You were so nice to stand up for me when Sunset Shimmer was picking on me yesterday.”

“If ya still wanna run, maybe there's something I can do to help!” Pinkie said to help cheer Twilight up.

“Word of advice? Don't accept her help,” Fluttershy warned Twilight, “She doesn't take anything seriously!”

“Ugh! Why do you have to be so awful to me?” Pinkie huffed.

“Oh! Pff. Kch. Ts! Don't play innocent, Pinkie Pie!” Rarity chimed in, “you are no better than she is!”

“And what is that supposed to mean?!” Pinkie shouted.

“I am happy to offer up my assistance as well,” Rarity said to Twilight before turning back to Pinkie, “To someone who would appreciate what I have to offer!”

Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity argued so much that Spike was getting nervous and hid inside Twilight’s bag. Applejack spoke up to stop them.

“Listen to y'all carryin' on!” she told them, “get over it and move on!”

“You mean like how you've gotten over what happened with Rainbow Dash?” Rarity questioned.

“She said she'd get the softball team to make an appearance at my bake sale. I tell everybody they're comin', and then not one of 'em shows up!” Applejack said, “she made a liar outta me! That's different!”

“Is not!” exclaimed Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rarity.

“Is too!” Now Applejack was arguing with them. They shouted and yelled at each other so much that Twilight began to lose patience. Eventually, Twilight snapped.

“STOP! All of you!” she yelled as she reached down to her back and Spike gave her the Yearbook, “I wanna show you something. You were friends once.” Twilight showed them the photo of them all when they were kids.

“Hmm. The Freshman Fair. Y'all remember?” Applejack asked the others.

“Yes,” Rarity replied, smiling.

“But something happened,” Twilight spoke up, “I think that something was Sunset Shimmer.”

“She's right. Sunset Shimmer isn't the one who ruined my silent auction for the animal shelter by bringing fireworks and noisemakers!” Fluttershy said, “It was supposed to be a serious event, and Pinkie Pie ruined it!”

“What are you talking about?” Pinkie said, getting out her phone, “I got a text from you saying that you didn't want a silent auction. You wanted a big party!”

“Uh! I never sent you a text!” Fluttershy told her.

“You didn’t?” Pinkie responded surprised.

“You don't think she's the one who's been sending me those emails, do you?” Rarity said, “every time I volunteer to help with the decorations at a school function, I get an email from Pinkie Pie saying she has plenty of volunteers! And then I find out she's done everything herself.”

“I never sent you any e-mails!” Pinkie replied.

“Maybe she's the reason Rainbow Dash didn't show up for my bake sale!” Applejack thought out loud.

“Didn't you ever ask Rainbow Dash why she didn't show up?” Twilight asked.

“Heh, I guess I kinda stopped talkin' to her at all after that,” Applejack replied sheepishly, taking off her hat.

“Maybe now would be a good time to start,” Twilight said as she placed her hat back on her head. Just then the door opened again, and in came Sam and Sunset.

“Why are the hallways so long?” Sam complained.

“I can’t help it,” Sunset replied but then turned to see Pinkie, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity staring at her, “Urm… Hi…?”

“What in tarnation are you doing here you heartless Friend splitter?!” Applejack shouted at Sunset.

“I know you guys are mad at me but…” Sunset tried to say.

“Mad is an understatement,” Rarity, “We are furious at you! You sent me emails saying that Pinkie had a lot of volunteers!”

“You sent me a text from Fluttershy saying she wanted a party!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“You made me Liar!” Applejack shouted.

“Girls that’s enough!” yelled Twilight, “This is not who you think it is.”

“What are you talking about?” Fluttershy said, “that’s Sunset Shimmer!”

“But not the one you’re referring to,” Twilight said.

“Look, she’s barely eating, and all scruffy,” Sam responded.

The girls took a closer look at her, and they were right. The other Sunset looked healthier, and her clothes were cleaner. This Sunset looked rather skinny, and her hair seemed duller.

“Ok,” Applejack, as she took the yearbook, and turned a couple of pages, “If you’re not the Sunset we’re referring to, then what do you remember about this?” She showed her a photo of when Sunset was at the freshmen fair.

“Ah, that was a great day,” Sunset said, “it was the first time I met everyone, I remember my mother had to hold me back because I was so excited to be there. I remember meeting you girls for the first time as well, in fact Photo Finish’s father let me take that photo of you all. You were just as eager to meet me Pinkie as I was with you. Fluttershy, you were so nervous around me, but I assured you that I wasn’t mean, and I would protect you like a mother hen. Rarity, you really liked my outfit that day and you promised me that you would make it look even better. And Applejack, you and Rainbow hit it off with me almost as quickly as Pinkie.”

The girls were shocked, this WAS the Sunset they knew from all those years ago. With tears in their eyes, they gave Sunset a big hug.

“Wow,” Sam remarked, “I thought we had to explain to them that the other Sunset is from Equestria.”

“Don’t say that too loud,” Twilight said.

“Rarity, can I ask you a favour,” Sunset asked.

“Yes, anything for you darling,” Rarity replied, her voice husky from crying.

“I don’t want the students to be afraid of me,” Sunset said, “could you try and disguise me.”

“Oh course darling,” Rarity replied, as the group broke their embrace and Rarity went over to her bag, she pulled out a beige dress, and pulled it over Sunset. She then pulled out a snow white and ice blue wig and placed it on Sunset’s head, finally she gave Sunset Maroon contacts.

“I present to you, Summer Breeze,” Rarity said as she showed off Sunset’s new look.

“Ooh pretty,” Sam remarked, making Sunset blush.

“Now in order for this to work, you’ll need to speak in a different voice,” Rarity said, “because then everyone will know it’s you.”

“Ok,” Sunset replied, she coughed a bit to help make her voice sound different, “How’s this?” She spoke in a very different voice.

“Wow, she sounds like She-Hulk,” Sam remarked.

“Ok now that that’s sorted,” Twilight said, taking off the dress and picking up her bag, “Little go and find Rainbow Dash.”

Later, the group made their way to the soccer pitch where Rainbow was kicking balls into a goal. At Twilight's encouragement, Applejack approaches Rainbow Dash. The two started to chat.

“They're actually talking!” Rarity said, “that's a good sign!”

At first Rainbow was also mad at Applejack, but as Applejack explained that it was all Sunset’s fault, Rainbow scowl softened and the two friends made up and hugged each other.

“Hugs! Ooh, hugs are always good!” Pinkie cried.

“Somebody, and I think we can all guess who, told Rainbow Dash that my bake sale had been moved to a different day,” Applejack explained, “Dash showed up with all the softball team and thought I'd cancelled on her!”

“So you're lookin' to dethrone Sunset Shimmer and become Princess of the Fall Formal, huh?” Rainbow asked, Twilight nodded, “gotta say, I'd really love to see that happen. I'll totally help you out! All you gotta do is beat me in a game of one-on-one.”

“What?” Twilight question worried.

“First to five goals wins,” Rainbow said as she kicked her ball into the goal, “One-zip!” and the match began.

Rainbow run up to the goal, kicking her soccer ball, Twilight stood in goal shaking like a leaf, Rainbow kicked the ball up in the air and roundhouse kicked it towards goal, Twilight panicked and duck, letting the ball to hit the goal net. It was now two to none. Rainbow dropped the ball at Twilight’s feet, she was about to kick it, but Rainbow pulled it back and kicking into the goal again. Now it was three to none. Twilight was then kicking the ball to the goal at the other end of the pitch, she was doing good, but then Rainbow came out of nowhere and took the ball away from Twilight, she then kicked it into the goal, and made the score four to none. Rainbow was teasing Twilight by keeping up the ball, she then kicked it into Twilight’s face, she then began to kick the ball to her goal, Twilight thought she was doing good, but she slipped up on kickin it and fell on her back. The ball rolled to Rainbow’s feet at the goal, she gave it the biggest kick yet and shot it all the way into the goal. Winning the match with five to none.

Twilight gasped for air, she felt exhausted. “That's a game,” Rainbow said as the girls and Sam came over.

“I... really thought you were gonna... pull it off there in the end!” Rarity nervously laughed.

“So what's the plan?” Rainbow said, helping Twilight up from the ground, “how can I help you be princess instead of Sunset Shimmer? But not that Sunset Shimmer,” Mentioning to Sunset/Summer Breeze across from her.

“But... I... lost!” Twilight painted.

“Of course you lost. I'm awesome!” Rainbow announced, “but I'm not gonna help just anybody try and beat Sunset Shimmer. The Fall Formal Princess should be someone with heart and determination. You've proved that you've got 'em both!”

The two girls hugged as the others cheered. Unbeknownst to them, behind the bleachers nearby, Snips and Snails show Sunset Shimmer photos they'd taken on their phones, eliciting an evil grin from the other pony-turned-human.

Chapter 17: Time to Come Together (Edited)

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AAfter school, the girls took Twilight, Sam and Spike to a café run by the human world’s Mr and Ms Cake. The girls were sitting at a table with Sam who was eating a chocolate muffin, the girls all finding him rather adorable as he ate it, while Twilight stood in front of the desk as Ms Cake made her a hot chocolate, she was just topping it off with whipped cream.

“And... Can I get mine with extra oats?” Twilight asked.

“Oats?” Ms Cake questioned, confused at the request.

“Uh, scratch that,” Twilight replied, chuckling nervously, “however you normally make it is fine.”

Unsurely, Ms Cake gave Twilight her hot chocolate, she took and turned around to walk back to the girls at the table, but she didn’t watch where she was going and bumped into the same boy from yesterday that helped her off the ground when she crawled out of the sea of students. Twilight dropped her cup onto the ground as the rest of her drink spilled out.

“Oh! We've got to stop bumping into each other like this,” the boy remarked as Twilight bent down to pick up her cup.

She placed her hand on the cup, and the boy placed his hand on hers. The two looked at each other shocked as Twilight pulled her hand back and the boy picked up the cup.

“You know me! Always trying to make a big splash around here,” Twilight replied nervously, “Cause my drink kinda splashed... on the ground!” she let off a nervous laugh. “I'm gonna go over there now.”

Twilight quickly went back to her friends and sat on the arm of the couch they were sitting on and twirled her hair with her finger.

“Don't even think about it! You're already trying to get her crown,” Rarity warned Twilight, “who knows what Sunset Shimmer would do if you ended up getting her ex-boyfriend too?”

“I'm not trying to. I don't even know... We just accidentally...” stubbled Twilight, “Ex-boyfriend?”

“Flash Sentry broke up with her a few weeks ago,” Fluttershy said, “I can't believe she hasn't done something awful to him yet. Oh, I guess you didn’t know that.”

“No, I knew,” Summer Breeze replied in a sad tone, “She told me that day that she dumped him.”

“Maybe she's just waiting until she has the power to do something really awful,” Sam remarked.

“All right, girls. Dance is tomorrow night, and we still don't know how we're gonna get Twilight the votes she needs to be named princess. Right now, folks only know the Twilight from the videos Sunset Shimmer posted online,” Applejack said, “we need to help 'em see her differently.”

The Girls all remarked in agreement, and all thought of how to help Twilight.

“I'VE GOT IT!” exploded Rarity, she shouted so loud that everyone in the café went quiet and looked at her, “Ahem. I mean, um, perhaps I have a solution. Now this may be an absolutely preposterous idea, but what if we all wore these as a sign of unity?” She pulled out and put on a pony tail and a pair of pony ears on a headband. “Freshman year, they were very, very popular. A way for everybody to show their school spirit! You know? "Go, Canterlot Wondercolts!" Ahem. I haven't sold any in ages.” She pulls out more pony ear headbands and hands them to the girls and Sam. “I mean, the five of us are obviously very different, but deep down, we're all Canterlot Wondercolts! Sunset Shimmer is the one who divided us, Twilight Sparkle is the one who united us. And we're gonna let everyone know it! What do you think?”

One by one, the girls loved the idea and agreed with her. Spike had hearts in his eyes as he found Rarity more attractive with the ears and tail. Rarity hugged Twilight from behind and she just smiled.

The next day in the cafeteria, the students were eating their lunches and chatting in their separate groups. Rarity sat with the fashionistas, wearing a blue jumper with a C on the front that resembled a horse shoe, and the pony tail. She looked across the room and put her pony ears on. Rainbow Dash sat with the athletes wearing the same as Rarity and place her pony ears on as well. Pinkie was getting her food as she placed her ears on her head. She then began to smack her tray on the counter.

Rarity started to stamp her feet in time with Pinkie, as well as clapping. Fluttershy joined in by banging some cups on the table. Then Applejack chimed in, hitting her hands on the table and clapping. Rainbow was also banging her tray on the table, they were all creating a beat together.

In the corner of the room, Sam and Spike had a music player ready, Spike turned it on and the girls banging, and clapping faded into drums beating, and the girls then started to sing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2t4CahftYo&list=PLfJpfTZK5SWBxKRpWjWfhyKxRA_0tQjaX&index=14

Hey, hey, everybody
We've got something to say
We may seem as different
As the night is from day

But you look a little deeper
And you will see
That I'm just like you
And you're just like me
Yeah!

Hey, hey, everybody
We're here to shout
That the magic of friendship
Is what it's all about

Yeah, we thought we were different
As the night is from the day
Until Twilight Sparkle
Helped us see another way

So get up, get down
If you're gonna come around
We can work together
Helping Twilight win the crown

So get up, get down
'Cause it's gonna make a sound
If we work together
Helping Twilight Sparkle win the crown

Hey, hey, hands up now
We're sending a message to the crowd
Hands wave up, then come down
We party together all around

Generous, honesty

Laughter, kindness, loyalty

Twilight helped us each to see

All that we can be!

So get up, get down
If you're gonna come around
We can work together
Helping Twilight win the crown

So get up, get down
'Cause it's gonna make a sound
If we work together
Helping Twilight Sparkle win the crown

I'm gonna be myself
No matter what I do
And if we're different, yeah
I want you to be true to you

If you follow me
We'll put our differences aside
We'll stick together and
Start working on that school pride!

Jump up, make a sound (Hey!)
Stomp your hooves, turn around
Start now, make a change
Gonna come around

Jump up, make a sound (Hey!)
Stomp your hooves, turn around
Canterlot Wondercolts
Help her win the crown

Jump up, make a sound (Hey!)
Stomp your hooves, turn around
Start now, make a change
Gonna come around

Jump up, make a sound (Hey!)
Stomp your hooves, turn around
Canterlot Wondercolts
Help her win the crown

Jump up, make a sound (Hey!)
Stomp your hooves, turn around
Start now, make a change
Gonna come around

Jump up, make a sound (Hey!)
Stomp your hooves, turn around
Canterlot...

Everyone was jumping around, dancing and singing along with Twilight and the girls. But from outside the room stood Sunset Shimmer she watched them all dance and sing but she wasn’t deterred. She turned to Snips and Snails who had tails and ears of their own and they were dancing to the music as well.

“Take those off!” Sunset Shimmer snapped, the two boys took them off quickly, “I have something I need you to do.” Sunset grinned evilly.

The bell rang signalling the end of lunch, students wore pony tails and ears as they made their way down the halls of the school. The Girls and Sam were happy that their plan worked.

“Doesn't everyone look just fabulous?” Rarity said.

“It was a great idea, Rarity!” Twilight responded.

“Don't know what she's smilin' about,” Applejack said as they saw Sunset Shimmer walk down the hall smiling to herself, “Twilight's the one that's gonna be Princess of the Fall Formal.”

Sunset Shimmer knocked on the office door of the Vice-Principal Luna. “Vice Principal Luna!” she cried in a shocked and worried tone, “something terrible has happened!”

Sunset Shimmer took Vice Principal Luna to the Auditorium, where all of the decorations were smashed, broken, and destroyed. Vice Principal Luna was in shock.

“Isn't this just awful?” Sunset cried, “And after Pinkie Pie worked so hard to make things so perfect! Why would Twilight Sparkle do something like this?”

“Why would you think Twilight was responsible for something like this?” Vice Principal Luna asked.

“Because I have proof,” Sunset said, pulling out a folder. Little did either know, Flash was watching from behind the door, and grew suspicious.

Later Twilight is brought to Vice Principal Luna’s office, she felt like she was in an interrogation room, in how it was dark and only little light came in from the blinds. Luna had told Twilight why she had been called to her office.

“But... But I don't understand!” Twilight replied, she didn’t understand why she was being blamed.

“This is clearly you in the photographs, is it not?” Luna said as she placed the folder in front of her. Twilight saw three photos of her in the auditorium wrecking the place.

“Yes, but...” Twilight tried to say in horror, but Vice Principal Luna cut her off.

“I think it should be fairly obvious that the school cannot let someone who would do something like this compete for the Fall Formal crown,” she said sternly. Twilight was on the verge of tears, but then came a knock at the door, and in came Flash.

“Vice Principal Luna. I found these in a trash can in the library. Thought you should see them,” he said, giving Vice Principal Luna rough cut outs of when Twilight was playing football with Rainbow, “someone obviously combined these photos to make it look like Twilight was the one who trashed the gym.”

“I appreciate you bringing these to my attention, Flash,” Luna told Flash before turning back to Twilight, “in light of this new evidence, you may of course continue your bid to be crowned the Princess of the Fall Formal.”

“Thank you! You have no idea how important this is to me!” Twilight shouted, giving Flash a hug.

“What was I gonna do? Not prove your innocence?” he chuckled, “wouldn't be much of a Canterlot Wondercolt, would I?”

“I am afraid enough damage has been done to the gym that we will have to postpone the dance until tomorrow night,” Vice Principal Luna said as she began to leave her room, “If you will excuse me, I need to let my sister know about this latest development.”

“So, uh, I was wondering. If you aren't already going with somebody, wanna go to the Fall Formal with me tomorrow night?” Flash asked. Twilight looked at him with an adorable face.

“That would be... Tomorrow night!?” Twilight responded in a panic, “No, no-no-no-no-no, no, no, no, no, no! Nonononono! I can't! The portal! That'll be too late!” She grabbed her bag and dashed out the door. Sam was waiting outside for her, and he dashed after her in worry.

“One "no" would have been fine!” called Flash out to her, but Twilight was already gone. He turned on his heel and walked away sad and slowly.

Twilight and Sam dashes into the boutique where their friends are picking out what to wear at the Fall Formal, as Twilight runs into a changing booth. They were shocked and worried to see Twilight in such a panic.

“Everything okay there?” Rarity called to Twilight.

“Yes!” Twilight replied before muttering to herself, “only it's not okay. It's not okay at all! If I don't get my crown tonight, I won't be able to go back to Equestria for another thirty moons! Oh, what are we gonna do?” Spike didn’t know what to say, he was just as worried.

“We tell them the truth,” Sam responded, “let them know what's really at stake if you don't get the crown tonight. They'll help us figure something out.”

“But what if they won't?” Twilight asked, “What if they find out how different I really am...?”

“Mum, these girls rallied around you cause they saw what was in your heart,” Sam replied, “they aren't gonna feel any differently about you when they find out you're a pony princess in Equestria. If they find anything they have to believe it would be the truth about me.”

“I'm glad you followed me here, Sweetie,” Twilight said, hugging her adoptive son.

“Me too,” Sam responded.

“Unless, of course, we get stuck here for another thirty moons,” Spike remarked.

Twilight pulled back the curtain, worry and concern was across her friends faces. “You okay?” Applejack asked.

“The Fall Formal isn't happening tonight,” Twilight said.

“WHAT?!” exclaimed Pinkie.

“It had to be postponed because Sunset Shimmer had Snips and Snails ruin all of Pinkie Pie's decorations,” Twilight responded.

“WHAT?!?!” Pinkie shouted again.

“But the Fall Formal has to happen tonight,” Twilight replied.

“Wha…!” Pinkie was about to yell again but Summer Breeze placed a hand over her mouth.

Twilight took a deep breath and sighed, “You see…”

“You're from an alternate world and you're a pony princess there and the crown actually has a magical element embedded in it that helps power up other magical elements, and without it, they don't work anymore, and you need them to help protect your magical world, and if you don't get the crown tonight, you'll be stuck in this world and you won't be able to get back for, like, a really, really long time!” Pinkie exclaimed, “Oh and Smokescreen over there, is really named Sam who comes from a world with a virus that has turned all of the humans on his earth into animals, and is also your adopted son.”

Twilight, Spike and Sam’s jaws dropped to the floor in pure shock and bewilderment.

“What. The. Heck!” Sam remarked.

“Yeah, I'm pretty sure that isn't the reason,” Rainbow said.

“Nope, she's pretty much spot-on,” Spike spoke up.

“He can talk?!” exclaimed Rarity, she was freaking out.

“Oh, yeah! And back where I come from, I'm not even a dog! I'm a ferocious, fire-breathing dragon!” Spike announced, making himself sound smug.

“This is so amazing!” Fluttershy cried, pushing Rarity and Pinkie out the way, “tell me, what are you thinking right now?” She got right down in Spike's face.

“Did you know about this?” Rainbow asked Summer Breeze.

“Yeah, they told me when they found me in the broom closet,” Summer responded, “they had to tell me for all of this to make sense.”

“Are you really Twilight’s adoptive son?” Applejack asked Sam.

“Yep,” he replied, he was both glad and worried that Pinkie didn’t mention that he was Ultraman, did she know but didn’t say.

“Sure would love a scratch behind the old ears!” Spike said, walking up to Rarity.

“Gah…” was all she could say.

“Uh, maybe later,” Spike responded.

“How did you know all that?” Twilight asked Pinkie.

“Just a hunch,” she replied.

“Is there anything else you know about me…?” Sam asked.

“Nope, don’t think so,” Pinkie replied.

“Wait a minute! Lemme get this straight,” Applejack said, “you're a pony?”

“You're a princess?” Rarity asked.

“You're from another world?” questioned Fluttershy.

Twilight gulped and nodded, “Mm-hmm.”

“That... is... awesome!” cried Rainbow.

“See? Told ya,” Spike as the girls surround Twilight. Summer Breeze and Sam just stood off to the side smirking and fist bumped.

“I simply cannot believe they did all this!” Rarity remarked looking at all the damage that Snips and Snails had done.

“If I only had some kind of... party cannon that could decorate everything super-fast!” Pinkie said.

“Ha, if only,” Sam smirked.

“I know it seems impossible, but, maybe if we all work together?” Twilight said.

“Now that's the kinda can-do spirit I'm lookin' for in a Fall Formal Princess! Let's do it, y'all!” cried Applejack, placing her hand out.

“Absolutely!” shouted Rarity.

“Rock on!” shrieked Rainbow.

“Yes, indeedily!” yelled Pinkie.

“Yaaay!” wept Fluttershy.

“I’m with you girls,” confirmed Summer Breeze.

The girls all looked at Twilight, as she placed her hand in the middle with the girls and they all cheered after raising them.

“Now let’s start the clean montage,” Sam remarked as he handed them all brooms.

The girls started to sweep up the rubbish on the ground. They sweep them into piles and put them into bin bags, and straight into trash. Twilight tried to move a broken table, as two boys, known as Red and Sierra, saw Twilight struggling and decided to help. But they were completely shocked to see Applejack carry one with no problem.

Pinkie was now resorting to cleaning the floor with her hair and made a right old mess of it. Fluttershy and Rarity were now throwing streamers up into the air and into the scaffolding, as two girls one grey with a green streak in her hair and a long red dress named Roxy and the other a white, pink skinned girl with green triangle earrings named Chica passed by. They saw what we were doing and thought it looked fun. Even the green boy Monty came in thinking it was going to be fun. The two girls and boy started to help throw steamers into scaffolding, one streamer was caught by an orange boy with a headband that had bear ears on named Freddy, the three went over to him as Chica put a streamer around his neck.

Two more named Ace and Sparkler were moving a speaker when they saw a boy with an eyepatch named Switch was about to fall off a ladder trying to replace one of the stage lights, but then the ladder was steadied by another boy with an eyepatch named Star chaser. Twilight was pleased that she got the students into helping her.

Flash and his band were on the stage practising and tuning their instruments for the dancing when they looked over to the left of the stage and saw Microchips sorting out the sound and lights. Twilight was sweeping backwards on the stage when she bumped into Flash. The two looked into each other’s eyes and Twilight blushed. Sandalwood, Minty and Firefly were setting up a photo booth while Photo Finish was sorting out her camera. Twilight, Sam, and their friends stood on the stage watching over all the students as the auditorium looked better than ever.

“This... looks... sooooo... GOOD!” cried Pinkie when they all heard Principal Celestia clapping.

“All right, everyone! Fall Formal is back on for this evening,” she announced, “So you'd better get out of here and start getting ready. Oh, and don't forget to cast your ballots for the Fall Formal Princess on your way out!” The students had to walk out the auditorium, passing the principal and placing their votes in a box Vice Principal Luna held.

“You got my vote, Twilight,” said Scott Green.

"Mine, too!” responded Cloudy Kicks.

“Mine too!” spoke up Roxy.

“Mine too!” called out Sparkler.

From a closet, I watched an annoyed Sunset Shimmer. She scowled at the students voting for Twilight. “You're lucky she was able to pull this off,” she said turning to Snips and Snails, “Next time I ask you to make a mess of things, try to show a little restraint! I need this Formal to go on tonight just as much as she does.” She smiled evilly as she looked at the students.

Chapter 18: The Fall of the Formal (Edited)

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The girls and Sam return to the boutique to get themselves ready for the Formal later that evening. They were all extremely happy that they were able to fix the auditorium in time. They were all sure that everyone voted for Twilight as well.

“I still can't believe we pulled that off!” said Fluttershy.

“I can!” remarked Rainbow, “we're awesome!”

“Enough chatter, girls,” said Rarity, as she pulled out a clothes rack, with dresses on it, “we need to get ready, and we need to look fabulous!”

“Cue changing montage,” Sam remarked.

Fluttershy was looking in a mirror, holding a green and orange dress, she seemed to like it. Pinkie tried on different dresses that had balloons on and some she really liked. Rainbow was in a very puffy dress, she thought she looked silly in it, Rarity just chuckled and pushed her away.

Applejack tried on a green dress that went down to the floor, she seemed to like it, but Rarity wanted to make a few changes, which made Applejack annoyed, thinking she was just being used as a mannequin. Pinkie tried out some new hair styles, all looking very puffy, with some styles made her look like she had a pineapple on her head, a swan, a ship on the ocean, even completely straight, but it just poofed back to normal, but Pinkie thought it was the best.

Fluttershy was brushing her hair, with a little help from her bunny and bird, as Spike was trying on moustaches. Rarity sat at her makeup table and did her nails, eyelashes, blush, and lipstick. The other girls seemed to be struggling with the makeup, Pinkie was straying perfume right into her face, Twilight was helping Rainbow with brushing her hair, Applejack was adjusting her hat, and Summer Breeze was helping Fluttershy with her eyeliner. Rarity then brought out a box of jewellery and they each took something that was themed after their respective element.

Pinkie had balloon earrings, Rarity had a diamond necklace, Rainbow had a pair of red boots with what resembled wings on the side, Applejack had a new Stetson hat with a rose on the front that resembled an apple, Fluttershy had a new butterfly hairpin, and Summer Breeze had a had a ring with her sun on it. Twilight clapped at their appearances in their beautiful dresses, even Sam had to admit they looked amazing.

Then Rarity hurried Twilight into a changing booth and gave her a dress, she did the same with Sam but gave him a suit. They all waited for Twilight to come out. When she did she was all sparkling with beauty, the girls were in awe as they came closer to Twilight. Sam then came out all smartly dressed and even had his hair flatten and swept to the side with some gel. The girls all found him adorable, but Sam thought he looked too smart, he wasn’t much for this sort of stuff.

The moon was high in the sky above Canterlot high, signalling that Twilight hasn’t got that much time left. But that wasn’t going to spoil her night, even though it meant she has maybe 2-3 hours before it reaches its highest point. Students, dressed up in suits and dresses enter the school entrance, as a limousine pulls up and the girls and Sam step out, laughing, and feeling excited for what’s happening in the school. Just as Twilight was about to enter, someone called out to her.

“Twilight!” called Flash, Twilight turned around and saw him, “Look, I know you said "no" about going to the Fall Formal with me, but would you reconsider and at least have one dance?”

“I didn't say "no"! I mean, I did, but... I didn't mean no, to you,” Twilight replied before calming down, “I was... Well, what I mean is... yes. I'd love to dance with you!”

Flash smiled and Twilight took his arm, as he began to walk into the school, but not before Flash smacked his face into the closed door. The two laughed and they entered one by one.

The dance was in full swing, everyone was enjoying themselves, Sam was even lucky to dance with the CMC. Everyone was rocking out the Flash and his band playing on the stage, Twilight waved at him when he looked at her, but she got a little concerned, as she looked around, Sunset Shimmer didn’t seem to be anywhere.

“Has anyone seen Sunset Shimmer?” She asked Rainbow, shouting over the loud music.

“Maybe she was too embarrassed to show!” Rainbow replied, “She's gotta know you won by a landslide!”

“Maybe…” Twilight responded, not so sure.

The music came to an end as Principal Celestia came on the stage, Microchips turned off the coloured lights and turned on the spotlights as Celestia stood in the middle.

“First off, I wanna say how wonderful everything looks tonight. You all did a magnificent job pulling things together after the unfortunate events of earlier,” she announced as Vice Principal Luna walked on stage with a chest, inside was Twilight’s crown, “And now, without further ado, I'd like to announce the winner of this year's Fall Formal crown. The Princess of this year's Fall Formal is...” she paused for effect, “Twilight Sparkle!”

The students cheered and Twilight’s friends were overjoyed by this as they hugged and cheered for Twilight. While everyone was distracted, Snips and Snails snuck into the auditorium. Twilight walked up on stage as Celestia held her crown.

“Congratulations, Twilight,” she replied as she placed the crown on Twilight’s head. The girls and Sam were happy for her that she got her crown back. But then suddenly Twilight heard Spike scream out to her.

“Twilight! Help!” he called out to her.

“Spike?” Twilight questioned as she looked around the auditorium, from where she was, she could see Snips and Snails kidnapping Spike out the back of the auditorium.

“They've got Spike!” cried Twilight as she jumped off the stage and ran out the doors.

She chased after Snips and Snails but as they turned a corner, Twilight couldn’t stop in time and slammed into the lockers. She looked back to see Sam and the girls running after them as well. Snips and Snails ran past Trixie who was getting something from the vending machine, she got up just as Twilight and the rest ran passed, she was very confused.

Snips and Snails ran out the side doors to the school, but Twilight wasn’t far behind. The two kidnappers ran to the statue and hid behind it, just as the girls showed up, Sunset Shimmer stood out from behind the statue, with a sledgehammer in hand.

“That's close enough!” Sunset yelled as she raised the hammer up, ready to swing down into the portal.

“Twilight!” called Spike before getting his muzzle shut by Snails.

“Don’t hurt him!” Twilight snapped.

“Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. I'm not a monster, Twilight,” Sunset Shimmer replied before turning to Snips and Snails, “Let him go.” The two dropped Spike and he ran to Twilight who gave him a hug. Sunset Shimmer spoke up again, “You don't belong here. Give me the crown, and you can go back to Equestria tonight. Or keep it and never go home.” She raises the sledgehammer ready to swing.

Twilight gasped in shock, as Sam scowled. “Tick-tock, Twilight. We haven't got all night,” mocked Sunset Shimmer, “The portal will be closing on its own in less than an hour. So, what's your answer?”

Twilight thought hard, if she gave up her crown, then Sunset would do something terrible to this world, but if she didn’t then Sunset would smash her only chance to get home. She looked at her crown, then to Sam, then she made her decision.

“No!” she replied, sternly.

“What!?” Sunset snapped surprised, “Equestria! Your friends! Lost to you forever! Don't you see what I'm about to do to the portal?!”

“Yes, but I've also seen what you've been able to do here without magic,” Twilight shouted back, “Equestria will find a way to survive without my Element of Harmony. This place might not, if I allow it to fall into your hands. So go ahead. Destroy the portal. You are not getting this crown!”

“Fine. You win,” Sunset said, as she dropped the hammer, just missing Snips and Snails’ feet.

“You... are... so awesome!” cried Rainbow.

“I can't believe you were gonna do that for us!” exclaimed Applejack.

“It's no wonder you're a real live princess!” remarked Rarity.

“Oh, yes, she's so very special!” Sunset growled as she leapt toward Twilight, causing her to fall to the ground and her crown to fall off. Sunset climbed over Twilight to get the crown, but Twilight grabbed her foot and Spike got the crowd, “Grab him, you fools!” Sunset called Snips and Snails.

Snips and Snails jumped and dashed after Spike, Spike looked back to see the two boys catching up, Sunset had managed to get free and pushed Snips and Snails out the way, they got up and chance after Spike, Twilight and the girls were right behind them. Spike ran to the doors, but he couldn’t get them open as Sunset Shimmer came closer. She was about to grab him, when Summer Breeze came up behind her and pulled her back.

“What?!” Sunset snarled as she pushed back at Summer Breeze. She managed to push Summer Breeze’s wig off and was surprised to see that she was the Human Sunset, “What?! How did you get free.”

“Take a guess imposter,” Human Sunset replied as she held her back, “you took my life away from me, so I’m making sure you don't hurt anyone again.”

“Spike, I’m open!” called Rainbow.

Just as Pony Sunset broke out her human counterpart’s grasp, Spike threw the crown to Rainbow. She caught it but Snips and Snails tried to take it back.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow called to her, as she threw the crown to her. It hit Fluttershy in the back as she spun around and caught it.

But when she saw Pony Sunset, Snips and Snails running towards her, she panicked and froze. Applejack used her lasso to pull Fluttershy out of the way, and it worked but this caused Fluttershy to let go of the crown and Snips caught.

Pinkie pulled it out Snips’ hands then passed it to Applejack, who then tossed it to Rarity, who then threw it to Twilight, who threw it behind her, Sam tried to catch it, but Pony Sunset caught it.

“I'll take that!” She chuckled evilly, “At last! More power than I could ever imagine!”

Just as she placed it on her head, it started to act up, as it surrounded Sunset in corrupted magical rings. Suddenly a beam shot up from below her as Sunset slowly rose into the sky. The Girls and Sam watched in horror at what was happening to her. Students came out to see what was going on, and they were just as shocked. As Sunset rose into the sky, her eyes were streaming with tears, but they just evaporated away as she screamed in pain. Her skin turned a red, her fingers became sharp, four digit claws, her clothes changed to a fiery dress, a pony-like tail grew out her backside and to top it off, she had demon wings, ears, and fangs. When it was over, Sunset looked over herself and laughed evilly at her new body. With her new evil magic, she fired two beams at Snips and Snails, turning them into demons like herself.

“This is gonna be so cool!” Snips said as Snails hissed. The girls all gasped at this.

“Well… I wasn’t expecting that,” Sam remarked.

Twilight snarled at Demon Sunset, but then heard the students scream from the entrance. Demon Sunset heard them too and turned to them.

“I've had to jump through so many hoops tonight just to get my hands on this crown, and it really should have been mine all along,” she growled, “But let's let bygones be bygones. I am your princess now, and you will be loyal... to me!” She used her magic to break a hole in the front of the school and threw the rubble aside. She flies into the school and projects her magic onto the fleeing students, hypnotising them into mindless zombies.

With the student body under her control, Sunset saw within the crowd, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. She used the same magic to turn Snips and Snails in demons on them, turning them into demons as well.

“Round them up and bring them to the portal, you two with me,” Sunset told Snips, Snails, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, before turning to Twilight, “Spoiler alert: I was bluffing when I said I was going to destroy the portal. I don't want to rule this pathetic little high school; I want Equestria! And with my own little teenage army behind me, I am going to get it!”

Within the crowd, Twilight could see Flash, zombie-fied like everyone else. “No, you're not!” Sam said determinately.

“Oh please,” Sunset said, “get the boy.” Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon dove to Sam and held him still.

“Told ya I’ll get you back,” Diamond Tiara hissed in Sam’s face.

“God your breath is just as bad as your face,” Sam remarked only to get held to the ground but the two she-demons.

“What exactly do you think you're going to do to stop me? I have magic, and you have nothing!” Sunset shouted menacingly.

“She has us,” Rainbow confirmed. Twilight smiled back at her friends.

“Gee, the gang really is all back together again,” Sunset laughed evilly as she created a fireball, “Now step aside! Twilight has tried to interfere with my plans one too many times already! She needs to be dealt with!” And she fired the fireball.

The girls jumped in to protect Twilight, “NO!” cried Sam, “Ultrasuit On!” As the Ultrasuit cover his body he threw Diamond and Silver Spoon off his back and ran to stop the fireball.

He stepped in the way just in time before he could make contact with Twilight and her friends.

“What?!” Sunset snarled.

“Huh?” the girls remarked, and Ultraman threw the fireball back at Sunset. The Fireball struck her, causing her to fall to the ground.

“Get back, She-Demon!” Ultraman yelled, as he took a few steps forward. But Sunset just laughed.

“You don’t think I hadn’t planned for you to become Ultraman?” Sunset chuckled evilly, as she pulled out a device with two capsules.

“Wait, that’s not…?” Ultraman said, hoping to Celestia it wasn’t what he thought it was.

“Oh it is,” Sunset said, as she started, “Zetton!” She activated the Zetton capsule and placed it in the Loading Knuckle. “Pandon!” She activated the Pandon capsule and placed it in the Loading Knuckle as well. After putting the capsules in the Loading Knuckle, she then slid the Riser across the capsules, getting their DNA and then pressing the switch.

“Fusion Rise: Zetton, Pandon! Ultraman Belial: Zeppandon!” A dark tornado surrounded Sunset as she grew to a massive height. Once the tornado disappeared, in Sunset’s place was a giant monster, a fusion of monsters. Zeppandon.

Sunset laughed like a mad woman inside the monster, as she fired a bullet of fire toward the girls, but Ultraman blocked them with a Specium Shield. Ultraman raised his arms to the sky, then grew to the same height as Zeppandon, ready to fight the monster. Ultraman ran towards the monster and the two started to tussle, with Ultraman landing a few punches, and Zeppandon landing a couple of slashes. Zeppandon taunted Ultraman who returned that with a headbutt and a chop to the head. In a sort of blind rage, Ultraman cried out, as he tried to lift the heavy monster, but as he was about to throw Zeppandon away from the school, Zeppandon fired its Fire Bullets at Ultraman causing the Ultra to drop Zeppandon onto himself.

Sunset was enjoying firing Ultraman, as she kicked him in the stomach, then smacked him in the face with a claw. Sam within Ultraman was trying to get his anger under control, after all, the monster inside his head had been destroyed, But it seemed when his family was put in danger, he felt himself losing control of his anger. He diploid his Specium Blades and ran towards Zeppandon, but he couldn’t get close enough to use them, as Zeppandon used its Fire Bullets to keep Ultraman back. Once he was able to get close enough, his blades did next to nothing to hurt Zeppandon, who simply smacked Ultraman to the ground with a backslap to the face.

Ultraman stood back and fired a Specium slash at the monster, but Zeppandon just caught it in its mouth and ate it. Ultraman then tried a Specium Beam, but Zeppandon just summoned a pair of green hexagonal energy shields from its ‘ears’ and blocked the attack, but then before Ultraman could react in time, Zeppandon fired two purple rays from ‘Pandon’ heads striking the Ultra in the chest and knocking him to the ground.

“You’re too weak!” cried Sunset within Zeppandon, “You can’t defeat me, I will destroy you and take over Equestria!”

“Not if I stand in your way!” Ultraman shouted.

Zeppandon looked to the sky, and fired its Fire Bullets into the air, Ultraman looked up and saw what Sunset had planned. The Fire Bullets were fired in a straight line, but as they came back down, they spread out and rained down like bombs onto Ultraman. A few even landed near Twilight and the rest. The girls screamed as they shielded Twilight from one that came crashing on top of them.

“MUM! NO!” Sam shouted, reaching out to where they were.

“Looks like you couldn’t protect what matters most to you,” Sunset laughed.

Ultraman turned to face Zeppandon fury burning in his eyes, “I swear, I will cut your head off and crush it with a steam roller!” Ultraman yelled, but just before he could do anything, a light shone behind him, he turned back around and saw something he couldn’t believe.

A pink force field was surrounding Twilight and her friends and it had protected them from Sunset's attack. The girls were just as shocked as Sunset and Sam, the girls surrounding Twilight were holding each other’s hands, and then it finally clicked for Twilight.

“The magic contained in my Element was able to unite with those that helped create it!” Twilight called out to Sunset as magic started to flow out of her crown, out the yellow gem on Zeppandon’s head and down onto Twilight and everyone.

The magic started to transform Twilight and everyone, giving them Pony ears, and wings to Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash, their hairs also extended, giving the illusion of ponytails. Even human Sunset gain pony ears. Twilight called out each of the elements as she and her friends gained the ears, wings, and extensions.

“Honesty! Kindness! Laughter! Generosity! Loyalty! Forgiveness! Magic!” her voice echoed, as Sunset tried to escape and pull back, but Ultraman with his mask back on, held her still and even slammed her into the ground and pinned her there, “Together with a crown, they create a power beyond anything you could imagine, but it is a power you don't have the ability to control! The crown may be upon your head, Sunset Shimmer, but you cannot wield it, because you do not possess the most powerful magic of all: the magic of friendship!"

The seven girls formed a heart shape and between them all, fired a spiralling rainbow beam up into the air, which then fired down upon Ultraman, empowering him with their power. Ultraman could feel the power run through him, as his Specium energy turned from blue to rainbow colours.

“The Love of Family, the Magic of Friendship and the Faith of Others, all run through me,” Sam remarked, “It gives me my power, it’s what makes me strong. I am Sam! I am Ultraman!”

“You are such an annoying brat!” yelled Sunset as she used her dark powers to upgrade Zeppandon, giving it wings and the gem of its head turned purple.

Zeppandon fired its Fire Bullets at Ultraman, with his Rainbow Specium Blades diploid, Ultraman deflected them, and even sliced one in half, as he ran forward and slashed down on Zeppandon’s head, causing loads more pain than before. Zeppandon stumbled back, as Ultraman fired two Rainbow Specium Slashes, Zeppandon summoned its shield again, but the Slashes were strong enough to shatter the shield and damage Zeppandon.

“It broke through the shields!” Sunset shouted.

“The Magic of Friendship is the strongest source of power when used with the right hands!” Ultraman bellowed, as he charged up all the power he had, and fired a incredibly strong blast of a Rainbow Specium Beam. Zeppandon tried to fly out of the way, but the beam struck the monster before it could get its talons above the school. The Rainbow Specium Beam destroyed Zeppandon as the girls charged their magic and fired a rainbow up into the air, which then came down and surrounded Sunset Shimmer in a Rainbow Tornado.

“No!” screamed Sunset from within the Rainbow Tornado, “What is happening?!”

“Here and in Equestria, it is the only magic that can truly unite us all!” Twilight echoed as from the girls, a smaller rainbow beam struck Flash in the head freeing him from being hypnotist, it then split to the other students freeing them as well.

Even four beams struck Snips, Snails, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon reverting them as well. When it was all over, the students looked out the hole in the school and saw Twilight and her friends all collapsed on the floor. Spike went up to Twilight and liked her cheek, waking her up. She sat up and opened her arms for Spike to jump into for a hug. Ultraman landed and his mask retracted again, Sam helped Twilight up and then gave her a hug. The three then notice the shock on their friends' faces as they look to where Sunset had fallen.

There was a giant, smoking crater in front of the school and lying at the bottom of it was a weakened Sunset Shimmer, who had also reverted back to normal.

“You will never rule in Equestria. Any power you may have had in this world is gone,” Twilight spoke down to her, “Tonight, you've shown everyone who you really are. You've shown them what is in your heart.”

“I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,” Sunset cried, tears pouring down her face, “I didn't know there was another way.”

“The magic of friendship doesn't just exist in Equestria. It's everywhere,” Twilight remarked, “you can seek it out, or you can forever be alone. The choice is yours.”

“But... But all I've ever done since being here is drive everyone apart,” Sunset cried as she climbed to the rim of the crater, “I don't know the first thing about friendship.” Twilight reached down and grabbed her hand, and Sam helped her up.

“I bet they can teach you,” Twilight said softly, motioning to her friends.

“Those are my girls! Woo-hoo!” called Spike.

“Did that dog just talk?” Glamrock Freddy questioned, “Whoa. Weird.”

“Seriously? The talking dog is a weird thing about all this?” Spike remarked.

“I, for one, think you're adorable,” Rarity said as she picked him up and gave him scratches behind the ear.

“Oh, yeah,” Spike responded.

“I believe this belongs to you,” Principal Celestia said, holding Twilight’s crown, Twilight lowered herself, “A true princess in any world leads not by forcing others to bow before her, but by inspiring others to stand with her. We have all seen that you are capable of just that. I hope you see it too, Princess Twilight.”

“I do,” Twilight replied, and the students all cheered. Behind Twilight, Flash reached out his hand.

“Would now be a completely awkward time to ask you for that dance?” he asked. Twilight looked to the moon, she guessed she had a little more time before she needed to head home. She just giggled and took Flash’s hand.

The dance was back on. And everyone partied harder than ever before. Applejack danced with Big Mac, as Rarity and Pinkie did the conger with Lupinia, Monty, Ace, and Chica. The CMC were dancing with Sam again, when suddenly Scootaloo was swept away by Rainbow Dash who threw her onto her back and flew around the Auditorium.

Twilight was really enjoying herself, she was dancing like a pony on all fours, she didn’t know she was making a scene, but Flash didn’t mind as he joined in with her.

“That’s my mum!” yelled Sam, “ha-ha!”

Vinyl was DJing in her own little booth, singing to the song being played, as Photo Finish called Twilight and her friends together for a photo. The whole dance though, human Sunset had something on her mind.

Soon it was time for Twilight, Spike and Sam to go home, the girls gave them a big hug, Twilight then spotted Pony Sunset by the destroyed front of the school.

“You'll look out for her, won't you?” Twilight asked.

“Of course we will,” Rarity assured her, “Although I do expect some sort of apology for last spring's debacle.”

“I have a feeling she'll be handing out a lot of apologies,” Twilight replied, as Vice Principal Luna gave Sunset a cement shovel, and Snips and Snails came in with a wheelbarrow full of bricks.

“We better get going,” Sam said. Twilight nodded before turning back to her friends.

“I know we've only been friends for a short time, but I'm gonna miss all of you so much,” she said, their friends had sad but happy expressions on their faces. Just as Twilight, Spike and Sam turned to walk to the portal. Human Sunset came running up to them.

“Twilight wait,” she called out.

“What is it Sunset?” Twilight asked.

“I’m coming with you,” she replied, “I’ve thought about it, and in order for Pony Sunset to learn friendship, she needs to stay here, this world doesn’t need two Sunsets. It’s clear, this is her home now, it’s time for me to find a new home. Plus, I want to see this little champ grow up.”

Sam gasped and ran to hug her, “welcome to the family,” Sam muttered into Sunset’s dress.

“Come then,” Twilight said, “let’s go home.” The four then started to walk to the portal.

“That crown really does suit you, Princess Twilight,” Spike remarked.

“You know what, Spike?” Twilight said, “I am starting to feel a little more comfortable wearing it.”

“And the wings?” Spike asked.

“I've been walking on two legs and picking things up with these!” Twilight responded, “Wings? I'm thrilled that's all I'll be dealing with back in Equestria!”

“Is there anything I should worry about?” Sunset asked.

“Just a horn,” Sam replied as the four walked through the portal.

Just as they walked through, the moon reached its highest point, closing the portal and cutting magic off from the human world, reverting the girls back to normal. Pinkie ran forward and smacked into the statue, proving that it was now just a solid wall.

“Oh, bummer,” she remarked.

Back in Equestria, everyone was waiting in front of the mirror for Twilight, Sam, and Spike to come out. It had been three days and Twilight was cutting it close. Suddenly the mirror began to glow and out stepped Twilight on her back hooves before she fell back to all fours.

“Twilight!” cried Fluttershy.

“Ah, you’re back!” shouted Rainbow.

“You’ve got your crown back!” yelled Rarity.

“I knew you could do it!” screamed Pinkie.

“Oh, we were so worried,” responded Applejack.

“Sunset Shimmer, is she alright?” asked Princess Celestia.

“I think she's gonna be fine,” Twilight replied, “I left her in good hands. In fact, I brought a friend back home.”

Just as she said that the portal glowed again, and out stepped Sunset. She stumbled forward and fell to the ground.

“Don’t worry,” Twilight assured them, “this isn’t the same THE Sunset from before.”

“Hello,” Sunset greeted, “wow this place is beautiful. And all of you look so cute as ponies.”

The ponies were all confused, “did she get hit in the head or something,” Rainbow whispered to Applejack.

Then portal spat out Spike and Sam, “I’m home!” Sam responded before getting grabbed by his siblings to be brought into a bone shattering hug.

“Do not run off like that again,” Kerry said.

“Guys… you’re breaking my bones,” Sam gasped within the tight grip of his siblings.

“Where did you stay?” asked Fluttershy.

“What did they wear?” questioned Rarity

“Did ya have fun?” queried Pinkie.

“What'd ya eat?” quizzed Applejack.

“Would ya say she's just as awesome as me?” suspected Rainbow.

“I wanna tell you everything, I do, but I'm just so exhausted from all the dancing,” Twilight replied, “Sunset, do you think you could answer their questions?”

“Dancing?!” exclaimed, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack Rainbow, and Cadence.

“Yeah I’ll tell you everything from my perspective,” Sunset told them. Suddenly Twilight bumped into the same pony from when she first came to the crystal empire a few days ago.

“We've got to stop bumping into each other like this,” he remarked as he trotted away.

“Who was that?” Twilight asked.

“He's a new member of the castle guard. Flash Sentry, I think,” Cadence replied, “Why? Do you know him?”

“Not exactly,” Twilight replied blushing.

“Oooh! Somepony's got a crush on the new guy!” Applejack teased.

“No. No, I don't,” Twilight responded blushing.

“She does! She absolutely does!” Rarity gasped.

“Don't be ridiculous,” Twilight remarked, trying to act all professional, “I don't even know him. He just...”

“Totally reminds you of a guy you met in the other world who played guitar, was in a band, and helped prove you didn't destroy all the decorations for a big dance, so you could still run for princess of the big dance, and then asked you to dance at that dance?!” Pinkie said in one big breath, “Right?”

“How did you know that?” Twilight asked.

“Just a hunch!” Pinkie replied.

Twilight just rolled her eyes and brought Sam and Spike close to her. Sunset came closer and joined them.

“I think I’m going to like it here,” she said.

“Oh you will,” Twilight replied, “you can sleep with me at my place until we find a place for you.”

“Thanks,” Sunset said then she saw that Sam had something on his mind, “is something wrong little buddy?”

“Well, it’s just that we met all of the human versions of you, Pinkie and the rest,” Sam said, “but where was that world’s Twilight and Spike?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight replied, “maybe one day we'll find the answer to that. But for now, I just did the rest.”

Back in the human world, Sunset, Snips and Snails had headed home for some rest so they could start work in the morning. The night was still and barely any cars drove past or people were up and about. Except for one. The figure looked about the same size and age as Twilight, but she wore a hoodie, so her face was hidden by the hood.

This girl had a reason to come to CHS at this hour. She looked around the ground and found what she was looking for. A blood patch from when Sam bled from Sunset’s scratch. She got some special liquid, and rag, and absorbed the blood and drained it into a flask.

With this done, she did the same with the light blue patch of blue that was from the Ultra suit. With both flasks having Sam and the Ultrasuit’s blood the girl turned and walked back home in the dead of the night.

Chapter 19: Another Luna Therapy Lesson (Edited)

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Sam, Twilight, Spike and their new guest, Sunset Shimmer, arrived back home after a tiring day at the Crystal Empire. The whole day, Sam was trying to get used to Sunset, he knew that this was the human Sunset and was good from birth, but he still felt a little nervous around her. Sunset knew this and she also knew that it’s not his fault that he’s sceptical of her, Pony Sunset Shimmer didn’t have a good first impression.

While Twilight was in the bathroom getting ready for Sunset wanted to talk to Sam.

“Hey Sam,” she called to him, “you got a minute? I want to tell you something.”

Sam didn’t reply but he did come closer to Sunset. The orange pony sat down to make her seem less threatening.

“I Know that the other Sunset didn’t make a good first impression on you,” she told him, “but I wanted to let you know that I want you to be happy and accept me into your life. I don’t want you to think I’m a second mother or something, just a close friend that will help you whenever they can. Alright?”

“Yes Sunset,” Sam replied, “and I’m sorry that I’m nervous around you. Honestly I really shouldn’t be as I spent the last couple of days with you.”

“Hehe,” Sunset chuckled, rubbing Sam’s hair with her hoof, making the child giggle, “now come on let’s get to bed.”

“Alright,” Sam replied.

Twilight had offered Sunset to sleep with her, while Sam slept in his own bed he rarely used since he got it. Sunset gladly accepted the offer and while Sam was getting ready for bed, Sunset, Twilight, and Spike fell asleep. As Sam brushed his teeth, He thought about what Sunset had said.

‘I mean I do want her and I to be close friends,’ he thought to himself, ‘but I want her to be more than just a friend.’ As he walked out the bathroom and headed to his bed he saw how cute Twilight and Sunset looked all snuggled up together. ‘I think I want her to be a father figure to me,’ he thought as he climbed into his bed, ‘She seems like that sort of type.’

The Realm of dreams soon claimed another victim as Sam fell asleep.

Sam soon found himself in the soothing starry nexus again, he looked around to try and find Luna, but he could find her.

“Luna?!” he called out, his voice echoing around. Suddenly, a door appeared behind him, with Lunabel written on it. “Oh, you’re in there.”

Sam opened the door and saw Luna, in her human appearance, sitting in a chair writing something down. She turned her head upon hearing the door shut.

“Oh good evening, Sam,” she greeted him, spinning around in her chair, “come sit down.” Sam walked over to the sofa and sat down, as Lunabel pulled out her journal and pen. “So how have you been since our last encounter?”

“We saw each other like a few hours ago when me and everyone went home to Ponyville,” Sam replied.

“You saw Luna a few hours ago,” Lunabel retorted, “I’m Lunabel. And this is our second time meeting together.”

“You’re really playing with this persona,” Sam joked.

“What persona?” Lunabel asked.

“Wha… never mind,” Sam shook off, “Well I had to save the world from an evil Sunset Shimmer with the help of a good Sunset Shimmer, and of course with the girls.”

“Interesting,” Lunabel jotted down, “and where are these Sunset’s now?”

The evil one is back in the human world and the good one is living with me and Twilight now,” he said the last bit with a hint of nervosity.

“Is there something wrong with her living with you?” Lunabel asked.

“No of course not!” Sam exclaimed, “It’s just… I don’t know, I just feel sort of on edge around her.”

“Why is that?” Lunabel asked, as Sam laid down on the sofa.

“Well, I guess it’s because she looks a lot like her,” Sam replied, “she looks like her, talks like her, I just have the feeling in the back of my head, that she’s just going to betray me and act like I’m the one bullying her so she can have Twilight all to herself.”

“You fear that will happen because something like that has happened before?” Lunabel asked again.

“Well none of my friends were ever taking or betrayed me,” Sam said, “but I do know what it feels like to be blamed for something I didn’t do. My bullies were the worst, each pulling their own stunt on me.”

“Do you mind telling me about them?” Lunabel asked, “you don’t have to if you don't want to.”

“No, no, I’ll tell you about them,” Sam replied. And this is what he told her.

My bullies were horrid and cared for no one but themselves. It wasn’t just me they bullied, but it was mostly me, this made me feel really small. I never asked for help from the teachers, because of my autism making me unable to speak up for myself, but I also believe that asking for help was a sign of weakness, so I didn't show that I’m capable of standing up for myself. Clearly that wasn’t the case as I needed help with everything, but I was just too scared to speak up.

Each one of my bullies in my eyes represented each one of the deadly sins, with their leader Ruben representing Wrath. He was the biggest and the rudest of them all. He commanded them like a chief and if he didn’t get it his way, he would get very violent, even to his own group.

Kevin was pretty lazy, so I guess he was the Sloth of the group. He really only hung out with them, so he won’t get disturbed by others, and they have to do his dirty work. He was pretty annoyed as he won’t do anything even his own friend would get annoyed at him.

Nathen represented Pride, he was always thinking of just himself, carrying around a mirror and getting all angry when even a single hair of his head was sticking up. When something like that happens, he would lash out at anyone for, quote, ‘spoiling his image’. He would never do anything that might ruin his gorgeous look. My friends and I thought that his girlfriend was either blind or mad to fall for him.

Speaking of her, Claire represented Lust due to falling in love with him. To be honest, I think Claire actually lusted out for all of them, she would always act so sexual around them even to the other girl in the group, her tongue hanging out with pleasurable thoughts in her head. Just because she was lustful, that didn’t mean she wasn’t cruel, she would often talk me down to impress Ruben and the others.

The other girl I said is Caroline as she represented Envy. She was always jealous of Ruben, she left like she should be leader and that everyone followed her. She took out her frustration on others, including me. Like I said, Claire lusted over everyone in the group, even Caroline, which I think she liked.

Abdul was definitely Greed. When he wanted something, he took it. He would take things for others, and if he then got bored of it or promised to give it back, he would… in pieces. When I had something precious, I would hide so he wouldn’t find me, take it and break it.

And finally Kyle, and as he’s the last one in the group, he was Gluttony. He was definitely on the fat side, he would think of nothing but food. He would either steal other’s lunch money, or just steal their lunch itself. I swear sometimes he wouldn’t even chew his food, he just swallowed it.

Yeah that’s them all, they’re very rude and mean to everyone, mostly me. I did have my friends to help me but even they were bullied by them. But there was one girl that even creeped them out. She was new to the school, a gothic girl, with a very creepy and unsettling atmosphere around her, but despite her scaring everyone, including my own friends, she didn’t scare me.

I found her one day sitting on her own, having her lunch. I wanted to say hello to her, because clearly no one else would. I asked her if I could sit next to her, she didn’t say anything but she shuffled over to make room for me. I started to chat to her, like what her name was. She responds with Bethany. She wasn’t much of a talker, but I kept on talking and she started to warm up to me, she even mentioned that I was like a little brother to her. Later when I got home that night, I told my mother about her, which then she replied in saying that she knew her. Apparently Bethany’s mother’s, mother's, brother, was my mother's, sister's, husband's, brother.

I told her the next day, and she was shocked as well, then out of nowhere, she hugged me, like I really was a younger brother to her. I then introduced her to my friends and truth be told, they felt rather uneasy around her, but then she started to talk a lot and said that I had opened something in her heart that she wanted to keep shut. Soon everyone loved her, and she became the newest member of our group. The bullying now was less but they still got to us when she wasn’t around, but she would stand between us and defend us from the bullies. She was definitely the older sister of our group.

“Yep those are my bullies and older gothic sister figure,” Sam finished.

“I see,” Lunabel remarked, “It’s a sad thing bullying. You were also bullied when you first came to Equestria.”

“Yes I was,” Sam replied, “but then I saved Diamond Tiara’s life.”

“So you it was one of your bullies, would you save them?” Lunabel asked.

This made Sam pause and think about it. Diamond Tiara was nothing like them, sure broke his hands and called him names, but she never went as far as his old bullies. If he had saved his old bullies, Sam doubted they would be as forgiven, if anything, they would beat up Sam while he was unconscious. But then again, if he let them die, he won’t be any better than them.

“I don’t know,” Sam replied.

“And what if it was Sunset Shimmer?” Lunabel questioned.

“NO! I would not let her die either!” Sam snapped.

“You do care for Sunset Shimmer don’t you,” Lunabel remarked.

“Yes, I do,” Sam replied, “In fact I don’t want her to just be a friend.”

“What do you want her to be?” Lunabel asked.

“Well, I have Twilight as my mother, and the other girls are great aunts, and I have my brother and sisters,” Sam said, “but there’s something missing.”

“A father figure?” Lunabel answered, Sam just nodded, “and you want Sunset to be that father figure?”

“Yeah…” Sam replied.

“Well, it’s not too late to tell her that,” Lunabel said as she looked at the clock. The time had flown by and it was nearly time for Celestia to raise the sun.

Sam looked at the time as well as he sat up. “I guess our time is up,” Sam said.

“Yes but don’t worry, I’ll be here next month for us to have another chat,” Lunabel said as Sam got up and hugged her.

He couldn’t help but think to himself that Lunabel had increased the size of her breasts. They did seem a little bigger. Once the hug was broken, Lunabel opened the door and Sam walked through the bright light.

Sam slowly opened his eyes, the sun beaming into his face through the window. He got up slowly and noticed that Sunset wasn’t in bed with Twilight.

“Ha, maybe she got up due to Twilight’s snoring,” Sam muttered to himself. He got up and went to look downstairs. He saw Sunset cooking breakfast, or she tried to cook breakfast as she was still trying to control her magic. She noticed Sam at the entrance to the kitchen.

“Oh good morning Sam,” Sunset greeted, she wasn’t expecting Sam to be up so early, “what are you doing up?”

“The sunlight gets in my face,” Sam replied, “that’s why I like sleeping with mum.”

“Oh, well as you can see I’m trying to make breakfast,” Sunset said, “I was going to surprise you and Twilight.”

“Oh,” Sam replied, he went quiet, he knew he had to tell her how he felt, “Sunset, I need to tell you something.”

“Sure buddy, what up?” Sunset responded and looked down at him.

“I thought about what you said last night, and I don’t just want you to be a friend,” he said.

“Oh, well I can’t blame you,” Sunset said, “after what the other Sunset put you through…”

“I’m not finished,” Sam cut her off, “I don’t just want you to be a friend because I want you to be… my father figure.”

Sunset gasped and stopped what she was doing. “Are you sure?” she asked, “I don’t know if I’m ready to be a parent yet.”

“You seem really nice and supportive like a father figure,” Sam responded, “and you and mum looked really cute snuggled up together in the bed last night.”

Sunset was still at a loss for words. “Sam… I-I don’t know what to say,” she stuttered, “I guess, yes, yes I would love to be your father figure.” And she scooped him up in a hug. “But don’t call me dad, that seems really weird to call a mare day.”

“No promises, dad,” Sam joked.

“You little nutcase,” Sunset joked as she rubbed his head.

“Aww,” came Twilight’s voice from the kitchen entrance.

“Twilight, I’m Sam’s father figure!” Sunset cried out. Twilight then ran up to join the hug. Spike just stood watching them, with Owlicious and Camillia. Suddenly Twilight smelt burning.

“What’s that burning smell?” she asked.

“AH THE WAFFLES!” Sunset screamed as she dashed to turn off the waffle maker, giving mother and son a chuckle.

Chapter 20: The Resistance Fighters Unite (Edited)

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The next couple of weeks were very eventful. Twilight was helped in the Summerset Celebration, which went south when Celestia and Luna went missing and the sky was both day and night. This all happened when it was revealed that the tree of harmony was dying, and the girls had to give up their elements of harmony. In doing so, the tree blossomed a crystal chest with six locks.

The next day Twilight, Sunset, Sam, and Spike went to the Castle of the Two Sisters to find some answers about the chest. Neither of them knew that the other girls had made their way to the castle as well. Rarity wanted to get some of the fabrics with Fluttershy and while Rainbow and Applejack wanted to see how long they could stay and not get scared, as Applejack claimed, the castle was haunted by some remaining energy of Nightmare Moon. But it turns out all the haunting was done by Pinkie who was making a quote, ‘Everyone comes to the spooky castle while I play the organ’ party.

A few days later, Rainbow Dash hears that her favourite author of the Daring Do books was delaying the next one. So she sets out to convince A. K. Yearling to catch up with the next book. Big twist turned out to be that A.K. Yearling was actually Daring Do herself. They then ended up having to save Daring do and convince her that she can’t always do things on her own, and that her book will be out on time and include the girls. But Sam wasn’t happy that she depicted him as a minor character. He wasn’t even on the cover.

And there was something to do with the CMC and the Equestria Games coming up, but Sam wasn’t part of that, he was busy defending Ponyville from a monster.

One night, Twilight Sparkle is asleep in her bed when she and Sunset are stirred awake by a lamp switching on. They see Sam reading one of his comic books he brought with him from Earth.

“Sam, you really need to go to sleep!” Twilight told him.

“Aw, five more minutes, mum!” Sam whined, “I'm just getting to the really good part! Bowser Jr, and Metal Sonic are about to—"

“Bowser Jr?” Twilight asked.

“Metal Sonic?” questioned Sunset.

“Mario and Sonic’s most evil nemeses!” he said showing them the comic, “Bowser Jr is Bowser’s son the enemy to Mario and Metal Sonic is a robotic clone of Sonic the Hedgehog created by Dr Eggman. They have been tasked to break into the Mushroom Kingdom Museum and steal the Electro-Stone, so they can use it to power up a doomsday device! Of course, Bowser Jr and Metal Sonic wouldn't have even known if Kooper hadn't slipped up and told them all about it.”

“Kooper?” Sunset asked.

“Nah, the turtle with the blue shell and pointless red bandana,” Sam pointed out, “One of The Resistance Fighters bumbling and totally useless sidekicks. The Resistance Fighters have to stop the Bowser Jr and Metal Sonic, or the Mushroom Kingdom and Mobius is doo-hoo-hoo-hoomed!”

“Believe me, Sam, If anyone understands what it's like to get caught up in a really good book, it's me,” Twilight sympathised. “But if we're going to make any progress fixing up Luna and Celestia's old castle tomorrow, we all have to do our part. We don't want to be too tired to lend a hoof... or hand.”

“Okay, okay, I'm going to bed,” Sam said as he walked back to his bed as he dropped the comic on a table and climbed in, “Goodnight.”

Twilight and Sunset turned back over to get back to sleep, only for Twilight to hear Sam fumbling in the dark to reach for his comic. Twilight used her magic to lift the comic out of his reach. Sam just looked up at her with sad eyes.

“Five more minutes,” Twilight replied, as she levitated the comic back to Sam.

“YES!” he exclaimed as he took it and began to read it.

The next morning, Twilight and her friends take part in refurbishing Celestia and Luna's old castle.

“Looking good, everypony!” Twilight called out, “Let's keep this magical makeover moving!”

“You got it!” Rainbow called back, as she and Fluttershy worked on the roof.

“Good old Sam is here, ready to do his part!” Sam announced as he finally arrived, but Twilight didn’t hear him as she wandered off. Sam looked around and saw Applejack putting up photos of apples on the wall.

“A little more to the left!” Pinkie said to Applejack as she skated passed on soapy brushes, “No, the other left!” Applejack straightened up the photo as Pinkie sped by speaking quickly, “Awesome! That's perfect right where it is! On to the next painting!”

“Are you sure you don't need any help?” Sam asked.

“Nah, that’s okay,” Applejack told him.

“We have everything under control!” cried Pinkie.

“Auntie Dash?” Sam called to her.

“I’m good,” Rainbow replied.

“Isn't there anything I can help you with, mum?” Sam asked as he went to Sunset.

“Don't worry about it, Sammy!” Pinkie cried as she sat on brushes while scrubbing the floor, “It's all good!”

“I think she's right. It looks like we've got it, Sam,” Sunset replied.

“Looking great, everypony!” Called Twilight.

“Why don't you find a quiet spot and finish reading your comic?” Sunset Suggested, “Aren't you right at the part where Kooper was about to stop the villain?”

“Kooper never stops the villain,” Sam replies, “He and his buddy Goombario are just there for comic relief and extra support.” He then stepped into a paint can. He kicked it off, but then it hit Spike in the face, and he struggled to get it off. Sam tried to help Spike get the paint bucket off his face.

“Rarity, Trixie, let me give you a hoof with that!” Sunset said as she and Twilight walked over to Rarity and Trixie, Sam managed to pull the paint bucket off Spike and threw it into the air.

“I could do it!” he called out.

“That’s okay, Sam,” Twilight assured him.

“Pony power! Weehee!!” cried Pinkie.

Sam sighed as Spike pats his shoulder, and the paint bucket landed on Sam’s head. Spike tried not to laugh as Sam shuffled, feeling useless, Spike following him.

Sam went off to Celestia and Luna's reading room to read, Spike came with him to keep him company.

“So where did you leave off?” Spike asked.

“Let’s see,” Sam said, “Bowser Jr and Metal Sonic break into the museum... okay, here we go.” Sam and Spike started to read on. “...Ugh, what a surprise! Kooper and Goombario are in the way again while the Resistance Fighters do all the work! I guess I know what that feels like...” Sam sympathised.

“Don’t say that Sam,” Spike assured him.

Suddenly Sam gasped, “Wait. What? How can that be the end?!” he said, but then he saw some very small text at the bottom of the page “What's... that? ‘You can... retr- ‘What? ‘You can... return...’ Urgh! Can you read that Spike?”

“Nope, that’s too small,” Spike replied, “but I know I saw a magnifying glass laying around the last time I was here...” he then got up and started to look for one.

“Sam! Spike! Where are ya two?” called Applejack.

“We're breaking for tea and biscuits!” Rarity yelled.

“Sam! Spike!” shouted Rainbow Dash.

“Here you go,” Spike said, giving Sam the magnifying glass.

“Thanks bro,” Sam thanked him, and read the text, “’You can return to the place you started when Bowser Jr and Metal Sonic is... defeated.’ Huh?” Twilight and the girls heard Sam’s voice as they came closer to the reading room, “‘Take a closer look to join the adventure in this book’?”

“What does that even mean?” Spike asked. Before Sam could reply, the book began to glow, and bright light shone out of the book.

“Whoa! Cool!” they both replied.

“Spike! Sam! What are you—” Twilight said but was cut off by the bright light. Suddenly, Sam began to get sucked into the comic.

“Heeeeeelp!” Sam called as Spike grabbed a hold of him, but the vacuum was too strong a he was getting sucked in too.

“Boys!” Twilight cried out as she ran to their aid, she grabbed Spike’s tail and tried to pull him out, but she too was getting sucked in. Rainbow flew down and grabbed Twilight around the waist, but again she got pulled in, then Applejack ran out and bit down on Rainbow’s tail and tried to pull them all out, but even the strongest pony in the group couldn’t pull them out. Rarity, Fluttershy, Sunset and Trixie all gasped as they ran to aid their friends, grabbing a hold around each other’s waists, Fluttershy held on to Applejack, but it was no use. All of them got pulled into the comic.

“Weehee!” Pinkie cried as she just jumped into the comic.

Sam slowly regained consciousness as he sat up. Then he looked around to see that he was in a building. He looked over the edge and nearly had a heart attack as he was miles above the ground. He looked around some more.

“Is this the Mushtropolis?” He said out loud.

“Somepony wanna tell me what the hay is goin' on?” said a voice from behind Sam. He thought the voice belonged to Applejack in the way she spoke but when he turned his head, his jaw dropped when he saw who was standing behind him.

“Holy new personas, ponies!” he cried, “You're the... Princess Rosalina! Dixie Kong! Daisy! Rouge the Bat! Amy Rose! Cream the Rabbit! Princess Peach! Blaze the Cat! You're the... Girls of the Resistance Fighters!”

Everyone looked at each other, and they couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t that they were in their clothing, they WERE the characters from the comic.

“Ok wait,” said Rosalina, Sam guessed that it was Twilight, “everypony calm down and say who you are starting from the left.”

“It’s me Fluttershy,” said Cream.

“Ah’m Applejack,” stated Amy.

“I’m Pinkie,” said Dixie Kong.

“I’m Sunset here,” replied Peach.

“Trixie’s over here,” Blaze spoke up.

“I’m Rarity Darling!” Rouge told them.

“I’m Rainbow,” said Daisy.

“So then I’m Twilight,” Rosalina finished.

“And I’m Sam, “he told them, “But where’s Spike?”

His question was answered from some muffling from underneath him. He looked down and saw he was sitting on Goombario. Sam moved over and the flatten Goombario popped up.

“I’m guessing that’s Spike,” Rainbow said.

“correct,” Goombario assured.

Suddenly an explosion was heard down below in the ground. Everyone looked over the edge and saw smoke in front of a museum. Then came some evil laughter as the smoke cleared, to reveal Bowser Jr and Metal Sonic.

“Hello Mama Peach and your Resistance Fighter friends!” Bowser Jr called out as Metal Sonic held a special stone, “How kind of you to join us!”

“Huh?” the girls question.

“Did he just call Sunset Mama?!” Amy chuckled, making Peach blush.

“You're the... the Girls of the Resistance Fighters from my comic book!” Sam said, “It somehow zapped us all in here!”

“So somepony zap us back out!” Daisy shouted annoyed.

“My comic book! It said the way to get back to where we started was to defeat Bowser Jr and Metal Sonic! Your arch-nemeses!” Sam said.

“Time to cause some trouble,” Bowser Jr said to Metal Sonic as he pointed to a pretzel cart.

Metal Sonic understood, he gave the Electro-Stone to Bowser Jr and threw the pretzel cart up to the building with the girls, Sam, and Spike on it. He missed but then grabbed a mailbox and flew up to the rooftop, then dropped it down on Dixie. Everyone was shocked and wondered where Dixie was.

“Pinkie! Where'd she go?!” Daisy called.

“I’m right here,” Dixie said, the gang looked up to see her hovering behind them with her ponytail spinning like a helicopter blade.

“Pinkie is Dixie Kong, she can use her ponytail to hover!” said Sam.

Amy pulled out a hammer and jumped down to hit Bowser Jr, but from his clown cart, he fired a rope that wrapped around Amy and hung her on a lamp pole upside down. The more she struggled, the tighter the rope became.

Bowser Jr grinned and chuckled at his work.

“Twilight! Summon a Bullet Bill to Knock him out of his clown cart!” Sam told Rosalina.

“Do what?! How?” she asked.

“You're Rosalina! You can shoot all kinds of magical spells from your wand!”

Rosalina tried to focus and fight whatever a bullet bill was at Bowser Jr, but she only managed to summon a Bomb-omb instead. It dropped into Sam’s hands, and he threw it off the side of the building, it exploded before hitting the ground.

“I saw Bullet Bill not a Bomb-omb!” Sam exclaimed.

“I don’t know what a Bullet Bill is,” Rosalina shouted back.

“You know, I'm beginning to enjoy this,” Bowser Jr cackled as Metal Sonic threw a fire hydrant up at the building.

“Sunset, Trixie, you’re Peach and Blaze,” Sam explained, “Sunset you had a power bump attack.”

“Say no more,” Peach said as she jumped off and thrusted her rear to hit Metal Sonic out the sky, but Metal Sonic just dodged it and Peach started to fall.

“Sunset!” Trixie called out as she jumped off to protect her, but she ended up missing and smacking her face into the ground, just as Peach floated down gently.

“I thought cats were meant to land on their feet,” Peach joked.

“Be quiet,” Blaze muffled.

“Dash! Quick, catch!” Sam said lifting up Goombario’s hat and smashing a dice block, then gave her a lightning bolt, “You're Daisy, and you can use special items like this! Summon lightning to shrink them down to size!”

Daisy took the lightning bolt and reached it up to the sky, but instead of summoning lightning, she summoned a tornado.

“Lightning, not a tornado!” cried Sam, as Goombario, Rosalina, Daisy, Dixie, Cream and Rouge were all sucked up. Bowser Jr and Metal Sonic just sat back as Amy just watched, still tied up and Blaze and Peach hung on for dear life to not get sucked up.

“Fluttershy! You're Cream!” Sam shouted to her within the tornado, "You can use your ears to fly around to try and stop the tornado!”

“I can’t!” she called back, “I’m... too... scared!”

“Ugh! Rarity! Use your see if you have a gadget that could stop a tornado!” Sam yelled to her.

“Where?!” Rouge yelled back, “I can’t tell if this is my body or clothes!”

As the tornado whirled around, Sam was thrown out and hit the wall of the museum. He looked up to see that Bowser Jr wasn’t paying attention to the Electro-Stone.

“The Electro-Stone,” he muttered.

“Well, this has been quite the hair-raising experience,” Bowser Jr remarked, “But we really must be going.”

Just as he was about to fly off, Sam reached out and grabbed the Electro-Stone. He tried to sneak off, but Metal Sonic was standing in front of him, tabbing his foot with his arms crossed. He reached out a robotic hand for Sam to give him the Electro-Stone. Sam jumped in fright and just gave it to him, in fear from not being blown up.

“Why, thank you, Kooper!” Bowser Jr replied as he laughed evilly and flew off in his Koopa Clown Cart, Metal Sonic flew around him, with the Electro-Stone in his claws.

Sam finally looked at himself, and he was indeed Kooper, “I’m Kooper…” he muttered, then the tornado came back around and Kooper was sucked up into it, “Applejack! You gotta... help stop the... tornado from destroying.. the city!”

“But every time I move, this darn lasso gets tighter!” Amy complained.

“It's a cursed lasso!” Kooper called out, “if you relax, it’ll get weaker, and you’ll be able to get out!”

Amy relaxed and was able to drop onto the ground. She then used the lasso to wrap the top of the tornado making it expand and explode. Everyone laid on the ground, Blaze and Peach came running over to help, as Rouge used her wings to flutter gently to the ground.

“That was spin-tastic!” joked Dixie.

“Lemme get this straight,” Amy said, coming over to help Kooper up, “We've been sucked into some kind of comic-book world?”

“Technically, it's called Mushtropolis,” Kooper corrected her as everyone behind him tried out their powers, “And if we wanna get back to Ponyville, I think we have to stop Bowser Jr and Metal Sonic from using a doomsday device to destroy it!”

“No biggie. I was already awesome,” Daisy said in her cocky manner “And now we've all got superpowers!”

“Almost all of us have superpowers...” Sam said defeatedly.

“But you must have them too, Sammy-boo,” Rouge said, “Your character is wearing a bandana!”

“Yeah, for absolutely no reason,” Sam snapped, “All Kooper can do is hide in his shell and store everyone’s items.” He reached into his shell and pulled out Peach’s parasol, “He's pretty much useless...”

“Good thing you're not really Kooper, then,” Sunset said.

“Yeah good thing,” Kooper sarcastically remarked, “do you see a colour timer on my chest!”

“So the 8 of us Girls of the Resistance Fighters will take care of Bowser Jr and Metal Sonic and get us back to Ponyville!” Blaze declared.

“Sam, where is Bowser Jr and Metal Sonic building their doomsday device?” Rosalina asked.

“That Airship!” Kooper said pointing up at the giant airship hovering above them, “But you'd better get there quick. That glowing orb they just stole is what they're going to use to power it up!”

“Lead the way, Sam!” Amy said.

“Then leave the rest to us!” proclaimed Daisy.

Kooper sighed as he led the girls to somewhere high they could get to the Airship.

The girls, Goombario and Kooper, arrived on top of a nearby building to reach the Airship.

“This is it,” Kooper said.

“All right, Resistance Fighters, here's the plan,” Rosalina began, “Rouge, you, me and—”

“Come on out, Twerp and Tin Can!” cried out Daisy, “Or the Resistance Fighters are comin' in!” And she threw a Koopa shell at the side of the airship.

“So much for ‘element of surprise’,” sighed Rosalina as they marched forward.

“Guess we'll just hang back here doing nothing,” Kooper said as he and Goombario hid.

“Oh, I don't think they’re home,” Cream said, “Maybe we should just come back later.”

Just as soon as she said that, evil cackles echoed around. Cream ducked and hid behind Rouge, “they’re home,” she commented, as Egg-pawns and Koopa Troopas jumped down from the airship.

“Time to Power Pony up!” announced Amy as they all posed ready to fight.

“Ooh! Nice catchphrase!” Dixie remarked, as the girls split up to take down the minions.

“Freeze!” Rosalina shouted as she waved her wand around and fired a beam at a Koopa, but it just resulted in a snowball hitting it in the face. The Koopa brushed the snow off its face and continued to charge forward.

“It's an improvement, darling,” Rouge said as she flew past.

An Egg-pawn ran towards Amy and Blaze as the pink hedgehog pulled out her hammer and the purple cat set it on fire. Amy then threw the hammer at the charging Egg-pawn setting it up in a fiery explosion, the two girls high fived each other.

Dixie was just finishing eating a banana, as a Koopa came running up, but Dixie was being tricky and played jokes on the Koopa ending with her smashing a banana pie into its face. Rouge had managed to short circuit an Egg-pawn with a device she had. But when she looked up at the Airship, she saw a cannon pointing right at her. A Bullet Bill was shot at her, Rouge didn’t know what to do, but Peach jumped in and swung her parasol like a baseball bat and hit the bullet bill right back at the airship, and up the cannon that shot it, exploding it.

“Ooh, I do so love an object that can be used for other purposes!” Rouge remarked.

A Koopa was running towards a scared Cream, until a blue spiny Koopa shell came flying down and struck it. Cream looked behind her to see that Daisy had thrown that shell.

“Nice work, Resistance Fighters!” called out Rosalina once when the Koopas and Egg-pawns were taken care of, “Now let's take care of Bowser Jr and Metal Sonic and get ourselves home!”

“I don't think so!” came Bowser Jr’s voice from on top of the Airship, “I have a city to destroy, and I'm not about to let you Resistance dummies stop me! Not this time!”

“Just watch us!” Daisy said as she charged forward. Suddenly Bowser Jr pulled out a blue flower with eyes and pointed it at Daisy.

“An Ice Flower!” cried Kooper, “it traps you in a block of ice and renders your powers useless!”

But it was too late. Bowser Jr used the Ice Flower on Daisy, trapping her in a block of ice.

“We'll just see about that!” Peach remarked as she, Rosalina, Amy, Blaze, Rouge, and Dixie ran forward, all ready to attack. But Bowser Jr just simply used it on the girls, freezing them in blocks of ice.

Bowser Jr just laughed and some more Koopas and Egg-pawns landed on the top of the building. From behind a vent, Kooper, Goombario and Cream peaked out feeling nervous. Kooper and Goombario noticed she was hiding.

“Fluttershy, please! You need to help them!” Kooper said.

“Well, I would if I wasn’t so terrified!” Cream remarked.

Suddenly she was frozen by Metal Sonic holding the Ice Flower. Two Egg-pawns grabbed her and moved her away as Metal Sonic pointed the Ice Flower at Kooper and Goombario.

“Don’t spray!” cried Goombario as they braced for it.

“Oh, you defected minion,” Bowser Jr said, “why in all of the Mushroom Kingdom would we use an Ice Flower on you two? Rather pointless, don't you think? Come on Metal, they aren’t worth it.”

Kooper and Goombario watch helplessly as Bowser Jr and Metal Sonic order their minions to take the girls of the Resistance Fighters prisoner. Once they were on board the airship, it turned and started to fly away, Kooper and Goombario ran out of hiding as Kooper stepped into a bucket getting his foot stuck.

Kooper and Goombario just stood on the building, Goombario was pacing and Kooper just stood still feeling more useless than ever.

“Sam what are we going to do?!” Goombario shouted.

“I don’t know,” Kooper replied, feeling defeated.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Goombario now sounded more concerned for his bro than worried for his friends.

“I’m useless, Spike,” Kooper said, “What am I supposed to do? I'm useless. They're the ones with superpowers. They've probably already figured out how to escape. I’m just there for support and comic relief.”

“That’s not true,” Goombario told him, “you save the day all the time back home.”

“But I had my Ultrasuit,” Kooper said, “and I don’t have it now. I can’t do anything right.”

“It’s not like we can contact someone to help us,” Goombario sighed.

Suddenly Kooper’s face lit up. “Spike. You are a genius!” he exclaimed as he reached into his shell and pulled out a radio. “Hello, is anyone there?”

After a few seconds, the radio clicked, and a voice answered. “This is Silver the Hedgehog, what’s up Koops?” replied the voice.

“Help! Peach and the others have been frozen by Bowser Jr and are now prisoners on an Airship!” cried Kooper.

“Ok keep calm,” Silver replied, “I’ll send help as soon as possible. For now, try and get onto the Airship undetected and see what you can do to stop it.”

“Right,” replied Kooper and cut the Radio.

“Ok so how do we get to the Airship?” Goombario asked.

Kooper thought, then he had an idea. He took off Goombario’s hat and smashed the Dice block twice and two feathers floated down. The both touched them and grew wings, the two then flew to the Airship and into an open air vent. They crawled around a little bit, but then fell out of the bottom of the air vent which gave way. Kooper and Goombario found themselves in the lower deck of the Airship, where the girls were locked up in a cage and the Doomsday device underneath a giant cloth.

“What was that about they’re probably already figured out how to escape?” Goombario whispered.

“I was in a mood,” Kooper replied, as they heard Bowser Jr speak. Metal Sonic had used his claws to heat up and melt the ice around their faces.

“Congratulations, Resistance Fighters!” he laughed, “You shall live just long enough to see me fire... the instrument of your destruction!” Metal Sonic pulled the cloth off the Doomsday device. “Once the Electro-Stone and this Chaos Emerald have powered it up completely, this cannon will expel an energy blast that will cause everyone in both the Mushroom Kingdom and Mobius into Koopas and robots! You will be the weapon's first victims, and there is no one who can save you from this fate!” He finished by letting off an evil laugh, Kooper and Goombario felt really nervous but then Cream spoke up.

“Ahem. I don't mean to interrupt but aren't you forgetting about somepony?” she asked quietly.

“Kooper and Goombario? Little guys? Defected Minions? No superpowers whatsoever?” Bowser Jr laughed again, “they’re utterly useless! Puh-lease. Everyone knows you just keep them around because you feel sowwy for them. Wah. Wah.” He spoke in a mocking tone.

“Maybe in your world. But in our world, Sam, and Spike—” Rosalina said before correcting herself, “uh, Kooper and Goombario always come through when we need them! Always!” The rest of the girls agreed as a tear fell from Kooper and Goombario’s eyes.

“I'm not like Kooper! When my family really needs me, I do come through! And they need me now!” Kooper said.

“I see dementia must be a side-effect of prolonged exposure to the Ice Flower,” Bowser Jr said, then thinking it that really possible, before turning to the Koopas and Egg-pawns, “Tonight, we stand upon the brink of world domination, for we collectively—thought, mostly me and Metal—have finally defeated Papa and the Doctor’s most hated nemeses! We have hurled the brush of badness into the now fearful face of goodness and have struck a blow for freedom in the name of oppression! And nothing will stop us!”

As Bowser Jr monologues to the minions in true villain fashion, Kooper and Goombario ensnares some of the Koopas in a large tarp. Then Kooper swung to his family and using an Ice Flower, froze the Egg-Pawns.

“Way to go, Sam and Spike,” Rosalina called out, as Goombario, with a Fire Flower in his mouth, unfrozen the girls. Rouge used one of her gadgets to explode a hole in the cage freeing them all. Everyone jumped out of the cage ready to fight.

“Tag you're it! Tag you're it! Tag you're it! Tag you're it!” Dixie laughed as she zipped around the room, throwing banana skins at the Koopas.

“Over there! There! There! Idiots!” Bowser Jr shouted.

Rosalina waved her wand around and fired three bullet bills at three Egg-pawns blowing them up. Daisy used another lighting bolt and created another smaller tornado, it whipped around the Airship sucking up Koopas and Egg-pawns with ease.

“Need a place to put these guys!” Daisy cried. Rouge heard and using one of her gadgets, she spawned three cages, which the tornado threw the Koopas and Egg-pawns into.

Some of the Koopas were trying to escape, but Amy spotted them. “Hold it right there, partner!” she said as she lassoed them all in the cursed Lasso and threw it up and around a beam on the roof.

From on top of some steps Kooper and Goombario watched the battle from a safe distance. Suddenly Metal Sonic landed behind them and pinned them to the floor with his claws around their necks.

“Hey, you metal bucket!” cried a voice, Metal Sonic turned to face who spoke to see Peach and Blaze. Blaze fired a fireball and Peach, using the ice Flower, made a ball of water that splashed down onto Metal Sonic causing him to short circuit.

“Thanks, girls,” Goombario replied.

“Don’t mention it,” Peach said as they ran off back into the battle with the Koopas and Egg-pawns. Kooper and Goombario then just noticed that Cream wasn’t in the battle. They looked around and they saw her leaving the lower deck.

“Fluttershy, where are you going?” called Kooper.

“You seem to have everything under control,” Cream remarked.

“Fluttershy, we need you! You have to power up!” Goombario told her.

“I'm sorry, it's just that nothing is making me mad,” Cream winced.

As Cream, Kooper and Goombario were talking, Bowser Jr used the cannon to fire at Cream. Suddenly, a small firefly blocked his view. Annoyed Bowser Jr crawled over the cannon and flicked the firefly away. The firefly flew fast and smacked against the wall. Cream gasped and ran to the little insect.

“Oh, goodness! Are you okay?” she spoke softly to the firefly, which it responded by giving her a weak smile, finally enraged by this, Cream turned to face Bowser Jr, “Are you kidding me? I mean, I know you're evil and everything, but you hurt a teensy, little, harmless firefly?! Really?! Well you're just a small, pathetic, meanie!” Bowser Jr wasn’t expecting that from the rabbit. Kooper quickly and quietly, smacked Goombario’s dice block, it spawned a mega Mushroom, Kooper grabbed it and threw it to hit Cream. It was absorbed by her, “There! I said it! What makes you think you're so special?! Like the rules of common courtesy don't apply to you?! Why don't you pick on somepony your own size?!” As she spoke, she grew bigger and bigger, and her voice grew deeper, until she was giant. She screamed in fury but in how low her voice was it sounded like a roar.

Panicking, Bowser Jr fired the cannon at Cream, but she just swatted it back striking Bowser Jr and making him go flying off the cannon. Cream grabbed the cannon and tore it in half, and then jumped on it, destroying it to almost nothing. She stopped rampaging once she looked down at her friends and saw their shocked looks and chuckled nervously.

As Bowser Jr was a Koopa, the beam had no effect on him. The Airship gently hovered in the sky until a Koopa in a blue robe saw what the girls did, and without saying anything, teleported Bowser Jr, Metal Sonic, and the Koopas away. Just then a blue hedgehog, a man in blue and red overalls, and a few others around.

“What-a happened here?” Mario asked.

“We saved the day,” Kooper replied.

“I’d say,” Sonic remarked, “good job Koops.”

Daisy had gone over to get the Electro-Stone and Chaos Emerald. But once she picked up the Emerald, it started to glow.

“Guys!” she called them all over, “I think it can help us get back home.”

“Everyone one touches it,” Rosalina said. Everyone did, suddenly their eyes all glowed white and they all collapsed to the ground.

Back in Equestria, the comic glowed and spat the girls, Sam and Spike out of it and they landed on the floor with a thud.

“Awesome!” cried Rainbow.

“Whoo-ee!” yelled Applejack. And everyone else cheered to be back home, Sam just sighed that he was home.

“Did you see how I was raining down a storm of justice at the end there?!” exclaimed Rainbow.

“You catch how I was wieldin' that lasso?” asked Applejack.

“Banana?” asked Pinkie as she held out a tray of bananas.

“How did you—” questioned Rarity.

“I found them in my mane,” Pinkie replied.

“I'm just glad to be back,” Spike remarked.

“We wouldn't have made it without you, Sam and Spike,” Sunset said, “And I hope you realise that just because we don't always need your help, it doesn't mean that we don't think you're helpful.”

“And that you don't have to have superpowers to be a super friend,” Sam remarked.

A chorus of, ‘Mm-hmm!’, ‘Yeah!’, and ‘You got it!’, answered his statement.

“But I do have one question,” Twilight said, “That was a comic book from your earth, so why did we get sucked into the comic book?”

“Maybe when I arrived here, the magic in this world must have enchanted it,” Sam suggested, “or maybe because I got it at a store that sold Enchanted Comics and other stuff.”

“Aw come on!” groaned the girls.

“I thought it just meant, like, the comics they sold there had really enchanting storylines!” Sam said but noticed that everyone was leaving, “Hey, wait up! I'm an important part of this team, remember?!” Sam grabbed his comic and ran after them.

Chapter 21: Bats! (Edited)

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One early morning in Ponyville, Applejack was up and eagerly waited for the sun to rise over the hills.

“Any minute now...” she said. Not a moment too soon, the sun rose over the hills and Sweet Apple Acres was bathed in the sun’s light. “Yee-haw! It's officially Apple Bucking Day!” she cheered as she then galloped through the field of tree, “look at all those apples! Ripe and juicy, perfect for buckin'!”

She then kicked at a tree and the apples fell down. Applejack beamed as she went to catch on, but as it landed in her hooves, it splatted into a mosh. In fact all the apples that fell out of the tree splattered on the ground.

“What the heck is goin' on?” she questioned only to have her question answered by chittering in the tree, “They're back!”

Later on, she rang the bell in her house, calling all her friends to come to Sweet Apple Acres, including Sam’s siblings.

“Attention! This is a Sweet Apple Acres code red!” Applejack called out, “I need all the hooves, hands, paws and claws on deck!”

“Calm down, Applejack,” Rarity tried to help her friend.

“Calm down?! How can I calm down at a time like this?!” Applejack exclaimed getting into her face, “Vampire fruit bats are attackin' Sweet Apple Acres!”

“But I thought the fruit bats usually stayed put in the west orchard,” Twilight responded.

“The fruit bats do, but these aren't just your everyday ordinary fruit bats. They're vampire fruit bats!” Applejack told her.

“There’s a difference?” Kerry asked, turning to her boyfriend.

“Yes,” Jake responded, “The Fruit bats are cute, fluffy, and look like fruit like strawberries, oranges, and grapes. Vampire fruit Bats are bigger and uglier.”

“These Fruit bats sound adorable,” Rebecca remarked.

“I'll be darned if they think they're gonna sink their fangs into my blue ribbon apple,” Applejack said as she unravelled a giant apple that was so big it weighed down the tree it was on.

A chorus of wow washed over the ponies, dragon, human and anthropomorphic animals. “Awesome!” remarked Spike.

“This here's our entry into the Appleloosa State Fair's produce competition,” Applejack replied, “You know how much TLC goes into getting an apple to grow like this?”

“Applejack! When you go big, you really go big!” Rarity remarked, the apple was so shiny she could see reflection in it.

“Them vampire bats want to shrivel it up like a raisin!” Applejack said.

“Oh, I'm sure if we just let them know how special that particular apple is to you, they'll leave it alone,” Fluttershy suggested.

“Yeah, right,” Applejack scoffed, “be my guest.” Fluttershy grinned as she flew to a nearby tree with the vampire bats in.

“Um, excuse me, Mr. Vampire Bat—” she was interrupted by a dried up apple splatting down next to her, “We were just wondering if maybe you wouldn't mind leaving that really big apple alone?” She was answered by a bat shooting seeds at her. Fluttershy gasped and galloped back to her friends.

“Well? What'd he say?” Applejack asked.

“Um... yes,” Fluttershy replied.

“Huh?!” Applejack said with joy.

“But... it could've been a no,” Fluttershy admitted.

“Oh,” Applejack responded, her face falling.

“This is the first vampire fruit bat I've ever met and, well, it might take some time for me to really understand their language,” Fluttershy replied.

“I thought you understood every animal,” Sam called out.

“It’s no different to learning a Prench or something in school,” Fluttershy replied.

“Uh-huh. And in the meantime, this pest and his vermin friends are gonna go after my prized apple and, while they're at it, every other apple in the orchard!” Applejack exclaimed, “These vampire bats are nothin' but a bunch of monsters!”

“Monsters?!” Fluttershy asked, a bit shocked, “Oh, that's a bit harsh, don't you think?”

“No, I do not,” Applejack told her as she began to sing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCV6UY9ek1Y&list=PLfJpfTZK5SWAYkDYaPN3rW7q3RjZzlzl0&index=40

Those vampire bats will give you a fright
Eating apples both day and night
They rest for a minute, maybe three
Then they're eatin' every apple in your apple tree

They don't care about nada, not zilch, no, nothin'
'Cept bringin' about an orchard's destruction

Now wait just a minute, there's another side to this
And if I did not defend them, then I would be remiss
These bats are mamas and papas too
They care for their young just like we ponies do

Oh, give me a break, you're bein' too kind
These creatures have a one-track mind
The orchard is not their restaurant
But do they ever think what others may want?
No! They don't! And that is just a fact
These bats, they simply don't know how to act

That's where I have to disagree
They're loyal to their family
Spreading seeds both far and wide

You see one comin', you'd better run and hide!
They're big and ugly and mean as sin
Will ya look at the state my trees are in?

They help your trees, they'll grow stronger faster

They've turned my life to a total disaster!

Well, I for one don't have a doubt
These vermin must be stamped right out

I second that, they've got to go
These bats, they've got to hit the road

It comes down to just one simple fact
They've crossed the line, it's time to fight them back!

Stop the bats! Stop the bats!
Make them go and not come back!
Stop the bats! Stop the bats!
Make them go and not come back!
Stop the bats! Stop the bats!
Make them go and not come back!

Yes, it comes down to just one simple fact
They've crossed the line, it's time that we attack!

“Girls can we stop,” Sunset called out, “I think we’re scaring Sam.” Sam was hugging Emily tightly, shaking like a leaf.

“I'm sorry, Fluttershy, you too Sam, but I believe Applejack has made the better argument,” Rarity said helping her friend up, “These vampire fruit bats sound downright dreadful.”

“So let's get to roundin' them up so they don't destroy the rest of my orchard,” Applejack told them.

“Fruit bat round-up, fruit bat round-up!” sung Pinkie in a tune similar to Winter Wrap Up.

“Um, excuse me, but, um, what if instead of rounding them up, we... let them have part of the orchard?” Fluttershy suggested.

“Have you lost your pest-lovin' mind?!” whinnied Applejack.

“A bit harsh there Auntie AJ,” Sam remarked.

“They're only here because they're hungry! If we build a sanctuary for them, they could have their own apples to enjoy!” Fluttershy said, “After a while, they could even help the rest of your orchard! The vampire bats don't eat the seeds of the apples, and when they spit them out, they grow into even more productive apple trees!”

“Listen, Fluttershy. That sounds real nice 'n' all, but every second we spend buildin' this so-called 'sanctuary' is a second they'll spend destroyin' orchards!” Applejack told her, “You don't know what it was like the last time there was an infestation, but Granny Smith has told me enough stories about it that just the thought of it gives me nightmares! Granny says we lost a huge section of orchard that year. They had to ration out apples all winter!”

“What about the cider?” Rainbow asked, “There was still cider, right?”

“Not...a...drop,” Applejack replied ominously.

“No cider?! No cider?!” Rainbow exploded, “We need to round up these monsters, and we need to do it now!”

“It’s ok, I can’t drink cider,” Sam said.

“We can,” Scott mocked with a smirk.

“If Granny Smith wasn't with Apple Bloom an' Big Mac checkin' out our produce competition in Appleloosa, she'd be here tellin' us to do just that!”

“I'm sorry, Fluttershy, but I think Applejack is right,” Twilight told her, “I just wish there was another way we could convince them not to eat them in the first place.” Twilight then thought and had an idea, “Maybe there is...!”

The friends regroup at the Golden Oak Library, as Twilight got some books and spread them over the floor. “So, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that I found a spell that can get the vampire fruit bats to stop wanting to suck the juice from the apples,” Twilight told them before her face dropped and looked to Fluttershy, “But in order for the spell to work, I need the bats' full and complete attention.”

“Oh no!” she gasped, she knew what Twilight was going to say.

“Fluttershy, I need you to do your Stare on the bats,” Twilight informed her.

“What's the problem?” Rainbow asked, “You've used the Stare plenty of times before!”

“Yes, but it's not something I take lightly,” Fluttershy replied, “I've made a vow not to use it except in dire circumstances.”

“This circumstance is plenty dire to me!” declared Applejack.

“Me too! Think of the cider! Won't somepony please think of the cider?!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“I'm sorry. I just don't like the idea of taking away the thing that really makes the vampire fruit bats, vampire fruit bats!” Fluttershy said, “It just feels wrong!”

“But if we don't do this, there won't be any apples left for anypony here in Ponyville,” Twilight said, “Doesn't that feel wrong, too?”

Everyone just looked at Fluttershy waiting for her answer.

Later, everyone arrived back at Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy trailed behind still making her mind. “So what's it gonna be, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked, “Will you do your Stare on the bats or not?”

Fluttershy was reluctant to say, “Um... Um... Okay, I'll do it,” she sighed.

“Good choice,” Rarity said, “I knew you wouldn't side with those icky bats!”

“They're not icky,” Fluttershy muttered to herself.

“First round of cider's on me!” Rainbow called out as she flew up onto of Applejack’s house.

“Hold it right there!” Applejack said, “We've gotta round up these beasts with wings first. Time's a-wastin'!”

The rest of the day, the gang rounded up all the bats. Applejack tied some apples to Pinkie’s head, she hopped down the field attracting the vampire fruit bats attention. Rarity was trying to catch some in a net, while in a hazmat suit, she hit the tree one bat was on, an apple fell down off the tree and splattered on her suit. The bat landed on the suit and licked the apple of Rarity’s suit.

“Ew, ew, ew, ewwww!” she screamed. Scott and Jake were nearby, and they found that very funny as Rarity ran away screaming while some more bats chased after her.

Rainbow was just snatching them out of the trees, as all of them rounded up the bats to a single tree with plenty of apples for them.

“Good work, everypony! I think we got 'em all!” called out Applejack.

“That’s all of them?” Sam responded, “ I thought they’re much more.”

“Now all we need is for you to do your Stare,” Applejack said to Fluttershy.

“Oh, um, are you sure I really need— Okay,” Fluttershy said as she flew up to the bats, “I really, really, really hate to do this to you... I just hope you can forgive me...” and she gave them the Stare. The bats hissed at her but then stopped and froze upon her Stare.

“Have you actually seen her Stare before?” Scott whispered to Kerry.

“Only when she’s trying to stop fights between her animals,” Kerry replied.

“Good... Now you go, Twilight!” Applejack said.

“Alright,” Twilight replied, as she used her magic on the bats to make them not want the juice from the apples, while Fluttershy continued to stare at them. Soon the spell was done. “You can stop staring, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy blinked and looked down at the other.

“Did it work?” Sam asked.

“Only one way to find out for sure,” Applejack said, Rainbow held an apple to one of the bats. It sniffed it and turned and flew away.

“Ye-he-heah, whoo!” cried Rainbow.

“My crop is saved! Yee-haw!” Applejack declared.

“We'll be drinking cider all winter long!” exclaimed Rainbow.

“I wanna thank you for your help,” Applejack said to her friends, “I couldn't have done it without you.”

“Aw, don't mention it, Applejack,” Sunset said.

“It was my pleasure! Really!” Spike remarked.

“Now all we gotta do is sweep up these cores so I can start buckin' fresh tomorrow mornin'!” Applejack said as everyone went to start cleaning up. As they walked away, Fluttershy sniffed the air and turned to see a fresh, juicy apple on the ground.

That night, as Kerry slept on Fluttershy’s couch, her ears picked up on something. She got up and tried to find what that sound was. “Hello?” she called out quietly, “Is someone here?”

She entered the kitchen and jumped to see something standing just in front of the backdoor, the object seemed to turn and stare at Kerry with blood red eyes.

“What the…?!” Kerry exclaimed before the creature jumped at her and bit her on the neck. It just back and flew out the door off to who-knows-where. Kerry cried in pain on the floor, unbeknownst to her, her own fangs sharpened a bit as her golden fur turned a slight brown.

Applejack was up early the next day ready to do a ‘take two’ on Apple Bucking Day. “Apple Bucking Day, take two!” she said, as the roosters crows and the sun raises over the hill. “Yee-haw! Time to collect those juicy, sweet apples!” She kicked a tree and watched an apple fall to the ground, only to have her hopes fall when the apple went splat on the ground.

Applejack rounded up her friends again, Twilight was just as shocked to see this.

“The spell didn't work!” she exclaimed.

“You're darn tootin' the spell didn't work!” Applejack responded, “I think we're gonna have to take more extreme measures!” Just then, Kerry stumbled up to them, she didn’t look good at all. “What’s the matter with her?” AJ asked.

“I found her on my kitchen floor this morning,” Fluttershy replied, Kerry’s fur seemed to be pale and she felt like throwing up, “I also had two red spots on her neck. I have no idea how that got there.”

“Sis?” Sam went up to his sister to give her a hug.

“I’m ok little bro,” she assured him, “I’m fine.” But then her face turned green, and she ran to a bush to throw up. She came back and fell into Jake’s arms.

“Take it easy, babe,” he told her.

“Anyway, I hear ya, Applejack!” Rainbow declared, “C'mon, everypony! Let's track down those vampire bats!”

Everyone ran off to find those vampire fruit bats, with Jake supporting Kerry and taking it slow for her. The Ponies, Spike, Sam, and his siblings soon found the bats but were a little confused to see that they weren’t eating the apples. Rainbow heard one out to one that was reading a book, and it just slapped it out her hoof, and landed on Sunset’s horn.

“Wait a minute... I don't think these bats are the ones that sucked my apples dry,” Applejack said.

“But if the vampire bats aren't eating your apples...” Rarity said.

“Who is?” Twilight questioned before turning to Fluttershy “Fluttershy, you're our animal expert. Do you know of any other creature that might be capable of this?”

“I'm sorry. I don't,” she replied.

“Well, there's only one way to find out,” Twilight announced, “We'll have to catch whoever it is in the act.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” Rarity asked.

“A stakeout?” Sunset asked.

“A stakeout!” Twilight confirmed.

That evening, the gang all walked through the orchard, at night, the dead trees coupled with the mist made everything seem really spooky. Sam was clinging to Sunset's back in fear.

“I’ve never seen Sam this scared since he watched the spooky episodes in Thomas and Friends,” Rebecca said to Emily as she walked beside Sunset and stroked Sam’s hair with one of her arms.

“The witching hour...” Rainbow remarked. As they heard something in the distance, it was only an owl, but it creeped everyone out.

“Maybe we should just call this off,” Fluttershy said before looking up to see an apple on the branch, “Not sure about the rest of you guys, but I'm really hungry...” She was salivating at the apple.

“Oh, Fluttershy, it'll be okay,” Rarity assured her, “Don't forget, darling, we're all in this together.”

“That's right. Nopony leaves this orchard until we've solved this mystery. Agreed?” Twilight said.

“Agreed!” Everyone replied.

“Does everypony have their pony signals?” Applejack asked, Twilight, Rarity and Sunset replied by lighting their horns, Pinkie pulled out a flashlight that shone out her cutie mark, “Now remember, Pinkie Pie, only use the signal if you see somethin' suspicious.”

“I got it. Something suspicious...” Pinkie said as she saw Fluttershy about to eat an apple, “Whatcha doin'?!” she scared Fluttershy out of her wits. The group soon arrived at the darkest and spookiest part of the orchard.

“Alright, now everypony split up. We'll each patrol our own row of the orchard,” Applejack said, “Whoever or whatever's destroyin' my apples has gotta be here somewhere.”

Everyone started to split off into pairs, Twilight and Sam, Sunset and Spike, Rarity and Emily, Applejack and Jake, Pinkie and Rebecca, Rainbow, and Scott, and Fluttershy and Kerry. Everyone had fear written on their faces, even if some tried to hide it.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Fluttershy said to herself, “A really bad feeling about this...”

“Don’t worry Fluttershy,” Kerry assured her, “I’m here with you to keep you…” she didn’t get to finish as she bumped into Fluttershy who seemed to be entranced by an apple. “Fluttershy? Why did you stop?

“That apple... It looks...” Fluttershy mumbled as her eyes turned red, “so juicy... and sweet...” Fangs grew out her salivating mouth.

“F-Fluttershy?” Kerry asked in fear as she watched her roommate change, Fluttershy turned to look at Kerry, she hissed and flew off. Something then clicked in Kerry’s head, “that was her that bit me,” she whispered to herself, feeling her bite mark on her neck, “and that means…” Kerry was then cut off as she fell to the ground in pain, her own fangs grew sharper, and her feline ears became more like bat ears as her fur darkened.

Pinkie and Rebecca were walking around their row of the orchard, as a shadowy figure was lurking around, suddenly they heard something. “What was that?!” Pinkie cried.

“Look,” Rebecca said, she pointed over to a mushy apple on the ground.

“Suspicious!” Pinkie giggled, “It's pony signal time!” she was about to turn on her pony signal, when suddenly something dashed passed her spooking her and Rebecca.

Rarity and Emily were looking around, when it seemed to get darker for them.

“Who's there?” Rarity asked as a shadowy figure flew over them. “Oh, well, there's obviously no need to worry about that shadowy figure overhead...” Just as the shadowy figure flew low over their heads, nearly hitting them. “Or maybe there is!”

“Maybe we should just go see how Rainbow Dash and Scott are doing...” Emily suggested.

“Agreed!” Rarity answered nervously as she trotted faster, and Emily jogged off.

Rainbow Dash was flying in the air and Scott was prowling on the ground, as a large shadow flew over them. Rainbow and Scott saw the shadow, but they could see what made it due to it being misty.

“Uh... who's there?” she called out, she then spotted a shape in the distance.

“Answer me or you'll regret it!” She shouted, the shape didn’t reply “Fine, have it your own way!”

“Uh, Dash?” Scott tried to say, “I think that’s just a…”

But he didn’t finish as Rainbow dashed and tackled the shape to the ground. “Take that, you, you, you...” she said but now seeing the object in the light, she saw it was just a…

“Scarecrow,” Scott said as he ran up, “it’s a scarecrow.”

“Oh,” Rainbow remarked, feeling a little silly.

Twilight was walking around, with a scared Sam on her back. They heard an owl hoot, Twilight gasped, and Sam jumped so much he jumped into his Ultrasuit in defence.

“Relax honey,” Twilight soothed his nerves, “it’s just an owl.”

“Oh,” Sam said as he retracted his suit.

Just then they saw in the sky, Applejack’s pony signal. Sam hopped back onto Twilight’s back, and she galloped off to find Applejack and Jake just staring up into a tree.

“Applejack, what is it?” Twilight asked before she and Sam got hit on the heads with two dried up apple cores. They both looked up to see two figures hanging upside down.

“Suspicious!” Pinkie and Rebecca yelled, hanging upside down as well while holding their flashlights at them. The figure opened their bat wings revealing an angry Fluttershy and Kerry, as the two hissed at the pony and spider girl.

Soon the others arrived upon seeing Applejack Pony Signal, and they had the same facial reactions as Applejack and Twilight. Fluttershy used her tongue to latch onto an apple and suck it dry before it landed on the ground. Sam took note of Kerry’s appearance, she still resembled a cheetah a little, with the tail and spots, but her fur was not brown rather than gold, she had bat wings for arms, bat ears, feet and a slight bat muzzle. She also appeared to be naked but luckily her fur was thick enough to cover her.

“Fluttershy?” Pinkie called to her friend, “Yoo-hoo! Fluttershy!”

“Come on big sis, you recognize me right?” Rebecca asked, but both of them were answered by feral hisses. Pinkie and Rebecca slipped off the tree branches and landed on the ground.

“That's not Fluttershy... That's Flutterbat!” cried Rarity.

“And I guess Kerry the Cheetah-bat,” Scott remarked.

“We've gotta get her down from there!” Twilight demanded.

“Uh... Fluttershy, sweetness, please come down, and... do stop being a vampire bat,” Rarity asked, only to get a hiss from Flutterbat.

“Kerry Babe, come on down and give you hunky rhino a big kiss,” Jake tried to flirt her down by flexing but like Rarity, Kerry just hissed and bit into an apple and slipped the juice out.

“Fluttershy! It's me, Rainbow Dash!” The rainbow maned Pegasus called, “Why don't you cut the bat act and come on down?!”

This seemed to insult Flutterbat as she opened her giant bat like wings and flapped them sending Rainbow barrelling through the air.

“Whoa!” she exclaimed as she flew back down to her friends, “Maybe we should just let her come down when she's ready.”

Just as she said that, Flutterbat and Kerry came down from their branches and raced over everyone’s heads.

“Flutterbat and Cheetah-bat on the loose!” cried Pinkie, “Run for your lives!”

“Pinkie Pie, calm down!” Twilight said before pointing up into the tree “See? They’re back on their... branches.”

“They’re just biding their time!” Pinkie said, “Waiting for the right moment to pounce!”

“Pinkie Pie, bats don't eat ponies,” Applejack told her, “Not even vampire bats.”

“Yeah, but vampire ponies can turn others into vampires!” Spike remarked.

“And I'm not taking any chances!” Pinkie cried as she started to dig into the ground.

“How did this happen?” Rarity asked, “That's what I don't understand.”

“I think this was actually our fault,” Twilight replied.

“Our fault?” Rainbow questioned.

“And how'd you figure that?” quizzed Applejack.

“Sunset mind giving me a hoof,” Twilight asked.

“Sure,” Sunset replied, as the unicorn and alicorn lit up their horns and created a holographic diagram.

“Okay, so this is me, these are the bats, and this is Fluttershy doing her Stare,” Twilight started, “The spell was supposed to go right onto the bats like this, but somehow the spell must have backfired. It took the vampire fruit bats' desire to be vampire fruit bats and transferred that desire into Fluttershy, and to how Kerry is a cheetah-bat, Fluttershy must have bitten her on her neck. C'mon! We'll reverse the spell and make it right!”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Pinkie then suddenly burst out of the ground, “Let's save Fluttershy and Kerry before those things eat us all!”

“Hit the deck!” Rainbow cried out as Flutterbat and Kerry raced down over their heads, but Kerry flew off, Flutterbat landed on Rarity, bit her neck, and flew off too.

“Auntie Rarity!” cried Sam as he rushed over to her. She cried in pain as she felt her ears changing.

“Stay back!” yelled Rarity, “I don’t want to hurt you!” as she grew bat wings, her eyes turned red, and she grew fangs.

She slowly stood up and turned to everyone, they got ready to defend themselves, but Rarity didn’t charge at them, in fact she seemed to act more curious than anything. Sam was the closest and Rarity walked to him and nuzzled him while making a soft purring noise.

“Uh, what is she doing?” Sam asked.

“I think she’s liking you,” Twilight said.

“Rarity?” Sam asked, trying to get her attention, Rarity stopped nuzzling and looked down on him, she tilted her head in curiosity.

“She’s acting like a pet,” Sunset remarked.

Sam found a fresh apple and held it out to Rarity, she tilted her head, and bit into it and sucked the juice out of it. She smiled happily and went back to nuzzling Sam.

“Maybe every bite makes somepony act differently,” Twilight guessed, “in Rarity’s case, friendly and curious.”

“Why don’t you guys go after the two bats, while I look after Rarity-bat here,” Sam said petting Rarity’s mane, she liked the feeling.

“Good idea,” Twilight agreed.

“Follow that bat!” cried Pinkie as everyone, minus Sam, and Rarity, ran off after Flutterbat and Kerry.

Little did they know, Flutterbat and Kerry were perched on branches onto some trees, they clutched their heads and Flutterbat’s ears became more bat-like, and Kerry’s nose became more bat-like.

“I can't believe we lost them!” commented Sunset.

“Oh, Fluttershy, where are you?” called Twilight. But Flutterbat and Kerry were closer than expected. They jumped off their branches and flew down to them hissing like feral creatures.

Spike ran from Flutterbat, but then tripped over an apple. Spike ducked in fear as Flutterbat swooped down and grabbed the apple.

“Look out! Whoa!” Applejack cried, as Flutterbat drained the apple dry, as she dived back down and spat the apple core at the girls.

Kerry tackled Jake to the ground and hissed at him, while trying to bite his neck. Scott and Rebecca managed to get her off him. She snarled at them and took off after Flutterbat.

“If they keep this up, your whole crop will be gone in no time!” Rainbow remarked.

“That's the least of my worries,” Applejack replied, “I just want my friend back.”

“And we want our sister back,” Scott remarked.

“And my girlfriend,” Jake said.

“We'll never get them back unless we corner them and catch them so I can reverse the spell!” Twilight said. They all dashed off after them.

They group crept through the misty, dark orchard. They soon spotted Flutterbat and Kerry on the ground, draining apples dry.

“There they are,” Twilight whispered. But then Scott let off a howl alerting Flutterbat and Kerry, as they dived towards them and away.

“There they go!” Applejack cried.

Emily turned to stare and Scott, “Hehe,” he chuckled nervously, “force of habit.”

“Oh, this is no use,” Twilight stated, “I think the only way we're gonna catch them is if we find a way to lure them closer to us.”

“But even if we can lure them to us, how're we gonna get them to stay still long enough for you to do your reverse spell?” Applejack asked.

“Aww, if only we had Fluttershy to do her Stare on the Flutterbat and Kerry,” Pinkie remarked.

“That's it!” Twilight gasped, and she began to explain her plan.

The plan was set into motion, Twilight was levitating Applejack’s giant apple over to the entrance to the spooky part of the orchard.

“The smell from the Apple will also attract Rarity when we get three birds with one stone,” Twilight remarked.

“Don’t you mean three bats with one stone?” Pinkie chuckled, getting a snort from Rebecca.

“If you say so,” Twilight sighed, “Okay, let's get our friend back. Action stations!”

Applejack pulled out a knife to slice the apple open, “So much for having the winning apple in the Appleloosa State Fair, huh?” Rainbow stated.

Applejack just sighs as she sliced the apple letting the juice ooze out. Rainbow then used her wings to carry the smell in the wind. Flutterbat and Kerry picked up the smell of the apple and flew down to the apple. Rarity also picked up the smell and dashed off, Sam ran after her.

“They're coming!” called Rainbow.

As Flutterbat, Kerry and Rarity hissed and arrived to take a bite of the apple, Applejack kicked her apple out the way to reveal Rebecca holding a mirror. This stopped the three and froze Rarity. Flutterbat and Kerry tried flying away, but Jake held out another mirror, freezing Kerry. Flutterbat panicked and tried to fly away again but Emily held up another mirror and this made Flutterbat freeze. Twilight lit up her magic and used her reversal spell on them all, their fangs shrank away, ears returned to normal, and soon, Fluttershy, Kerry and Rarity were back to normal.

“Oh... where am I?” Fluttershy questions.

“Ow my head,” Kerry remarked.

Everyone burst into cheers, happy to have their friends back. “Thank goodness you're okay!”

“But... What happened to me?” Fluttershy asked.

“You turned into a vampire pony and then turned Kerry into a vampire cheetah-bat and Rarity into a vampire pony too!” Pinkie replied.

“I attacked my friends?!” Fluttershy gasped.

“Yes!” Pinkie replied.

“Oh dear!” Fluttershy remarked but then got a hug from Sam.

“But I’m just glad you’re back,” he stated. Fluttershy just smiled and nuzzled him.

“Hey little bro, what a hug for me?” Kerry asked.

“In a minute,” Sam replied.

“Cheeky,” Kerry remarked.

The next morning, Applejack decides to take Fluttershy's advice and sections off a part of the orchard for the vampire fruit bats.

“Fluttershy, I'm really sorry I didn't take your suggestion in the first place,” Applejack apologised.

“And don't forget, now you'll get seeds that will grow into even bigger and better apple trees,” Fluttershy told her.

“Does that mean what I think it means?” Rainbow asked excitedly.

“Yup! More cider too,” Applejack replied.

“Yea-he-heah, whoo!” Rainbow cried out in joy.

Later, everyone was in Fluttershy’s cottage. Sam was writing about what had happened.

“Okay, got the part about the spell, Fluttershy turning into a bat, building a sanctuary...” Sam listed.

“Be sure to put in there that I came to see that my short-term solution was a little short-sighted,” Applejack said.

“And that you shouldn't let anypony pressure you into doing something that you don't think is right,” Fluttershy chimed in making Applejack blush, “Sometimes you have to tell even your closest friends 'no'.”

“Now, how about we celebrate our stronger than ever friendship with a nice, ripe, juicy apple?” Applejack suggested while holding up an apple.

“Stand back!” Pinkie said in a fake Dracula voice with fake fangs, “I vant to suck its juuuice!” Pinkie bit into the apple and the fake fangs got stuck in it.

Everyone let out a hearty laugh. But as they did, no one knew, not even Fluttershy herself knew, she still had a little bit of fang left. Hinting to the fact that Flutterbat might not be over yet.

Chapter 22: Rarity Takes Manehatten (Edited)

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It was another beautiful day in Ponyville, as the Mane Six, Spike and Emily made their way to the train station platform. Sam wasn’t with them as he was needed in Ponyville, a monster has been emerging, rampaging and then disappears for no clear reason yet. Plus it gave him a chance to have some father, son time with Sunset. Even though she’s not a stallion.

The Mane Six, Emily and Spike are about to board the train to Manehattan, with Rarity excited about Fashion Week and her friends tagging along to support her.

“There you are, Rarity!” said Spike, as he pushed a trolley with all of Rarity’s luggage in it, “That's the last of your bags.”

“Actually, Spike, I've got one last pile of bags, over there,” Rarity said pointing motioning to another pile of bags, Twilight just rolled her eyes, “Won't you be a dear?” She said that while fluttering her eyes.

“Sure... I'll be a dear...” Spike said as he walked over to the pile.

“Simp,” Emily remarked.

“Would you mind giving me a claw?” Spike asked.

“Ugh fine,” Emily grunted.

“An entire week in the fabulous city of Manehattan!” Rarity said, “Plus, all of my very best friends are there with me!”

“Of course we'd all come along to support you during Fashion Week, Rarity!” Twilight told her.

“Not that you'll need it,” Fluttershy assured her, “We're sure you'll win.”

“I can't begin to tell you how excited I am that you'll all be there with me!” Rarity squealed, “However... Perhaps I can show you...” She opened one of her bags and revealed to them all the tickets.

“What's that?” Twilight asked.

“Ooh, ooh, ooh, I know! A paper fan!” exclaimed Pinkie.

“No, it's—” Rarity tried to say but Pinkie cut her off.

“A magic trick!” she shouted, “You know, where I pick a card and remember what it is and then you put it back in the deck so you can't look at it and—”

“These are tickets to the hottest musical on Bridleway!” Rarity told her friends.

“You couldn't mean Hinny of the Hills...” Twilight yelled, “because that show's been sold out for months! Or could you?!”

“I could. I do,” Rarity replied.

“Oh, Rarity, you didn't have to do that, but... since you did...” Twilight said before they all began to cheer for her, while poor Spike and Emily kept piling up all Rarity’s luggage.

“This trip is fun already!” Pinkie cried, “I love jumping up and down! Whee-hee!”

The Train travelled down the track and over the bridge towards Manehattan, the girls soon got off the train and entered the streets of the busy city, with poor Spike and Emily struggling in the back with all Rarity’s bags.

“Come along, ponies!” Rarity said, “I found us a place to stay only a block from the train station in the very heart of this glorious metropolis!”

Rarity led the group down the street, with Spike and Emily taking up the rear.

“Hey, look! That's the theatre where Hinny of the Hills is playin'!” Applejack pointed out. A chorus of oohs flew over the group.

“Wow, Rarity! How'd you manage to get us seats for tomorrow night?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, I gave some designs to the costume designer, so he pulled a few strings,” Rarity told her.

“Cool!” Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash remarked at once.

“That is what makes Manehattan so splendid and amazing,” Rarity said, “You do something nice for somepony, and then you never know when they'll do something nice for you!”

“So then you can do something nice for us!” Applejack said.

“Like get us in to see Hinny of the Hills!” Fluttershy chimed in.

“Which is only the best musical in all of Equestria!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“It must be good if Rainbow Dash is impressed,” Applejack joked, “Normally she doesn't even like musicals.”

“I know. Ponies just bursting into song in random places at the drop of a hat? Who does that?” she asked.

As if it was planned, Rarity burst into song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4IxA9Ml004&list=PLfJpfTZK5SWAYkDYaPN3rW7q3RjZzlzl0&index=46

Oh, Manehattan, what you do to me
Such a huge bustling community
And there's always opportunity
To do the friendly thing

If some are grouchy, pay no mind
Surprise instead with something kind
Lo and behold, you may just find
A smile is what you bring

“Welcome to the Manefair Hotel!” said a pony named Luggage Cart as the ponies came to the hotel they were staying at, “Please allow me to take those bags to your room for you!”

“Only if you'll accept this gratuity first,” Rarity said as she levitated a gem to him.

“Oh-ho-ho!” Luggage Cart stuttered in surprise, “I'll get your change!”

“Do keep it all,” Rarity told him, “I insist!”

Generosity, I'm here to show all that I can give
Generosity, I'm here to set the bar
Just sit back and watch how I live

“After you,” Rarity said to a tourist named Lucky Clover, letting him look through the binoculars.

“Why, thank you,” he replied.

“Please, take mine,” Rarity said, giving a pony named Wisp her scarf.

“Wow, okay,” he thanked her.

Some may say, "Rarity,
Don't be so big-hearted and bold
Treating strangers like they're friends
This town's too big and cold"

But this is how I play my cards
I'm not about to fold
Where I see a frown, I go to town
Call me the smile patrol

Oh, Manehattan, what you do to us

What if you find a Gloomy Gus?

It's no intimidatin' thing

Just be kind without a fuss

Generosity, I'm here to show all that I can do
Generosity, you are the key
Manehattan, I'm here just for you
Just for you

“To think my dresses could soon be displayed on the most glamorous shopping thoroughfare of the most glamorous city in Equestria!” Rarity said, “Oh, it would be my dream come true!”

“Is there anything left to do we can help you with?” Twilight asked.

“Hm, nothing I can think of,” Rarity replied, “The dresses are all completely finished, all made from a fabulous new fabric I've been developing for months. Stretchy, but not clingy. Shimmery, but not showy.”

“Sounds amazing,” said Fluttershy.

“There's nothing left for me to do but check in at the runway with my dresses by two this afternoon,” Rarity said.

“Oh, that's funny,” Pinkie said, “Because that clock over there makes it seem like that's only ten minutes from now!” As if by magic, rain clouds started to roll in and the rain soon poured down.

“Oh, my ribbons and threads. And the runway ballroom is all the way across town!” exclaimed Rarity, “If I don't get there, I'm disqualified! Taaaaxiii!” as she dashed off.

“Oh, no! We've gotta help her find a cab now!” Fluttershy cried.

“I'm on it!” Rainbow declared, as she darted off and landed on the roof of a taxi cab, “Hey, buddy! Is this cab taken?”

“The line ends back there, ‘buddy’!” said the pony in the cab, who’s name was Cherry Fizzy. He pointed to a long line of ponies wanting to get a cab.

“Huh? What?” Rainbow questioned, “Does everypony in this town want a cab?”

“I'm afraid getting a taxi at this time could prove almost impossible!” Rarity said.

“Please won't you let her have this taxi?” Twilight asked a business pony “She has somewhere very important to be right away!”

“Not likely!” he replied, “She can get in line like the rest of us!” This caused all the other ponies to complain.

“Oh, it's no use!” Twilight sighed as she sat down on the curve, Applejack and Rainbow joined her, “The cab drivers just drive right past to get to the next pony in line!”

Just then, out of nowhere, a taxi pulled up alongside the group, it was Pronto, a pony they helped out during the song. “New wheel works like a charm!” he said, “So now which of you nice folks are hoppin' in?”

“Fashion runway plaza in seven minutes,” Rarity said as she climbed in, “Can you make it?”

“Hang on!” Pronto said as Rarity waved, ta-ta, to her friends, he dashed off to the Fashion runway plaza.

“Whew, that was close,” Emily remarked, Twilight and everyone all agreed.

“Anypony else got a sneaking suspicion we're forgetting something?” Spike asked. Everyone thought, then it clicked.

“The dresses!” they all shouted.

Rarity soon arrived at the Fashion runway plaza, she ran into reception out of breath.

“Good afternoon, I'm here for Fashion Week!” she told the pony at the desk who had her back to Rarity and was typing away.

“Everypony's gathered in front of the runway and about to start, so you'll just have to bring your dresses along with you and store them backstage later,” the pony who was called Janine Manewitz.

“My– My dresses! How could I possibly forget them?!” Rarity cried, “I'm dooooomed!”

“Got 'em right here, ma'am!” Luggage Cart said as he came into the room, with all of Rarity dresses, “Your friends told me you need these in a hurry, so I offered to race 'em over myself. ‘Anything for that nice mare,’ I told 'em!”

“You're a lifesaver!” Rarity said, in a hurry she pushed her dresses away and gave Luggage Cart a gem.

“I made it!” Rarity announced as she dashed into the main hall, “And with seconds to spare! Hello, everypony. Pleased to meet you all.” She greeted the other ponies that were there.

“Rarity, I presume,” came a voice, Rarity looked up to see a grey pony with a pink mane and tail.

“You must be Prim Hemline, the host of this grand event,” Rarity greeted, “How do you—?”

“Miss Rarity, how is it that all your competitors are here half an hour early, and yet you arrive seconds before we begin?” Prim Hemline questioned.

“Uhhhh...” Rarity chuckled nervously, “Just... lucky, I guess.”

“Once we're done here, you're to finish setting up backstage, so you'll be ready for your run-through appointment. You show your designs last. We keep to a precise schedule, so let's try to be more than a few seconds early, hmm?” Prim Hemline said turning to Rarity, “Tomorrow is the contest to see which one of you gets to stay to meet top designers all across the city. The rest of you must go home early. So sad. Dismissed!”

“I'm so glad you made it, Rarity!” chuckled a voice as the other ponies dashed off. The pony speaking was pink with a purple mane and tail with three buttons for a cutie mark.

“Me too, but everything just seems to keep working out!” Rarity replied.

“Don't you remember me?” the pony asked, “Suri Polomare from the Ponyville Knitters League?”

“Oh, yes, of course, of course! I– I thought you looked familiar, but I couldn't place it,” Rarity responded, “You haven't been back in years!”

“Because I moved here to make it in the big city,” Suri Polomare laughed, “okay?”

“Oh, good for you, Sur—” Rarity tried to say but Suri cut her off by running up and giving her a hug.

“Ooh, it's so good to see you! And now here we are, competing!” Suri laughed again, “okay?”

“Yes, yes. Well, good luck!” Rarity stated as Suri let go of her.

“Oh, I don't need luck,” Suri Polomare declared, “Would you like a hoof with your things?”

“Why, thank you so much!” Rarity replied.

Suri Polomare followed Rarity backstage to show her her dresses. "My, your collection is gorgeous!” Suri remarked.

“Oh now, I'm sure your collection is equally lovely, if not more so!” Rarity assured her.

“It's alright, but nothing like this! Take my culottes, for example – they are simply crying out for just the right accent, but I haven't the slightest notion where I—” Suri said but gasped upon touching my Rarity's dresses, “Actually... just a touch of this fabric could be perfect with it. W– Oh, hey, would you mind terribly if I took a swatch?”

“Oh, not at all!” Rarity said, giving Suri Polomare some of the fabric she used, “Here, I have loads extra.”

“You're sure?” Suri asked.

“Positive! Oh, well, it's been wonderful getting caught up, and I don't wish to be rude, but I must finish my preparations and I am a bit late as it... is?” Rarity spoke but when she turned back around, Suri was gone.

The next day, Rarity checks in at the plaza for her run-through with Prim. She had managed to bring Emily with her, who had a scarf wrapped around her to keep warm, and she carried a cup of coffee to help stay awake.

“Hello! I'm here half an hour early for my run-through appointment, just the way Prim likes!” Rarity said entering the reception.

“Get in line over there,” Janine Manewitz said pointing to a line at door, she turned around and saw Rarity’s dresses, “Oh my, that fabric gorgeous, did you make that yourself?”

“Oh, why, yes,” Rarity replied, “It's stretchy, but not clingy. Shimmery—”

“Shimmery, but not showy. And the entire line is in the same adorable pattern. It works on everything from skirts to tops to shoes and…” came Suri Polomare’s voice, Rarity looked as saw Suri Polomare presenting dresses in the fabrics that Rarity gave her and taking the credit that it was her who made the fabric.

“Oh, bravo! I've never seen anything like it!” Prim Hemline said.

“You stole my fabric!” exclaimed Rarity.

“You did what?!” cried Emily.

“I didn't steal it, okay?” Suri laughed, “You gave it to me, 'member?”

“You did what?!” Emily shouted.

“I gave you the fabric for accents! Not for your whole line!” Rarity shouted back at Suri Polomare, “And how could you possibly make all of those outfits out of it so fast?!”

“Fast? Hah! Coco Pommel here took practically forever,” Suri bragged, “Nearly got me completely disqualified.”

“Well, I wanted to make sure you'd win, so I took the extra time to-" Coco Pommel said but was cut off by Suri rather harshly. Coco Pommel was a light beige pony with a light blue mane and tail and a hat for a cutie mark.

“Quiet!” Suri Polomare shouted, “I pay an assistant to sew and get coffee, not talk. 'Kay?”

“How could this happen?” Rarity gasped.

“Aw, sweetie, don't blame yourself,” Suri tried to act all sweet, but her kindness made Emily growl, “It takes some small-town fillies a while to learn it's everypony for herself in the big city, m'kay? Oh and no pets in the plaza.”

Rarity then dashed out of the room, Emily ran after her but not before hissing at Suri Polomare.

“I’m not a pet,” she rustled before running after Rarity.

“Hope you realise how fortunate you are to have me as a mentor,” Suri said to Coco, “Now get me some coffee!” Coco startled, and then dashed off to make Suri a coffee.

Later that afternoon, Twilight Sparkle and the other ponies return to their Manehattan hotel room after an afternoon of fun.

“Oh, my gosh, what a great afternoon!” Twilight said, “That was almost too much fun!”

“Better pace yourself, 'cause the rest of the day is jam-packed!” Rainbow Dash warned.

“First there's the salon appointment to get our manes done,” Applejack said.

“Then our fancy dinner at the Far-Afield Tavern!” Pinkie responded.

“And after that...” Fluttershy stated.

“Hinny of the Hills!” all five of them yelled as they jumped in the air and then laughed. Spike walked in carrying the stuff they had bought.

Then Rarity came trotting in, her mane a mess and her eyes still watering. Emily came in after her, trying to both comfort her and trying to hide her anger. Rainbow was the first to stop laughing and get up, her smile dropped to a worried expression upon seeing Rarity.

“Is... everything okay?” she asked concerned, the rest calmed down and felt worried for Rarity too.

“You got the dresses the bellhop brought you and everything, right?” Pinkie asked.

Rarity just walked to her bed and bawled her eyes out. Emily ran over to comfort her.

“But he said he brought them,” Rainbow said, mentioning Luggage Cart bringing them to her.

“And then Suri stole them!” Rarity cried, “I let one of the other contestants use some of my one-of-a-kind fabric, and then she turned it into a wardrobe just like mine, only now it looks like I'm the one copying her! My generosity has ruined me, I tell you! Ruined!” She began to cry louder.

“Now, Rarity, whatever went wrong, we're all here to help you get through it, no matter what it takes,” Twilight assured her, to which everyone agreed.

“Come on, Rarity, buck up!” Applejack assured her, “All we need is some fabric and you'll be back in business!”

Rarity started to look around the room, at the curtains, at the rug, and the bedding. She suddenly got an idea.

“This new line is going to be marvellous!” Rarity said, cheering up, “Perhaps even better than the last! It's daring, it's bold! Perhaps I still have a chance after all!”

Everyone was happy to help her and see her happy as well. But later, their smiles had turned to frowns as they tried to make the dresses. And Rarity was now getting really bossy and demanding now. The ponies were scared that if Rarity saw they made at least one mistake, she would snap. They had to miss their trip to the salon and dinner for this.

“Twilight! Sew these pieces together according to that pattern there!” Rarity bossed.

“You said if we skipped dinner at the Far-Afield Tavern, you'd order a meal for us while we keep working,” Twilight said, as she and the others were getting hungry.

“Don't fret. It'll be here in an hour,” Rarity told her, “That's not going to be a problem, is it?”

“Well, we're supposed to be watching Hinny of the Hills by then...” Rainbow Dash bravely spoke. This seemed to make Rarity finally snap.

“Oh! I see! I go out of my way to get you tickets for a show, and this is how you repay me? By abandoning me in my hour of need?” Rarity retorted, everyone just lowered their heads, “Oh, oh, oh! Fine! Go and see Hinny of the Hills tonight! And then tomorrow morning when you come to see my fashion show without any fashion to show, you can have more entertainment! ‘Oh, why look, there's our friend Rarity going down in flames! Isn't friendship magic?!’”

“Rarity, calm down,” Twilight tried to tell her, “What's gotten into you?”

“What's gotten into you?! Oh, go ahead! See your little show! Congratu-pony-lations, fillies! Sounds like you've all figured out already it's everypony for herself in this town!” Rarity shouted in anger and dashed out the room.

No one knew what to say or do now. They didn’t mean to upset her, now they were even more nervous for her. Even Emily was now concerned.

“I sorry girls,” she apologised, “she’s just really upset that Suri stole her fabric and claimed it as her own. Heck, Suri Polomare didn’t even make them.”

“What do you mean?” Applejack asked.

“Her assistance made them all last night,” Emily said, “from our brief interaction with them this morning, Suri must have bossed Coco around as well and cares nothing for her. As long as the outfits are what she wants and she has a coffee, she’ll claim it as all her work.”

“Oh dear, poor Coco,” Fluttershy remarked.

“Emily, could you go make sure that Rarity is ok?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, I’ll go,” Emily said as she walked out to the door, “Man, if Sam was here he would cover his ears from her yelling.” And she left to calm down Rarity. Everyone just looked at each other with sadness as they all went back to work, knowing very well that they’ll miss Hinny in the Hills.

The next morning, Twilight and Applejack put the finishing touches on the last dress. The ponies have had no sleep whatsoever, and they looked and felt shattered.

“There,” Twilight said tiredly, “That's the last of them.”

“Finally!” cried Rarity as she dashed past them and out the door with her new dresses and headed to the plaza, without bothering to thank her friends for their help.

“You're welcome!” called Twilight annoyed.

The Fashion show was in full swing, Suri Polomare had just finished presenting ‘her’ dresses.

“Let's have another round of applause for Suri Polomare's amazing collection,” Prim Hemline called out, the crowd cheered for Suri, “That fabric! So original!”

Rarity sighed and rolled her eyes as Suri Polomare came backstage and saw her glaring at her.

“Well look who's here,” Suri Polomare remarked cockily, “Here to show off your copycat collection, mm? Heh.”

“And now, Rarity from Ponyville with her brand new line – and I mean "brand new" – Hotel Chic,” announced Prim Hemline.

A pony modeller came out wearing a dress with a hat similar to a lamp shade, keys as a waistband and a bar of soup on the front. Famous ponies like Photo Finish, Sapphire Shores and Hoity Toity were amongst the crowd, and they were very impressed. As well as the other ponies. More pony modellers came walking out on the catwalk showing off the dresses made from stuff from the hotel room.

“Oh! They're liking it! I think I may have just won this thing!” Rarity said to herself, “Oh, I can't wait to celebrate with... My friends,” she then just realised as she looked to the crowd and saw a large empty space where her friends should have been, “They didn't come. What have I done?”

Cameras flashed and ponies cheered and Rarity’s dresses, even Prim Hemline was impressed with Rarity’s work.

“Rarity, they all adore you!” she said, “Aren't you going to tell them about your fabulous pieces?”

But Rarity didn’t hear her, she looked to where her friends should be, as her eyes flicked with a rainbow-coloured aura.

“I have to go!” she cried as she then suddenly dashed on to the catwalk.

“Come back at once,” Prim Hemline called to Rarity as she pushed one of the ponies out the way as she jumped off the catwalk and ran out the hall. The ponies in the crowd gasped at this. “This is unheard of!” cried Prim Hemline in shock.

Rarity ran all the way back to the hotel, where she passed Luggage Cart moving some luggage.

“How do you do, ma'am?” he greeted warmly, “Contest going well?”

“No time to talk,” Rarity replied, “I have to find my friends!”

“Oh, uh, they're gone already,” Luggage Cart replied, “I saw them headed out this morning, along with a lizard standing on her back legs.”

“Oh, no! Back to Ponyville, I imagine,” Rarity said, defeated and sad, “Oh, they worked so hard on my behalf! And I repaid them with unkindness. What have I done?!” She started to run to the train station but stopped and levitated some gem shards to Luggage Cart, “Oh... here you are.”

“But miss, I– I didn't do anything!” he called out confusedly.

Rain soon started to pour down once again. Rarity dejectedly walks through the wet streets of Manehattan, singing about her sorrows.

Oh, Manehattan, what have I done?
The thought of Fashion Week was fun
But I went way too far
My friends gave to me in ways so kind
And I gave them nothing but a hard time

And now alone I stand
And now alone I stand

Rarity soon returned to the plaza, Janine Manewitz had her back turned to Rarity and her expression seemed rather sad. “I need a moment with Prim Hemline,” Rarity told her, “I have to rush back to Ponyville, but I just wanted to thank her first for—”

“Uh-uh-uh, you'd best steer clear of Prim for a while,” came Suri’s voice from behind Rarity, she turned around to see Suri and Coco walking up, “She's pretty furious. Isn't that right?”

“Um... yes,” was all Coco said.

Just then the door opened and in came Twilight, and the rest, with Spike and Emily.

“There you all are!” Rarity cried with joy, “I can't believe it, I thought you went back home!”

“We missed the show because we overslept,” Twilight told her, “Suri told us you lost. I'm really sorry.”

“I lost?” Rarity asked, a little sad, but she shook it off, “You know what? I don't even care. I'm just happy you're all still here after how I treated you. Taking advantage of your friendship the way I did. How could you ever see past it?”

“Yeah, you were pretty rotten,” Applejack said bluntly.

“Wow, Applejack,” retorted Rainbow, “I know your thing is honesty, but come on!”

“Yeah seriously,” Emily remarked, “ouch.”

“Last night we may not have seen you at your best, but we know you,” Twilight told her as they all came in to give Rarity a hug, “And we would never let one thing like that change how we feel about you.”

“Oh, thank you! You really are the most wonderful friends a pony could have!” Rarity replied as they made their way out the plaza, “You know, I already arranged to make it up to you this afternoon! Hope you're all available for an exclusive performance of Hinny of the Hills!” The ponies cheered happily as Suri and Coco watched them walk down the street.

“And that is how it's done. Pretty clever how I convinced her to stay away from Prim, wasn't it?,” chuckled Suri, “Wouldn't have wanted her to find out the truth now, would we?”

The Hinny of the Hills was coming to an end and the Mane 6 plus Spike and Emily enjoyed every moment of it.

“Wow! That was even better than I imagined!” cried Applejack.

“I loved it!” yelled Rainbow, before realising what she said and tried to play it cool, “Uh, I mean, it was a'ight.” Applejack and Pinkie just laughed.

“How did you ever get them to agree to do an extra performance just for us?” Twilight asked.

“Remember my costume designer friend who got me the tickets?” questioned Rarity, “Well, I offered to make all the costumes for his next show!”

“Um, here in Manehattan?” asked Fluttershy.

“Well, um... yes... it will keep me away from Ponyville for a while,” Rarity replied to the rest of them, who all just sighed, “But I so wanted you to see this show! And working for this designer is such a great opportunity!”

“We know. We're happy for you, Rarity,” Applejack replied, “We're just sad for us.”

“Mind if I join you?” came a voice, even one turned around to see Coco Pommel walk into the theatre.

“Sure. Come on down,” Rarity said, Coco made her way down to the girls, and pulled out a trophy, “This is the first place trophy for Fashion Week.” Rarity then gasped at what it read at the bottom, “With my name on it! But I thought I lost!”

“You didn't. You won,” Coco replied as Rarity took the trophy, “Suri was hoping that if you didn't claim your prize, the judges would consider it a forfeit and first place would go to her. So she lied to make you and your friends go away, and, well, I lied too.” Coco’s voice started to be filled with more and more sorrow, “I've worked for Suri for so long, I started to believe that it really is everypony for herself in this town. Until I saw how generous you were with your friends and how generous they were with you. It made me start believing there was something better for me out there. So, I– I quit. I brought you something to say thank you.”

Coco gave Rarity a small blue box. “Hm. I suppose you'll need a job now that you're no longer with Suri,” Rarity said, “How would you like to work for my friend making all the costumes for his next show?” Coco didn’t say anything, she just smiled as her eyes lit up.

Later Rarity and her friends wave goodbye to Coco Pommel at the train station and return to Ponyville. Later, at Carousel Boutique, Rarity writes down the lesson she learned in the friendship journal.

‘Manehattan was simply grand. It was in this magnificent metropolis that I learned that, while there are ponies who will take advantage of your generosity, you should never, ever let that cause you to abandon your generous spirit. Nothing feels worse than taking advantage of the giving nature of your friends.’

Once she finished, she opened Coco's parting gift, it was a spool of rainbow-coloured thread. She puts it on her shelf with six other spools that match the Mane Six's coat colours.

“Now, let’s go and properly meet Sam’s new friend,” Rarity said as she walked out the room. As she turns to leave and close the door, the rainbow thread then emits a strange glow. As to who this new friend of Sam is, well you’ll just have to wait until the next chapter.

Chapter 23: A Chilly Start To A Warm Friendship (edited)

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It was another peaceful day in Ponyville, and all the ponies were going about their usual day. Well they would if there wasn’t a monster rampaging through the town. The monster was a subterranean monster named Pagos, and this wasn’t its first time appearing in Ponyville.

This was its third time that week. Nopony knows why its keeps appearing, but it’s done the same every time. It would raise up from the ground, rampage for a bit, Sam in his Ultrasuit would arrive to fight it off, and it would run away after a quick fight.

Ultraman had threw the monster to the ground, then jumped onto Pagos and started to punch its back. Pagos shook Ultraman off and crawled away. The monster started to dig and hole to get out of there, Ultraman fired a specimen beam down the hole to both attack Pagos and seal the hole.

“Geez,” Sam remarked taken off his mask, “this is the third time this week.”

“Sam!” came Sunset’s voice, “are you ok?”

“Yep, that monster is strong but not strong enough to get through suit,” Sam replied.

“I’m getting really tired and annoyed with this beast raising up to ruin our day,” remarked Trixie, “I like to have a long soak in the bath on Fridays.”

Sam was being taken cared of by Sunset and Trixie, while Twilight was with her friend in Manehattan for the weekend. Sam took his suit off and they three were about to head to the library for some breakfast that they missed due to Pagos, when they saw something in the distance on the each of Ponyville. It seemed to be hurt as it stumbled into town and collapsed to the ground. Sam, Sunset, and Trixie ran to its aid.

“Hey are you… O… k…?” Sam’s voice trailed off in shock.

“Sunset…?” asked Trixie in an equally shock tone, “is that what I think it is?”

“Yep,” Sunset replied, “Another human.”

Indeed it was, it was a human boy with brown hair with a bit of white in it. He had a light blue scarf, with a purple short sleave top with grey sleeves, grey trousers with purple markings, and blue trainers and socks.

The boy weakly looked up at Sam and said, “I need your help.” Before collapsing on the ground out cold.

“What the?” was all Sam could say.

“How?” Trixie said, “I thought Sam was the only human in Equestria.”

“I am,” Sam replied.

“We can figure out what’s going on after we get this guy to Twilight’s,” Sunset said as she levitated the unconscious boy onto her back. The three dashed to the library to get the kid into a bed.

The three made it back to the Library, Sunset ran up to the bedroom and placed the boy on the bed. Trixie took off his shoes and Sam brought a cup of water.

“I’m just so confused,” Sam said, “I thought I was the only human here. There may be many more out there.”

“Who knows,” Sunset said, “but I just hope that this kid is ok?”

“He said he needed Sam’s help or something,” Trixie spoke.

“I wonder how he got so beat up,” Sam said, then he felt the kid’s head, “oh my, he’s really cold.”

“This should warm him up,” Trixie said as she levitated a blanket over and placed it over the boy.

For the rest of the day, Sam was distracted by this boy that showed up out of nowhere. He was so distracted that he didn’t know that the CMC were trying to talk to him.

“SAM!” yelled Sweetie Belle, this broke Sam out of his trans.

“Are you ok bud?” asked Scootaloo, “you seem to be in another world.”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just thinking,” Sam replied.

“Of what?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Well, after I drove Pagos off for the third time this week,” Sam told them, “something came to the edge of Ponyville.”

“And that something was…?” Diamond Tiara edged him to spit it out.

“It was another human,” Sam replied.

The clubhouse went silent, and then they burst out shouting, “WHAT!”

“I thought you were the only human in Equestria!” exclaimed Silver Spoon.

“I did so too,” Sam replied, “but Twilight said that humans existed in Equestria before, perhaps they simply evolved or something.”

“That's likely,” Sweetie Belle said.

“I’m just wondering where he had come from to begin with,” Sam said, “and why he needs my help.”

“Maybe Sunset can tell ya,” Apple Bloom answered.

“Why do you think that?” Scootaloo asked.

“Because she’s running right this way,” Apple Bloom said, pointing out the window.

“Sam! You need to get back to the library, now!” she shouted.

“Why?” Sam asked.

“The boy’s awake,” Sunset replied.

“I’ll be right down,” Sam said as he jumped from the clubhouse to the ground then he and Sunset booked it to the library.

Sunset and Sam arrived back at the library and found Trixie tending to the boy. As Sunset and Sam came closer to the bed, Sam took note of the boy’s eyes. Like were turquoise, and his sclera were pure white, rather than black like his.

“It’s good to see you’re awake,” Sunset said.

“W-where am I?” the boy asked.

“You’re in Ponyville,” replied Sunset, “I’m Sunset Shimmer.”

“I’m Trixie Lulamoon,” Trixie said.

“And I’m Sam,” Sam spoke.

“Wait, you’re Sam?” the boy asked.

“Yeah?” Sam replied a little confused. The boy suddenly sat up straight and jumped up out of bed. He then grabbed Sam by the shoulders.

“You are the reason I came here!” he yelled, “you need to help me!”

“Woah, woah calm there… whatever your name is,” Sam said, “first you owe us an explanation.”

“Yes, yes you’re right,” the boy said as he calmed down, “my name is Ace Arctica, and I’m a species known as a Frostling.”

“I’ve heard about Frostlings before,” Trixie said, “but that was it. I was all stuck up and pompous and thought nothing of it.”

“I thought you were a human because we looked the same,” Sam said.

“Frostlings are very similar to humans such as you,” Ace replied, “only the difference is that this is what we look like if we are out of our environment, which is freezing temperatures.”

“What in the Crystal Empire?” Sam asked.

“No, much further than that,” Ace said as he pulled out a map that showed all of Equestria and beyond, “I came from the Ice Kingdom.” And he pointed to the top right hand corner of the map that said Ice Kingdom.

“You came all the way from there?”

“Yeah,” Ace said, “And I need your help?”

“With what?” Sam asked.

“To help cure my mother,” Ace said.

“What is she sick?” Sam questioned.

“Kind of,” Ace replied, “You see, my mother is the queen of the Ice Kingdom, Queen Crystal, and she had been possessed by an evil spirit, and just before she was completely corrupted, she told me to run away, so I wouldn’t have to face her. I promised her that I’ll help cure her before I ran, and on my journey, to find a cure, word got around Equestria of a mighty hero, I thought he could help me, and now I have found you.”

“Woah hey, I’m no mighty hero,” Sam responded, “Warrior of light, maybe.”

“Whatever, you’ve got to help me,” Ace insisted.

“Bro calm down, you still need to recover from whatever happens to you,” Sam told him.

“What did happen to you anyway,” Sunset asked. Just then, the four of them heard a monster roar, they looked out the window and saw Pagos rampaging again.

“That’s how,” Ace said.

“Oh come on!” shouted Sam, “I just dealt with him this morning.” As he then rushed out of the library and donned his suit. Ace saw him activate his Ultrasuit and his eyes opened with wonder.

“It is him,” he said.

Ultraman jumped onto Pagos’ back and attacked it by punching its back, and head, Pagos squirmed around like a rodeo bull and managed to get Ultraman off its back. Pagos readied to leap onto Ultraman but as it belly flopped, Ultraman rolled out the way as Pagos got up and Ultraman grabbed its head. Pagos got free as Ultraman swung a fist to punch Pagos in the face, but the monster ducked in time and head butted Ultraman, sending him flying.

Ultraman flew and crashed into a cart of apples, Ultraman looked to his left and saw an annoyed Big Mac staring at him.

“Sorry Big Mac,” Ultraman said, “but you need to get out of here because of Pagos.”

“I was leaving until you fell into my cart,” he said, as he unbuckled himself from the cart and ran off to safety.

Pagos suddenly fired a yellow-coloured energy beam from its mouth at Ultraman, but the Ultra managed to dodge it in time, and the beam destroyed the cart and roared all the apples in it.

“Since when the heck could you do that!” exclaimed Ultraman, as he turned on his Ultrix and chose a monster called Hellberus to perform one of its attacks. “Hell Slash!” he cried as his arms turned red and two spinning energy blades appeared around his arms. He threw them at Pagos, but the monster’s thick hide was too strong, and the attack bounced off.

“What the?!” Ultraman questioned, but before he had time to think, Pagos fired a fireball. Ultraman couldn’t dodge it in time but before it could strike him, a bolt of energy intercepted it instead. Ultraman looked to his right and his eyes popped out of his head in shock.

There standing there, with its arm outstretched from where the energy bolt was fired from, stood another Ultraman Suit. But this one had purple colouring and some special chest plates.

“Who the heck are you?!” Ultraman asked.

“I am Ultraman, Ultraman Tiga” the new Ultraman replied, “Step aside kid, let me show you how it’s done.”

Tiga pushed Ultraman aside and took over to fight Pagos. Tiga and Pagos charged forward as the two clashed. Tiga got Pagos in a head lock and punched the back of its head. He grabbed it by the horns and lifted it up and punched it to the side of its face. Pagos stomped forward to attack, but Tiga grabbed it by the horns and threw it to the ground, then slapped Pagos as the monster tried to get up. Tiga then lifted Pagos up then once the monster was on its legs, Tiga punched it in the chest, the third spin punch made Pagos go flying to the ground.

“Had enough?” Tiga called out.

But Pagos didn’t retreat. Instead the monster’s back started to build up with energy, the energy gathered at the top of its head, as rings of energy appeared until it formed a drill shape. Pagos then fired the spiral drill beam, Tiga dodged the attack at the last minute, but his legs were still grazed by the blast. The drill beam was so strong it cut a perfect circle through a house set for demolition.

“Holy crap!” cried Tiga, “at both the attack and my leg. Ouch!”

“Getting tired kid?” Ultraman asked, looking down.

“Oh shut up,” Tiga complained.

“Let me look at your leg,” Ultraman said, Tiga allowed him, the suit was broken luckily, “Can you walk?”

“I’ll try,” Tiga said, as Ultraman helped him up, his colour timer started to flash.

“You best take that suit off,” Ultraman said.

“Good thinking,” Tiga said as he recalled his suit, and revealed it to be Ace.

“Wait, you’re an Ultra too?” Ultraman exclaimed.

“I’ll tell you about that later, Sam,” Ace winked, “right now you need to beat this monster.” Ultraman was shocked at first but nodded and dashed to the monster, while Ace limped away to sit down away from the danger.

Pagos began to charge up for another spiral drill beam, but just as it fired it, Ultraman jumped out of the way. Pagos stood up and looked in the air to see Ultraman, with Specium Blades out, flew down and slashed at Pagos’ exposed chest. Leaving a glowing blue X on its chest. Pagos roared in pain and fell forward to the ground. Ultraman jumped back before Pagos could crush him. Pagos let a single tear fall down its face, as its eyes went out and they closed before its body glowed green and turned to stone. Pagos was finally dead.

Ultraman panted as he reverted back to Sam and went to find Ace. He found him on a bench looking at his leg where the drill had grazed. As the suit wasn’t damaged, he had no cuts, but it did feel like it was burnt from friction.

“You ok mate,” Sam asked.

“Yeah,” Ace replied, “but god almighty it hurts so badly.”

“Hey if I could survive jumping off a cliff to save a filly’s life, then you can survive getting your leg burnt from friction,” Sam said, “now come on, let’s get you back to the library. You still need your rest.”

“Fine,” Ace said as Sam helped him up and the two slowly walked back to the library, walking past the stone body of Pagos, “did you really survive falling off a cliff?”

“Well I was put into a coma because of that,” Sam replied, “I meant my mother in limbo and she told me that I have to build a team to help me with stronger foes.”

“Oh,” Ace replied, then something came to Sam’s mind.

“Hey, you’re an Ultra like me,” he said, “then this is what she meant by forming a team.”

“I guess so,” Ace replied.

“Yeah, let’s form an alliance,” Sam declared.

“An alliance?” Ace questioned.

“United we stand, together we fall, you help me, and I’ll help you,” Sam responded.

“Sounds good to me,” Ace replied smiling as the two fist bumped and walked into the library.

Chapter 24: Rainbow Falls (Edited)

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After the ponies met Ace, they decided that he would live with Trixie for the time being. Both him and Sam defended Ponyville from monsters with ease, now that there were two of them. During the week, Pinkie and Applejack went on a road trip to find out whether the two were cousins, Apple Bloom told her friends about it all.

The next week, one lovely morning, Rainbow had gathered Fluttershy and a big hulking Pegasus with tiny wings named Bulk Biceps. She had news about the upcoming Friendship Games.

“Alright, ponies, listen up!” she announced.

“We're all ears, Right, Bulk Biceps?” Fluttershy said, looking at the big Pegasus.

Bulk Biceps was kissing his giant biceps when she asked him, he then started to flex, “Nuh-uh! I'm all muscles! Yeah!” he shouted so loud that Angel rolled over.

“I like your attitude, Bulk Biceps, but it's gonna take more than muscles and Yeah!s to get us to the Equestria Games!” Rainbow declared, “We are the Aerial Relay team, and it's up to the three of us to make sure that we qualify at the try-outs. And do I need to remind you how much I— I mean, Ponyville, heh, wants to qualify and make it to the Games?”

“I remember,” Fluttershy said, “I really, really, really want to qualify for you and Ponyville.”

“Bring it on!” cried Bulk, he almost blew up Fluttershy’s eardrum and he shouted so loud. Suddenly Pinkie appeared out of nowhere in a cheerleader outfit.

“Gimme a 'P' for 'Ponyville'!” she yelled, before pulling out a megaphone, “P, Ponyville!!”

“P!” roared Bulk, sending Pinkie flying back with the boom of his voice.

“Oh, thanks, Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy said, getting up from the ground, “That was a scary— I mean, great cheer.”

“Just make sure you have one ready for when we qualify for the Aerial Relay,” Rainbow told her.

“And after that, for when we win gold medals in the Equestria Games!” Bulk shouted.

“Not so fast!” came Applejack’s voice as she came into view pulling a cart of apple flavoured , “If you're gonna be good, you're gonna be better with some of my apple brown Bettys in ya. They're perfect.”

“'P' is for 'perfect'!” cheered Pinkie as she burst out of the cart. Fluttershy, Applejack and Bulk started to eat one of them until Rainbow called out to them.

“Alright, team! Show me what you got!” she told them, “Put some bend into those knees! Flap those wings! And I want to see all four hooves off the ground on the count of three!” she paused and smirked to herself, “One two three!”

Fluttershy had no trouble getting off the ground as she flapped her wings into the air, but Bulk’s biceps were so large, they could barely get off the ground. He flapped his wings as fast as he could, until he was hovering next to Fluttershy.

“Don't forget to breathe while you're up there!” Rainbow told him.

Bulk tried to but it came out as a whizzed, but his wings wouldn’t hold him, and he started to fall, pulling Fluttershy with him. Both of them fell out of the sky, fell on Rainbow, and all three crashed on the ground.

“'P' is for, uhh... 'pain'?” Pinkie remarked. Rainbow just sighed.

The gang were on the train heading to Rainbow Falls where the try-outs are to take place. Sam and Ace weren’t with them as they had school, but they promised to cheer them on. As the gang waited to arrive at Rainbow Falls until ponies came up, they were Helia and Thunderlane.

“Good luck, Rainbow Dash!” Helia said cheerfully, “Sorry we couldn't fly with you on the Aerial Relay, but the air sprinters needed us too.”

“Too bad we can only compete in one event,” sighed Thunderlane,” But rules are rules.”

“Good luck! Twilight called to them, before turning to Rainbow, “It was nice of you to be part of the team that doesn't have... uh... the strongest flyers.”

“Nothing nice about it,” Rainbow told her, “I know that I can pick up the slack for anypony. With me on the team, we'll qualify. I'm sure of it.”

Twilight just smirked at Rainbow’s confidence. “Ponyville is very lucky to have you,” she said.

“Yeah, I'm pretty awesome,” Rainbow replied, tooting her own horn a bit.

Bulk and Fluttershy sat opposite to Twilight and Rainbow, but as Bulk was so Big, Fluttershy was squished in between him and the wall of the coach. She strained and grunted until she could breath.” I am so proud to be representing Ponyville,” she said, before straining a bit more, “Oh, it's such an honour to even try out for the Games. I just hope I don't let anypony down.”

“We'll make them proud!” Bulk yelled.

“'P' is for 'proud'!” Pinkie cried, making Bulk Biceps jump out of his seat with fright, “We're gonna be the best fans anypony has ever seen!”

“Ooh. Can't wait to see what everypony else is wearing,” Rarity retorted, “even though I am absolutely sure they won't be better than the Ponyville uniforms I'm designing for the Equestria Games.”

“And we will make it to the Games once everypony carbo-loads on my apple brown Bettys,” Applejack responded.

“I can't wait!” cried Pinkie.

The train soon arrived at Rainbow Falls, and the gang disembarked from the carriage. They soon came to the try-outs grounds where numerous other Pegasi and several griffons were gathered. As Rainbow and the others walked by, a couple of ponies saw her.

“There's Rainbow Dash!” cried one named SkyWing, “She's an awesome flyer!”

“I heard that she's flying the last third of the relay,” another named Twisted Dream, “which means everypony else is gonna have to be way ahead to beat her!”

Suddenly, there was a loud boom from the sky and then the Wonderbolts came flying in.

“Oh, the Wonderbolts!” cried SkyWing.

“I hear they're flying for Cloudsdale,” said a third named Blueberry Quill.

“Then Cloudsdale will definitely qualify,” said Twisted Dream, “They're the best flyers ever.”

“And the game is on!” Said the leader Spitfire as she and her team touched down near Rainbow Dash.

“Hah, nice to see there's some real competition here!” Soarin remarked.

“Two more days of practice, then we'll see you in the air, Rainbow Dash!” Fleetfoot told her as they trotted off, “If you're lucky.”

“The Wonderbolts know a winner when they see one,” Rainbow remarked as Twilight came up to stand next to her, “and we'll be winners just as soon as we practise! Right team?”

“Right,” said Fluttershy calmly.

“YEAH!” shouted Bulk loudly.

“Hooray!” cried Pinkie as she threw confetti and blew a party hooter.

“And, um, I'm with her! Hooray!” called Twilight.

Suddenly they heard a couple of cheerleaders for Cloudsdale cheering the Wonderbolts. “Give us some clouds! Give us some dale! And what do you get? Cloudsdale! Woo-hoo!” they cried.

“Where can I get pom poms like those?!” gasped Pinkie.

“So, do I need to remind you of what our goal is here?” Rainbow asked her team.

“Uh, maybe?” Bulk replied.

“We want to qualify! We need to be one of the first four teams to cross the finish line!” Rainbow told them, “Bulk Biceps, you're the first flyer, so let me see you flap it!”

Bulk managed to hover off the ground but as he flew, an apple Brown Betty came flying up and smacked him in the face, causing him to fall to the ground.

“What the?” Rainbow questioned as Applejack threw another up.

“Sorry!” called Applejack, “Got the idea from them, but...”

She looked over to where two ponies, Rainbowshine and Sprinkle Medley, had a cake each on a platform. “Hooves down! Cakes up!” they said as they pushed down on one side, and the cakes flew into the air as Spitfire and Fleetfoot flew by and caught them.

“...It looks like they got a better aim.” Applejack sighed.

“Okay, the passing of the baton needs to be seamless,” Rainbow said, “You shouldn't miss a wing beat or drop a hair in altitude! And whatever you do, don't let go of it!” As she gives it to Bulk.

“Are you really, really, really sure you're ready?” Fluttershy asked Bulk, “I mean, I don't want to take it if you're not super sure.”

“Ready!” cried Bulk Biceps, as he gently handed it to Fluttershy. She was happy to have got it, but then accidently dropped it.

It landed in the ground where Rarity found it, “Ponyville could do so much better,” she said, “I'll be back with a freshly painted one in no time!”

“We were using that!” cried Rainbow, “And it's not like anypony else has colour-coordinated horseshoes or anything!”

But then she saw Spitfire hand a Cloudsdale baton to Fleetfoot as they flew off.

“I guess some ponies do,” sighed Rainbow.

“Some ponies do what?” Twilight asked.

“Have a better chance of qualifying and going to the Equestria Games than others,” Rainbow replied.

To help raise the team's spirits, Rainbow took Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps to watch some of the other competitors.

“Watch and learn. The Cloudsdale are Wonderbolts, and Wonderbolts are the best flyers there are. And my personal heroes. So, maybe you can learn something,” Rainbow told them, as Soarin flew over, “Please learn something?”

“C'mon, Soarin, pick up the pace!” called Fleetfoot, “You can do better than that!”

“I sure hope so,” scoffed Spitfire.

“Practice, practice, yay, practice!” cried their cheerleaders, Soarin smiled and looked down on them, but he wasn’t concentrating, and he hit the top of a hoop, and then started to fall to the ground.

He screamed as he fell only for Rainbow to catch him just before he could hit the ground.

“Gotcha!” Rainbow cried, she set Soarin down gently and looked at his injury. He had damaged his wing upon hitting the hoop, the Wonderbolts and Ponyville team cheered for Rainbow.

“Awe-some!” commented Fleetfoot.

“As good as any Wonderbolt!” Spitfire remarked.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash, I'm just so proud of you. You scooped Soarin out of the sky and brought him down to the ground and now, now he's okay. At least, I hope he's okay,” said Fluttershy, then she turned to Soarin, “Are you okay?”

“Uh, my wing hurts,” Spitfire and Fleetfoot just gasped and stared at Soarin, “but I-I'm sure it'll be okay by the competition.” Just as he said that, sirens wailed, and a medic pony came running up pulling a wagon, Soarin climbed on.

“You're the best, Rainbow Dash,” he groaned.

“Ah, it was nothin',” Rainbow said, “But, if you feel like talking about how great I am, don't let me stop you!” Sirens wailed and took Soarin away.

“'P' is for Rainbow Dash!” yelled Bulk Biceps.

“Um, 'Rainbow Dash' actually starts with an 'R',” whispered Fluttershy.

“Never mind!” he shouted.

“Tough break to lose a teammate right before the try-outs,” Rainbow said to Fleetfoot and Spitfire. The two Wonderbolts looked at each other and smiled, they had an idea.

“You know, you grew up in Cloudsdale,” Fleetfoot said as they put on their shades.

“So that means you could fly with us,” Spitfire suggested.

“Fly?” Rainbow asked.

“Uh, we mean practice,” Fleetfoot rephrased, “You could practise with us until Soarin's better.”

“What do you say?” asked Spitfire, “Wanna be our third?”

“Uh, I don't know,” Rainbow replied unsure, “My team really needs me to be at my best in order to qualify.” She looked back at her team to see Bulk flexing his pecs, making Fluttershy laugh, “Don't wanna be too worn out by the time the race comes around.”

“We put you through some pretty intense workouts at the Wonderbolt Academy and you handled those just fine,” Spitfire said.

“Heh, I did kick some major tails at the Academy...” Rainbow remarked, “but I don't know how my teammates will feel about me practising with the competition.”

“Who says they need to know?” Fleetfoot commented, “Think about it, Rainbow Dash! This is your chance to fly with the winners!”

Rainbow looked back at her team, Bulk was still flexing while Fluttershy had a butterfly land on her hoof.

“Alright, I'll do it,” Rainbow said.

“Wise decision, Rainbow Dash,” Spitfire chuckled.

Throughout the day, Rainbow practices with both her Ponyville team and the Wonderbolts. She first flew through some waving hoops and passed the Wonderbolt baton to Fleetfoot.

“Awesome!” she remarked.

“Whinny, ponies, whinny! Fly on, fly on, fly on!” cried the cheerleader ponies.

But this didn’t go unnoticed by Twilight.

Rainbow was now coaching Bulk Biceps.

“Come on, Bulk Biceps, you can do it!” she declared. Bulk started to slowly roll as he came to a hoop, but he was too big, and he got stuck.

“Um... I'm ready to take the horseshoe, if you want me to,” Fluttershy said. Bulk handed Fluttershy the horseshoe, but just as he did, he stopped pushing against the hoop and it pinged back, throwing Bulk and Fluttershy away and crashing into rock. Bulk had landed on Fluttershy, making her squished into his back, this caused Rainbow to groan.

With the Wonderbolts, she did wing-ups with a pony on her back using her wings. With the Ponyville team, Fluttershy couldn’t stand on her wings, and Bulk, well, he couldn’t because his wings were tiny.

“You, uh, keep doing your wing-ups. I'm just gonna get some, uh, water,” Rainbow said, as she flew off. As she did, Twilight noticed her and was getting suspicious.

With the Wonderbolts, she was eating from a bag around her neck in the sky. With the Ponyville team, they were eating Applejack’s Apple Brown Bettys. Fluttershy was eating one, while Bulk scoffed nearly all in his mouth and swallowed them all. He offered the last one to Rainbow, but she motioned that she was full. Shrugging, Bulk then began to flex and bounce the Betty from one bicep to the other, making Applejack and Fluttershy laugh. While they were distracted, Rainbow snuck off.

With the Wonderbolts, Rainbow had her goggles cleaned, hooves polished, tail blown and fitted for a training outfit. With the Ponyville team, Rarity was dressing Fluttershy and Bulk up in dresses, Rainbow just watched with a sheepish grin on her face. Once finish training with the Wonderbolts again, Rainbow went behind a tree and quickly changed out her training gear and went to a steam for a drink of water. She was too busy drinking, and didn't notice Twilight coming up beside her.

“It's not easy practising with two teams, is it?” she said dryly.

Rainbow did a spit take as she got in Twilight’s face. “You... know? Does anypony else?” she asked.

“No. They're too busy practising to wonder why you keep disappearing,” Twilight replied.

“Well, I've seen the other teams practising and we're still gonna qualify,” Rainbow told her, “I can fly fast enough to make up the distance.”

“It just seems like one of the teams you're practising with needs a little more help than the other one,” Twilight remarked.

“But it's so much more fun working out with the winners than... um... the non-winners,” Rainbow responded, “Besides, Ponyville will still qualify.”

“Rainbow Dash, you got a minute?” Spitfire asked as she and Fleetfoot came over.

“Uh, sure,” Rainbow replied.

“You could really be an asset to our team,” Fleetfoot said, “so... we want you to join the Cloudsdale team. Permanently.” Rainbow Gasped at this.

“It looks like Soarin's wing won't heal in time for the trials,” Spitfire said, “We want you to fly with us.”

“Of course, this means you won't be able to fly for Ponyville, but let's face it,” Fleetfoot responded, “Even with you on their team, their chances of qualifying for the Games—”

They looked over to see Fluttershy trying to hand Bulk the horseshoe, but they kept missing, until Fluttershy shoved the horseshoe into the side of Bulk’s face. “OW!” he yelled out, tears formed in his eyes, and he trotted off, Fluttershy flew after him.

“—are pretty slim,” finished Fleetfoot.

“So, what's it gonna be?” Spitfire asked.

“Well, I...”Rainbow said, she didn’t know what to say.

“Take some time to think about it,” Spitfire said as she and Fleetfoot flew off.

“They want me to fly with them!” Rainbow cried, “It's like a dream come true!”

“If you fly for Cloudsdale, Pinkie Pie won't have anypony to cheer for. Rarity's uniforms will never be seen. And Applejack will have slaved over those apple brown Bettys for nothing,” Twilight told her.

“Oh, but I really wanna fly with the best team!” Rainbow cried, “What would you do?”

“I think this is a decision you have to make on your own,” Twilight told her as she started to walk away, “The race is tomorrow, so you'd better make it soon.”

Later that day, the teams were training hard, the Wonderbolts were racing, while the Ponyville team were weight lifting, or in Fluttershy’s case, she was weight lifting a dumbbell made of flowers. They were doing great when they all heard Rainbow crying out.

“Woe is me! Oooh!” she wailed, as she rolled up in a wheelchair, covered in bandages. Concerned chatter muttered around the crowd.

“What's happened?” Fluttershy asked.

“Urgh, I've hurt my hoof...” Rainbow replied, Pinkie and Rarity gasped, but Twilight was suspicious of Rainbow.

“All of them?” questioned Spitfire.

“I, uh, a monster appeared called a…” she mumbled something softly, “Sam and Ace came to deal with it, but I got caught in the crosshairs...”

“If I get my hooves on that monster, it'll be in big trouble!” Pinkie exploded.

“There is no way I can fly now!” moaned Rainbow.

“Do you think you'll be better by try-outs?” Fluttershy asked.

“I'll be lucky if I ever fly again!” Rainbow sighed, Twilight just rolled her eyes, she knew Rainbow was only acting, “I just need a little rest.”

“Oh, don't worry, Rainbow Dash. We'll take care of you...” Fluttershy said, but then remembered that she needed to train, “or, at least, somepony will. Like, a medic like Red Alert or-or a doctor like Ratchet, or a nurse like Minerva.” As she rolled Rainbow away.

Rainbow Dash is brought to a hospital bed, while continuing to fake being hurt.

“So, the Red Alert isn't sure what's wrong with you,” Twilight told Rainbow.

“Everything!” cried Rainbow, “Absolutely everything!”

“This'll cure everythin' that ails ya!” Applejack said, as she pulled out an apple brown betty and shoved it into Rainbow’s mouth.

“Thank you,” Rainbow said, her mouth full of the cake, “I couldn't have done that on my own.” Twilight just sighed.

“Nothing says 'get better' like a little medical pizazz!” Rarity said, as she levitated a piece of fabric out her bag, “Silk slings and a glitter bandage?”

“That might help,” Rainbow said as Rarity tied the fabric into a bow on Rainbow’s arm. Just then the door opened to reveal Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps.

“And how is our patient doing?” Fluttershy asked, Bulk got stuck in the door, he forced himself in and thudded on the floor.

“I've been better,” Rainbow said.

“We just wanted to let you know that we're so sorry you're hurt, but you shouldn't worry a bit about not being able to be in the try-outs. We'll be alright. We even have a replacement,” Fluttershy explained, she looked to the door and Derpy appeared waving a flag, “We're so, so sorry that you can't compete. We all know how much you love to fly. And we promise—”

“Cross our hearts!” Bulk interrupted.

“...That if we qualify and make it to the Equestria Games and all win gold medals, you can have ours, because we know how much a gold medal means to you,” Fluttershy finished.

“Thanks...” Rainbow replied, her heart was touched by that. Her friends were willing to give her their medals if they won.

“I think Rainbow Dash might need to rest some more,” Twilight cleared her throat, the ponies started to leave the room, but Twilight came closer to Rainbow to say something. “You know, choosing not to choose isn't really a decision.” And she too left Rainbow be. Rainbow wasn’t alone in the room though, as Soarin was just behind a curtain.

“You sure have nice friends,” he told Rainbow, “Nopony's been by to visit me. Eh, too busy practising, I guess.”

“Well, hopefully your wing will be better soon,” Rainbow responded.

“Oh, it's fine,” Soarin replied, “I-I'm just keeping it warm in case my team wants me back.”

“What do you mean, 'wants you back'?” Rainbow asked, “Spitfire and Fleetfoot told me that you were still too injured to fly!”

“And they told me that they were worried I wouldn't be one hundred percent by the try-outs, so they were going with somepony else!” Soarin remarked.

“That somepony else was me!” Rainbow retorted, “Until, uh, well, until I got hurt, that is.”

“So, I guess we're all out of luck,” Soarin sighed, “Cloudsdale won't qualify without three fliers, and Ponyville won't qualify without you. Too bad...”

As Rainbow looked down in shame, sunlight entered the room, Rainbow watched as it reflected off a jug of water and covered the dropped flag that Derpy had in colours, Rainbow Dash's eyes then shimmer with a rainbow-coloured aura as she smiled and got up out of the bed.

Meanwhile back at the training grounds, Team Ponyville were feeling defeated.

“Even with Rainbow Dash's replacement, I don't think we're gonna qualify,” Twilight said, “No offence.” Derpy just shrugged.

“Gah! What am I gonna do with all these now?!” Pinkie exclaimed, pointing to a large pile of pompoms.

“Uh, what were you gonna do with them before?” Applejack questioned.

“Maybe my Equestria Games uniforms will still be in style next year,” Rarity sighed, “I mean, I am pretty fashion-forward.”

While the ponies sulked, Twilight looked up at the sound of hoofbeats and saw Rainbow Dash.

“Is that Rainbow Dash... walking?” she questioned. It was, and she didn’t look happy, as Soarin came walking up behind her, looking the same as Rainbow. Spitfire and Fleetfoot were shocked to see Rainbow up and about.

“Does... this mean you're feeling better?” Fleetfoot asked.

“I-I feel great, because... I was never hurt in the first place,” Rainbow replied as she took off her bandages. Spitfire, Fleetfoot, Fluttershy, Derpy and Bulk all gasped. “I faked my injury so that I wouldn't have to choose between flying for Ponyville or Cloudsdale. I wanted to fly with you both, and the decision was too hard!” Rainbow explained.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash, you don't have to choose us,” Fluttershy said, “I know you love to win, and you should go with the team that surely will.”

“I know now who I should've been loyal to,” Rainbow announced.

“Good choice,” Spitfire commented, thinking Rainbow was staying with them, “Always stick with the winners.”

“Ponyville,” Rainbow responded, Fleetfoot and Spitfire confused, “Because it's not just where I live, but it's where my friends are. The ponies who really care about me, whether I can help them win a race or not.” The rest of the mane six and Derpy for their friend.

“Are you sure that's the right decision?” Spitfire asked.

“You lied to me about Soarin's wing just so you could get a better flyer!” Rainbow told them off, Soarin crossed his arms, and scoffed at them, “You may be a winning team, but you're still not the kind of team I wanna be a part of.”

“Huh. Rainbow Dash, you are something,” Spitfire remarked, “Saw it at the Academy, seeing it again here. We could learn a lot from a competitor like you.”

“Think we already have,” Fleetfoot stated.

“Ready to fly?” Spitfire asked Soarin.

“Really?” he asked back.

“Never should've lied and tried to replace you to begin with,” Spitfire replied.

“Go, Cloudsdale!” Soarin cheered as he, Fleetfoot and Spitfire flew off.

“Come on, Ponyville relay team!” Rainbow declared, “We've got a race to get ready for!”

“YEAH!” cried Bulk Biceps.

The Try-outs had started, and the Wonderbolts had just finished in an impressive 30 seconds.

“Come on, Ponyville! You can do it!” cried Soarin.

Bulk managed to slim himself enough to get through the hoops, as he hands the horseshoe the Fluttershy. She almost dropped it but didn’t and flew off, as Bulk wheezed and fell to the ground.

“Go, Fluttershy! Woo-hoo!” cheered Twilight in her own cheerleader outfit.

Fluttershy flew as fast as she could through hoops and handed the horseshoe to Rainbow. Once she gave Rainbow the horseshoe, Rainbow dashed off.

“Qualify, Ponyville! Qualify, Ponyville!” hailed the Cloudsdale Cheerleaders.

“Woo-hoo! Go, Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie joined in.

Rainbow soared through rainbow hoops, as the timer ticked down. Everyone was nervous, Applejack was so nervous, she ate one of her Bettys to calm down. Rainbow flew higher and faster, and dashed over the finish line, just a few milliseconds before she was out.

“Ponyville qualifies!” declared the Official.

All the ponies cheered, as Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps hugged Rainbow happily, even the Wonderbolts cheered. Later, the Official was handing out medals to the teams that had qualified. As he came to Rainbow’s team, and gave them their medals, Spitfire came up and tapped Rainbow in the shoulder. She looked to see Spitfire take off her Wonderbolt pin and gave it to Rainbow. Rainbow smiled at them as the Wonderbolts flew off.

“YEAH!” cried Bulk Biceps.

A series of yeahs and woo-hoos washed over the crowd of ponies including the mane six. Twilight came up to Rainbow and wrapped a hoof around her neck, as the Official readied his camera.

“Equestria Games, here we come!” Twilight declared as the Photo was taken.

When the gang got back to the Golden Oak Library, Rainbow Dash was writing her latest lesson in the Mane Six's journal.

‘Oh, I can't deny it. I love to win! But if I ever gotta choose between winning and being loyal to my friends, I'm always gonna choose my friends. Cause as much as I love winning, I love them way more.’

Rainbow then hangs her medal and Wonderbolt pin on the journal's lectern before joining her friends outside. She wanted to know what Sam had been up to that day and meet the new face that had joined their family. As she leaves, the Wonderbolt pin briefly shines with a multi-coloured light the same way with Rarity’s spool of thread shone. As to who this new face was, well that’s something for me to know and you to find out.

Chapter 25: The Ultrawoman Raises (Edited)

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Ever since Ace and Sam formed an alliance, monster fights have been much easier to deal with. Just that morning on the way to school, the two of them were engaged in a fight with a monster called Sadora. Ace rose up as Tiga first as he was closer to the monster.

Sadora started to generate a thick mist around itself, making Tiga unable to see the monster. Suddenly Sadora shot one of its pincers out and Smack Tiga in the shoulder, causing him to go fighting to the ground. As Tiga stood back up, Sadora ran forward ready to attack, Tiga tried to dodge, but the monster back-slapped Tiga in the face. After a slap to the back with its pincer, Sadora clapped it around Tiga’s neck. Tiga struggled to get free, as Sam finally showed up and transformed into Ultraman.

Once Ultraman rose up, he pulled Sadora away from Tiga and threw it to the ground head first. Ultraman looked at Tiga.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

“Yes, but please finish the monster off for me,” Tiga requested.

Ultraman nodded as he ran forward, knocked away Sodora’s pincer and elbowed Sadora in the chest. Sadora kept trying to hit Ultraman with its pincer, but Ultraman kept blocking it as he pulled it away, and smacked Sadora around the face. Sadora tried to swing its pincers down on Ultraman, but Ultra dodged it in time.

Sadora then tried to swing its tail at Ultraman and finally whipped him on the chest. Ultraman felt that and recoiled in pain. Sadora now had an opening, it extended its pincer and smacked Ultraman in the chest, making the Ultra fall back. Sadora was now proud that it knocked the Ultra to the ground, but it didn’t expect Ultraman to stand up and perform a special move. Calling out, ‘Ultraman Jack, Ultra Cutter’, Ultraman raised his left arm and pointed it forward, then crossed his right arm over his left and fired a beam from his out-stretched arm. The beam struck Sadora in the chest as the monster exploded after falling to the ground.

Ultraman and Tiga returned to Sam and Ace, Sam ran over to Ace and helped him up. Then the two realised what time it was.

“Oh crap!” Sam exclaimed, “we’re going to be late for school!”

“Come on then, hurry!” cried Ace as the two ran to the schoolhouse.

The two of them arrived just in time, completely out of breath, so much out of breath, their colour timers were flashing.

“We… made… it,” wheezed Sam.

“Cutting it close, aren’t we boys?” said Cheerilee, with a stern expression.

“Sorry, Miss Cheerilee,” Ace replied, “we had to fight a monster that had appeared on the outside of town.”

“Well, as we all know you two are Ultras, then I guess it’s excusable to be late,” Cheerilee remarked, “just try and not let this be a recurring thing.”

“Yes Miss Cheerilee,” the two replied.

“Ok now go on take your seats,” Cheerilee said as she let Sam and Ace in. Not long after Ace had moved into Ponyville, he was signed up to Cheerilee’s school to learn alongside Sam. No sooner did he join, some of the girls in the class started to act strange around him, like they were in love with him. Sam and Ace took their seats and waited for class to begin.

“Good morning class,” Cheerilee greeted them.

“Good morning Miss Cheerilee,” replied the class.

“Today we’ve got a special guest joining us this morning to show us his new project he’s worked on,” Cheerilee told them, “Let me introduce you all to Doctor Whooves.”

Just as she said his name, a brown earth stallion, with a darker brown mane and tail, with an hourglass for a cutie mark and a green tie walked in.

“Thank you Miss Cheerilee,” he said cheerfully, “Good morning everyone, today, I’m going to show you the amazing world of science and technology.”

“Ooh,” went the class.

“This can only end badly,” Sam remarked to himself.

“I have brought with me a device that can show you what you look like in an alternate universe,” Doctor Whooves said as he pulled out what looked like a smaller version of the mirror portal to Canterlot High, “With the help of Princess Twilight and Sunset Shimmer, I was able to use some of the magic for the portal and create my own little magic mirror. Who wants to look at themselves from another universe?”

“I wanna!” Apple Bloom shouted, raising her hoof.

“Come on up little filly,” Doctor Whooves said as Apple Bloom got up and went to the front.

She looked into the mirror, at first it was just her normal reflection, but the mirror had to warp and shift until it showed Apple Bloom, looking older, with black mascara, and black mane with a poison green streak running through it.

“Holy moly,” Apple Bloom remarked, she was impressed.

“This is just a reflection of yourself for that universe so it’s not like that version it is looking into the same mirror to see you,” Doctor Whooves said, “who’s next?”

“Me!” cried Diamond Tiara as she got up. Apple Bloom moved out the way for Diamond to have a go. When Diamond looked at her reflection the mirror changed to show her and a farmer like Apple Bloom, “Oh my, I look like you a little Apple Bloom.”

“Yeah you do,” Apple Bloom said, as she looked back in the mirror to see that she was smartly dressed in a gown, “and I look a little like you.” The two of them laughed.

“Who’s next?” Doctor Whooves asked, “Come on, don't be shy.”

“I’ll go,” Sam said as he stood up.

Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara made room for Sam to look at himself in the mirror. As he looked, the mirror warped and shifted until Sam was looking at himself as a girl.

“Oh damn,” he remarked, “I look rather pretty. It looks so real.” He reached out to touch the mirror, but as he placed a figure on the surface, something went wrong. The mirror started to malfunction, and Sam’s hand was sucked in the mirror. “Help!” he cried, “I can’t get my hand out!”

Quickly thinking, Ace ran up and grabbed the mirror and pulled. But he wasn’t strong enough. With Cheerilee, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo grabbing a hold of Sam, and Doctor Whooves, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon grabbing a hold of Ace, they all pulled as hard as they could, without ripping Sam’s hand off. The Mirror started to glitch out and Sam swore he could feel something grab his hand. Finally, with one big pull Sam was free just as the device short circuited and exploded in a blinding flash.

The other students had taken cover under their desk when the explosion happened, as they looked up all they saw was smoke. As the smoke cleared, Cheerilee got up and looked around.

“Is everyone ok?” she asked.

“Yes,” replied the class.

“I think so,” replied Sam, feeling his wrist. But something didn’t seem right, he felt someone on his leg, but as he looked around, everyone was in front of him. He slowly turned his head, and he jumped in fright. There, on his leg, was himself as a girl from his reflection in the mirror.

Girl Sam started to slowly walk up and turned her head to look at Sam. Both jumped back shocked to see each other.

“Who are you?” Sam asked.

“I’m Sam,” replied Girl Sam.

“But I’m Sam,” Sam retorted.

“What? Are you an imposter?” Girl Sam said getting into a fighting pose.

“This isn’t Among Us,” Sam stated.

“Look, I don’t know who you really are, but I am the real Sam,” Girl Sam declared, “and to prove it…” she then donned her Ultrasuit, it was basically the original Ultraman suit but had a feminine build, “I am Ultrawoman.”

“I am the real Sam,” Sam announced as he donned his Ultrasuit, “I am Ultraman.”

“Lair!” Ultrawoman shouted and fired a Specium beam at him, causing him to crash through a wall and out of the Schoolhouse.

“Huh, so that’s what it must feel like to be hit by my Specium beam,” Ultraman remarked as Ultrawoman walked out the hole in the wall, “The real Sam wouldn’t put the lives of kids in harm’s way!”

“Then I best get rid of him,” Ultrawoman remarked, bearing Specium Blades on her arms.

“I don’t want to fight you,” Ultraman stated.

“Too bad!” shouted Ultrawoman as she ran forward with blades ready. But just before she could slice Ultraman, Tiga jumped out and blocked it for him.

“What?!” Ultrawoman exclaimed.

“If you want to get to him you’re going to have to go through me,” Tiga said.

“Gladly,” Ultrawoman replied as she and Ace began to fight. Ace was being smart and made her fellow him to the field so no one could get hurt. Ultraman watched them fight as he returned to Sam to conserve energy.

“Do I really act like that?” he asked himself.

Because Tiga hadn’t fully recovered from his fight with Sadora, though it was more Sadora beating up Tiga than the two fighting, he was quickly drained of energy fighting Ultrawoman. As he fell back to the ground, Ultrawoman stamped on his arm, and as Tiga tried to get up, Ultrawoman stamped on his chest. Tiga struggled to move and just laid still, his colour timer blinking fast. Behind Ultrawoman’s mask, Girl Sam just grinned. Soon Ultraman arrived, he saw Tiga laying on the ground feeling very weak.

“Tiga!” Ultraman cried, ran over to him and kneeled down next to him, “Are you ok?”

“I’ve been worse,” Tiga replied weakly.

“You best change back to yourself to conserve energy,” Ultraman told him.

“Good idea,” Tiga said as his Ultrasuit retracted, and he reverted back to Ace. Ace then limped off to get to safety.

“Now, you’re mine,” Ultrawoman said.

“When did I sound so evil?” Ultraman remarked. Ultrawoman then punched him in the chest and flipped him over her shoulder, “Ow, hey I’m not ready.”

“Well too bad,” Ultrawoman replied as she went in for a roundhouse kick. But Ultraman dodged it in time and stood up to battle.

The two Ultras traded punches, kicks, chops and headbutts with each other, seemingly evenly matched. Both smacked each other in the face, then Ultrawoman grabbed Ultraman around the waist while Ultraman chopped her back. Ultrawoman then pushed Ultraman into a pile of steel pipes, then pulled him up and kicked him in the chest. Ultraman squirmed on the dirty ground as Ultrawoman chuckled to herself as she continuously kicked Ultraman in the sides. She then kept stomping on Ultraman’s chest, causing the male Ultra to grunt in pain as his colour timer started to blink.

Ultrawoman then forced Ultraman up on his feet, beat him on his head, then did a wrestling move and flipped him back onto the ground. Ultrawoman continued to get Ultraman up and then forced him back down. She stopped to take a breather as Ultraman groaned and squirmed on the ground. Ultrawoman then saw a pole sticking out the ground, she pulled it out, as Ultraman tried to get up, she kicked him down and then started to beat him with the pole. Ultraman started to feel really weak, as he tried to claw away. But Ultrawoman stamped on his leg to keep him from moving.

Ultraman tried to claw away again, but Ultrawoman was ready with the pole. But just as she swung the pole down, Ultraman rolled to the left and dodged it. Ultrawoman then tried to swing the pole down on Ultraman again, but the male Ultra rolled to his right and dodged it again.

“Hold still!” cried Ultrawoman in fury as she swung down the pole. Quickly thinking, Ultraman pulled out another pole next to him and blocked Ultrawoman.

Ultrawoman started to whack her pole down, but Ultraman blocked it with his own, then using his legs kicked the female Ultra back. With Ultrawoman down, Ultraman pulled out another pole as Ultrawoman got up and the two started to duel with them. Using one of his poles, Ultraman smacked Ultrawoman so hard that she dropped her pole and went falling to the ground. Ultrawoman panicked and clawed back from Ultraman, who threw his poles to the ground.

“Now I shall show you why I’m the real Sam!” he declared, and he pulled a fighting pose.

The two ultras started to grapple with each other, then Ultrawoman punched Ultraman in the chest and face, but the male Ultra swung his arm back and punched her hard enough to send her flying back. Ultraman then pulled her up then kicked her in the stomach and threw her to the ground again. Ultraman picked Ultrawoman up and smacked her in the stomach and back twice before shoving her back to the ground. Ultrawoman struggled to get back up as her colour timer started to blink fast. Once she stood up, she made one final attempt to attack but Ultraman activated his Specium Blades and sliced at Ultrawoman’s chest, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground, defeated.

She lay on the ground breathing heavily, as Ultraman collapsed to the ground exhausted from the fight. Both Ultras retracted their suit and were Sam and Girl Sam again.

“Ok… I believe you,” breathed Girl Sam, “You the real Sam.”

Sam stumbled to Girl Sam and held out a hand, “Want a hand up?” Sam asked.

“Thank you,” Girl Sam replied.

“You know, I don’t think you or I are imposters,” Sam said, “I think we are our own beings.”

“Yeah, I guess we are,” Girl Sam responded, “I’m sorry for attacking you, I guess I just came to conclusions too quickly.”

“Now that isn’t like me at all,” Sam said, “I just hoped that whatever happened I didn’t take you from your own dimension or something.”

“My own Dimension?” Girl Sam questioned.

“Wait, do you remember anything before you appeared here?” Sam asked.

“All I can remember is that I’m Sam, bonded to an Ultrasuit, my mother passed away, my father got turned into a donkey, my brothers and sister moved out a while ago and I have to protect this world,” Girl Sam replied, “among some other personal things that I’m sure you already know.”

“Ah, so basically all the stuff I’ve been through, just gender-swapped,” Sam thought aloud, “maybe that accident back at the Schoolhouse somehow caused you to be created, meaning that you’re a clone of the real female me from that universe. And if we play by the rule that the same adverts happen in other universes, then in that one, a male version of you was created in that universe.”

It's possible,” Girl Sam remarked, “oh and sorry for destroying the schoolhouse.”

“That’s fine,” Sam responded, “but I think we’re going to have to do something about you.”

“What do you mean?” Girl Sam asked.

“Well we can’t have two Sams running around,” Sam replied, “you’re going to have to look different.”

“I guess you’re right,” Girl Sam said, “but who’s going to change me.”

“Don’t worry I know just the mare,” Sam said as he took Girl Sam’s hand and walked to town.

Sam led Girl Sam into town, a few ponies waved at Sam to which he waved back. Some Ponies looked at Girl Sam and just stared and thought, ‘there’s another human like Sam’, and ‘she looks a lot like Sam.’ Soon the two reached a cart not too far from Twilight’s house, Sam knocked on the door, and not long after, Trixie opened the door.

“Oh hello Sam,” Trixie greeted him, “Why aren’t you at school?”

“It’s a long story,” Sam replied, “but to make it short, this girl was created in an accident, and she needs a new identity because she looks like me.”

“Oh,” Trixie responded, “well I’m not as good at magic as Twilight, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you,” Sam said.

“Now stand aside, the blast radius is quite big,” Trixie told him, so Sam stood away from Girl Sam as Trixie charged her horn and fired a blast of magic at Girl Sam.

Girl Sam was engulfed by a bright pink puff of smoke, as the smoke cleared, it slowly revealed what Girl Sam now looked like, instead of red and blue clothes like Sam, she had pink and light blue clothes, with a pink streak in her now blonde hair, even her eyes were pink.

“Wow,” Sam remarked, “great work Trixie.”

“Thank you,” Trixie said.

“Now we just need to give you a new name,” said Sam.

“What’s wrong with Samantha?” asked Girl Sam.

“You’re still called Sam,” Sam replied.

“Ok, hmm,” Girl Sam thought.

“How about Gwen?” Sam suggested.

“Gwen,” Girl Sam repeated, “hmm, I like it.”

“Then Gwen it is,” Sam said as he gave her a hug, “and as you’re in a way related to me, we’re brother and sister. We’re twins.”

“Yeah, I guess we are,” Gwen replied, hugging back.

“Wait, you’re Ultrasuit’s going to had to change as well,” Sam said.

“No need,” Trixie said, “my magic should have affected it and changed it too.

“Then let’s see,” Sam said as Gwen dawned her Ultrasuit. Trixie was right. She had changed it too. It didn’t look like just a female Ultraman, it had pigtails, a skirt, and a completely different pattern.

“Ooh, I like this,” Gwen remarked, “I think I’ll call this the Mary Suit.”

“Great name for a new look,” Sam stated as Mary became Gwen again.

“Come on Gwen,” Sam said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, “let me show you your new home and family.”

“Ok,” Gwen replied happily.

“And then you can repair the Schoolhouse,” Sam said blankly.

“Ah, I was guessing I’ll do that,” Gwen remarked.

Just then Ace came up, he was still feeling really tired and beat up, his colour timer was still blinking.

“Oh you poor thing,” Gwen said giving Ace a hug, “I’m so sorry for hurting you.”

“What the?” Ace remarked.

“This is Girl Sam, or now she’s Gwen,” Sam remarked.

“Oh,” Ace replied, “Ow.”

“Oh no,” Gwen said, “let me heal you.” She donned her Ultrasuit again, then crossing her arms, channelled some energy from the red bands on her arms and released soothing energy that healed Ace’s brushes and his colour timer stopped flashing as his strength returned.

“Wow,” retorted Ace, “I feel better than ever, thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Gwen politely replied.

“Since when did you get so kind,” Sam asked.

“Trixie must have given me a new personality too,” Gwen replied.

“Makes sense,” Sam said.

“Say, do you want to join our alliance?” Ace asked.

“Your alliance?” Gwen questioned.

“United we stand, together we fall, you help me, and I help you,” Sam and Ace said at once.

“Sure, sounds like fun,” Gwen smiled as the three high fived.

Gwen is now happy to be living with Sam in the Golden Oaks Library with Sunset and Twilight. When Twilight and everyone came back from their trip to the Equestria Games Try-outs, they were surprised and relieved that Sam was alright, and welcomed Gwen into their family with open hooves. Gwen was just happy to have a family now. and she’ll be the best twin sister Sam will ever have.

Chapter 26: Pinkie Pride (Edited)

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One evening, just outside of Appleloosa, where Applejack’s cousin Braeburn lived, the townsponies, and their neighbouring tribes the Buffalo were having a huge party. A short distance away from the town, stood a stallion in a cowboy hat and poncho converses. He also had a rubber chicken on his back.

“Well, Boneless, looks like our work here is done,” the stallion said, which is what he calls his rubber chicken. Boneless just flobbed back as the stallion turned to walk away, “Yep, those ponies never partied so hard. Thanks to me: Cheese. Cheese Sandwich.”

Suddenly a joint of energy rushed through Cheese’s body, causing his hat to fall off and him to jump in the air.

“Woo-hoo-hoo! That was a doozy!” he remarked as he floated back down and picked up his hat, “Well, Boneless. Looks like our next party is gonna be in... Ponyville.”

In Ponyville, a party was being planned and prepared by Pinkie, as she walked through the streets, leaving a trail of balloons and confetti as she trotted along, singing a little tune.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYxEsrva-tU&list=PLfJpfTZK5SWAYkDYaPN3rW7q3RjZzlzl0&index=68

(Quick author's note here, due to there being so many songs in this epsiode, I aren't going to do all the songs except the Goof Off and Cheese Confesses, but I'll will link the video for them in.)

“Ooh, I am so, so, SO excited because today I'm planning the birthday bash of... Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie yelled.

“Yeah!” Rainbow cried.

“Though it’s a little shame that Sam, Gwen, and Ace couldn’t be here for it,” Sunset remarked.

“There were reports of a monster heading to Manehattan, so they had to go and protect the city,” Twilight told her, “and Trixie went to look after them.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie said to her while grabbing her hooves.

“Yes Pinkie?” replied Rainbow.

“You realise that, by enlisting me as your party planner, I guarantee that this is going to be the funnest, most fantabulous, superbial party in Ponyville?” Pinkie stated, as she seemed to force Rainbow to the ground with just a stare.

“Uh...yeah? I guess,” Rainbow replied on the ground before Pinkie covered her mouth with her hoof.

“No guesses!” Pinkie declared, “Parties are no picnic.”

“Oh, I like a nice picnic party,” Fluttershy remarked before getting a growl from Pinkie, “Oh.”

“Okay,” Rainbow smiled nervously.

“Great! Now, who's ready to join this super-duper party pony to plan this super-duper pa-rty?” Pinkie asked.

“I am,” came a voice no one recognised, it was Cheese Sandwich. Everyone gasped as he blew a party horn.

“How long has he been there?” Scott asked.

“Who are you, stranger?” Pinkie asked.

“Name's Cheese Sandwich,” he replied, “I plan parties.”

“What an amazing coincidence!” Pinkie said, “I'm Pinkie Pie, and I'm planning a party!”

“Oh, it's no coincidence, my little pony,” Cheese told her, “My cheesy sense was a-tingling, telling me a party was in the works.”

“A cheesy sense? Ah! Double amazing!” Pinkie stated, “I have a Pinkie Sense!”

“Yes. I sensed you did. And I happen to be the premiere party planner in all of Equestria,” Cheese told her, “If there's a party in need, there I'll be. Be it wingding, hoedown, hootenanny, or shindig, I'm your pony.”

“A pair of party pony planners in Ponyville?!” Pinkie rhymed, “What can be more perfect?!”

“I'll tell you what -- making this party epic!” Rainbow exclaimed, “'Cause this isn't just any birthday. It's also the anniversary of when I moved to Ponyville!”

“What a strange Birthday gift,” Jake said.

“Good heavens, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity remarked, “It's your ‘birth-iversary’!”

“Exactly! So what do you say, party planners?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh, I think we can do it!” Pinkie said.

“Oh, I don't think so,” stated Cheese, Pinkie and Rainbow gasping at this, “I know so! After all...”

And Cheese Sandwich burst into song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxdPBgq_FeE&list=PLfJpfTZK5SWAYkDYaPN3rW7q3RjZzlzl0&index=70

“Yeah! Hah, now that's what I'm talking about!” Rainbow cried as she flew to Cheese Sandwich who was still being carried by the ground, “I'm so stoked you're here, Cheese Sandwich!”

“Yeah. You sure did come on the right day,” Applejack said.

“Your party sounds simply divine,” said Rarity.

“We're so lucky to have you here,” Twilight remarked.

“I mean, Pinkie Pie's parties are fun and sweet and all,” Rainbow said not realising that Pinkie was following them, “but now this party's gonna be—"

“Epic?” Cheese finished her sentence.

“You said it!” Rainbow replied, “Oh, yeah!”

“Feels gouda!” Cheese remarked, as Rainbow finally noticed Pinkie was following them.

“Uh, heh, no offence, Pinkie,” Rainbow told her.

“Uh, n-none taken,” Pinkie squealed, licking her tears away and giving Rainbow a smile. Once Rainbow had turned back around and flew next to Cheese, Pinkie stopped, she turned around and walked the other way.

At Cheese Sandwich's direction, Rainbow’s birth-iversary bash is getting organised, complete with a stage.

“My birth-iversary's already looking way cooler!” Rainbow exclaimed, “You are my kind of party pony, Cheese Sandwich.”

“You got that right, Rainbow Dash,” chuckled Cheese, “All right, party ponies, I've got some planning to do!” The ponies cheered for him as he walked off the stage.

Meanwhile Pinkie was just sitting in front of her banner she did for Rainbow, as a balloon drifted passed and the banner dropped off on one side. Rebecca was there with her to keep her company and to comfort her. She felt really sad, her job, the thing she loved to do, had been taken from her by Cheese Sandwich.

“Pinkie!” came Twilight’s voice, this startled Pinkie and she quickly started to water some flowers to show she was busy, “Aren't you gonna help Cheese Sandwich plan the party?”

“That's okay,” she chuckled nervously, “He obviously has what it takes to do it all by himself. Heh.”

“Ready?” Twilight questioned, she was a little puzzled.

“Yes, indeedy!” Pinkie replied, with a very nervous smile, Twilight didn’t say anything as she turned and left, “After all, if Cheese really is the super duperiest partying-est pony of them all, maybe that means... I'm... not.”

“Come on Pinkie don’t think like that,” Rebecca tried to assure her, but Pinkie didn’t listen as she turned and walked away into town, singing a sad little song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hspgYv0hH5o&list=PLfJpfTZK5SWAYkDYaPN3rW7q3RjZzlzl0&index=72

Back at the party, Cheese Sandwich was putting the finishing touches on Rainbow’s party. As he was checking over things, Rarity and Applejack walked with him.

“I must say I marvel at your superior party planning expertise, Cheese Sandwich,” Rarity giggled.

“Well, they don't call him the super duper party planner for nothin',” Applejack responded.

From behind a building, Pinkie overheard them. “That's it! This pony has gotta get her title back!” she said to herself, “And I know just what to do!”

Soon, Rainbow’s party was finished, and she was over the moon about it. “Totally awesome!” she cried.

“Huh. Best I've ever seen,” Applejack agreed, as she switched on a light that shone Rainbow’s cutie mark in the sky.

“I can't believe it!” Twilight daunted, as the other ponies awed as an ice sculpture of Rainbow’s cutie mark.

“Freeze, Cheese!” shouted Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy were shocked to see Pinkie standing directly behind them, “I challenge you... to a goof off!” Everyone gasped at hearing a goof off.

“Oh, no! Not a goof off!” Fluttershy cried as she hid behind Applejack.

“What's a goof off?” Applejack whispered to her.

“I have no idea, hehe,” Fluttershy nervously chuckled.

“This Cheese has stood alone a long time, Pinkie Pie,” Cheese Sandwich remarked, “You think you can out-goof me?”

“Oh, I don't think so. I know so!” Pinkie said, “And the stakes are high, Cheese Sandwich. Whoever wins will be dubbed the ultimate super-duper party pony and headline the Rainbow Dash birth-iversary bash!”

“And the loser?” Twilight asked.

“Doesn’t!” Pinkie answered, causing Rainbow and the others to gasp.

“So, are you in, Cheese?” Pinkie asked, “Or are you... boneless?”

“Nopony calls me boneless. Right, Boneless?” Cheese said turning to his rubber chicken on his back which of course didn’t say or do anything as he was just an object.

“Then the goof off is on for high noon!” Pinkie announced.

“Um, Pinkie? It's already 3 o'clock,” Twilight told her, pointing to the clock tower.

“Oh. Oh, well then. Make it 3:10 to goof off!” Pinkie said instead.

Ten minutes later, as the clock struck 3:10, Pinkie and Cheese met in the middle of town ready to goof off. An eagle screeches and the clock ticks by, making this silly face off more serious than what it's meant to be.

“All right, everypony,” called out Twilight, “According to my official goof off rulebook...”

“She actually has a goof off rulebook?” Rainbow asked.

“Are you kidding? Twilight can find a rulebook for everything!” Spike replied before getting shushed by Matilda.

“The two competitors have free range to goof about -- be it by singing, dancing, playing, prancing, joking, or performing -- to make the judge chortle, chuckle, giggle, guffaw, hoot and holler, whoop it up, and party down,” Twilight continued as Pinkie and Cheese pulled faces at each other, “The funnier, sillier, wilder, and goofier, the better. Rainbow Dash, since the winner will be headlining your party, you are the judge.”

“Heh. Big tense competition on my birth-iversary,” Rainbow remarked, “What could be better?”

“Cheese Sandwich, Pinkie Pie, are you ready?” Twilight asked.

“I was born ready!” Pinkie responded.

“I was ready before I was born!” Cheese remarked.

“Then... Let the goofing begin!” Twilight announced.

Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich came closer, and closer like a Mexican standoff. Then suddenly they both burst into song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G77Z9g1_mk

It's your birthday party, a very special day
I've got a song, it won't take long, I just wanted to say
Happy, happy, happy, happy
Happy, happy, happy, happy
Happy, happy, happy, happy birthday to you!

If you wanna be the life of the party
But you're feeling just a little uptight
Call the doctor, beg and plead
"Doctor, tell me what I need"
Try to put a little cheese in your knees!

Bubbles and balloons, bubbles and balloons
What's a birthday party without bubbles and balloons?
Star-shaped or trapezoid, look what I can do
Only Pinkie Pie can make a bubble shaped like you!

Just let yourself go floppy, for now this is your chance
Pretend you have no bones and do the rubber chicken dance!

Hit it, Boneless!

Cooler than a rubber chicken and tastier than cake
Come on, you, let's party down and do the Gummy shake!

Hit it, Gummy! Uh-huh! You know it! Shake it!

'Cause I like to make you smile, smile, smile
Yes I do
It fills my heart with sunshine all the while
Yes it does
'Cause all I really need's a smile, smile, smile
From these happy friends of mine

"That's my song!" Pinkie complains.

"What do you mean?" Cheese questioned, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"THAT'S IT!" Pinkie declared.

Roll out the party cannon
When you hear the party cannon song
Ka-BOOM!

Why should you compromise? Try this one on for size
'Cause nothing quite says cheer like the ringing in your ear
Of the cheese supreme cannonball surprise!

¡Dale, dale, dale
No pierdas el tino!
Porque si lo pierdes
¡Pierdes el camino!

As Pinkie sung in Spanish and dance around a giant rainbow pinata, one of Cheese’s pelicans lands onto of the pinata, and causes it to come falling down onto Rainbow. Pinkie looked at Rainbow trapped under the pinata, as six streamers in the colours of her and her friends coats fall near Rainbow, and Pinkie's eyes shimmer with an aura of the same colours.

“Rainbow's not having the best party ever!” Pinkie gasp, “I... I broke the Pinkie Party Promise! Stop! The goof off is off!” The crowd mumble in confusion.

“But I haven’t named a winner,” Rainbow said as Scott and Jake helped her out from under the pinata.

“You don't have to. I forfeit,” Pinkie responded, “Which means... Cheese Sandwich wins.”

Cheese laughed but then stopped when he found Pinkie was serious, “I do?” he questioned.

“Yes. You get to headline Rainbow Dash's party,” Pinkie told him.

“But, what about you, Pinkie?” Twilight asked.

“I… I don’t,” Pinkie sniffed, her ears drooping and tears building in her eyes.

Later, outside Ponyville, Pinkie has finished packing up all her belongings and is getting ready to leave. “Pinkie, wait!” cried Rainbow as she and the rest ran after Pinkie, “I'm sorry I got all swept away by Cheese Sandwich.”

“We all are,” Twilight said as they all agreed.

“Sorry Pinkie,” apologised Spike.

“No. I'm sorry I let my pride get in the way of you having the best birth-iversary ever,” Pinkie said, “Cheese Sandwich really is a super duper party planner, and he'll be a terrific headliner. I should've been a big enough pony to admit that and let you have your day.”

“But don't you get it? You're both super-duper party ponies,” Rainbow told her, “Sure, Cheese Sandwich is a great guest party pony, but you're Ponyville's permanent party pony. Nopony could ever take your place, and we could never have a party without you.”

“Rainbow Dash is right,” came Cheese’s voice from behind them, “I never meant to take your place in Ponyville. I just wanted to show you what a great party pony I am, Pinkie.”

“Why me?” Pinkie asked.

“Well…” Cheese said before starting to sing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhXE71Ma14I

I fear I told a little fib about my pony past
I hope that when you hear the truth, you will not be aghast
I wasn't quite the super party pony like I claimed
The fact is that I was so shy, nopony knew my name

I stumbled into Ponyville one afternoon by chance
And found the biggest ever celebration party dance
Everything was perfect, cheer was filling up the place
And I saw that everypony had a smile upon their face

I vowed that day to change my life, the past I did set free
For now Cheese Sandwich was a party pony full of glee
A super duper party pony -- that's what I became
I traveled all Equestria, and all did know my name

But that never would have happened on my own, I'll tell you why
For the one who threw that party, it was you, Pinkie Pie

“Me?” Pinkie asked.

“Yes!” Cheese replied.

“Hah, really?!” Pinkie questioned.

“Really!” Cheese answered.

“So I was the pony that threw the awesomely spectacular party that inspired you to become an awesome spectacular party thrower?” Pinkie asked again.

“Swear on Camembert!” Cheese answered again.

“Enough with the warm fuzzy stuff, you two,” Rainbow stated, “It's my birth-iversary, and you gotta throw me a bash!”

“Yeah!” cried Pinkie.

“Let’s go!” yelled Cheese.

Super duper party ponies -- that is me and you
A party thrown by one is good, but not as great as two
Come on and let's join forces, have twice the expertise
Now let's all go to the party planned by Pinkie Pie and Cheese!

As Pinkie and Cheese sang, everyone helped in making Rainbow’s party better than before. Soon Rainbow’s Bash was finished and in full swing, complete with hippo rides, a roller coaster, and a giant party cannon. On the stage, Cheese came out with a microphone.

“All right, everypony!” he started, “We are here to celebrate the birthday...”

“...and anniversary...” Pinkie continued.

“...of Rainbow Dash!” they finished, who burst out of a present.

“Hey, everypony! Who's ready to get their party on?! Hit it!” Rainbow cried, and Pinkie started singing.

Get your hooves up, party's starting out right now
Everypony, everypony get down
Time to make a wish, better make it right now
It's been a year and today is your birthday party

Make a wish, it's your birthday
Make a wish, it's your birthday party
Make a wish, it's your birthday
Make a wish, it's your birthday party

As Pinkie sang, Cheese performed by running on a giant cheese wheel. Rainbow blew out the top candle on a giant cake, and flew around it, blowing out the rest. She also got to destroy a pinata in the shape of her cutie mark, share a giant pizza with Cheese and Pinkie and chill in a giant punch bowl.

The party soon starts to wind down, as Cheese leans against a tree eating a cupcake.

“Cheese Sandwich!” Rainbow called out as she flew over to him, “Oh, I gotta tell ya, you and Pinkie have totally made this the best birthday/anniversary super combo ever! Hah, it's totally—”

“Epic?” Cheese finished her sentence.

“Yeah it is,” Rainbow replied.

“That's all I needed to hear, little filly,” Cheese Sandwich said as he put his cowboy hat back on. Pinkie was writing in their Friendship journal when Cheese pushed a box in front of her, “Just a little memento of my visit.”

Pinkie opened it, and inside was Boneless, which briefly gave off a rainbow coloured glow, “You're giving me your special rubber chicken friend?” Pinkie questioned.

“Oh, he's not the only one,” Cheese said as he pulled out another rubber chicken with a red number two on the front. “Well, Boneless Two, another job well done. But it's time we mosey along. Another town, another party.” He then started to walk off into the sunset, as the seven friends watched him go.

“I never did get that pony's name,” Pinkie stated.

“Cheese Sandwich!” the rest reaffirmed her.

“Oh yeah,” Pinkie chuckled. Just then, Trixie, Sam, Gwen, and Ace returned from their mission in Manehattan, accompanied by another boy, wearing a black hat and jacket with a white D on the back and jeans. They were also very battered and bruised.

“Hey Sam,” Sunset greeted him, “ooh what happened.”

“I don’t want to talk about it now,” he replied, “you’ll have to wait until the next chapter to know what we’ve been through.”

“So what did we miss?” Gwen asked. And the friends just laughed.

Chapter 27: Rise of a Powerful Ally (Edited)

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As it was the same day as Rainbow’s Birthday bash that Pinkie was throwing her, It was a bright and Sunny day in Equestria. But it wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops for everyone. Sam, Gwen, and Ace for example weren’t having a good day. As they were getting pummelled by a very strong alien monster, It was black and white, with glowing yellow orbs on its chest and face, it was also a little insect-like. It was the Space Dinosaur, Zetton.

Zetton was incredibly powerful, he easily defeated Sam, Gwen, and Ace in the Ultra forms. It had knocked Ultraman to the ground, who’s colour timer was now flashing. Tiga and Mary tried to hold it still, but the monster just threw its arms up, sending the two Ultras back and causing them to be stunned for a bit. Leaving Ultraman in the monster’s wrath.

“You are one pain in the rear that won’t go away,” Ultraman remarked.

“Zetton,” the monster beeped, which was the only thing Zetton said other than a roar.

Zetton launched Fireballs from its face, causing ponies to run in fear and for cover. Ultraman got up and deployed his Specium Blade, he went to slash at Zetton, but the monster stuck up its arms and a barrier appeared around it shielding it from the attack. Jumping back, Ultraman prepared to run towards the alien dinosaur.

He went to punch Zetton, the monster dodged it but wasn’t quick enough to avoid a slash from Ultraman’s blades. After blocking two more attacks from Ultraman, Zetton threw Ultraman to the ground, then kicked him causing him to roll on the floor. Ultraman got up only to then get punched by Zetton in the chest twice, he then tried to put up a shield to block Zetton’s attacks, but after the first punch cracked the shield and the second completely destroyed, with a third punch side punch sending Ultraman flying back, and a One Trillion Degree Fireball sending Ultraman falling to the ground. With Ultraman on the ground and struggling to get up, Mary and Tiga finally got up, feeling weaker than they were before but they couldn’t give up, Tiga fired an energy bullet at the back of Zetton’s head. The monster turned around to see Tiga standing there ready to continue fighting. From Zetton’s side, Mary fired a beam from her right head, but Zetton simply stuck up its left arm and blocked it.

Zetton turned to face her as she started to charge up another beam, it turned away as she fired another blast, striking Zetton in the shoulder, but it still did nothing to the alien monster’s hard armour. It stomped over to Ultraman who was trying to crawl away on the ground and was preparing for it to attack.

Suddenly a blade appeared from the sky and slashed at one of Zetton’s antennas, cutting it clean on its head. Zetton stumbled back seemingly in pain as another came flying down towards its other antenna. But Zetton was quick enough to grab it and throw it to the ground. The monster and Ultras looked up to where the blades came from. What came down from the sky was another Ultra, this one was blue and red, and had two blade-like weapons on its head.

Zetton just stared at this new Ultra that just showed up, and seemed to decide to retreat, as it lifted its arms and teleported away. The Ultra looked around to see where Zetton was, but Zetton didn’t reappear, it had simply left. Then the Ultra looked at the weakened Ultras around him, and watched them return back to their normal human selves, before he shrank down to normal.

Sam felt too tired to get up, fighting Zetton had really knocked the wind out of him. The sun was beaming into his face, until someone stood over him and blocked it out. It was another human boy, he wore a white and blue hat, a black jacket with a white D on the back, jeans, and white and blue shoes. His hair was black, and he had green eyes.

“You alright bro?” the boy asked with his hand outstretched to help Sam up.

“Yeah, I’m ok,” Sam replied as he grabbed the boy’s hand, and he helped him up.

“Woah steady now,” the boy said as Sam stumbled to his feet.

“Thanks dude,” Sam responded as the boy helped prop him up, “Who are you anyway?”

“I’m…” the boy was about to say his name but then they heard grunts coming from Ace and Gwen who were in a worse position than Sam.

“Guys!” Sam called out as he and the boy went over to them, Ace was limping as was carrying a passed out Gwen.

“We need to get help,” Ace said.

“Let’s go to Trixie,” Sam declared.

“Right,” Ace and the boy replied, and then set off to find Trixie.

Trixie was in her wagon when Sam and the other came knocking on her door. “Oh my, you look terrible,” she stated.

“Quick get Gwen on the bed!” Sam shouted, Trixie gasped at how beat up Gwen looked, she used her magic to lift Gwen from Ace and onto her bed.

“What happened?” Trixie asked, as she put bandages around Sam’s arm and Ace’s leg, “I thought you Ultras were strong.”

“Zetton’s can be stronger,” the boy said as he stood at the door.

“Who are you?” Trixie asked.

“Well you can call me Devon,” the boy replied, “but really, I am Ultraman Zero.”

The wagon went silent, until Sam blurted out, “Wait what?!”

“Yep, I’m really an Ultra,” Devon replied.

“I thought the Ultras were the names of the suits we bonded too,” Ace stated.

“It's hard to believe,” Devon spoke, “but, the Ultrasuits you refer to, are actually living, beings with their life force the light inside the suits.”

“So did this kid die in some way like us?” Sam asked.

“Wait, you died?” Devon asked.

“Yeah,” Sam replied, “I fell into a bottomless lagoon and drowned, then got saved by Ultraman.”

“I got attacked by a three headed dragon, then Tiga bonded to me,” Ace explained.

“And what about her?” Devon asked, pointing to the unconscious Gwen.

“I guess the same as me, but everyone’s genders are swapped,” Sam replied, “She is a female clone created in an accident, so it’s hard to tell.”

“Right, well this kid, is actually a form I created,” Devon said, “Ultras can create a disguise for themselves to blend in with inhabitants of the planet they visit.”

“So then why did you go with a human disguise?” Trixie asked, “when it is us Ponies that are the inhabitants of this planet. Mostly.”

“Well a human form just felt natural to me,” Devon replied.

“Well you are a living humanoid machine,” Sam said.

“That was not always the case,” Devon said.

“What do you mean?” Sam asked.

“I guess you’ll deserve to know,” Devon said, as they all sat down to listen to Devon. This is what he told them.

Two hundred and sixty thousand years ago, the Ultras were a race of human-like beings who lived in a peaceful technological utopia. Unfortunately, the peaceful society lived on a planet orbiting a red giant sun near the end of its life. Their sun died, with the Ultras' ancestors surviving only due to their advanced technology, but they were left in perpetual darkness without their sun. For an unknown amount of time, the planet's greatest scientific minds came together and eventually devised a replacement for their sun, the Plasma Spark. A tower was built so this artificial star could illuminate the planet, saving it and its people from freezing to death in the cold dark of space.

During work on the project, two of the workers were exposed to the Differator Rays and transformed into silver beings. Upon study, it was found that they were incredibly strong and generated natural steroids to enhance their strength, could fire energy beams from their hands and could change their sizes at will. The Elder who then ruled the planet decided that all of his people should gain these powers and the project continued. When activated, the planet was bathed in the Plasma Spark's light and its people were transformed. However the light also travelled beyond their planet, disrupting the natural flow of evolution and causing monsters to appear on nearby worlds. The people renamed their planet the Land of Light and soon their race became known as Ultramen by other species. As the Ultramen advanced, they developed the Colour Timer, which was attached only to those Ultras that left for deep space.

The people of the Land of Light had a strong cultural sense of justice and duty and so decided to use their great powers for the peace of the universe. The Ultras took to patrolling space, protecting planets by fighting invaders and monsters. However, more belligerent races were opposed to these activities and became enemies of the Ultras' crusade against evil. Despite the many enemies they gained, the people of the Land of Light were only ever dealt serious blows twice in their long history as giants. The first was from a being called the Emperor and the second from one of their own named Belial. The first invasion was fought off and ended when Ken duelled and wounded the Emperor, as well as being wounded himself. The result of this was the formation of the Inter Galactic Defence Force as a proper organisation with Ultraman Ken being its first captain. To commemorate this victory the Ultra Tower was constructed.

The second threat was caused by the jealousy of Belial towards Ken, and he tried to take the power of the Plasma Spark. But the light emanating from it was too strong for him to resist. After being exiled from the Land of Light, he was forcefully fused with a power alien known as Alien Reiblood appeared and turned the Ultra Warrior into a Reionics by infusing him with his genes. Bestowed with the Giga Battlenizer and with his army of 100 monsters, he attacked the Land of Light for revenge. The threat was ended by Ultraman King who sealed Belial away in what came to be known as the Space Prison, which orbited the Land of Light like a moon.

The Land of Light, with their super science, have been making advancements into multiversal research, which has allowed them to interact with Ultras from parallel worlds, send their own warriors to fight in other worlds, and even summon Ultras from other universes. However, this remarkable technology, developed by the planet's greatest scientists, has occasionally led to large-scale conflicts with other alien races who desire to use the technology for themselves; one such incident occurred after Hikari invented the Life Solidification Device, which could bring beings back from the dead; on Planet Bat, a civil war erupted as a result of its inhabitants' fury over the Ultras seemingly keeping this technology to themselves. This war concluded with the planet's Federal Army emerging as the victors, who immediately set to work enacting the Ultra Annihilation Project, an invasion of the Land of Light which Jack and other members of the Inter Galactic Defence Force successfully repelled.

At an unspecified point in the past, Dark Zagi, an evil being from another universe, tore through the dimensions and entered the Land of Light in the midst of his battle with the silver giant, Ultraman Noa. Noa and the Inter Galactic Defence Force joined forces to battle Zagi, and were eventually successful in expelling him from the planet and the universe, but Noa lost his true form during the battle, eventually becoming Ultraman the Next.

The Land of Light also faced a potential catastrophe at the hands of Alien Babarue when he stole the Ultra Key when disguised as Astra. Without the Key, the Ultra Planet reeled off course and headed straight to Earth, which would have destroyed both planets. The combined efforts of Ultraman King and the Leo Brothers helped to prevent the potential crisis.

Not long after Ace’s godson Zett defeated Destrudos and left earth, The Plasma Spark started to malfunction. The top scientists tried to fix it but the Plasma Spark sent out shockwaves that transformed Ultras from across the multiverse into smaller mechanical beings, with their life force contained within their body shells. With their new mechanical bodies, the Ultras could change their sizes at will like before and also alter themselves to look completely different or similar to another, the Ultras could even switch back and forth between their giant and machinal forms, with came helpful when venturing to planets that the atmosphere was harmful to the normal organic Ultra body. But the shockwaves not only transformed the Ultra warriors, it also relieved and transformed the evil Ultras as well. With this new threat of old, revived enemies, the Ultras from across the multiverse united and formed The Ultra Alliance, with their alien allies. But then sometime later, the Princess of the Land of Light had been kidnapped by an unknown evil force, and she was tracked to the Planet Equus, Ultraman Taro was sent to rescue her but he never returned. Soon more Ultras felt the deaths of innocent humans and left to give them a second shot at life.

“… and that’s it up to now,” Devon finished, everyone was amazed.

“So Ultraman bonded with me because he sensed me drowning?” Sam asked.

“Yep,” Devon replied.

"Wait... So is the atmosphere here dangerous for Ultras?!" Sam shouted.

"No, of course not," Devon remarked, "it's just the a normal Ultra wouldn't be able to transform or contain their form with this type of atmosphere."

"So basically, you in your normal form wouldn't be able to breathe?" Sam quizzed.

"More or less yeah," Devon answered, "unless an Ultra is born on this planet, there's no way an organic Ultra could sustain their form in this atmosphere."

“Still... That’s just a lot to take in,” Ace said, just then they heard Gwen groan as she slowly sat up.

“Oh my head,” she moaned, “What happened?”

“You were out cold and missed Devon here, tell us the history of the Ultras and the Land of Light,” Sam replied.

“Oh,” Gwen said as she turned and saw Devon looking at her, she just waved and smiled at him.

Just then, the ground shook underneath them, Trixie looked out her wagon and saw that Zetton had returned, but it looked different. This creature resembled Zetton but seemed to be more evolved and had scythe blades in place of hands.

“Holy…!” Ace cried, “he looks stronger than ever.”

Not thinking clearly, Sam ran out the wagon and towards Zetton.

“Sam! Wait!” Trixie cried out to him, “You still need to recover!”

“I’ll go after him,” Devon said as he ran after him.

Sam donned his Ultrasuit and transformed into Ultraman, while also growing to giant size. Zetton stopped its rampage and turned to see Ultraman standing there. Ultraman charged up and launched an Ultra Slash at Zetton, but the monster just caught it on its scythe and then threw it to the ground like it was nothing. Because Ultraman hadn’t rested long enough, his Colour then started to flash. Suddenly Zero appeared behind Ultraman and put a hand on his shoulder.

“You may be my father’s Ultra Brother,” he commented, “but you still have things to learn, like not running off into danger when you’re at your limit.”

“Sorry,” Ultraman replied.

“You go back to the wagon and rest,” Zero told him, “and I’ll deal with Hyper Zetton Deathscythe here.”

“Right,” Ultraman said as he shrank back down, and Sam ran back to Trixie’s wagon. Zero watched him and then turned back to Hyper Zetton.

“Ok, Zetton, let’s dance,” he declared, as he jumped, and slash kicked Hyper Zetton causing the monster to stumble.

The two giants then engaged the fight, with Hyper Zetton slashing its scythes at Zero and the Ultra dodging them all. Zero performed multiple slash kicks, some striking Hyper Zetton and some just barely missing. Hyper Zetton swung down its right scythe, but Zero deflected it, and dodge out the way as the left came swinging from behind. Hyper Zetton went in for another swipe of its scythe, but Zero kicked it in the chest, sending it to the ground.

On the ground, Ace, Sam, Gwen, and Trixie watched in awe as Zero fought Hyper Zetton, as the monster tried to slice at Zero’s throat, the Ultra knocked back the scythe and tried to flip Hyper Zetton over his shoulder. But just as Hyper Zetton was about to leave Zero’s grip, the monster teleported away. Only to then appear flying in to kick Zero. The Ultra grabbed its legs and started to spin, after spinning a bit, Zero let go sending Zetton flying only for the monster to then teleport away and reappear metres away. Zero then summoned Zero Sluggers and then threw them at the monster, but Hyper Zetton just teleported away again. Hyper Zetton suddenly re-appeared behind Zero and fired Dark Fireballs at the Ultra, sending him flying back.

Zero got up as Zetton teleported away again, Zero looked around, then teleported as well. The two met in the air and fell back down to the ground, right above Sam, Ace, Gwen, and Trixie. The four braced themselves but Zero and Zetton teleported before they could crush them. The two appeared on the ground again, Hyper Zetton started to charge up a Large Dark Fireball, as Zero summoned his Sluggers and then started to spin around. As Hyper Zetton fired the large Dark fireball, Zero deflected it with his Sluggers which then summoned a lance weapon, known as the Zero Lance.

Zetton then changed up and fired a lot of Dark fireballs, thinking quick Zero charged up his Zero Lance and fired a beam from the blade on the end, destroying the fireballs and sending clouds of smoke everywhere. Hyper Zetton tried to keep up the dark fireballs, when suddenly Zero appeared out of nowhere out of the smoke and stabbed Zetton in the chest, sending energy into the monster, and causing it to explode. Zero’s Lance disappeared and the Ultra returned back to human size and went back to his friends.

“Oh my Celestia!” cried Gwen.

“That was so awesome!” Ace shouted.

“Unbelievable!” Trixie declared.

“Thank you,” Devon replied, “It was nothing really. I fought monsters way more powerful than that.”

“Zero,” Sam spoke up, getting Devon’s attention, “I would like to say thank you, for coming here and taking care of Zetton. And as a thanks for helping out and seeing how powerful you can be, I would like you to join our team.” He then held out his hand.

“I would be happy to help you,” Devon replied as he grabbed Sam’s hand and shook it, “and please call me Devon.”

“Ok Devon,” Sam responded with a smile.

“Ok, now that the threat is taken care of,” Trixie said, “why don’t we head back to Ponyville, let’s see if we can get to Rainbow’s party before it’s over.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot it was Rainbow’s birthday,” Sam said as they climbed in the wagon, Trixie hooked up to it and started to pull it along with Sam, Ace and Gwen telling Devon all about Ponyville and the ponies that live there, as well as adventures they had.

Meanwhile standing on a hill, watching Trixie walk away with her wagon, stood a black alien.

“Hmm, the boss isn’t going to be happy,” he said as he turned and teleported away.

Chapter 28: It's Ain't Easy Being Breezies (Edited)

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It was another beautiful day in Ponyville as it always is, and Fluttershy had gathered her friends together and told them about the Breezie migration through Ponyville coming soon. Sam and the rest would be there with them, but they were stuck in school. Kerry and Scott were there with them though, however Rebecca, Jake and Emily were busy elsewhere.

“Okay, everypony,” Fluttershy told them, “As you know, the adorable fairy creatures known as Breezies are about to come through Ponyville.”

“Yes! Ooh, it's so exciting!” cried Pinkie, hanging from a branch of a tree with her tail, “Ah! I can't wait for Rainbow Dash to make the breeze for them so I can see how cute they are up close!”

“I've never done it before,” Rainbow admitted, “Not that I won't be totally awesome at it, because I totally will!”

“And that breeze is very important, but so is cheering on those teeny-tiny little things, so they have the confidence to ride that breeze to their native land,” Fluttershy stated, “Did I mention how tiny they are? So tiny! I was thinking we could do a special Breezie cheer!”

“I love cheers!” exclaimed Pinkie.

“You love nearly everything,” Kerry spoke up.

“That’s true!” Pinkie replied.

“But these cheers should be quiet cheers. We don't want to startle them,” Fluttershy informed them, “They need to be able to concentrate. Why don't we try it? You can do it, Breezies.”

“YOU CAN DO IT, BREEZIES!” shouted the girls, they shouted so loud, that they messed up Scott's hearing up. Behind the wolf, he had really sensitive hearing and didn’t like loud and sudden noises.

“Ow my ears!” he cried, folding them down on his head.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy commented.

“Heh, sorry, Fluttershy,” Applejack apologised, “I had no idea how hard it was to cheer quietly.”

“Oh, it's okay. Quiet doesn't come naturally for everypony,” Fluttershy said, “Kerry, take Scott away back to my house and get him an ice pack for his ears.”

“Sure, come on bro,” she said as she helped Scott to Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Now, let's try it again,” Fluttershy said.

“You can do it, Breezies!” the girls cried, they were quitter but still pretty loud.

“Perhaps just a little bit quieter,” Fluttershy told them.

“You can do it, Breezies!” they cheered, in normal talking voices.

“Just a little quieter,” Fluttershy replied.

“You can do it, Breezies!” They were now practically whispering.

“Perfect!” Fluttershy shouted before realising how loud she went, “Oh, um, I mean... yay.”

All of Ponyville prepared for the Breezies' arrival with a gathering in the town square. Rainbow Dash checked how fast the breeze was, and it was going too fast. So she flew to the Pegasi controlling the breeze, an opal coloured female named Flitter and a dark grey male named Stormwalker.

“That's too strong! We gotta slow this breeze down or we're gonna blow those Breezies apart!” Rainbow told them and then helped them slow the breeze down.

On the ground Mr and Mrs Cake were laying out cakes, but Mr Cake wasn’t too sure why the Pegasi had created a breeze.

“What I don't understand is why they need the Pegasi to make a breeze for them,” he said.

“Well, you see, it's the breeze that activates the Breezies' magic,” Fluttershy told him, “and that magic protects the pollen they're carrying from being destroyed.”

“So, no breeze means no magic means the pollen goes bad?” asked Mr Cake.

“That's right! And they only have two days to get that pollen back before the portal to their home closes,” Fluttershy replied, “That's why it's ever-so-important that we help them make their way through Ponyville safely.”

“We certainly wouldn't want to scare them and divert them from their path!” Mrs Cake exclaimed.

“Now you understand,” Fluttershy said.

“Hm, you certainly know a lot about them,” Mr Cake said.

“Oh, thank you. I went to see them gathering their pollen in Western Equestria,” Fluttershy said, suddenly a bright shining purple light glimmered somewhere. It came from Rarity who was wearing a jacket that shone in the sun too brightly, blinding everyone, “Um, Rarity? I, uh, hate to weigh in with you when it comes to fashion, but...”

“Oh, there's too much purple on this, isn't there?” Rarity replied cutting her off, “I knew it! But Twilight refused to admit it.”

“What?! I…” Twilight exclaimed.

“Oh, no-no-no-no-no. It's the perfect amount of purple,” Fluttershy retorted, “It's just that there's an awful lot of sequins on your jacket.”

“Oh, darling, please! One can never have too many sequins!” Rarity chuckled.

“You can if they reflect the sun, and the light catches a group of Breezies right in their eyes, and blinds them long enough to get them off their course so they never get home!” Fluttershy told her.

“I stand corrected! I suppose there is the rare instance where one can have too many sequins. I'll just take off my jacket,” Rarity said as she took off her jacket, but underneath she wore some more blinding outfits, it was so blinding it was hard to tell what she was wearing, “I suppose this won't do either?”

Rainbow looked over in the distance and could see a blob of mass coming towards Ponyville, she smiled and dashed to tell Twilight. She whispered into her ear, causing Twilight to smile.

“Everypony, it's time,” Twilight called out in the microphone, “Please welcome... the Breezies!”

Everypony looked as the Breezies floated under Stormwalker and Flitter, and over all the ponies heads.

“They're as cute as Apple Bloom on the day she was born,” Applejack remarked.

“And would you look at those adorable little packs they carry their pollen in?” Rarity commented.

“Lun! Arshen aifok!” Cried their leader in their language.

“So... cute!” Pinkie cried softly, trying to contain her excitement, “Can't... take... it!”

Spike was trying to get a good at the Breezies, but he was too short, and he was mostly blocked by all the ponies around him. He managed to get a spot to see them, but then Seaspray stood in his way. He grumbled and then saw Pinkie.

“Pinkie Pie, can I hop on you so I can see the Breezies?” he asked her.

Pinkie was going to reply but she felt her excitement building up as she relaxed, “May explode!” she cried. Startling Spike so much he backed up into a tree.

This gave him an idea. He climbed up the tree and onto a branch, he was so excited to see them that he bounced on the branch, causing the leaf to loosen and break off the branch.

“Oh, no!” he cried. The leaves flow around and cut off the tail end of the Breezie migration. The Breezies panicked and the crowd gasped.

“Slow down the breeze for the other group to catch up!” Rainbow told Flitter and Stormwalker.

“They're too far back! We can't connect the breeze to both sets of Breezies!” Stormwalker called back.

“What if we speed it up?” Rainbow asked.

“Then the first group will be going too fast, and they'll get separated from each other!” replied Flitter. Everyone just watched as the Breezies spun around and panicked, with Fluttershy having a face of terror.

The Breezies could do nothing as they spun out of control in the breeze. Their leader watched the spin around in the air.

“Tanagretu nik mir! Maisegu de piripa!” he ordered. One Breezie tried to hold on to another, but the breeze was too strong, and they let go on the other Breezie.

Fluttershy gasped as she flew up into the air to help Breezie. She caught it just in time before Breezie could get blown away by the wind. She then flew back to the Breezies where their leader was trying to organise them.

“Mekenar stuf!” He ordered.

“He's right! You must all gather as close as you possibly can!” Fluttershy told them, as they then all gathered around Fluttershy. The crowd of Ponies all cheered for Fluttershy as she gently flew down to a tree stump and let the Breezies off.

“Mugudi saikendus?” asked their leader, who was named Seabreeze.

“Oh, I understand the language of all kinds of creatures!” Fluttershy replied.

“You must be so proud,” responded Seabreeze in perfect English.

“And you speak my language too?” Fluttershy questions.

“I can,” answered Seabreeze, “This lot can only understand you. Clearly, they're not the brightest bunch around.” That remark caused the Breezies to shout out indignantly.

“That was amazing!” cried Pinkie, surprising Fluttershy from behind.

“I'm sorry we couldn't get a breeze going that would get them back to the others,” Rainbow apologised.

“Oh, it's not your fault,” Fluttershy replied.

“I, for one, am very proud of you, Fluttershy,” Twilight stated, “Leaping into action like that.”

“I feel like I should design you a special hero's gown!” Rarity remarked, before then thinking what she said to her early, “Heh... Or a sash. At least a sash.”

“Okay, okay, okay! I know what you're all thinking! Why don't you just say it?!” cried Spike as he came running up and hugging Fluttershy’s leg, before crying, “I'm sorry! This is all my fault! I'm so sorry!”

“Oh, Spike, it's okay!” Fluttershy said kindly, “It could have happened to any one of us.”

“Yeah, if we were up in a tree and bouncing with excitement,” Sam replied as stood beside Sunset.

“Don’t be so rude,” Sunset told him off, “don’t you have some Ultra business to be taking care of?”

“Not until the next chapter,” Sam replied.

“Anyway... Thank you!” Spike cried as he hugged Fluttershy, but the Breezies were quite cross at Spike for causing the whole incident. Spike then took a few steps back until he was a good distance for the Breezies, “Uh... I'm... just... gonna stay over here.”

“So, Fluttershy, you want us to get the breeze going again so these little guys can get a move on?” Rainbow asked. The Breezies cried out in protest, not wanting to leave Fluttershy.

“Maybe we should wait just a moment or so,” she remarked, “They've been through so much...”

“Just gimme the word when you think they're ready,” Rainbow replied, Fluttershy smiled, but Seabreeze had a look of worry on his face.

Fluttershy took the Breezies back to her cottage, and already, her animals were not liking them. The birds were forced out of their birdhouses by the Breezies, and poor Angel Bunny had his bed taken from him by the Breezies. Fluttershy came in from the kitchen and looked around at all the Breezies making themselves at home. She then spotted one of them shivering.

“Oh, my, Twirly, you look like you need a blanket,” she remarked, as she pulled out a tissue and draped it over Twirly’s small form.

“Sanken,” thanked Twirly as she snuggled into the tissue.

“Oh, no problem,” Fluttershy replied.

“Malenki?” asked another Breezie, holding up a little cup.

“Oh, did you need some more water?” Fluttershy questioned as she got a perpete filled with water and dropped one small drop into the cup. The Breezie smiled and slurped the water. “Now, who else needed a hoof-knitted sweater?” Fluttershy called out, the Breezies cheered.

“Hey there!” called Applejack as she and Twilight opened the door, “Can we come in?”

“Oh, of course!” Fluttershy replied, Applejack trotted in followed by Twilight, “But watch your step!”

Applejack looked down and saw she was about to step on a Breezie, who was trying to shield itself with its wings, “Oop, sorry about that, little one,” Applejack apologised.

“We just wanted to see if you thought the Breezies were ready to give it another try,” Twilight told Fluttershy.

“Has it been an hour already? Oh, my goodness!” She said she went to her window, “Time flies when you're making sure little creatures don't feel that you're abandoning them to the cruel world.”

“But they're not going to a cruel world, right?” Twilight questioned, “They're going home.” The Breezies got alerted when they heard Twilight say that.

“Oh, yes, that's right!” Fluttershy replied. The Breezies then all cried out in protest again and cling onto Fluttershy, “On second thought, I don't think they're quite ready.”

“Supa laipas data kurpa! Mise neku ersken laika maur! Siripat sulat!” shouted Seabreeze in anger.

“Uh... what did he say?” Applejack asked.

“I'd... rather not say,” Fluttershy replied, blushing.

“Okay, well, I'm sure you know what you're doin',” Applejack said as she and Twilight left the cottage, “No one knows rare magical creatures like you do.”

“We'll just wait for your word,” Twilight responded.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy replied as she closed the door, “I'll be in touch very soon.”

“We need to go now, or we will never get home! I wish we did not need that stupid breeze to activate our magic, or I would just force you all to fly home right now!” Seabreeze exclaimed, “Why do we have to need magic to keep our pollen safe?”

“Um, now, Seabreeze-” Fluttershy spoke up but was cut off by Seabreeze.

“Why are you giving in to these wimps?!” he yelled, “If they had not been so scared in the first place, this never would have happened!”

“But that is just not true, Seabreeze,” Fluttershy retorted, “It was because of a leaf, and you know that!”

“Oh, please! They have no idea what they're doing out there!” Seabreeze replied, “Like you said, we need as much time as we can get because they are so incompetent!”

“Well, I didn't say that exactly now, did I?” Fluttershy countered back. Seabreeze just huffed, “Oh, well, maybe a snack will lighten the mood.” The Breezies all cooed in interest.

Fluttershy gave them all little snacks. We were only a little to a normal pony but to the Breezies, they could eat only so much. One grape was like an apple to them, the cookies were so big, multiple Breezies had to share just one, and the cupcakes were about the size of them, and they could only eat about half of the icing before feeling full. Fluttershy herself was laying on her couch with a few Breezies on her back, one of them let off a small burp.

“Mi fargen,” it said.

“You're excused,” Fluttershy replied as she used her tail to gently put them down on her couch, “Well, my Breezies, I think we can all agree that now that you've eaten and you have a little energy going in your breezy bodies, you're strong enough to face the breeze! I've loved having you here, and I hope I've made you all feel loved and special. But you have to go. Nopony here will deny that-”

“There is nothing special about these losers! They cannot handle a simple breeze home!” cried Seabreeze, “If they could just stick with the program and listen to me, we would be safe! At home! Home, where every Breezie is like us!” He had tears building up in his eyes as he flew over to the peep hole and looked out.

“Okay, well, a confusing pep-talk, but, nonetheless,” Fluttershy said before turning back to the Breezies, “I do know that if you don't leave soon, you may never make it back, and that would be terrible!”

Then one of them sneezed, “Merte marshken farde,” it said before nudging Twirly, she got the idea and winked back.

“Merki marshken plumatu,” she coughed.

“I had no idea you all have colds! Really? All of you?” Fluttershy questioned, in responses, the Breezies all coughed and sneezed to make themselves seem sick. “Oh, dear. I can't let you go out there sick! What kind of a friend would I be if I made you go now?” The Breezies all chatted excitedly.

“D'oh! Irde turten manes pudenhel! Nievo ut! Parde tarmen!” Seabreeze grumped as he stormed off into a birdhouse.

Later that day, Rainbow, Flitter and Stormwalker came to Fluttershy, to see if the Breezies were ready yet. She knocked on Fluttershy’s door and Fluttershy answered, opening the door only a little bit.

“Hey, Fluttershy, just wondering if the Breezies are ready to go yet,” Rainbow said, “Clock's kinda ticking for them to make it back before the door closes on their home.”

“Oh, yes. I mean, not quite,” Fluttershy stammered, “Um, maybe just a few more minutes?” Then she suddenly shut the door.

“Uh, alright,” Rainbow remarked.

“We wait too much longer, we'll have to create such a strong breeze, it may be more than they can handle,” Flitter responded, as she, Rainbow and Stormwalker flew off.

“We just have to trust Fluttershy,” Rainbow said a little unsure, “She must know what she's doing.”

But what Breezies were doing inside, was having a party, drinking drops of grape juice, dancing, and sliding down slides, one was even playing a saxophone. Seabreeze, now reaching his limit, grabbed the saxophone and threw it on the ground in anger, smashing it.

“Why are you spending your time on this?!” he shouted, “I will never get home!”

“Breezies, I must say, Seabreeze has a point. I think it's time for me to get Rainbow Dash and her friends so they can create the breeze for you to get home,” Fluttershy said, the Breezies all shouted out in dismay, not wanting to go, “Ooh... You're all awfully anxious... Oh, I don't want you to feel abandoned, or that I wasn't the most kind host I could possibly be...”

“Adoshen papan gorn,” Twirly cried.

“Oh, yes, that does make sense... Seabreeze, do you think you could wait just a couple more hou- Seabreeze? Seabreeze? Has anypony seen Seabreeze?” Fluttershy asked, the Breezies just shrugged, Fluttershy then turned and saw the peep hole on her door was open, she ran to it and looked out, she was shocked to see that Seabreeze was outside, “Where's he going? There's no way he can handle being out there on his own!”

Seabreeze attempted to make the trip home by himself, but he quickly finds himself unable to fly in a straight line because of the heavy winds. “Ah! Ah! Ah! Blusken! Ah! Ah! Arge nusen! Uf! Osemi! Ah! Narsken! Noi serenda! Ah!” he cried as he was thrown about everywhere from the wind, ““Ah! Gah! Ah! Kesino! Uu! Tu ge! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Miuse konda!” The wind shock acorns loose from the tree, nearly crushing Seabreeze, and causing the small Breezie to go flying into a beehive. The Bees were not happy with this intrusion.

“Vaior uskren! Yavaya...” Seabreeze panicked as he back up to the edge of the branch and latched onto it with all his life, he then looked up as saw the angry bees with their stingers ready, “Ibeku-u-u! Ah, sa-sabada!”

“Excuse me, bees?” came Fluttershy’s voice, the bees and Seabreeze looked up to see her, “Can you please back off my Breezie friend? He didn't mean any harm. It was just an accident.” The Bees paid no attention to what Fluttershy said as they got ready to sting Seabreeze. “I'm working on a bee-type dance and was hoping you could help me?” she said somehow in a bee costume, and shaking her bee abdomen, “Does this bring to mind any images for you? Perhaps a bee?” The bees once again ignored her as they got ready to sting. “Excuse me! I have done nothing but be kind, but I guess that is not working!” she shouted at the bees, this time they had shocked and worried faces, “You bees know better than to hurt a helpless Breezie! I demand that you go away now, or you'll have to answer to me!” And with that, the bees retreated back to their hive and shut the entrance.

“Menkyulen. Thank you! Thank you so much! Thank you for coming after me!” Seabreeze thanked her.

“Of course. You could've gotten seriously hurt out there,” Fluttershy replied, “Ponyville is much too dangerous for you. One tiny acorn is a threat!”

“Yeah, I know! That is one reason why I have been trying to get us to go from the beginning!” cried Seabreeze.

“Oh, my goodness. I was just trying not to hurt any creature's feelings, but my displays of kindness may have cost you everything… Time is running out, and you may never make it home!” Fluttershy gasped.

“That is exactly what I have been telling all of them! But they do not listen to me! Nobreezie ever listens to me!” Seabreeze exclaimed.

“Seabreeze, I understand your feelings are hurt, but it's hard for them to hear you when you're shouting and being mean,” Fluttershy told him, “The message doesn't get across.”

“But what about those bees?” Seabreeze questioned, “You were not nice to them, and that was the only way they listened!”

“Yes, but they had to go, and they wouldn't listen to me any other way,” Fluttershy said, as she said that the sun shone through Seabreeze’s wings making them shimmer with a rainbow-coloured aura. The same glow reflected off of Fluttershy's eyes, “We need to go, now!”

She reached out her hoof to Seabreeze, then she dashed off to her cottage, with Seabreeze hanging onto her mane for dear life. Fluttershy noticed that she was flying far too fast and slowed right for Seabreeze.

She soon returned to her cottage and gathered the Breezies together, “My dear Breezies, I had to rescue Seabreeze from serious harm, and now I know more than ever that you must leave before it's too late! You would never survive in Ponyville,” She told them.

“Erski parli polin!” the Breezies exclaimed as they ran up to Fluttershy.

“I can't help you anymore. In fact, I wasn't helping you at all by being nice. Oh... But the truth of the matter is that I must be firm!” she declared firmly, as she opened her door, “You must go, now!”

Saddened, the Breezies left Fluttershy's cottage, and Seabreeze silently bows with gratitude to Fluttershy, who once they all were gone broke down into tears as she closed the door.

Meanwhile, Rainbow and her Pegasus team were unable to make a breeze moderate enough to carry the Breezies home.

“It’s too strong!” called Rainbow.

“I can't do it any lighter!” Flitter cried.

“Neither can I!” shouted Stormwalker.

“Fly back! I'm gonna try and see if I can slow it down,” Rainbow told them, the two flew back but now the wind was too weak, “Now it's too light! Oh, this will never get them home!”

“Oh, my. Maybe it's because there are too few of them,” Fluttershy stated, “When they started their journey, there were more of them to face the breeze together.”

“I've been studying an old spell book from the Castle of the Two Sisters,” Twilight said, “There's a spell that I think could help us! This is probably gonna feel a little funny at first, but you're gonna have to trust me.”

“I love new ideas that make me feel funny at first!” Pinkie remarked.

Everyone lined up as Twilight prepared the spell. She levitated her friends up and fired beams at them, as well as firing one back at the Breezies, in bright flashes, everyone was turned into Breezies. The girls were all shocked and excited about this, and Gwen couldn’t hold back her excitement seeing her adoptive mothers as cute Breezies.

“Maifo flai batendud!” Fluttershy said in a tiny voice and in the language of the Breezies, the girls just looked at each other in confusion, “Um, I mean, let's go!”

Flitter and Stormwalker helped with the breeze, and soon the Breezies were on their way, with Fluttershy and Seabreeze leading them at the front, Sam, Gwen, Ace and Devon went with them, as their Ultra selves and helped any that might be struggling. They float on the breeze, through cold snowing landscapes and scorching hot deserts. As time went on, one of the Breezies began to feel weak, another went to help them. Seabreeze noticed this and flew back to help too, Sam handed his hands out gently catching them.

“Marskin farskin,” Breezette said.

“Metar,” said the other.

“You can do this!” called Seabreeze, “I am sorry for how I treated you before! It was not right that I called you names! I didn't even really believe those things I said! I was worried we would never get back to our home, and I lashed out...”he looked back at Fluttershy who smiled back at him, “I know you can do this! I believe in you! Hold on to me, let us join the group!” Seabreeze grabbed a hold of the two and helped them back to the group.

Before long, the Breezies reached a hole in a cliff, it was a tunnel, and at the end was the portal to the Breezies home world. Sam, Gwen, Ace, and Devon were too big to go through the hole that said their go byes and waited outside. The portal was slowly starting to close, as the girls came through the portal, they gasped at what they saw, the Breezies’ home was beautiful.

“Holy mini-sized paradise!” cried Rainbow.

“This is simply beautiful! So much inspiration,” Rarity commented, “Where's my sketchpad when I need it?”

“So...stinkin'...cute!” Pinkie squeaked.

The Breezies all reunited with their friends and loved ones, giving them hugs and Seabreeze even reunited with his wife and child, who gave him a gentle hug. This was all so heart-warming for Fluttershy as tears started to form in her eyes.

“You okay, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked.

“I'm just so very happy they got to be reunited with their family!” Fluttershy remarked with tears streaming down her face.

“We'd better get going before the entrance- well, exit for us, closes,” Rarity told them, they all started to end at the exit, but Fluttershy wanted to say one final goodbye.

“Goodbye, Breezies. I must go now,” Fluttershy said as she was about to turn and leave, Seabreeze pulled out a flower for her.

“To remember us by,” he said as he put it in Fluttershy’s mane.

“Thank you! I'll miss you. I'll miss all of you!” Fluttershy said as she gave Seabreeze a hug then flew away to catch up with her friends. She then started to monolog in her head, which would later get written up in their journal.

‘My experiences with the Breezies have helped me to see that kindness can take many forms, and sometimes being too kind can actually keep a friend from doing what they need to do. Pushing them away may seem cruel, but it's sometimes the kindest thing you can do.’

Fluttershy cut it close as she looked back at the Breezies, Seabreeze winked at her, Fluttershy smiled and left their home just as the portal sealed shut.

“Whoa!” exclaimed Rainbow, “That was a close one!” Rarity and Applejack agreed.

“Okay, gather round,” Twilight said, she then used her magic to turn them all back to normal.

“So, uh, I've always kinda wondered what it would be like to be a griffon,” Rainbow said to Twilight.

“Not a chance,” Twilight remarked, knowing what Rainbow was referring to.

“You sure? What about a dragon?” Rainbow called out, “No? It doesn't have to shoot fire!”

As they walked back home to Ponyville, Fluttershy looked at the flower in her mane that Seabreeze gave her; it briefly shines with a rainbow-coloured glow, as she followed her friend's home. Sam, Gwen, Ace, and Devon were heading home as well, but not before Sam took one last look back at the hole. He didn’t know why, but something seemed off about the hole.

“Hey Sam you coming?” Ace called him.

“Yeah I’m right behind you,” Sam called back as he flew after them.

But Sam had a reason to fear that hole. At the end of the tunnel, where the portal to the Breezies’ home was sealed shut, the wall started to creak. Then it suddenly burst open, behind was a dark empty room, and then a hard exoskeleton arm with sharp claws reached out the hole, and multiple red glowing eyes shone from the darkness, as an evil laugh echoed from the being that the arm belonged to.

"I am free!"

Chapter 29: The Boy Without a Home (edited)

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The next week were pretty eventful, Apple Bloom tried to show Applejack that she doesn’t need to be watched over constantly. Pinkie introduced everyone to her sister Maud who was the complete opposite to Pinkie, being all dull and nearly emotionless. and Rarity made dresses for a play Sweetie Belle was performing in, the dresses however got more attention than the play itself, so Sweetie Belle tried to ruin the dress Rarity made for Sapphire Shores in bitter retaliation.

Sam and Devon had to take care of the monsters that had been showing up, while Ace and Gwen recovered from the battle with Zetton. The two worked together rather well, especially when there were more than one monster. The two Ultras were currently in combat with two monsters, the Earth-Shaking Monster, Golza and the Sky-Cleaving Monster, Melba.

Sam as Ultraman was busy with Golza, while Devon as Zero took on Melba. Ultraman jumped and chopped at Golza’s head, then back-hand chopped it in the stomach, then pushed Golza back by the head followed by a kick into the chest. Melba was about to aid its mate, but Zero jumped into Ultraman. Zero kicked Melba in the chest causing it to fall to the ground. Golza managed to throw Ultraman off him and started to charge up its Ultrasonic ray. But before the Golza could fire its beam, Ultraman jumped back up and grabbed its forehead and mouth, causing Golza to stop charging up its attack.

The two grappled with each other, as Melba opened up her wings and took to the sky. She tried to strike Ultraman but Zero jumped in the way and took the full force of the attack. Zero fell to the ground, and Golza threw Ultraman on top of him, before firing his Ultrasonic beam from its forehead. Ultraman managed to dodge it in time but Zero was struck by it, causing his colour time to start blinking. Thinking fast, Zero decided to return to normal, before using up all his energy, leaving Ultraman at the mercy of the two monsters. Ultraman cartwheeled away from the Ultrasonic beams but was caught by Melba who held him still as Golza fired his beam at Ultraman, striking him in the back and causing Sam inside to cry in pain behind the mask. Melba grabbed Ultraman by the neck and then threw him to the ground.

Ultraman struggled to get up as the monsters closed in on him, screeching and roaring. Suddenly a bright light shone from the sky, and something landed in front of Ultraman and the monsters. Once the light disappeared, an Ultra stood, red and silver like Ultraman, but he had no colour, a different styled head with a green gem in the centre, and a blade on his waist.

The Ultra struck a fighting pose and ran forward to the monsters. Golza fired its Ultrasonic Beam at the Ultra, who just blocked with his hand, Melba then fired its Melbanic Ray from its eyes but the Ultra just used his other arm to block it as well, before swiping his arms down and cancelling the attacks. Golza ran forward, the Ultra did the same, and slammed his shoulder into Golza’s chest before giving the monster a bear hug and breaking its spine, causing the monster to roar out in pain as the Ultra grabbed it by the head and flipped the 68,000 tone monster over his shoulder and onto the ground with a slam.

Melba charged at the Ultra, who went to kick it, but the monster dodged it by flying into the air. Golza managed to start escaping by borrowing away while Ultra was distracted. Melba flew down and fired its Melbanic Ray at the Ultra’s back, causing the green gem in his head to start blinking. As Melba came flying towards the Ultra, he fired a beam from the gem, which struck and tore up Melba’s wings and caused the monster to fall out the ground. Melba stumbled to its feet, as the Ultra pulled out the sword on his waist and charged towards Melba, stabbing it in the chest and causing the monster to explode.

The Ultra placed his blade back into his satchel and turned back to face Ultraman, who had watched the whole fight, he was amazed at the strength of this Ultra. He stood up and walked over to the Ultra.

“Dude! That was so cool!” he exclaimed, “that was amazing how you broke Golza’s spine, and the blade of yours is incredible as well, the way you stabbed Melba like that. Anyway, thanks for the save.”

He held out his hand for a shake from the new Ultra. But to his shock the Ultra smacked it away, then out of nowhere, the Ultra punched Ultraman in the chest.

“Bro what the hell?!” exclaimed Ultraman.

“Silence you fool!” the other Ultra shouted, as he kicked Ultraman in the chest, “You have put this world in too much danger!”

“What are you talking about?!” Ultraman replied, catching the Ultra’s chop before it made contact.

“I refuse to believe that you’re the Defender of Equestria!” the Ultra declared, as he then roundhouse kicked Ultraman to the ground and put a foot on his chest, “that’s why I am here to take your title of hero away!”

“I’ve defended Equestria perfectly fine, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Ultraman snapped back as he tried to get the Ultra off him.

“Your efforts to save this world are horrendous,” the Ultra replied, pushing his foot into Ultraman’s chest, “and I’m going to make sure you are done for. But I’m not going to kill you.” He took his foot off of Ultraman’s chest.

“Wha?” Ultraman said as he sat up.

“I’ll give you a fighting chance,” the Ultra said as Ultraman stood up, “Later today, we’ll fight, if you win, you stay this world’s defender. But if I win, you leave this planet forever.”

“But this is my home,” Ultraman said.

“It won’t be anymore once I win and take your title as hero away,” The Ultra said as he turned away and flew away.

Ultraman watched as he flew back to Ponyville. “I need to see Gwen to get my strength back,” he said, as Devon had donned his Ultrasuit again and caught up with him, “who was that?”

“That was Ultraseven,” he replied, “my father.”

“Was he really your father?” Ultraman asked.

“Not really,” Zero replied, “he must have bonded with someone from your world. And it sounded like he might have been here longer than you.”

“Let’s just get back to Ponyville and get Gwen to heal us up,” Ultraman said.

“There’s one thing that’s bothering me,” Zero stated.

“What’s that?” Ultraman asked.

“Why were both monsters attacking that pyramid?” Zero questioned.

“I don’t know,” Ultraman replied.

Ultraman and Zero soon arrived back home in Ponyville and told their friends about what happened.

“Are you Ok?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah I’m fine,” Sam replied, “a little slow but I’ll live.”

“I can help heal you up,” Gwen said as she donned her Mary suit and used her healing powers on Sam and Devon.

“Thanks sis,” Sam replied, “but what am I going to do?”

“It’s either win and stay in Equestria with your friends and family or lose and leave your home forever,” Devon said.

“And I guess if I refuse to leave he’ll make me leave either dead or alive,” Sam remarked.

“But you can’t leave!” Pinkie exclaimed, “This is your home and we’re your family!”

“I fear I won’t have a choice,” Sam replied.

“But where would you go?” Rainbow asked, “there isn’t any other place you can go.”

“I could find that cave I came from when I first came to Equestria,” Sam said, “I could go back to earth, possibly get turned into a newt or something.”

“No! I won’t allow my son to be taken away from me because some other Ultra thinks he’ll be a better hero,” Twilight announced, “Sam you have to win so you can stay here with us, your family.”

“I know,” Sam replied.

“We can help you train,” Devon said motioning to Ace and Gwen, “no one knows my father like I do.”

“Is he really your father?” Gwen asked.

“No, my father would threaten to take the role of hero away from a friend,” Devon replied, “if he was my father, he would have helped Sam because Ultraman and Ultraseven are Ultra brothers.”

“My guess then, is he must be someone that was recently bonded to Ultraseven and had come to Equestria in a similar way to Sam,” Sunset presumed.

“I just want to know why the monsters were attacking that pyramid,” Devon remarked, “It was like they knew something was in there and wanted to destroy it.”

As they discussed the pyramid, Sam could feel something in his head, he went to the open window and looked out. It felt like something, or someone was calling him.

“You ok kid?” Rainbow asked Sam.

“I don’t know,” Sam said as he closed his eyes, “I can sense something, it feels like someone is calling for me.”

“Wait, I sense it too,” Gwen replied.

“It’s Ultraseven,” Devon stated, “he’s calling for us.”

“Then let’s not make him wait,” Sam told them, as they nodded and donned their Ultrasuits.

“We’ll see if we can do anything regarding the Pyramid,” Twilight said.

“Ok,” Ultraman replied, “let’s go team.”

The four Ultras then take off to where they’re sensing this signal. Once they left, Twilight levitated some paper, ink, and a quill over to Spike.

“Spike, write a letter to Miss Yearling,” Twilight told him.

“Got it,” he replied.

“You’re writing to Daring Do?!” exclaimed Rainbow.

“Yeah, tell her about the pyramid and we’ll meet her there to investigate,” Twilight said, as Spike wrote down the letter, once he was done, he rolled it up and breathed fire on it, sending the message to her.

“Now what?” Fluttershy asked.

“Now, we’re going on a road trip to San Palomino,” Twilight replied.

Ultraman, with Zero, Tiga and Mary in tow, soon found where the signal was coming from, on the edge of the Kelpie River in the Prancing Plains. They touched down and took off their Ultrasuits, they then saw someone kneeling facing the river, their back turned to Sam and the others.

“That must be who Ultraseven bonded to,” Ace said.

“And the one who’s sent the signal to us,” Sam responded as the four walked closer and stopped only a few feet behind him.

The boy that was kneeling in front of the river wore an orange top, black jeans, and brown and black boots. His hair was brown and spiky, as his head was turned away from the group, they couldn’t see his face nor could they see that he was holding something in his right hand, but they heard his voice when he started to speak.

“In my first battle on Equus, I wasn’t able to save the beauty of these now plains,” he said.

“First… Battle?” Ace repeated, “I think I remember hearing about that, for an old friend of mine.”

“Because of that, many lives were sacrificed,” the boy continued, “This is a place I must never forget.” He then stood up, in his hand, he held a locket, which he then wrapped it around his neck. “I’ve been here longer than you have, Ultraman…” everyone flinched when he called Sam Ultraman, as he turned his head to the left to face them, revealing a blue eye, “and I’ve seen how you’ve been protecting Equestria. But lately, you haven’t been able to protect this world from danger such as Zetton, Melba or Golza.”

“That’s hardly my fault if the monsters are too strong!” Sam snapped.

“The ponies of this world may have accepted you as their saviour and hero, but I can’t!” the boy shouted, “I can’t trust you with this world.”

“Hey what gives you the right to say he can’t protect this world,” Devon said.

“He’s been protecting Equestria completely fine until now,” Gwen stated, “I would know I have his memories.”

“But!” shouted the boy, “you’ll lose to a Zetton and you two failed to defeat Golza and Melba. Do you know what that means? You are not fit to protect this world. And you call yourself an Ultra without even understanding that?”

“How dare you say that…” Ace said as he walked closer to the boy.

“Ace don’t!” Sam shouted, stopping him from doing anything.

“Sam, aren’t you humiliated?” Ace questioned. Sam didn’t say anything.

He knew that the boy was right. Recently, he’s been going up against monsters he couldn’t defeat. Either they were getting stronger, or he was getting weaker. Tears started to fall out his eyes as he could picture his family suffering, and he can’t do anything about it.

“What’s with that expression?!” the boy said, he was now properly facing the group, “Those eyes? What’s with those tears?! Can you save this world with those tears?” Sam just stared at him intensely, “Show me you have what it takes to save this world, by battling me. If you win, I’ll trust you with this world. But if you can’t, then I’ll take your place and you’ll leave this world forever.”

Sam just stared as he donned his Ultrasuit, the boy did the same, donning the Ultraseven suit and struck a fighting pose.

“Guys, get to safety,” Ultraman told his friends, they nodded and ran to a safe distance.

The two Ultra warriors stared at each other as they slowly walked in a circle, waiting for each other to make the first move. Seven took the first move as he ran forward and kicked Ultraman in the side, he then tried to kick him again, but Ultraman dodged it and grabbed Seven by the arm and held him still. It didn’t work for long as Seven grabbed his arm and twisted his wrist, causing Ultraman to cry in pain, Seven lifted up his arm and chopped at Ultraman’s exposed chest, then tossed him around to the ground.

Ultraman rolled on the ground then got back to his feet, as Seven came closer. Ultraseven threw a punch, but Ultraman caught it, but that left him open as Seven used his other fist to get his hand free. He went for another punch, but Ultraman grabbed him and threw him over himself. Seven got to his feet, then kicked Ultraman on the left then on the right, he went to kick Ultraman on the chest, but he caught his leg, but Seven used that spin and kicked him in the shoulder. Ultraman stumbled then clutched his shoulder, where Seven had kicked him.

“If you don’t come at me seriously, you’ll never be a true hero and you will die,” Ultraseven called out.

Sam grumbled behind his mask as he charged forward, he went to kick Ultraseven, but the Ultra caught it and flipped Ultraman over. He landed on his feet, as Seven went to punch him, Ultraman defected it, and tossed Ultraseven to the ground, but the pain in his arm came back as he clutched it. Ultraseven got up and performed a few roundhouse kicks, Ultraman dodged them all and they then locked their arms back to back. Ultraman managed to grab Ultraseven’s wrists and flipped him over himself, but Seven used this opening, got on the ground, and still holding onto Ultraman, flipped him over and used his legs to throw him further as he landed on his back hard on the ground.

Ultraseven jumped, somersaulted through the air, and landed on Ultraman’s shoulders, pinning him to the ground. He chopped at his chest a couple of times, before Ultraman got him off him by kicking his back. The Ultras stared at each other as they crossed arms, and Ultraseven delivered punches and chops one after the other. He grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him to the ground, Ultraman struggled to get to his feet, as Ultraseven prepared to finish him off. Ultraseven pulled out his sabre and dashed forward, Ultraman didn’t have time to dodge the attack, as Ultraseven swung his sword down off Ultraman's chest, causing Ultra to scream out in pain and fall to the ground.

Ultraman panted as he lay on the ground, his chest showing a deep cut for the sword that had struck him, that had cut threw the suit to his skin. Ultraseven stood above him, pointing his sword at Ultraman’s neck.

“You’ve lost,” he said, “I have shown you and to your friends, that I am able to take care of this world.”

“I may have failed to stop Zetton, Melba or Golza, but at least I was able to stop them from causing harm to anyone!” Ultraman shouted.

“Shut up! You don’t know what I’ve been!” Ultraseven yelled, “you weren’t there when that Velokron attacked! The screaming, the flames, the helpless ponies fleeing for their lives, that was the second time I had lost everything that day!”

“The…Second… Time?” Sam repeated, a little confused.

Ultraseven sighed, lowering his weapon, and deactivating his Ultrasuit, Ultraman did the same. “It happened when I was five, I was with my parents on our way home one night, when it happened, some drunk teens were coming down the road the other way, when they suddenly veered over to our lean, causing us to crash into a tree. I was able to crawl out of the wreck, but when I called my parents, they didn’t respond, they had died. I tried to pull their bodies out the car, but once I did, the car exploded, and a piece of metal flew from the wreckage and slashed me across the face and knocked me out. It’s why I have this scar,” the boy said as he lifted his hair out of his face revealing a scar over his right eye, which was also grey, “when I woke up, I was in a hospital bed, with a patch over my eye. The Doctor had told me that my parents had died in the crash, and the drunk teens had been arrested. But ever since that day, I’ve been living in a depression with a friend of mine and his parents, all the way up to 10 years old, when we had a science fair, and I was caught in an experiment gone wrong and I was teleported to this place. But during the teleportation, I met Ultraseven, who told me I could have a chance to live and feel happy again. I took that chance, and he bonded with me. So for a year and a half, I’ve been living in Equestria, defending from monsters that rose up, or invaded. But even though living here wasn't great, I was put in an orphanage in Dodge City, and it was not great, only one staff member cared for me, the other staff, and the kids were all cruel to me because I was a human. Then came that day, Velokron attacked, I’ve never fought a monster like it, and I could do anything as it completely defeated me, and I had to watch Dodge City burn and listen to the ponies scream. Using the last of my strength, I killed that monster, but ever since then, I’ve been living here in the plains, sleeping in an empty tree, and eating off fruit and water from the river. Until you came along and dealt with them monsters. I saw how you fought them and kept winning, I guess I grew jealous, and just wanted to be a true hero, as I defeated the monster I fought with more feral wildness.”

“I think I get what you’ve been through,” Sam commented, listening carefully to what the boy was saying, Sam’s friends had come back when they stopped fighting.

“You do?” the boy asked.

“Yeah, I was tortured back in school from my bullies then after my father passed away from an unknown illness and my mother got turned into a feral donkey, I thought I had lost everything, living in a depression, with my Nightmares, as my really company,” Sam replied, “but then once I vanquished my Terror-Scars, and been having therapy with Princess Luna, I’ve been feeling better, and I got friends and family that support me. And I know that we can help you feel better too.”

“Do you really think you can do that?” the boy asked.

“Of course,” Sam answered, “You can have some of Applejack apple pie, Rarity could make you some nice new colours, Fluttershy could be there to listen to you, Rainbow could boast how great and awesome she is, Pinkie can throw you a party, and Twilight and Sunset, well they can just be loving and caring for you. Twilight might even read you a story.”

“I like the sound of this Rainbow character,” the boy said.

“Then why don’t you come home with us,” Sam said holding out his hand, “to your new home where you’ll be welcomed and loved.”

With a bit of hesitation, the boy held out his hand and shook Sam’s. “I would love to start anew,” he said.

“Well then, welcome to the beginning of your fresh, new start uh…?” Sam paused as he didn’t know this kid’s name, “You never told us your name.”

“Oh oops,” the boy chuckled, “call me Nicholas, or Nick for short.”

“Right then Nick,” Sam replied. Suddenly then the ground started to shake, “What happened?!”

“An earthquake?!” called Gwen, her question was answered when the ground erupted behind them and rose up Golza, but he looked different, the silver spots on his body had turned red, and he now had red vein like markings on his body. He had evolved into Fire Golza after absorbing and feeding on lava.

“Holy crap!” shouted Ace, as Fire Golza climbed out of the earth. The monster spotted them and roared at them as he stomped over to the kids. They all ran out of his way, but Gwen was frozen in fear as Fire Golza’s foot came down.

“GWEN!” cried Sam, suddenly Nick quickly shoved her to the ground just barely avoiding Fire Golza’s foot. The Monster roared out into the air as he started to stomp off.

“Are you ok?” Nick asked Gwen, as he leaned over her.

“Oh,” Gwen was taken aback as she lay on her back, looking up into Nick’s blue and grey scarred eyes, she blushed a little, “I-I’m fine, thank you.”

Nick stood up and offered a hand for her to get up, he took it and stood back up, cheeks still a little pink.

“Guys, I think I know where the monster’s going,” Devon commented, pointing in the direction Fire Golza was heading in.

“He’s going back to the Pyramid,” Sam cried as he got ready to fire after him, but Nick quickly grabbed a hold of his arm.

“No Sam, you can’t go after him, he’s too strong,” he pleaded.

“I have too,” Sam replied, “I have to show I’m not weak.”

“But you’re not,” Nick said, “like I said, I’ve seen you fight those monsters, and it’s not that you’ve been getting weaker, they’ve been getting stronger. You need help taking down these stronger monsters.”

“No, but you’re right,” Sam declared, “I’m getting weak, they’re getting strong, and the only way for me to get stronger, is to fight stronger enemies.” He then donned his Ultrasuit again and flew off after Fire Golza.

“Come on guys,” Devon said, “let’s go and see if we can help in some other way.”

“Right,” they replied as they donned their Ultrasuits and flew after Ultraman.

Back at the pyramid, Twilight and co, had met up with Daring Do, and had entered the pyramid to try and find the reason why the monsters had attacked it. They took twists, turns, and avoided traps, even Rainbow played a joke on them when she wrapped herself in old bandages and pretended to be a mummy. Soon they made it to a large opening, presuming the centre of the pyramid.

“Woah this place is huge,” Rarity remarked.

“And a bit spooky,” Fluttershy commented.

“Don’t worry guys,” Daring Do assured them, “this is nothing like the time I was stuck in a room with absolutely no light whatsoever. Thanks Twilight, Sunset and Rarity for lighting our way, saves me the effort to make a torch.”

“No problem,” Sunset replied.

“Hey there’s something here to put a torch,” Rainbow pointed out, using her magic, Sunset shot a small fireball at the holster, setting it alight with fire. Suddenly, the whole room lit up with torches all along the walls.

“Woah, this is Awesome!” cried Rainbow.

“Look at that,” Applejack pointed out, standing in the middle of the room, standing three small statues, with three small pedestals in front of them. One statue looked like a mix of a frog, a bull, and an Incan Mask, the second resembled a robotic humanoid with a face similar to a horned owl, and the third bore a resemblance to a bipedal Ceratopsian. On the pedestals, where small capsule-like objects. And behind the three statues, was a much larger statue, with crust like horns on the back of its head and a nasal that pointed forward.

“Oh my Celestia,” Twilight remarked, the ponies were all shocked, even Pinkie wasn’t bouncing around.

“Twilight look,” called Applejack, “there’s writing on this stone tablet.”

“Can you read it, Twi?” Sunset asked.

“I can try, but this writing is very old,” Twilight replied, “I think this say ‘This is the Temple of Nephasis, and standing before you are the Great Protectors, Miclas, the Wrestling Beast, Windom the Robotic Fighter, Agira the Ceratopsian Reptile, and the Great Goliath himself, Gomora the Ancient Monster. Taking the Capsules will summon the trio and they will be loyal to them, Gomora can only be summoned when he senses the danger. Make sure you don’t remove or destroy this stone tablet or else Nephasis will awaken…’ and the rest I’m not sure what it says.”

“Oh my,” Rarity commented.

“I’ve never heard of this Nephasis creature before,” Twilight said.

“I know it said not to take the stone tablet,” Daring Do said, “but Ahuizotl might take it and use Nephasis for his own evil deeds, I say I take it with me to keep it safe.”

“I agree with Daring Do,” Rainbow remarked.

Twilight also had to agree, but she was scared that if she removed the stone tablet, the Nephasis would appear, but she had never heard of this creature and nothing in her history books and ever said anything about this temple. So she took a deep breath and using her magic, levitated a slab of rock over and quickly swapped it with the tablet. She then waited for something to happen, but nothing did.

“Phew, that was a close one,” Twilight sighed, then suddenly the temple started to shake and crumble.

“Twilight?!” cried Applejack.

“Everyone outside!” Twilight yelled, she used her magic to grab the capsules and everyone legged it as fast as they could out of the temple. Once they made it outside, they all looked up to see Fire Golza attacking the temple.

“It’s the monster from this morning!” Rainbow shouted.

“Quick everyone to something safe!” Twilight cried.

Fire Golza tore at the temple determined to destroy the temple. Suddenly a Specium Beam struck his back causing the monster to roar in pain. Fire Golza turned to see Ultraman flying in and land ready to fight. Ultraman ran forward and punched Fire Golza in the chest, but the monster didn’t feel anything, he didn’t even flinch. Ultraman tried again, but still Fire Golza didn’t feel anything. The monster then swiped his claws at Ultraman hitting the brush he got from fighting Ultraseven causing the Ultra to cringe in pain, then Fire Golza smacked Ultraman around the face sending the Ultra flying to the ground.

The ponies on the ground were shocked to see that, as Ultraman got back to his feet, and the two charged at each other. Ultraman jumped and tried chopping at Fire Golza’s neck, but nothing seemed to harm him. He tried to kick the monster, but Fire Golza grabbed his leg and held Ultraman still as he smacked him with his claws. Ultraman stumbled to the side then kicked Fire Golza in the gentlemen’s area, somehow Fire Golza didn’t feel a thing. Ultraman tried to keep his distance as he kicked Fire Golza in the shoulder a few times, then a punch in the chest, and a chop to the head but still nothing would hurt the monster.

As Ultraman threw another punch, Fire Golza caught it in his claw, and started to crush his fist, causing Ultra to cry in pain. Still holding his fist, Fire Golza smacked Ultraman in the head then kicked him in the side, then grabbing his arm, threw him to the ground. Ultraman rolled on the ground, then fired a Specium Slash at the monster, but as it hit Fire Golza in the chest, the monster just absorbed the attack like it was nothing.

Ultraman was shocked, as he struck a fighting pose, Fire Golza roared in fury and charged at Ultraman, he tried to tackle him to the ground but Ultraman dodged it in time, while giving him a chop on the back before rolling on the ground. Fire Golza turned around and kicked him to the ground, Ultraman managed to dodge some of Fire Golza claw swipes as he stood back up and blocked another claw strike. Ultraman tried to kick him again, but once again, Fire Golza didn’t flinch, Ultraman then tried to grab him head, but Fire Golza knocked his hands away and struck his face.

Ultraman grabbed that claw, but Fire Golza just threw him to the ground. Ultraman wouldn’t give up, as Fire Golza charged up his empowered Ultrasonic Ray and fired it at Ultraman striking the Ultra in the chest. Ultraman jumped up and tried an air kick, Fire Golza shifted and Ultraman missed and landed on the ground behind Fire Golza. The monster charged up and fired another Empowered Ultrasonic Ray, Ultraman dodged it just in time, the beam struck the ground and exploded. Fire Golza roared in fury at this, Ultraman was now having second thoughts about fighting along. Just then two Slugger Hawks came flying in and struck Fire Golza, the monster turned and saw it was Ultraseven as he landed near Ultraman.

He held out his hand to him, Ultraman took it and Seven helped him up. “I’ll take it from here,” he said.

“Thank you,” Ultraman replied, “I’ve just released the only way I’m this strong is because I have a team to help me.”

“We are strong in numbers,” Ultraseven replied, “Now get healed up.” Ultraman nodded and ran off, as Ultraseven prepared to fight.

Fire Golza roared as Ultraseven punched him in the chest, Ultraseven’s attacks were a little stronger than Ultraman’s so he managed to push Fire Golza back with his punches, but did seem to do little more than Ultraman did. Fire Golza went in to slash him, but Ultraseven blocked it and kicked him in the side making the monster stumble back. Ultraseven grabbed his head and then threw the monster to the ground and caused him to roll on the ground. Fire Golza stumbled to his feet, as he ran forward and tried to attack Ultraseven, but the Ultra just side-stepped and caused the monster to fall on the ground.

Ultraseven punched Fire Golza in the chest, making the monster crumple down, then punched him again with both fists before grabbing him and flipping him over himself with pushing the monster with his legs in a similar tactic he used on Ultraman. Seven then grabbed the monster by the head and flipped him over and slammed him back down on the ground. Fire Golza stumbled to his feet and roared at Ultraseven as he kicked him twice in the chest, making the monster stumble back in pain. Ultraseven grabbed Fire Golza by the shoulder and kneed him in the stomach, then punched him in the chest and kicked him back.

Ultraseven then put his arms in a L-shape and then fired a beam called his Wide Shot at Fire Golza, but just like Ultraman’s Specium Slash, Fire Golza just absorbed it. Ultraseven just stared as his head crystal started blinking, he knew he had to finish this quickly. Fire Golza roared and slowly stomped toward Ultraseven menacingly, the blade on the Ultras head started to glow, Ultraseven reached back and pulled it up, now Ultraseven had an Eye Slugger weapon. As Fire Golza closed the distance, Ultraseven slashed it across the monster’s chest, causing the monster to cry out in pain. He attached the blade to his leg and gave Fire Golza a kick, dealing more damage than the slash, as Fire Golza fell to the ground. Fire Golza stumbled to his feet, as Ultraseven slashed his Slugger across his chest rapidly, then giving an explosive kick to his side and another to his crotch, before cutting the monster with the Slugger.

Ultraseven placed the Eye Slugger back on his head, then jumped up and kicked Fire Golza in the shoulder. Fire Golza struggled to his feet, as Ultraseven charged up all his energy, and fired a more powerful Wide Shot, Fire Golza couldn’t absorb it as it was too much, the beam exploded upon contact with Fire Golza, and the monster collapsed to the ground. Ultraseven knew what to do with Fire Golza, He went over to his body, picked him up and flew up into the sky, he soared across the land and over the ocean to the Dragon Lands, where he then tossed Fire Golza into Dragmire Volcano, Killing the monster.

Ultraseven returned back to Nick and almost collapsed on the ground from exhaustion but Sam ran up and caught him before he could fall onto the ground. Gwen came over and helped him too. Twilight and everyone came out from hiding and cheered for them.

“Well done Sam!” Twilight praised, “You defeated the monster.”

“Well, I didn’t really do anything,” Sam admitted as Ace took over supporting Nick, “the praises should go to my friend Ultraseven here, Nicholas.” The ponies were amazed that this was Ultraseven’s bonded partner. “Mum, Nick here has no home to go back to,” he told her.

“Why what happened?” She asked.

“Well, this isn't going to be that last time I’ll tell this story,” Nick said, as Ace and Gwen helped him to a bolder for him to sit down on. He then started to tell the story of how he came to Equestria, the ponies were all stunned that they had not heard about him before, surely a human in Equestria would have drawn a lot of attention, but it was Sam that took the attention instead. Once Nick finished telling his tale, the ponies all felt sorry for him, more sorry than when Sam told his tale of how he came to Equestria.

“Oh you poor darling,” Rarity remarked as she, Pinkie and Fluttershy gave him a hug, “Tell you what, you come home with us to Ponyville, and I’ll make you some new clothes.”

“I can throw you a ‘Welcome to your new Home’ party!” Pinkie cried.

“I can bake you a delicious apple pie,” Applejack said.

“I can be someone you can talk to and listen to,” Fluttershy spoke softly.

“I can tell you how awesome I am,” Rainbow boasted.

“And me and Sunset could be there to just support you,” Twilight responded.

“Thank you, all of you,” Nick said, “but Rainbow, could you do something else for me.”

“Sure kid,” she replied, “what’s that?”

“Could… I live with you?” Nick asked, in a nervous tone.

“Oh, sure you can,” Rainbow replied, “It would be nice to had a little company when Scott is out with Emily.”

“Oh thank you,” Nick said, giving her a hug, this took Rainbow a little off guard but she wrapped her wings around him to return the hug.

“Well I best get going back to my cottage,” Daring Do said, “to keep this stone tablet safe, and uncover what the rest of this message says.”

“Ok, thanks for your help,” Twilight told her.

“Don’t mention it, I owed Dash a favour after you helped me last time,” Daring Do replied as she held the tablet in her hooves and took off into the sky, the ponies waved until she was out of sight.

“Oh by the way mum,” Sam said, “what are those in your saddle bag?”

“Oh these?” Twilight questioned as she pulled out the three capsules, “these are capsules that contain the monsters, Miclas, Windom and Agira. I took them because the temple was crumbling so they wouldn’t get crushed. I was going to put them back, but the entrance collapsed behind us, but maybe you think you could look after them for the time being?”

“I think the one that should look after them, should be the real hero today,” Sam said, looking at Nick.

“Who, me?” Nick questioned himself.

“Yeah,” Sam said, taking the capsules and giving them to him, “I’m sure we can trust you with them.”

“I’ll protect them with my life,” Nick replied.

“Good, because I wouldn’t like to see who they actually belong to, mad that they'll be missing,” Sam remarked.

“Come on now,” Twilight said, “let’s head home.”

“Yeah, come on bud,” Rainbow said to Nick as she placed him on her back, “let’s take you to your new home.”

Nick smiled as everyone started to make their way back to the train station ready to go home. Sam smiled to himself, knowing that He had made another friend and who had joined his alliance, he helped Nick and Nick helped him.

But as everyone left the temple, inside the giant room, where the smashed statues of the monster trio lay, the slab of rock fell off the pedestal, and activated a switch. Before the Gomora statue, a hidden door cracked open a little bit. Behind the door was a spiralling staircase and footsteps could be heard coming up the staircase, as a human flesh-coloured hand with sharp purple nails clutched the door and started to it.

Author's Notes:

sup guys

Woah, I started this not knowing what to do and thinking it was going to be another rushed chapter, but this has to be the best chapter I wrote so far. and the longest with nearly 6,600 words, wow. I wanted to finish it last, night, or at least finish the Fire Golza fight, but it was like 15 minutes to midnight, so I had to stop where I was.

the original plan was the chapter was called A Rivalry had Formed, in which Sam and Nick become rivals in a similar way to Gary Oak and Ash Ketchum, Gomora was going to properly show up in this chapter and help fight Fire Golza, and the Capsule monster trio went going to show up at all. But the more I wrote the more I thought after this Sam and Nick wouldn't become rivals so I think I made the right call by changing the name of the chapter, and adding Miclas, Windom and Agira and Making Gomora stay as a statue was a good call, but don't worry, he's show up very soon.

I hope you like this chapter, I did put a lot of effort into it, and I'll see you in the next one.

Chapter 30: Leap of Faith (Edited)

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A few days had passed and Nick was welcomed into Ponyville with open arms, he made plenty of friends, and helped Sam and co out when they were in trouble. At times he would but heads with Sam, but the two would make up. Nick's three monsters, Agira, Windom and Miclas all seemed to be well suited for fighting, but they did have some downsides. Miclas was a coward, Windom was slowly to respond, and Agira, the only female at the trio, would be concerned about something else. But After giving Miclas a pep talk, oiling up Windom's joints and finding out that Agira was really pregnant with an egg, the monsters fought much better, though Agira would later be left out of some battles to take care of her upcoming egg, and she would often be found behind Fluttershy's cottage, with the yellow Pegasus helping her with the egg. Nick and Rainbow also started to grow a bond the more he lived with her. Both of them discovered a side of Rainbow that not even her knew, a more motherly, soccer mom side, rather than just the brash, short tempered and boastful side.

One day, the sun was shining bright in the sky above Ponyville. The Apple family were enjoying their day at a local swimming hole. Jake would have been with them, but he was out for the day with Kerry.

“Just one more time?” Apple Bloom asked her sister, “Please?”

“Alright, but this is the last one,” Applejack replied.

Apple bloom cheered as she ran to the lake. She hopped onto a rock, then onto Big Mac’s back, before jumping over to Applejack who pushed her up with her back legs, causing her to go flying into the air and come splashing back down in the lake. The splash she made was so big, Granny Smith got wet on her chair from it all the way on shore.

“Who did that?!” she spluttered.

“Sure wish you'd come swim with us, Granny,” Apple Bloom said.

“Uh, sorry, dear,” Granny Smith replied, “I just can't bring myself anywhere near that there swimmin' hole.”

“How come?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Well, I wasn't always this way...” Granny Smith remarked as she had an old timey flashback, “Time was, I was an aquapony all-star! In fact, I was the only Apple to ever come close to breaking the Equestria high-diving record! Falling six stories into a deep dish pie pan takes a toll on the hindquarters. Oh, I was so sore, took years before I could even look at the water again! Just the idea of swimmin' makes my whole body ache! Besides, these old legs can't even paddle fast enough to stay afloat.” She got down off her chair and stepped forward a bit, but she then started to panic and slip around trying to stable herself on a puddle.

“Boy, I sure would hate to be afraid of swimmin',” Apple Bloom admitted, “You think I'll ever be scared of the water?”

Suddenly, they saw a shark fin swim through the water, Apple Bloom panicked as she ran back to shore for safety. But it was only Big Mac wearing a fake shark fin on his head.

“Nope,” he answered as he and Applejack laughed.

Later, as the Apple Family were making their way back to Ponyville, Apple Bloom found it rather interesting that Granny Smith was a High Diver.

“Wow, Granny,” Apple Bloom remarked, “I can't believe you were a high diver!”

“The best one in Ponyville!” Granny responded.

“Do you think I could be a high diver?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Nope. Absolutely not,” Big Mac and Applejack shot down her hopes.

“But…” Apple Bloom tried to retort but Granny Smith cut her off.

“Now you hold your horsefeathers, little seed!” she said, “I never said bein' a high diver' was a smart decision! It's incredibly dangerous!”

“I know, but-” Apple Bloom tried to speak only to get cut off by Granny Smith again.

“But nothin'! It is the riskiest, scariest, darn-fool thing I ever did do!” she shouted, “That's not to say I didn't wish I was still young and spry and confident, but let's leave the flyin' through the air to the Pegasi.”

“Wow, when you put it that way, it doesn't sound so fun,” Apple Bloom said. Just then, a group of ponies passed them, most of them appeared to be in bandages or injured in some way.

“Wow. I wonder where everypony's headed,” Applejack questioned. They all heard some fairground music in the distance, Granny Smith and Apple Bloom started to follow the music as well, “Now where in Ponyville do you two think you're goin'?”

“Aw, quit bein' such a worry-worm and follow your ears!” Granny Smith told them.

“Come on, Applejack, aren't you curious?” Apple Bloom asked.

Applejack and Big Mac looked at each other with worried expressions before following everyone else. They soon arrived at a large circus tent, where everypony was gathering. Applejack and Big Mac stood at the back with Apple Bloom and Granny Smith stood at the front, as the lights dimmed, and a mechanical organ started playing cheery music, two familiar voices spoke up to greet the ponies.

“Thank you, one and all, for your attendance, and we guarantee that your time here will not be spent in vain!” said the first.

“In fact, we think it will prove to be the most valuable time you've ever spent!” The second joined in, as the curtains opened up to reveal Applejack’s sworn enemies.

“The Flim Flam Brothers!” Applejack yelled softly, “This should be interestin'.”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied.

“Welcome, one and all, to the demonstration of a lifetime!” Flim announced.

“A demonstration of a better life!” Flam declared.

“A demonstration of a better time!” Flim continued, “And if we haven't captured your interest just yet, by the time we've finished, an unfortunate phenomenon practically guarantees that we will!”

“A phenomenon? What's that?” Flam asked.

“It's a circumstance perceptible by the senses,” Flim answered, “but in this case, it's the simple fact that:”

“Now I understand that some of you don't think you're sick,” Flim spoke to the crowd.

“But twisted hooves and aching joints don't heal all that quick,” Flam spoke up.

“Consider just how dangerous this world is! You might...” Flim said before singing again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMrs7KifueI&list=PLfJpfTZK5SWAYkDYaPN3rW7q3RjZzlzl0&index=117

“Thank you, one and all, for your attendance, and we guarantee that your time here will not be spent in vain!” said the first.

“In fact, we think it will prove to be the most valuable time you've ever spent!” the second joined in, as the curtains opened up to reveal Applejack’s swore enemies.

“The Flim Flam Brothers!” Applejack yelled softly, “This should be interestin'.”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied.

“Welcome, one and all, to the demonstration of a lifetime!” Flim announced.

“A demonstration of a better life!” Flam declared.

“A phenomenon? What's that?” Flam asked.

“It's a circumstance perceptible by the senses,” Flim answered, “but in this case, it's the simple fact that:”

There's ailments all around us in everything we touch and see
A sickness that lies waiting there in every breath you breathe
Disease will up and grab you as it crawls from land and sea
It's amazing how infected that the natural world and all its things can be

“Now I understand that some of you don't think you're sick,” Flim spoke to the crowd.

“But twisted hooves and aching joints don't heal all that quick,” Flam spoke up.

“Consider just how dangerous this world is! You might...” Flim said before singing again.

Slip and fall, break or sprain something here tonight
But luckily for you, we've got the thing you need
And it's easier when all you need's the cure
The Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic
Is just what the doctor ordered, I'm sure

“Now I know our claims seem fantastical,” Flim said.

“Impractical. Improbable. Impossible. And magical!” the two declared.

“So we welcome every suffering pony to make their way up to the stage,” Flim told them.

“Now don't crowd,” Flam informed them.

“And we'll prove our tonic's effectiveness before your very eyes,” Flim declared.

“You there! Come up here, good sir,” Flam said to a pony, wearing glasses, a hat, and overalls, he also had a pair of crutches. He made his way up to the stage.

“I'll wager you're tired of those crutches, my friend,” Flim said.

“Try taking a sip of this!” Flam stated as he held up a bottle of the special tonic with his magic.

He poured the liquid into the stallion's mouth, the crowd gasping as they watched the ponies slowly step down from his crutches and onto his front hooves. The stallion was overjoyed to be back on all fours.

That's why you're so lucky we've got the thing for you
Just come on up, we've always got some more
Of the Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic
I won't need these crutches to dance out the door

“Now how do ya like that?” Granny Smith asked.

“I don't,” Applejack admitted, “There's somethin' funny about this whole thing.”

Now some of you may suffer from feelings of despair
You're old, you're tired, your legs won't work, there's graying in your hair
Just listen and I'll tell you that you don't need to fear
Your ears will work, your muscles tone, your eyes will see so clear

Luckily for us, you've got the thing we need
The answer to our problems in a jar
The Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic
Is the greatest ever miracle by far!

“It cures the reins, the spurs, and the Clydesdale fur blight,” Flim said.

“Hooferia and horsentery cured in just a night,” Flam remarked.

“You've got swollen hooves and hindquarters or terrible bridle-bit cleft,” Flim responded.

“Saunter sitz and gallop plop will give your tail some heft,” Flam mentioned.

“Mane loss, hay fever, or terrible tonsillitis,” Flim retorted.

“You heard it here, folks -- this is the only place in all of Equestria you'll find it!” Flam shouted.

It can make you shorter, taller, or even grow old
But who'd want that?
When with one drink
You can be young again–

“SOLD!” shouted Granny Smith.

“Congratulations, Granny Smith!” announced Flim, “You just made the purchase of a lifetime!”

“Are you as worried as I am?” Applejack asked her brother.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied.

Later, the family where back at the creek, Applejack and Apple Bloom talk while Big Mac fished with an apple as bait.

“Boy, I just can't believe all the things that Flim Flam Tonic can do!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.

“When somepony says somethin's too good to be true, it usually is,” Applejack told her.

“You mean Granny wasted her money?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Well, I don't know about that, but I don't think there's a tonic in Equestria that can make an old pony young again,” Applejack told her.

“Howdy!” cried Granny Smith’s voice, they three looked to see her swimming on her back in the water.

“Granny?!” cried Apple Bloom.

“Hang on now! We'll get ya!” exclaimed Applejack.

Believing she's in trouble, the siblings try to save her. Big Mac threw his work horse collar to Granny Smith, but she just swam past it. Applejack tried to stop her by knocking a tree into the river, but Granny Smith just swam around it, almost like she didn’t know it was there. The siblings slide down the bank, with Big Mac almost knocking them into the water.

“Granny, I thought you were too afraid of the water to swim!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, “And, and what about your hip?!”

“Well, I reckon it might have been a problem before I had myself a dose of that there Flim Flam Tonic!” she replied as she pulled out a tonic bottle.

“I'm not so sure that tonic really does anythin','' Applejack admitted.

“Doesn't do anythin'?!” Granny retorted, “What d'you call this?” she downed the tonic and started to dance around like nothing was wrong with her, she appears to be as fit as a filly.

“I'm glad you're feelin' good, but how do you know it's from the tonic?” Applejack asked.

“I looked out at the water this mornin' and I felt the same terrifyin' aches and pains I always do,” Granny replied, “But one sip of that magic elixir and it all went away! Why, I might even get a head start on my chores! What do you say, Big Mac-a-doo? Up for a little afternoon applebuckin'?”

“Uh, no,” he replied, a little unsure what to do or say.

“Oh, quit your bellyachin'!” Granny responded as she started to pull him along.

“Gee, it looks like that tonic works after all!” Apple Bloom declared, “I wonder what's in it.”

“I think maybe it's time we found out,” Applejack stated.

That evening, the sisters made their way to the Circus tent that Flim and Flam were in, with the fairground music playing from the tent.

“So you're just gonna walk up and ask them how it works?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I guess,” Applejack said, “Though if it's a genuine cure, I don't suppose they'll be too keen on sharin' the recipe.”

Just as they came closer to the entrance, a pony came out, the same pony for that morning’s demonstration.

“Wait a second!” Apple Bloom pointed out, “That's that same pony from before!”

The pony panicked and ran away, “HEY!” Applejack cried as she and Apple Bloom chased after him. After crashing into some barrels, they cornered the pony. “Now hold it right there, Mister...?”

“Shill. Silver Shill,” the pony replied, nervously, “Ooh, what do you two want?”

“Our Granny took some tonic, and we want to know how it works,” Applejack told him.

“Granny couldn't swim before, and now she can. Just like you couldn't walk and now you can,” Apple Bloom stated, “But what are you doin' back here? I mean, if the tonic cured you and all...” Silver Shill gulped.

“...Because he's part of the act!” Applejack exclaimed after spotting a bunch of props and wigs, “It's time for you to tell the truth! You never needed crutches at all, did ya?”

“I, uh...”Silver Shill stuttered as he panicked and flipped a switch that activated some pipes, blindsiding the two sisters with steam and he ran away. Applejack motions to Apple Bloom to split up and find him, Applejack manages to spot him hurrying back into the tent as a crowd of ponies make their way out the tent. She waited until the ponies had left as she peeked inside the tent.

“Well, if it isn't our most favourite Apple!” came Flim’s voice.

“What brings you back to our humble abode?” Flam asked.

“You two charlatans sold my Granny a bottle of tonic, and now she's off actin' like a filly again,” Applejack told them.

“What's so bad about that?” Flim questioned.

“If she keeps gallavantin' around like a yearlin', she's apt to drop from exhaustion or worse!” Applejack exclaimed, “What's more, I know for a fact that your friend here is dressin' up as a different pony every night so he can pretend to be cured!”

“Well, well, well, that's quite an accusation,” Flam stated.

“But let's say that it's true... Hypothetically... Theoretically... As I understand, your Granny was a famous aquapony,” They spoke in their manner, “ The star of the show, once upon a time. But hasn't set so much as a hoof in the water since.”

“Until now, that’s right,” Applejack replied.

“Well, then even if our tonic were nothing more than a mixture of apple juice and beet leaves... Hypothetically... Theoretically... The fact is that Granny is happier now than before she tried it,” They responded.

“I guess…” Applejack stated.

“So, the question is...” Flim started.

“Do you really want to be the pony who takes all that happiness away?” Flam finished.

“I…” Applejack didn’t know how to reply.

“There you are! I've been lookin' all over!” came Apple Bloom’s voice as she made her way to her sister, “Did you find out what's in the tonic?”

Applejack looked back at Flim and Flam, “Honestly, Apple Bloom... as long as it works, I... don't suppose it really matters,” she replied.

“Well, if it doesn't matter to you, then it doesn't matter to me either, sis,” Apple Bloom replied, Applejack smiled at her sister as the two left the tent.

“That's the spirit!” Flim cheered.

“Come back anytime!” called out Flam.

At the swimming hole the next morning, Granny Smith is able to take part in her grandchildren's fun thanks to the tonic, Though Applejack just sat on a swing hanging from a tree near the swimming hole.

“Hey, Granny! Think you can buck me over the water?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I don't see why not!” Granny Smith replied, “Come on, Big Mac, toss her this way!”

“Granny, wait!” cried Applejack. But everything was fine, as Granny Smith bucked Apple Bloom in a circle.

“Uh, what were you sayin', dear?” Granny Smith asked Applejack.

“Granny, don't you think you should take it kinda easy?” Applejack asked.

“I've been takin' it easy for too long!” Granny Smith announced, “And now, thanks to that Flim Flam Tonic, I don't have to!”

“Granny, you think I could be an aquapony like you?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Of course you can, sapling,” Granny replied, “There's nothin' to it but to do it!”

“Well, the Ponyville swim meet is comin' up,” Apple Bloom said, as she, Granny Smith and Big Mac came back onto the shore, “We could enter together! A legendary water pony like you? We'd be a cinch to win!”

“Mm, ee, uh, I don't know... Bein' back in the water is one thing, but a competition is a pony of a different colour,” Granny replied.

“Oh. Okay,” Apple Bloom responded defeatedly.

Applejack looked at the Tonic bottle that Flim and Flam gave her, “I don't know, Granny. A swim meet sounds pretty safe,” she told her, “And after all, if that tonic lets you swim in a river and a swimmin' hole, a pool should be no problem at all.”

“Well, I'll be a tart turnover, you are right!” Granny replied, “All we need now is more tonic!”

With this encouragement, The Apple Family headed back to Flim and Flam’s tent, where there was a long line of ponies waiting to buy the tonic.

“Welcome, friends, and step right up! The next show starts in five minutes!” Flam announced.

“But why not buy your tonic now and avoid the rush?” Flim declared.

“Right this way, good sir!” Flam exclaimed to Silver Shill, who was wearing a fake beard and wig.

“We'll take the whole case!” cried Granny Smith, as Big Mac dropped a bag full of coins. Flim and Flam looked a little confused but then their expressions changed to grins.

“Are you saying this stuff actually works?” asked a disabled pony named Jinx.

“It seems to work for Granny,” Applejack replied.

“You heard it here first, folks!” Flim shouted, “Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic is Granny Smith-tested and Applejack-approved!”

“If Applejack says it works, that's good enough for me!” Jinx exclaimed, as the swarm of ponies held out their hooves wanting to buy the tonic, Applejack could only sigh, she had unwittingly given the tonic her stamp of approval.

At the Ponyville Swim Meet, Granny Smith and Apple Bloom prepare to compete.

“Hoo-ha, hee-hee, ha-hoo-ha!” they cried as they stretched. Applejack came over to talk to them.

“Just remember, you two,” she said, “The most important thing is to be safe and have fun, right?”

“Fiddlesticks!” Granny Smith declared, “With the routine we've been workin' on, I'll be a plum puddin' if we don't win this thing!”

“Uh... good luck, then!” Applejack replied.

“Luck? Pfft, who needs luck? We got tonic on our side!” Granny shouted as she pulled a tonic bottle out her swimming cap.

“Flim Flam's Miracle Curative Tonic!” Flam cried out.

“Get your Applejack-approved tonic!” Flim called, “Granny Smith drinks it – why shouldn't you?”

“Right,” Applejack sighed.

“Now, if'n you'll excuse us, we have some swimmin' to do!” Granny exclaimed.

Together, the filly and elderly mare gave a graceful performance that earned cheers from the crowd and a perfect score from the judges.

“Well, I'll be...” Applejack remarked as she their performance finished, and they climbed out the pool, and were given a trophy.

“That was some of the most amazing aquabatics I've ever seen!” Sappy Scoop said, as he took their photo, “How in Equestria did you do it? Hard work? Lots of practice?”

“Yeah, but mostly it's the tonic!” Granny answered.

“That's Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic, to be precise,” Flim said as he and Flam slipped into frame.

“Buy it now while supplies last,” Flam said, holding a bottle to the camera.

As ponies went over to Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, Flim and Flam, Applejack noticed Silver Shill, giving out tonics to other ponies. She went over to him.

“What are you doin' here?” Applejack questioned, staring into Silver Shill’s face.

“Oh, things are going so well, Flim and Flam gave me a promotion! Just made my first bit as a salespony,” he said, holding up a bit to show Applejack, “No more costumes for this pony. This is more of a uniform.”

“If you say so,” Applejack assumed.

“I used to wonder if I was doing the right thing. You know, pretending to be cured, basically lying to folks about this tonic,” Silver Shill said, “But thanks to you, I realised that sometimes honesty isn't the best policy.”

“Thanks to... me?” Applejack asked, a little confused.

“With Flim Flam's magical Curative Tonic, my Granny can do anything!” Apple Bloom announced, “Just ask Applejack!” The ponies all turned to face Applejack as she was blinded with camera flashes. Applejack had had enough of this.

“No! This has gotta stop!” she shouted putting her hoof down, “If ponies keep believin' that tonic can do things it can't, who knows what'll happen?”

Silver Shill tapped on Applejack’s shoulder, “Maybe something like that?” he said, pointing up. Applejack looked up and was horrified to see Granny climbing the high dive, wanting to break the Equestria high-diving record.

“Granny!” Applejack gasped as she dashed over to Apple Bloom, who was putting a pic dish of water where Granny was going to drive into, “What in blazes does she think she's doin'?!”

“Granny's gonna break the Equestria high divin' record!” Apple Bloom shouted.

“Land sakes!” Applejack yelled, as she ran to get to Granny before she jumped.

Granny Smith took a swig of her tonic and just as Applejack made it to the top of the high dive, Granny dived off the board. Applejack gasped as she saw a lasso, she then used it to wrap around Granny’s back legs and stop her from seriously injuring herself.

“Now what in tarnation did you do that for?!” Granny snapped at her grand-daughter.

“That was the most fool-pony thing I've ever seen anypony do in all my life!” Applejack shouted as she slid down the ladder back down to the ground, “You can't do a dive like that!”

“Oh, quit your fussin'!” Granny Smith argued, “I had enough tonic to do a dive ten times as high!”

“Twenty times, by my count,” Flim spoke up.

“Thirty, with a favourable breeze,” Flam stated.

Flam gave Granny Smith another bottle of tonic as she guzzled the bottle down, the sun's rays reflecting off the bottle and creating a rainbow. The same array of colours shimmer in Applejack's eyes, as she decides to come clean.

“I hate to disappoint everypony,” Applejack said, “but there's no way Granny could have made that dive, because this tonic is a fake!”

“But you gave it your stamp of approval!” called out Jinx.

“Are you saying you lied?” asked Rainbowshine.

“… I am,” Applejack replied as the crowd gasped, as she continued, “I didn't mean to! But everypony seemed so much happier, I couldn't bring myself to tell you when I found out the tonic wasn't real. I know it was wrong. I just hope, with time, I can win back everypony's trust.”

“But if the tonic is a fake, then how come Granny can swim again,” Apple Bloom asked, “and what about all that aquabatics stuff we just did?”

“I reckon sometimes you can forget what you're capable of, and it just takes a little extra confidence to remember that it was inside of you all along,” Applejack replied, “But tellin' ponies your tonic can do things it can't is just wrong!”

“But you just said it boosts confidence!” Flim exclaimed.

“And that's not all it does, folks…” Flam tried to speak but was cut off by Silver Shill.

“Yes, it is! In fact, it's not a tonic at all! I know, 'cause I helped make it!” he declared, “Watching Applejack save Granny and then admit to lying, well, that made me realise I was making ponies believe in a thing that just wasn't so!”

“Believin' in somethin' can help you do amazin' things,” Applejack stated, “But if that belief is based on a lie, eventually it's gonna lead to real trouble.”

“Thank you, Applejack. I got this through dishonest means. That was a mistake I won't be making again!” Silver Shill said as he held up his bit, and gave it to her, “I'd like you to have it, as a reminder of how you helped me finally see the truth.”

“I don't know...” Applejack questioned.

“Oh, don't worry,” Silver Shill told her, “I'll track down the pony I sold that worthless tonic to and give him another bit to replace this one! Honest.”

“I'm sorry, Granny,” Applejack frowned as she turned to face Granny Smith, “I hope this doesn't mean you'll stop swimmin'.”

“Why in tarnation would I do that?” Granny Smith questioned, “I just can't believe those two salesponies had me believin' I could near fly! Hey, where'd they go?” Flim and Flam had snuck away while everyone was distracted.

Later, as Big McIntosh tended to the fields at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack wrote her friendship lesson in the Mane 6's journal.

‘Bein' honest sure gets hard when it seems like the truth might hurt somepony you care about. But I think believin' a lie can end up hurtin' even more. Maybe some ponies don't care about that – but I sure ain't one of them.’

“Now you take it easy there, Granny!” Applejack called out her Granny.

“Oh, I plan to!” she replied as she jumped off a diving board and into a smaller pool and played with Apple Bloom.

Applejack was about to join when Sour Sweet flew over with a speed that she wasn’t used to, she was looking really concerned.

“Applejack! There you are!” she panted.

“Sour Sweet?” Applejack said looking up at her, “what’s wrong?”

“According to Twilight, a laboratory in Canterlot has been looted,” Sour Sweet called out.

“Sweet Celestia!” Applejack cried.

“Twilight wants us all to go to Canterlot and see Princess Celestia,” Sour Sweet replied.

“Ok, tell Twilight, ah’m on my way,” Applejack told her, Sour Sweet nodded and dashed off to tell Twilight.

“Granny! Bloom! I gotta go!” she called them.

“Go where?!” Apple Bloom called back.

“Important stuff with the girls!” Applejack cried as she dashed off.

As she ran away, the bit given to her by Silver Shill shines with a rainbow-coloured glow.

Chapter 31: Venture to a Familiar World (Edited)

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Twilight, Sam, and the rest all waited for Applejack to get to the Train Station. She was the last one to get told back what had happened in the Laboratory at Canterlot. She soon arrived just as the train arrived at the platform. Once they were all onboard and took their seats, Rainbow spoke up.

“So what really happened?” she asked, “Indigo just told me that a Laboratory was broken into.”

“I’m afraid that even I don’t know,” Twilight replied, “All Celestia wrote was, ‘Dear Twilight, please come to the castle urgently, the Laboratory was broken into’.”

“That’s it?” Rarity questioned, “It must be urgent if that’s all.”

“She didn’t say anything was stolen or anything?” asked Fluttershy.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Twilight said as the train thundered down the track to Canterlot.

Once the Train came to a stop at Canterlot Station, the girls and kids ran towards the castle where they were escorted to the throne room. Celestia and Luna were in the throne contemplating on what to do, when Twilight and the others entered the room.

“Twilight, thank goodness you came,” Celestia announced.

“Unfortunately it’s not for a good reason,” Luna stated.

“Your message said that a lab was broken into,” Sunset said.

“That is correct, and something from the lab was stolen,” Luna replied, the ponies gasping in surprise.

“Indeed, follow us to the lab,” Celestia said as she and Luna started to lead everyone to the lab.

They lead them to the Canterlot Laboratory, where the ponies research all sorts of sciences, from chemistry, to astronomy. Royal Guards of both Solar and Lunar were examining and inspecting the crime scene, outside sitting on the ground, huddled together were two ponies, one stallion and one mare. The stallion was a greeny-blue earth pony with a dark blue mane and tail, the mare was a little taller than the stallion, she was a midnight blue unicorn, with a two toned mane and tail.

“Twilight, everyone, this is Comet Façade and Midnight Aura,” Celestia told them, “they were in the lab last night when it was broken into.”

“Comet, Midnight, can you please tell us what had happened,” Twilight asked them.

“Well, it went like this,” Comet began, “We were the last ponies in the lab at the time, researching the stars as us astronomers do. When suddenly the power went out, we thought it was a normal power out and waited for the back up power to come on. But it didn’t. The lab didn’t have a security guard last night as they were busy somewhere else. We decided to go down to the basement and see if we could see what had happened to the power. When we arrived in the basement, we saw that both normal and backup generators were unplugged from the wall. Suddenly, somepony attacked us from behind, knocking both of us out.”

“When we came too, noticed that the power was back on and that we were in one of the chemistry rooms, where it was a mess, someone had fixed the generator, we got up off the floor and once we got a bearings, we headed to the security office, and checked the cameras to see what had happened while we were out,” Midnight finished.

“What did you see?” Sunset asked.

“We saw the figure that had broken in, unplugged the generators and had dragged us to a messy room,” Midnight replied, “also the cameras showed the figure looking around the room for something.”

“What was it they were looking for, and who was it?” Rainbow asked.

“We don’t know from the cameras weren’t that clear, plus the figure wore a black cloak that hid them, but it seemed like they found what they were looking for as they lifted their cloak, and put something inside it, but they may have not grabbed all they wanted as they seem to panic once hearing us groan and turned and ran away,” Comet answered.

“But why did they take you to that room, when your astronomers?” Rarity questioned.

“I guess they thought we were going to get the blame when the other sciences returned this morning,” Comet retorted, “but they believe us because we don’t work in that part of the lab.”

“I still want to know what was stolen,” Devon thought out loud, “like why did they do this?”

“Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!” came a voice, everyone looked out to see a bat pony Lunar guard come running up to them, “We found out what was stolen.”

“What was taken, Knightmare?” Luna asked.

“Three out of ten vials holding a serum of sorts,” Knightmare reported.

“Do you know anything about what this serum is?” Celestia queried Comet and Midnight.

“We don’t, we don’t know what the sciences in the chemistry rooms are doing,” Comet replied.

“Hmm,” Sam thought, “I don’t know why, but I believe that whoever stole them, will come back tonight to get the rest.”

“I believe so too,” Gwen added, “you did say that they panicked as you two started to wake up.”

“Ok I think I know what we need to do,” Twilight said.

“What?” Pinkie asked.

“We need to catch them tonight if they do show up,” Twilight replied, “we’ll come back here tonight and stake them out.”

“Are you sure that’s a wise idea Twi?” Applejack asked.

“I know it doesn’t sound fun, but if they show up tonight to get the rest of the vials, we need to be there to stop them,” she told them.

“Well count us in,” Sam said, motioning to his team.

“Same here,” Rainbow replied.

“Good,” Twilight responded with a grin as she gathered them closer, “ok this is the plan for tonight.”

The plan was simple, the Rainbow, Fluttershy, Indigo Zap and Sour Sweet would stay outside to keep a look out for the intruder. Twilight, Rarity, Sunset, and Sunny Flare would roam the halls that led to the chemistry room with the vials, which themselves where locked in a safe. While Applejack, Pinkie, Lemon Zest and Sugarcoat stayed in the security office and watched the cameras. Sam and his team were hiding in the room to guard the safe, Sam, Nick and Ace even went the extra mile in changing their suits to black rather than red (and blue in Ace’s case), calling it a stealth mode.

Everyone was in position, ready to catch the thief, but as time went on and the intruder didn’t show up, Rainbow and Indigo began to get bored.

“This is so boring!” Rainbow complained, “when is this thief going to show themselves?!”

“Maybe if you stopped shouting, the Intruder would come,” Sour Sweet snapped.

“We should be the ones protecting the safe,” Indigo whined, “at least we could be warmer there than out here. I can’t believe we listened to Sam. I know he’s family but he’s just a kid.”

“If you two were guarding the safe you would be spotted before the thief would have spotted you before even entering the room, you two were so bright with your manes and fur coats!” Sour Sweet told them off, “And Sam is not just a kid, he’s a kid that can fight giant monsters! Something you two can’t do!”

“Is that so?!” Rainbow and Indigo exclaimed.

“Urm girls,” Fluttershy called them softly.

“Yeah!” Sour Sweet shouted.

“Girls,” Fluttershy tried to get their attention, speaking a little louder.

“Well at least we’re better than you,” Indigo responded, pointing a hoof at Sour Sweet.

“What?!” Sour Sweet shouted.

“Girls,” Fluttershy was now getting slightly impatient now.

“We’re cool and kind to everypony,” Rainbow said, “while you act kind you’re actually cruel and heartless.”

“And sour,” Indigo added.

Sour Sweet was annoyed at that, “Why you little pieces of…”

“GIRLS!” Fluttershy finally snapped, cutting Sour Sweet off and startling the three with her outburst.

“What’s wrong, Flutters?” Indigo asked.

“While you three were shouting at each other, the thief had entered the building,” Fluttershy replied in a calmer, deadpanned voice.

“What?!” exclaimed the three, “This is all your fault!”

“Celestia give me strength,” Fluttershy groaned as the three Pegasi behind her bickered.

She was right, while Rainbow, Indigo and Sour Sweet were arguing, the thief had snuck into the lab again. But the figure was spotted on the cameras by Applejack and her little team.

“There they are,” Applejack said pointing at the figure that was sneaking around the halls, “they’re definitely making their way to the chemistry room.”

“Well obviously,” Sugarcoat retorted in her deadpan tone, “where else would they be heading.”

“Ooh I can’t wait to stop them,” Lemon said to Pinkie.

“I know, and when we do, I’m gonna throw a party!” Pinkie exclaimed as she leaned on the table, but no soon had Pinkie spoke, the figure stopped and slowly turned to look at the one of the cameras, this freaked the four out a little.

“Why are they staring at us?” Sugarcoat questioned.

“Do they know we’re in here?” Applejack quizzed. Her question was answered when the camera suddenly shut down and everything on the screen was static. Just then another camera shut off and another, followed by another.

“What’s happening?” Lemon Zest asked just as a letter popped in, Applejack read it.

“‘Pinkie you turned on the Intercom system’,” she read as the all turned to Pinkie, who was leaning on the switch that turned on the Intercom.

“Pinkie you blithering idiot!” Sugarcoat shouted.

“Oopsie,” Pinkie replied with a sheepish grin.

Applejack sighed as she turned to the microphone to warn Twilight, “Twi, the intruder is somehow shutting off the cameras, and judging how fast they’re turning off, they’re running to your location,” she warned.

“Thanks Applejack,” Twilight said looking at the camera before she galloped away to meet up with the others.

She met up with Rarity and the two then met up with Sunny Flare and Sunset in front of the room, where the vials were being held in.

“They should be here soon,” Twilight told them, as they looked down the halls reading their horns. Suddenly the lights started to flicker.

“What the?” Sunny Flare remarked, all of a sudden, a smoke bomb was tossed from the side and set off causing the girls to start coughing. As they did, the intruder snuck into the room and shut the door, so the smoke wouldn’t enter the room.

The figure looked around the room, they knew that the vials weren’t going to be in the same place, if the elements of harmony were here then the vials would have been moved to another place. They saw the safe and used their magic to levitate it over to them. That’s when Ultraman, Seven and Tiga jumped out for hiding.

“Halt Thief!” Ultraman shouted deploying his Specium Blades.

“Halt Thief? That’s the best you could come up with?” Seven questions.

“Well it’s better than ‘Stop right there criminal scum!’ that Ace came up with,” Ultraman replied.

“Hey, I thought it was cool,” Ace retorted.

“Whatever,” Seven said as he pulled out his sword.

The thief just stared at them, they couldn’t see the stare as the cloak they wore hid their face. They then pulled something out from their cloak and threw it at the Ultras.

“Flashbang!” Seven shouted as it smacked on the ground and caused a blinding flash, and the Ultras’ ears to ring. The thief ran out the room and passed the four outside the room carrying the safe with them. Sunset, Rarity and Sunny Flare had collapsed to the floor from the smoke and Twilight was about to join them. Just as Ultraman, Seven and Tiga got their bearings and exited the room, Twilight fell to the ground.

“Mum!” Ultraman cried as he went over to her.

“Get… Them…” Twilight said before passing out.

“Seven, Tiga, chase them,” Ultraman ordered.

“Right,” they replied and ran after her.

“Zero, Mary, get ready, the thief has got the vials and is fleeing,” Ultraman told them, throwing the inbuilt earpiece in the helmet.

“Roger,” Zero replied. He and Mary had been on the roof with the Pegasi and were ignoring their argument.

The thief ran through the halls of the laboratory, just barely avoiding Ultra Slashes and beam attacks. They soon accidently took a wrong turn and ended up running into a dead end.

“We got them now!” Tiga cried. But then, the thief used their magic to throw the safe at the window, smashing it, and sending the safe falling to the ground. The Thief then followed it, Seven and Tiga were shocked, the chemistry floor was on the second story floor, but were even more shocked that the thief opened a pair of wings from under the cloak.

“What on earth?!” Seven exclaimed, “Are they an alicorn?!”

The winged thief touched the ground softly and sprinted away, Zero and Mary noticed this and gave chase. Tiga and Seven reported to Ultraman, he nodded and told them to take care of Twilight, and the others that were knocked out by the gas. Mary and Zero fired beams and Specium Buzzsaws to stop the thief, but they just kept dodging by teleporting out the way, even using their teleportation spell on themselves to get further away. They followed the thief into Celestia’s garden, where the Thief seemed to trick Zero and Mary to get them off their path. Once they lost Zero and Mary, they made their way to a fountain that had an elegant statue of Celestia stationed behind it streaming water into the fountain. The thief came to a stop and was just about to put the safe into the fountain when Ultraman suddenly landed next to the thief.

“Got ya,” he remarked, as he dived at the thief, but just before he could grab them, they teleported just in time as Ultraman grabbed their cloak, “What the?” He then looked up to see the pony that had teleported out the cloak and was shocked to see what he was seeing.

The pony was a Pegasus that seemed to share Twilight and Sunset colours, a red and yellow mane and tail with purple and pink streaks. Her fur colour appeared to be similar to Twilight’s but dark, with the fur on her hooves, and muzzle closer to Sunset’s. Her eyes were also strange, she had one violet eye, like Twilight, and the other cyan, Like Sunset. But what was the most shocking of all was her cutie mark, it looked like the left side of Twilight’s star and the right side of Sunset’s sun, divided into two with a blackhole behind the two halves.

“Who are you?” Ultraman asked.

“You don’t need to worry about that, well not at this moment,” the Pegasus replied, “but I know who you are, Sam.”

Ultraman was shocked that she knew who he was, “How do you know who I am?” Ultraman questioned, “I’ve never met you before.”

“Oh trust me, you have, I recognize your voice anywhere,” the Pegasus said, “I’ll just give you this warning. Don’t interfere with my plans, to resort myself back to my true form. And tell your mothers that their sister will be back for them.” The primary feathers on her wings started to glow as she shot blasts of magic at Ultraman forcing him back.

Ultraman placed his arms over his face in reflex, and put them down just in time to see the Pegasus drop the safe into the fountain and then she jumped in herself. He ran over to grab her leg, but he didn’t expect the fountain to be deep, he stuck his face in and saw that it appeared to be bottomless.

“What the heck?” he queried as he stared down the dark abyss of the fountain. As he stuck his head out, the team arrived.

“Did you catch them?” asked Ace as they deactivated their suits.

“No, she escaped,” Sam replied as he did the same and pointed to the fountain, “down there.”

“What are you talking about?” Nick asked.

“Bro that’s bottomless,” Sam told him, the team didn’t believe him until they too had a quick look.

“How is that bottomless? How can she hold her breath that long?” Ace questioned.

“I don’t know, but she did tell me something,” Sam replied, “She said that she knew me, that we met before, and to tell mum and Sunset that their sister will be back for them.”

“I thought Twilight only had a brother,” Gwen remarked.

“That’s not all,” Sam responded, “she looked like she was both Twilight and Sunset at the same time, she also had magic despite being a Pegasus.”

“Oh my,” Ace commented.

“So what do we do as team leader?” Devon asked.

“We make sure Mum, Sunset, Rarity and Sunny are ok, and we tell Princess Celestia and Luna right away,” Sam told them.

“Right,” the group replied, as they walked off to check on the gassed ponies, all the while, Sam couldn’t get the thought out his head, how did this pony know him.

They waited to tell Celestia and Luna once Twilight, Rarity, Sunset and Sunny Flare woke up that morning. After Sam told them and the others, they were all shocked to hear this, and then went to the throne room to tell Celestia and Luna right away. Once Sam had told them, Celestia was uncharacteristically surprised.

“WHAT!!!” She yelled.

“Sister is there something wrong?” Luna asked, but Celestia was in deep thought.

“I thought she disappeared, I thought she was gone,” she muttered to herself, “but why has she returned? And why does she want those containers.”

“Princess, is there somethin’ you ain’t telling us?” Applejack asked.

Celestia heard her, and calmed down a bit, “Well, I guess it’s about time Twilight, you knew about your real origins.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked.

Celestia then walked to a painting which told the story:

Long ago, after Nightmare Moon was still imprisoned in the moon, Celestia ruled alone. She managed at first but soon she began to struggle with the responsibilities of both the night and day duties. That was then an old friend of hers, stepped in to help her out, the Princess of the Dawn and Dusk, Princess Eclipse. The two ruled over Equestria with ease, Eclipse took up the responsibility of the night, while Celestia returned to her normal duties of the day.

But then came, that day. An evil monster named Geronimon attacked with his army of resurrected monsters. They were unstoppable, and tore through towns and cities, but then Princess Eclipse did something heroic. She sacrificed herself for all of Equestria, by detonating her magic causing a massive explosion that caused Geronimon to perish with her army of monsters. Moments later three glowing orbs floated down and three little fillies emerged, one was lavender with purple mane and tail, one was yellow with fiery mane and tail, and the third appeared to be a mixture of the two, or rather the colours and bits left over. They were Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer and Nightfall.

Twilight was given to her now parents Night Light and Twilight Velvet, Sunset to her now parents Sunspot and Stella Flare and Celestia decided to adopt Nightfall Herself as she was interested in a Pegasus that could use magic. Over time, It would appear that Twilight, Sunset and Nightfall don’t remember being Eclipse, as they grew up with different sides of her personality. Twilight was smart, Sunset was rebellious, and Nightfall was kind. But as time went on, Nightfall started to grow out of her kind personality, and grew more and more harsh and mean to others.

She was given the nickname 'Divided Dusk' from bullies as she had half of both Twilight and Sunset's cutie marks, she also started to feel like she was being isolated by Celestia as she was busy with her Princess duties. One day, she started to get memories of Eclipse back, and tried to convince Twilight, but she was too busy with school work to really listen to her, and she could tell Sunset as if she had run to another world. Nightfall grew more and more angry and started to see herself as nothing more than the left over bits from Twilight and Sunset.

Soon she ran away from Celestia believing she had known the hold time and never told her. She wanted to make herself whole again, and she vanished from this world. Never to be heard from again.

“Until now,” Celestia finished.

The ponies and humans were all stunted and shocked to hear this. But none were more shocked than Twilight herself, she had to lay on the floor, as this was all too much for her. All her life, she thought that she was born from Night Light and Twilight Velvet, but now, she was being told that had been adopted the whole time and was just a third of another being.

“Mum?” Sam asked her, breaking her out of her thoughts, “are you ok?”

“Yes honey,” she replied as she gave him a hug, “this is all just so much.”

“I’m sorry that you had to find out like this Twilight,” Celestia told her.

“It’s ok,” Twilight sniffed, as she stood up.

“I suspect that Nightfall is probably trying to find a way to re-combine herself with Twilight, and probably doesn’t know that Sunset here is the one from this world,” Celestia said.

“It’s likely,” Luna replied.

“What could happen to us if they fuse with me?” Sunset asked.

“Because you’re from a different world, it’s possible that the fusion could become unstable and you’ll lose control over yourselves,” Celestia replied.

“Yikes,” Sunset gasped, “we got to stop her!”

“But how?” Rainbow asked.

“Sam said she disappeared into the fountain,” Rarity stated.

“Sam take us to this fountain,” Celestia told Sam, he nodded and led them all to the fountain in which Nightfall disappeared into, Celestia and Luna stuck their heads into the water and saw Sam was right. The fountain did seem bottomless.

“It does look really deep,” Luna remarked.

“So let’s go and stop her,” Rainbow announced as she was about to dive in.

“Woah hold your horses,” Applejack cried as she grabbed Rainbow’s tail.

“I… I think me and Sunset should do this ourselves,” Twilight said.

“Oh come on,” Rainbow complained.

“If she wants me and Sunset, then hopefully, we could try and talk some sense into her,” Twilight replied.

“It’s possible she’ll listen,” Celestia remarked, “she wanted to convince you that she and you were once one.”

“It’s rather deep,” Sunset stated, “is there even a bottom?”

“Only one way to find out,” Twilight said as she took a deep breath and jumped in. Everyone watched her curl up into a ball and sink until she was out of sight.

“Well, wish us luck girls,” Sunset said as she too took a deep breath and jumped in as well.

But Spike grew nervous and jumped in after them. "Spike!!" Everypony exclaimed.

“I got him!” Sam said as he donned his Ultrasuit and jumped in as well.

"SAM!!" They exclaimed as they watched.

“Brother!” Gwen cried as she wanted to go after him, but Nick stopped her.

“No, Gwen,” he said, holding her back.

“I can’t just let him go alone!” Gwen shouted.

“He won’t be alone,” Nick replied, “He’ll know where he will be.”

In the water, Ultraman saw that Spike didn’t take a deep breath and was struggling to breathe. He grabbed a hold of him and saw that Twilight and Sunset were having the same problem. Ultraman drove deeper and caught them, but the lower he went the water seemed to get brighter, and it almost felt like he was swimming up rather than down.

Twilight groaned as she opened her eyes, she felt very wet and a little sow. She saw that she was laying on her side on the ground, she sat up slowly and clutched her head.

“Ow my head,” she moaned as she moved her wet hair out her face with her… hands? “Wait… Huh? What the…?”

“Twi, are you ok?” groaned Sunset’s voice from behind her, Twilight turned to face her as was surprised at what she saw. Sunset looked human again, but, not human, her eyes were smaller, her skin was cream, and her hair was brown with yellow steaks. She then took note of herself, she too was the same, except her skin was a little darker.

“Sunset? Is that you?” Twilight asked.

“yeah, why, what’s…?” Sunset began to ask as she looked up to see Twilight and was shocked as well, “Ah!” the two heard barking, they turned to see a dog.

“Spike?” Twilight asked, the dog nodded.

The Sunset stood up and then helped Twilight to her feet as well, they then looked around, they seemed to have fallen out of a pond, in a school playground. Twilight then saw Sam starting off a bit from them.

“Sam? You followed us?” Twilight questioned, but Sam didn’t hear her, “Sam? Sam what’s wrong?”

“Hey kiddo what’s up?” Sunset called out to her.

“I thought I had left this place behind,” Sam said.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“This pond, this playground, this school,” he replied, “I know this place.”

“You do?” Sunset questioned.

“Where are we?” Twilight asked.

And Sam’s only simply replied one word:

“Home.”

Chapter 32: Welcome Home (Edited)

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“Wait, this is earth?” Twilight asked, “this is where you came from?”

Sam just nodded as he wandered off, with Twilight and Sunset following him. Sam walked over to the school building and placed a hand on the brick wall. A tear fell from his face, he was remembering the good times he spent with his friends. When he wasn’t being harassed by his bullies of course.

“Are you ok Sam?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah,” he replied, as Spike came up to him and nuzzled his leg, “I’m ok, just remembering things.”

The whole playground was incredibly quiet, save for the gentle breeze blowing through the trees. Sam wanted to head inside and have a look around, and surprisingly the door leading into the school was unlocked, he opened the door and stepped inside.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Sunset asked.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Sam questioned.

“You said a virus transformed humans into animals, who knows what animal has made their home here,” Sunset answered.

“How can a feral animal open a door,” Sam retorted as he walked inside.

Twilight and Sunset followed after him, but just before Twilight stepped a foot in the doorway, she thought she heard a rustling in the trees, like a big bird had landed on the branch. She looked behind her at the trees, but she couldn’t see anything. Unsurely, she stepped into the school, oblivious to the large bird staring at her through the leaves on the tree.

Sam looked around the school, from his old classroom to the hall, from the art room, to the computer room, the cooking room to the music room and to all the other class and staff rooms. All the time they wandered around the school, Twilight kept thinking like they were being watched and they weren’t truly alone. She thought she saw a creature sleeping in one of the classrooms, and she heard something knock over a pan or something in the kitchen. The trio stepped back outside, Sam had some more tears in his eyes, looking around the school was pretty emotional for him.

Twilight smiled at her son, but then she heard something from behind her. It sounded like something stepping on a twig, she turned around, but she couldn’t see what made the noise. She turned back to face Sam, unaware that a large lizard had snuck away in the shadows.

“Sunset, Sam, I don’t think we’re alone,” Twilight told them.

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked.

“I’ve been having this feeling that we’re being watched,” Twilight replied.

“What makes you say that?” Sam questioned.

Suddenly a loud roar echoed around the school yard, Sam, Twilight, and Sunset all jumped at the sound of that, and Spike went into defence mode. “That seems like a good enough reason,” Twilight retorted.

“So is that!” Sunset shouted, pointing to a golden lion growling and prowling towards them slowly.

The three humans and dog ran, heading back to the pond, but a large hippo, caiman and octopus jumped out of the water, blocking them from the portal back home. Panicking, they tried to go for one of the exits to the school ground, but then a hyena, bear and gorilla jumped in the way. There was only one exit left, and they ran for it as fast as they could, but they weren’t quick enough as a hawk, Komodo dragon and cougar appeared and guarded the gate. They were now terrified, as the animals backed them into a corner and started to close in on them, a rat, sheep, chinchilla, giraffe and fox came up and stood watching the whole thing. Sam shut his eyes tightly and held Spike close to him, as Twilight and Sunset wrapped their arms around each other with Sam in between them to keep him safe.

“I didn’t think I was going to die on the first day coming back to earth,” Sam said in terror, “I love you mums and Spike!”

“We love you too Sam!” Twilight cried.

“Woof!” barked Spike.

Hearing his voice seemed to perk the fox’s interest, almost familiar to it. The lion stomped forward and got ready to bite Sam, but just as it was about to bite down, the fox jumped in its way and yipped at the lion. Sam slowly opened his eyes at the sound of the fox yipping and was shocked to see the creatures slowly back away. The fox then turned and came closer to Sam, he knelt down and gently placed Spike on the ground.

The fox came really close to Sam and started to sniff his face. As the fox sniffed Sam’s face, something around the neck of the fox seemed to glimmer in the sunlight. When the fox pulled its head back, Sam saw that it was a heart shaped locket. He held out his hand and gently lifted it off the fox’s head, surprisingly the fox didn’t attack him in defence of the locket and just allowed Sam to take it off. Sam’s eyes opened wider as he could remember this locket.

“This is the same one I gave her,” he muttered to himself, as he opened it and he had to catch his breath. Inside were two pictures of Sam and a girl. One showed Sam and the girl holding hands and the other showed Sam and the girl cuddling with each other. Sam looked up at the fox, and muttered loud enough for the fox to hear, “Elena? Is that really you?”

The Fox perked up at the name, then started to lick Sam’s face. “Elena! It is you!” Sam cried with joy as Elena the fox nuzzled him like there was not tomorrow. Twilight and Sunset were at first a little confused but couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Sam getting nuzzled and licked to death by his long-time friend.

“So is this one of your friends?” Twilight asked.

“Not just any friend, my best and closest friend, Elena,” Sam replied. Elena looked up at Twilight and Sunset and stopped nuzzling Sam to have a closer look at them. She sniffed their hands and nuzzled her head into them, “She likes you two already.”

“So you’re the girl that Sam talked so much about,” Twilight responded, “my, your fur is really soft.” Elena seemed to blush under her fur.

Sam turned back to look at the other creatures, “So, you are all my friends? My team?” he asked. The lion walked forward, making Sam a little nervous. Then it bowed its head as a sign of respect, then rubbed Sam's head with its paw. “Wait Joe?” The lion nodded, “Of course you’re a lion, your work is so full of pride.”

“Oh my goodness! Sam, my love, your back!” cried a voice from behind his friends. Sam was confused as he saw a girl run past them and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, “Oh I missed you so much! Now we can be together forever!”

“Urm… what?” Sam questioned, he was very puzzled.

“Do… Do you not remember me?” the girl asked, sounding a little sad, while weakening the hug. Sam didn’t reply, “I’m Eden, I sat behind you in class, I wrote you love letters and put them in your bag every day. You’re the love of my life.”

“You wrote those letters, I thought it was some creepy fangirl,” Sam replied.

“Yes,” Eden responded.

“Well looks like I wasn’t that far off from the truth when I say creepy fangirl,” Sam spoke dryly.

“I’m not creepy,” Eden told him.

“I had nightmares that I was being watched at night,” Sam said.

“I was only making sure you were alright,” Eden retorted, “plus you look so cute when you sleep.”

“You are a creepy fangirl!” Sam snapped, “That’s just really disturbing.”

“But I…” Eden tried to say but she was cut off by Sam.

“Get away from me you sinister weirdo!” Sam shouted.

“Oi fellows, it seems that the Salamander is back,” came a voice that made Sam freeze in place, “And it seems he’s being harsh to our new girl.”

From behind the creatures, five boys and two girls came up led by the lead bully of Sam’s nightmares.

“No, I thought you would have been turned into animals,” Sam said with fear in his voice.

“You’re wrong Salamander,” Ruben said, “just like always. I’m glad nothing has changed.”

“You’re wrong, I have changed, I no longer have the scars you gave me,” Sam tried to sound brave, as he lifted his t-shirt.

Then out of nowhere, a fist came flying in and punched Sam across the face. Twilight and Sunset were horrified at this.

“Nathan, Abdul, grab him,” Ruben ordered, two of his lackies went over and grabbed Sam by the arms, “Looks like we need to start again.” He then pulled out his pocket knife and was about to cut into Sam’s skin again.

“Back off from him,” Twilight declared as she and Sunset punched Ruben’s back and forced Nathan and Abdul off Sam.

“Who gives you the right to harass others like this!” Sunset shouted, making sure Sam was all right.

“You two aren’t the boss of us, so we can do what we want,” Ruben said, as he suddenly went to attack Twilight with the knife.

Quick thinking, Twilight blocked the stab with her arm. She cried in pain as the knife pierced her skin. Ruben chuckled as the caiman jumped and chomped down on his arm, making him cry out in pain and pull the knife out Twilight’s arm. Twilight clutched her arms to try and hold the blood back as Ruben’s lackies tried to pull the caiman off his arm. The small crocodilian let go and fell to the floor, Ruben looked up to Sam who was looking at him in fear, and Sunset looking at him with blazing anger.

“This isn’t over you slippery fuck,” Ruben shouted as his team walked away.

“See ya soon my love!” Eden called back, which turned Sam’s fear into annoyance. But he also picked up the fact that they were walking strangely, like Eden seemed to be waving her body around, like she was about to lose balance.

“Are you ok Sam?” Twilight asked.

“I am but what about you?!” Sam questioned.

“Let me have a look, Spike, keep Sam company,” Sunset said as she looked at Twilight’s mark, “That looks pretty bad.”

“What are we going to do about it?” Twilight asked.

The Lion roared and started to walk away, “I think Joe wants to lead us somewhere,” Sam said as he started to stand up. Twilight, Sunset, Sam, and Spike, along with all her friends with Elena close to Sam, then followed Joe back into the school and to the nurse’s room. As Sunset helped patch up Twilight’s arm, Sam was putting names to faces with his animal friends.

“So you’re Sommer,” he said to the sheep who baaed in response as Sam patted her head, “You even look like a New Zealand sheep.”

“So who’s who then Sam?” Twilight asked through gritted teeth, trying to hold the pain back.

“Ok, so we have, Elena the fox, Joe the lion, Thomas the caiman, James the hawk, Sommer the sheep, Kelly the bear, Bethany the giraffe, Reece the cougar, Oscar the gorilla, Chloe the Komodo dragon, Erin the rat, Sophia the hyena, Phoebe the octopus, Millie the chinchilla and Tyler the Hippo,” Sam answered, “Did I get that all right?” Elena nodded in response.

“Wow,” Sunset replied, as she finished cleaning Twilight’s wound, “they’re so friendly, and kind.” Oscar then handed her some bandages. “Thank you,” Sunset thanked, Oscar just gave her a thumbs up.

“So why are you guys here and not in the wild, or with your families?” Sam asked. His friend went quiet, like all then looked to Oscar, who walked off and back with a pen and some paper.

“Of course he’s a gorilla, the closest we can get to a human,” Sunset said. As Oscar wrote down something. When he was done, he then gave it to Twilight.

“You want me to read it?” Twilight questioned, Oscar nodded, “Ok.” Twilight then began to read what he wrote:

‘We were all at our homes when it happened. Our families are reduced to nothing but common wild animals. We all met up at school and tried to contact you Sam, but we couldn’t. We went to find you, but your house was empty, save for a donkey outside on the lawn. We went back to school, and as it happened to us, we started to change into animals, even our teacher could stop it as we all turned to animals. And we’ve been living here since that day. We all thought we had lost you but we had our hope that you’ll come back.’

“Wow guys,” Sam replied, “it’s nearly the same as what happened to me, my mother was that donkey you probably saw.”

“That's sure to do it,” Sunset said as she finished patching Twilight up.

“Thanks Sunset,” Twilight thanked her.

“Guys, what happened to our teacher?” Sam asked.

Elena got up and wanted Sam to follow her. She led Sam to their old classroom, where in the middle of the dark room sat a large elephant.

“Holy!” Sam exclaimed, shocked to see the elephant. The elephant was just as shocked to see Sam, he looked into its eyes and could see right away who this was, it was his old teacher, “Miss Dickson?”

The elephant reached its truck over to Sam and rubbed his head with it. This was indeed Miss Dickson. Sam looked up and saw her shed a tear, it was clear she was worried about him, and surprisingly, she was still in control of herself.

“I’ve missed you too, both of you,” Sam said as Elena pawed at his leg. “I think I need to explain where I’ve been all this time.” He then started to tell them about everything that had happened. From bonding to Ultraman to forming a new family with Twilight and Sunset. Miss Dickson and Elena listened to his story and were both happy and upset for Sam for all the stuff he had gone through. “… And the main reason why I’m back, is to stop this thief, and return the capsules to the laboratory,” Sam finished, “So I guess I’ll be here for a while, until I find this thief.” Elena jumped up and started to lick his face. “Thank you Elena, but I think I might head back to my house, I want to show my mums my house and get something to eat.”

Miss Dickson nodded, and Elena got down off him. She had really missed him, but she knew that he had to do what he had to do. Sam then left the room and went to get Twilight and Sunset.

Sam took Twilight and Sunset on a trip into town, it was very quiet, as there weren't any people walking around or any cars driving. There was the odd animal cry but that was about it. As they walked through the town to get back to Sam’s house, Sam was pointing out places to shop for food and other things.

“I must say, you live in a pretty nice town,” Sunset said as she patted his shoulder.

“Thanks, I’d never want to live anywhere else,” Sam replied, “My house is just this way, hopefully the food hasn’t gone out of date.”

Meanwhile hiding in an alleyway, two of Ruben’s lackies had followed Sam, they had a plan.

“You ready?” Abdul asked Nathan, who was busy checking himself out in his mirror, “Stop checking yourself, you look fine!”

“I don’t just look fine, I look fabulous,” Nathan replied.

“Oh god,” Abdul sighed, “do you have the ray or not?”

“Ugh, fine, here's the ray,” grunted Nathan as he handed Abdul a ray gun.

“Ok, first we summon the monster to see if the boss is right,” Abdul said as he pulled out a small capsule with a monster on the side. Abdul loaded the capsule in the ray and pointed it to the sky and shouted the monster's name, “RED KING!” He fired the ray gun as energy blasted out and a monster suddenly appeared. This monster was yellow and had a skull-like head. This was the Skull Monster, Red King.

Red King roared out, and started to rampage, Sam, Twilight, Sunset, and Spike all looked up and saw the monster.

“What?! How?!” Sam shouted, “Why is there a monster here?!”

“That doesn't matter right now,” Twilight told him, “right now, you need to stop that monster.”

“Right,” Sam replied as he dashed off to stop the monster, as Sunset, Twilight and Spike ran for cover. Sam activated his Ultrasuit and increased his size to match Red King’s.

“Come on, Red King, let’s dance!” Ultraman cried, getting Red King’s attention.

Red King charged forward, as Ultraman fired a Ultra Slash at it, but Red King just back handed it away. Ultraman then ran forward and tried to punch Red King, but the monster’s hide was too strong and his punch did nothing as Red King kept moving and pushed Ultraman back with just its body. Red King then grabbed Ultraman by the shoulder and threw him to the side, Ultraman stumbled for a bit and turned around just in time for Red King to grab him and lift him over his shoulders and slam back down on the ground.

Red King then grabbed a telegraph pole and was about to smack it down onto Ultraman, but Ultraman used all and more of his strength to stop the arm and push it back. Ultraman then managed to get it out of Red King’s grip and place it back in the ground. Once Ultraman was happy, he elbowed Red King in the face, making the monster let go of the Ultra. Ultraman then grabbed Red King by the neck and then flipped it over his shoulder and slammed its body hard onto the ground.

“Well the boss was right, the Salamander is a superhero,” Nathan retorted.

“And this Red King monster is terrible!” Abdul raged, as he pulled out another capsule, this one was different, and it held the gas that the thief had stolen, “Let’s boost up the power on this Skull Monster.” Abdul then added the capsule to the Ray gun and then fired it at the monster. Red King absorbed the gas into its body and suddenly changed into a much stronger form. Its body was molten lava with it behind charcoal black with red markings, It was now EX Red King.

EX Red King roared in fury as it then slammed its fists into the ground creating a seismic earthquake around the nearby area. EX Red King lifted up its fist and punched Ultraman square in the face, causing sparks to fly and Ultraman soaring to the ground. Ultraman sat up rubbing his face, and then launched a stream of arrow shaped beams at the monster, but EX Red King merely blocked it with its fist, seemingly doing nothing. In retaliation, EX Red King fired a flaming bullet at Ultraman, striking him in the chest and knocking him back.

“Alright, time to get serious,” Ultraman remarked as he deployed his Specium Blades.

But something was up, he seemed to be producing more Specium energy than normal, and his Specium Blades showed it, as the suit seemed to change and allowed the blades to extend into a more energy sword, reaching past his hands. With the Blades out, Ultraman dashed forward seemingly with Rainbow’s speed, and slashed at EX Red King’s body, creating large gashes where the gas escaped and reverted Red King back to normal. Ultraman retracted his Specium Blades, and prepared to fire his Specium Beam, his arms charged up with the energy and then he let off a more powerful Specium Beam at Red King. The Skull Monster roared in pain as it exploded.

Ultraman breathed heavily, having used so much Specium Energy, “Holy cow, what the heck happened?” Ultraman questioned himself as he shrank back to normal size, “I’ve never used so much energy before.”

Twilight, Sunset and Spike came out of hiding and saw Sam stagger, the two girls ran up to prop their son up.

“Don’t worry, we’ve got ya,” Sunset said.

“What happened?” Twilight asked, “You seemed to fight with more Specium Energy than normal?”

“I don’t know,” Sam replied, “that’s never happened before.”

“I just want to know why monsters exist here?” Sunset questioned.

“That’s what I want to know,” Sam remarked.

Back in the alleyway, Nathan and Abdul had watched the fight go down, and weren’t happy.

“Well that was a bust,” Abdul commented.

“The Boss won’t be happy about this,” Nathan stated.

“We’re going to think of a better plan for the Salamander with that much power,” Abdul said as the two started to leave.

“Welp this is the place,” Sam said as the group made it to Sam’s old house.

“Wow this looks amazing,” Twilight commented.

“I mean it’s pretty standard,” Sam replied, “three bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, dining room, living room, back garden.”

“Still,” Twilight said, as they came to the door, they saw a donkey eating away at the lawn.

“Sam, is that…?” Sunset didn't finish as Sam walked up to the donkey and just stared at it.

“Yes, this was my mother,” he replied sadly.

“Oh Sam, I’m so sorry you have to see this,” Twilight remarked as she gave him a hug.

After the hug Sam walked up to the door and saw it was still unlocked. He turned the knob and opened the door. The house was quiet and seemed to be exactly how he left it.

“Wow,” he thought, “I really missed this place.

After getting settled back in his house, Sam found Twilight and Sunset in the kitchen trying to make sandwiches. Sam just walked up to them and gave them a hug. Both girls saw him come in and accepted the embrace.

“I love you two,” Sam told them.

“We love you too,” Sunset replied.

“And we’ll do anything to protect you,” Twilight remarked.

Sam was happy to be with his mothers and after they had dinner they all felt tired. So they went to sleep with Sam sleeping in his own room and Twilight and Sunset in his old parents room.

Chapter 33: The Night has Fallen (Edited)

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As dawn began to break, Sam was having a dream. In his dream, he was in an empty white void, with a thin layer of mist covering the ground, thick enough to cover his feet. The void was similar to when he was in limbo, but he knew this wasn’t Limbo.

Sam decided to start walking, his footsteps echoed everywhere. There was completely nothing in this void at all. Well almost nothing. Sam could sense he wasn’t alone, he then felt a sight breeze blow from his back. He turned around and saw it was Ultraman at roughly the same size as a human, but he looked different, almost organic.

“Ultraman?” Sam questioned.

“Yes, it is I,” Ultraman replied, “don’t be alarmed, I may appear this way, because this is my true form.”

“Your true form?” Sam asked.

“I believe Ultraman Zero, or as he calls his human disguise, Devon, has told you our history,” Ultraman stated.

“I think he did,” Sam answered.

“As a reminder, us Ultra at this stage, our light is contained inside these robotic suits,” Ultraman told him, “we were once giant organic humanoid aliens as you see right in front of you.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” Sam replied, “but why am I here in this limbo like void of nothingness.”

“To tell you what is happening to us,” Ultraman answered, “as you are aware, my Specium Energy has started to grow, causing my Specium Blades to no longer be contained properly.”

“Yes I do recall that,” Sam responded, “I’ve never felt so much energy. Apart from when I killed a dragon when I let my anger get the better of me.”

“This is a result that even I didn’t expect,” Ultraman explained, “But I think I have a reason why this may be happening.”

“What is that?” Sam asked.

“It’s to do with Gwen,” Ultraman said, “Ever since she came into this world, I’ve felt a very strong connection to her.”

“What do you mean? You’re not in love with her, are you?” Sam asked.

“That’s not what I meant,” Ultraman replied, “it’s like my Specium Energy and hers are connected.”

“So, me and Gwen are connected more than we think,” Sam responded.

“But this could also be very fatal,” Ultraman suggested, “If you start to erupt Specium Energy uncontrollably, it may result in death for the both of us.”

“WHAT?!” Sam exclaimed, “So I could die! How do we stop it?”

“I say we need to stabilise this,” Ultraman told him, “It seems that it will react to strong emotions, so I suggest you try and not let your emotions get control of you. Like anger and sadness.”

“That’s going to be hard with those tormentors around,” Sam remarked.

“I know it’s going to be hard, but you have to try and stabilise this,” Ultraman told him, “otherwise, you and Gwen will both die.”

“Ok,” Sam replied, “I’ll try.”

Morning soon came, Sam was awoken by the sound of the birds chirping in the trees, and the smell of Bacon wafting through the air.

“Ooh, something smells nice,” he remarked, then he looked around the room, he was in his old room, “Oh yeah, I forgot I was back here. My word, I missed my bed.”

He decided to get up, get changed and go downstairs for some breakfast. There, he found Sunset making breakfast. Sunset heard Sam’s footsteps and so turned around to greet him.

“Good morning Sam,” She greeted him. Sam noticed that she was wearing his mother’s apron, “I’m just making breakfast for us.” She turned back to the cooker.

“What are you making?” Sam asked, “It smells great.”

“I’m making bacon and waffles,” Sunset replied.

“But isn’t Twilight a vegetarian?” Sam questioned.

“That’s why I made her scrambled eggs on toast,” Sunset answered, pointing to a plate of scrambled eggs on toast. Soon, Twilight came downstairs.

“Good morning everyone,” She called out.

“Good morning mu…” Sam didn’t get to finish his greeting to her, as she was standing at the bottom of the stairs, completely naked.

“Is something wrong sweetie?” Twilight asked.

“Why are you naked?!” Sam exclaimed.

“Well, it feels natural,” Twilight replied, “I was also all night with nothing on.”

“You can’t just walk out in public naked,” Sam told her.

“Why not? You told us your friend was a nudist,” Twilight stated.

“But she wore clothes in public,” Sam countered, “She wore nothing in private.”

“Oh, then what should I wear?” Twilight asked.

“They might be something in my sister’s closet,” Sam told her.

“But be quick, or your breakfast will get cold,” Sunset called out to her.

Twilight ran back upstairs to get change, While Sunset finished up breakfast. Twilight soon came back wearing a pink top, a purple skirt, blue jacket, red thigh socks, and lavender trainers.

“How does this look?” Twilight asked.

“That looks good on you,” Sunset replied.

“Thank you,” Twilight said, “now where’s my breakfast.”

“On the table,” Sunset mentioned. Twilight walked over to the table and sat down to have her breakfast.

While they ate, Sam still had his dream on his mind. It was quite concerning that he was told he could die if he started to erupt pulses of Specium Energy. Sam knew he had to keep his emotions in check in case that does happen, but it would be hard with his tormentors still around. His silence made Twilight and Sunset grow a little worried for him.

“Sam, are you ok, sweetheart?” Twilight asked.

“Hmm? Oh yeah, I’m fine,” Sam replied, but he didn’t mean it. He didn’t want to tell his two mothers he could die, “I think today I might go check on my friends. Is that ok?”

“Of course it is,” Twilight assured him, “You haven’t seen them for a long time, just make sure you be careful.”

“I will, don’t worry,” Sam said, hugging Twilight.

Sam soon left the house and started to make his way to his school to check on his friends. He wanted to go by himself, as the way to school meant he could be alone with his thoughts, he had a tone on his mind. That fact he could die if he spends too much time away from Gwen, where Red King came from, and why his tormentors were still human. Also, he still had to try and find the thief that stole from the laboratory, as well as, the thief seemed to know who he, Twilight, and Sunset were. Sam was very worried about everything, normally when he’s with his team he’s confident, and cool, but when he was on his own, he had the fear that he couldn’t do anything.

It's like Nicholas said, he wasn’t getting weaker, the monsters were getting stronger, and they would get stronger together. But Sam wasn’t so sure he could do it, even with his powers getting stronger and would soon become nearly uncontrollable, he felt like he could die before the final fight starts. Sam started to doubt he could even do this, was coming back to earth really a good idea.

But then he thought of his friends, and the fact they still remembered him, they were always there for him, whether it was helping him keep him tormentors away or with school work. Sam’s nervousness started to go away as a confident smile grew on his face, if anyone was going to help him it was his friends. Even though they were animals and couldn’t speak.

Sam soon arrived at his old school, as he pushed open the gate, and walked on to the school grounds, he noticed that he could hear his friends. He looked around and called out their names, then he heard the little squeaks of a rat. He then saw Erin run up to him, Sam bent down and held his hand out to her.

“Erin? What’s wrong?” Sam asked, Erin motions over to the field, Sam placed her on his shoulder and ran to the field.

To his horror, he saw his friends all laying on the ground, completely knocked out. His tormentors were also there standing over their bodies. Ruben grinned evilly as he turned around and saw Sam standing there. Sam felt angry for what they did to his friends and took a few steps forward.

“Not a single step closer!” Ruben called out as he grabbed the unconscious Elena by the neck and held her up, “Or the fox will get the worse of it.”

What did you do to them?!” Sam shouted in both anger and worry, his temperature started to rise a bit.

“Don’t worry, we’re not gonna kill them, yet,” Ruben told him, “We simply just knocked them out, our boss just wanted them out of the picture for a while.”

“You are monsters!” Sam growled, steam started to come off his body but it was pretty transparent, “why do you do this?!”

“Why? Because it’s fun,” Ruben replied, “and we can’t get into trouble, because there’s no people around to stop us.”

“I will stop you!” Sam shouted.

“Oh please, what can you possibly do to stop us,” Ruben mocked, “turn into a giant superhero and stomp on us.”

Sam was beyond shocked, they knew his secret, “How…? How do you know?!” he yelled.

“We were the ones that summoned that Red King,” Abdul called out.

“And empowered it into EX Red King,” Nathen chimed in, holding the ray gun.

Sam was frozen, they were the ones who summoned Red King in the first place, “Boys get him,” Ruben ordered.

Kyle and Kevin chuckled as they came closer to Sam, they then grabbed him by the arms, Erin tried to bite at Kevin’s fingers.

“Dumb rodent,” he remarked, as he pinched her tail and threw her to the ground.

“Erin! Let go of me!” Sam shouted but the two boys just lifted him up off the ground.

“Now, let’s start with those scars again,” Ruben said as he pulled out his pocket knife.

“NO!” Sam cried, and tried to break free, but it was no good. Kevin and Kyle had strong grips on his arms. Kevin lifted up Sam’s shirt as Ruben drew his knife closer. Then it happened.

Just as Ruben was about to carve Sam’s skin, Sam screamed and unleashed a light blue shockwave, knocking the three boys back and to the ground. His tormentors all stared at Sam, steam was visibly coming off his body, as his eyes glowed blue.

“Get him, fools!” Ruben shouted in anger.

His group ran forward to get Sam, but as they went to grab Sam, another Specimen Shockwave erupted from his body, sending a heatwave across the area. Sam’s shirtless body started to glow orange as red and yellow markings started to appear on his body, his eyes turned from blue to orange as he stared at them all. Elena was starting to come around, Ruben let go of her when he was thrown backwards by the shockwave. She looked up to see Sam in this furious state.

Kevin ran up to punch Sam, but Sam was letting so much heat that he was boiling to the touch. Sam grabbed Kevin’s arm and threw him into girls knocking them to the ground. Then he kicked both Abdul in front and Nathen behind him and threw them into Kevin and the girls. When Kyle tried to grab Sam, he just got punched several times in the stomach, before also getting thrown into the group on the ground, trapping them under his weight.

“Come on, how hard can it be!” Ruben cried, “Get up you useless…”

He didn’t get to finish when Sam suddenly grabbed him by the throat and held him on the ground. His grip was red hot as it seemed to damage his throat.

“Just leave me the fuck alone!” Sam screamed, his voice echoed across the field.

He went in to punch Ruben in the face but then something smacked the back of his head, hard enough to knock him out. He fell over Ruben, his temperature dropping back to normal as he stopped glowing.

“You fools are so useless,” the figure who smacked Sam remarked, “it’s just a kid.”

“Sorry boss,” Ruben said, getting up and massaging his throat.

“Get him in the van, and you lot get up,” the boss ordered.

“Yes boss,” Ruben said as she slowly got up, grabbed Sam by the arms and dragged him to a white van.

Elena saw the whole thing. Once the group on the floor had got up and followed their boss’s orders, she got up and ran off to Sam’s house, knowing that Twilight and Sunset would be there.

Elena ran all the way to Sam’s house, once there she started to scratch on the door to try and get their attention inside. It worked, Twilight opened the door to see Elena yipping like mad.

“Woah there Elena, calm down. What’s wrong?” Twilight asked as she let Elena in.

Elena started to make hissing sounds like she was trying to say something that began with S. “We can’t understand you,” Sunset told her.

Elena thought about how she could tell them, she couldn’t ask Oscar as he was still out cold, then Spike walked in, she yipped at Spike, and he understood what she was saying.

“Spike what’s wrong?” Twilight asked, Spike barked at Twilight and he and Elena ran off.

“I think they want us to follow them,” Sunset said as both girls ran after the two canines.

The four made it back to the school, they saw that Sam’s friends were starting to come too. Elena ran off then came back with a pencil and paper, she then yipped and nudged Oscar awake so he could write what she was saying. Twilight and Sunset took in what they saw.

“My word, what happened here?” Sunset remarked.

“And where’s Sam?” Twilight questioned with concern in her voice, “he said he was going to check on them.”

Oscar started to wake up, and Elena told him what happened and what to do. He started to write down what Elena was saying, once he was done, he gave the paper to Twilight and Sunset. They were both shocked to see what it said.

‘We were all knocked unconscious by Ruben and his gang. Sam went berserk and attacked them, but then someone came up behind him and smacked him over the head. They kidnapped Sam.’

“No, Sam,” Twilight said, tears forming in his eyes.

“It's gonna be ok,” Sunset comforted her, “we’ll find him.”

“I promised nothing bad will ever happen to him again,” Twilight cried into Sunset’s shoulder, “he’s just a kid.”

“Shh,” Sunset soothed Twilight. Elena and Spike started to sniff around to get Sam’s scent, they then found the burned patch of grass that Sam fell on when he was knocked out and still in his fury mode. The two canines sniffed the patch, and got Sam’s scent, Spike barked at Twilight and Sunset.

“What is it Spike?” Sunset asked, Spike pointed to the patch of burned grass, “Was Sam there?” Spike nodded and pointed off into the distance. “Twilight! Spike and Elena have Sam’s scent!” she cried, “We can find him!”

Twilight wiped her tears away and put on a confident expression, “then let us go find my son,” she said. Tyler, Joe, and Beth all heard this, and they wanted to come as well. Twilight and Sunset climbed on Joe’s back and Elena, and Spike led them down the trail that would lead them to where Sam was.

Sam woke up tired to a chair in a dark room with only a light bulb shining directly upon him. He saw that he was surrounded by his tormentors, he tried to speak but found out that he was gagged.

‘So I’ve been kidnapped, just great’, he thought. Sam looked around and guessed he was in some sort of abandoned storage warehouse, but he was definitely not at school. Just then a door opened, and Sam saw the silhouette of a girl walking into the room, but it was hard to see her as she was in the shadows.

“Ungag him,” she spoke, Nathan lowered Sam’s gag as he stared daggers at the girl.

“So I’m guessing you’re the thief that stole the capsules?” he asked, his voice sounded not impressed.

“Correct,” the thief replied.

“And you’ve made these low lives follow you,” Sam asked again.

“Correct again,” the thief answered.

“So what do you want with me?” Sam questioned.

“Oh, nothing from you”, she sweetly said before an evil grin stretched across her face, “I only want Twilight and Sunset.”

“Ok, so what do you want with them?” Sam quizzed, “I still don’t know who you are.”

“Oh, naïve little Sam,” the girl said, “you really don’t recognise me.”

“Should I?” Sam questioned.

“It was a few years ago when you were still here,” the girl said, “there was a girl you used to idolise. She was kind, sweet, and caring to you. She would babysit when Emily was busy with either her boyfriend or something else. An older girl, in the higher years. Had brown fuzzy hair, purple eyes, and sounded. Just. Like. Me.”

“Wait. No. It can’t be…” Sam stuttered in shock.

“Yes, It’s me, Nicole Foster,” she announced, getting into the light.

“No. Why are you doing this…?” Sam asked worriedly in his voice.

“I’m assuming that backstabbing Princess Celestia has told you about my origins,” Nicole said, as she started to walk around Sam, “about how I was once one being, but then I was split up into three with my sisters, Twilight and Sunset.”

“She has,” Sam replied, “but you were the one who stabbed her in the back by running away.”

“Incorrect child,” she retorted, “she knew that I was Princess Eclipse the whole time and she didn’t say anything. She didn’t care for me, she only had eyes for Twilight and Sunset. Until Sunset ran away, and all her attention went to Twilight.”

“That’s not true!” Sam shouted, “She loved you, like you were own daughter!”

“Silent, silent, SILENT!” Nicole cried out in fury, she calmed down pretty quickly, “I still have my magic, it is what’s keeping these twits there human looks, but once I’m Princess Eclipse again, I can summon my EX Monsters and rule both this world and Equestria.”

“I would let you destroy my home!” Sam shouted, struggling to get free.

“Gag him, I’m getting tired of hearing his voice,” the girl commanded, as Nathen re-gagged Sam.

“Well, we better get back to school,” Nicole said, “Oh and before I forget…” She spun around and looked at Sam, “when your mothers come looking for you, they’ll be falling into a trap. But I’m not going to spoil anything.”

“You utter bitch!” muffled Sam from behind the gag.

“Soon Equestria will see the return of Nightfall, the true pony that Princess Eclipse has become!!” she declared before laughing and walked out the room followed by her goons.

Sam just looked to the ground, he started to feel scared, as tears leaked from his eyes. “Mum, where are you? I’m scared.”

Chapter 34: You are not Alone (Edited)

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Like when Sam was put into a coma-like state and when he ran away, Twilight was scared and worried. Elena and Spike were still leading them on the trail of Sam, they had slowed down as the scent was starting to grow a little faint and they had to stop at times to get back on his scent. Sunset had one of Sam’s shirts in case he lost his scent completely. Twilight was getting more worried, if only she had been there, she could have helped her son.

“You ok, Twi?” Sunset asked, she sat in front of Twilight on Joe's back.

“I’m just so worried about Sam,” Twilight explained as she wrapped her arms around Sunset, “If only we had gone with him…”

“Then things would have been worse,” Sunset cut off her friend, “you saw what those twats are willing to do, you got stabbed in the arm.”

“But…” Twilight tried to say.

“I know you’re worried about our son, I am too,” Sunset told her, turning around to look at Twilight, “if those twats are willing to kill you, who knows what they’ll do to us.”

“So you’re saying it’s better that a ten year old boy is the one being assaulted?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“No, but we don’t know those twats like Sam does,” Sunset told her, “they clearly took him for something, if we were there’ they would have done more than knock us out.”

“I guess you’re right,” Twilight admitted.

“Don’t worry Twilight,” Sunset said, “Sam had no choice here, he won't want his mothers to be upset, he’ll want them to be strong.”

“You’re right, Sunset,” Twilight sniffed, “Yes you’re right.”

“I can tell you, even Sam’s friends are worried and want to help him,” Sunset responded, “so chin up, wipe those tears and put a confident expression on your face.”

Twilight wiped her face, and put on a confident expression, “ok, let’s find our son,” she called out, Beth, Joe, Tyler, Spike and Elena all cried out in reply.

“That’s the spirit girl!” Sunset cried, she then bent down to Joe, “do you think you can track him Joe?”

Sunset held Sam’s shirt in front of Joe’s snout, the lion sniffed a little and got Sam’s scent.

“I think Joe had found him,” Sunset called out, Elena and Spike turned back and jumped onto Beth’s back. Joe then started to run followed by Tyler and Beth.

“Hang in there Sam,” Twilight remarked, “mummy’s coming.”

Sam had passed out from the cold of the warehouse not long after Nicole or Nightfall and her lackies left. But he was soon awoken by too many things, his colour timer blinking, and his stomach rumbling. Now, one on its own was bad enough, but if his colour timer was blinking and he was hungry at the same time, that meant the more hungry he got, the weaker he’ll get, and perhaps fall into a coma-like state like before.

Sam knew he had to get out of here as soon as he could and get something to eat. He looked around for something that could cut his hands free, but due to the only light in the room was a single light bulb above him, he couldn’t see anything else. He started to panic a little.

‘Ok, calm down Sam,’ he thought to himself, ‘if you can fight giant monsters and survive, you can handle the dark. Just have to remain calm and collected.’

Suddenly and without warning, a flare of Specium Energy erupted from his right side, launching him to the side and falling to the ground.

“OW!” Sam cried, his voice still muffled from the gag, “What the heck happened?! I was calm!” Then he remembered what Ultraman had said. ‘Wait, it must be Gwen, the further away I am to her, the more uncontrollable and random these Specium Pulses become.’

Then Sam heard something from behind. The sounds of boxes moving, and footsteps echoed around the nearly empty room. Sam could see that the pulse knocked him half in the darkness and on his side. The footsteps seemed to get louder, like they were coming closer. The Footsteps then stopped, Sam didn’t dare make a sound.

But suddenly, something grabbed him from the side and pulled him back upright, then came around and ungagged him. Sam then saw it was a kid, no older than he was. The boy wore a blue shirt, red shorts, green knee socks and purple shoes with pink laces tied up in bows. The Boy had brown hair, and brown ears.

“Shh, it’s ok,” the boy said, “I’m not with them. In fact they did the same to me too.”

“Who are you?” Sam asked.

“My name is Chris,” the boy replied, “what’s yours?”

“I’m Sam,” he answered.

“Nice to meet you,” Chris responded, “now let’s get you untied.” The boy then walked off and soon came back with a nail filer and started to file at the ropes around Sam’s wrists.

“What are you even doing here?” Sam asked after a long pause, “better yet how are you still human? I thought the virus would have turned everyone into animals.”

“I originally came here a few years ago with my family to get away from the virus that was plaguing the US,” Chris began, “as at the time, we heard that the UK was safe. But this year, it happened. Humans become feral animals, and I lost my family to it.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Sam responded, “I lost my mother the same way, she became a feral donkey.”

“My mother was turned into a rabbit and was chased away by my brothers who became wolves, “Chris continued, “I’ve not heard or seen them since. They’ve probably killed and eaten her. After witnessing that traumatic experience, I’ve become depressed.”

“Dang bro,” Sam remarked, “I’m so sorry for you.”

“Then one day, as I was trying to find food, I was attacked by a bear,” Chris said, “I didn’t survive.”

Sam was puzzled, “How are you here then?” he asked.

“I had a visit from someone before I passed on to the afterlife,” Chris replied, as he snapped the rope and freed Sam’s arms, and moved in front of him to free his legs, “a buff looking robotic being with red and silver markings.”

“Wait, pull down your shirt,” Sam said as he pulled down his shirt’s collar revealing his blinking colour timer.

“Wait, you’re one too!” exclaimed as he unbuttoned his shirt and revealed he had a colour timer as well.

“How?” Sam questioned.

“Ultraman Jack bonded with me and gave me another chance at life,” Chris replied, “I didn’t want to, but he told me he could help me overcome my depression and help me save lives. After thinking about it, I didn’t want anyone else to suffer like I did, so we bonded and now I’m here talking to you. Another Ultra.”

“So I’m guessing Nicole kidnapped you as well,” Sam assumed.

“Yes, she found out about my powers, and kidnapped me to trial them out against her monsters,” Chris explained, “she would unleash human sized monsters at me, and I had to fight them in order for her to improve them.”

“She wants to create an army of near invincible monsters to take over Equestria!” Sam exclaimed.

“Equestria?” Chris questioned.

“It’s my new home,” Sam answered just as Chris cut the ropes on Sam’s legs, “I must stop her.”

“You can’t,” Chris said, “she’s forced me to fight monsters, and after I destroyed them she would work on improving them, to the point where I can’t even land a hit.”

“So how am I going to stop her?” Sam quizzed.

“I don’t know,” Chris replied, “but first let’s get the ropes around your chest off.” Suddenly, another Specium Pulse erupted from Sam’s body, launching up to the front and destroying the rope. “That works.”

“Oi! What was that?!” came Ruben’s voice.

“It’s Ruben!” Sam exclaimed, “Wait, I think we can take them out.”

“What do you mean?” Chris questioned.

“The monsters and Nicole might know how we fight,” Sam answered, “But not her lackies.”

“Oh I see what you’re getting at,” Chris said, as they heard the door unlock. Quickly, Chris made it seem like Sam was still tied up, then gagged him again and hid behind some boxes just as Ruben and his gang entered the room.

“I swear I heard something go bang in here,” he said, turning on the lights and looking around.

“Oh Ruben, can I feed him?” Eden asked.

“Whatever, If the boss didn’t need you alive, I would kill you myself,” Ruben shouted at Sam as Eden walked over to him with a bowl of soup.

“Open wide sweetie!” Eden cheerfully said, ungagging Sam and holding a wooden spoon with the soup in it.

Sam was going to snap at her, but he was pretty hungry and would eat nearly anything, even the food he didn’t like. So he opened his mouth and Eden fed him the soup. Eden seemed to really enjoy feeding Sam, maybe a little too much.

“OOOH! This is so cute!” she squealed, “It’s like I’m feeding my ill husband!”

‘What the crap is up with this girl?’ Sam thought, Eden did seem like that sort of crazy fangirl.

Before long, the soup was all gone, Sam’s colour timer had stopped flashing red and was blue again. He was no longer hungry and had his strength back.

“Thank you Eden,” Sam expressed, “I almost feel sorry for doing this.”

“Doing what?” Eden asked. Before she or anyone else could react, Sam slugged Eden in the face so hard that it knocked her… face off? Eden’s body started to glitch out with static, but then her body was gone and was replaced by a snake, with a mask a few several feet away. The Snake looked up at Sam, with a sad expression before she slithered away.

“Holy cow!” Chris remarked, “even I didn’t know that they were animals.”

“They were always beasts,” Sam responded, “but now it’s not just a figure of speech, they really are beasts.”

“Well, no use hiding our disguises now,” Ruben remarked as he reached to his face to take off his mask.

“Ruben!” cried Caroline, “We’re getting attacked by two girls and a few animals! They found us!”

“What?!” Ruben exclaimed.

“Caroline, you and the others take off your masks and fight them,” Nightfall ordered rather calmly, “Ruben, you, Nathan and Abdul are needed here.”

“At least she knows how to lead a gang,” Caroline remarked to Ruben before running off with the others in tow.

“That Bitch,” Ruben muttered.

“Ultrasuit on!” Sam cried as he donned his Ultrasuit, before turning to Chris, “you gonna help?”

“Yes,” Chris replied coming out of his hiding place, “Ultrasuit on!” Chris’s Ultrasuit seemed to resemble Ultraman but appeared to be much bulkier.

“Damn Chris,” Ultraman remarked, “you’re taller than me.”

“And I have swords,” Ultraman Jack replied, deploying a pair of retractable swords out of his forearms.

“It's not like you can do much against what I have planned,” Nightfall told them.

“Which is?” Sam questioned.

“This,” Nightfall replied as she aimed and fired the ray gun at Nathan.

Nathan screamed in pain as he started to grow to a giant height as his mask fell off, his body turned blue, and orange, he grew a beak, horns and his hands swelled into something not like any other monster hands.

“What on earth is that?!” cried Ultraman looking up at the giant monster that was one of his tormentors.

Then Nightfall aimed and fired the ray gun at Abdul's feet, he too screamed as he was absorbed as well. He grew to a giant height, his head stretched out, his body had the texture of molten rock, and he grew fangs.

“Thanks to Chris, I was able to evolve normal monsters into upgraded, deadly beasts,” Nightfall announced, “boys, I bring you, EX Vakishim and EX Lagoras!”

The two monsters roared out loud, as they started to move off and destroy the town. Twilight and Sunset were busy fighting against Sam’s tormentors, when the monsters appeared from the warehouse. Twilight was horrified, she guessed that Sam was around there. Ultraman and Jack looked up and then looked at each other.

“I’ll go after Lagoras , you get Vakishim,” Ultraman told him.

“Right,” Jack replied as the two flew off after the monsters.

Ultraman flew in front of EX Lagoras and grew to match his size. No sooner did Ultraman appear, EX Lagoras fired fireballs from his chest, Ultraman used his Specium Blades to deflect them. EX Lagoras then fired his freezing beam, Ultraman used his right arm to block it, but it got frozen over, luckily, the heat generated for the Specium Blades melted the ice. The Ultraman and the Evolved Kaiju had a stare down, waiting to the over to make the first move. They then both charged at each other, Ultraman landed to first attack by jumping and punching down on EX Lagoras’ head. Lagoras tried to swipe his claws at Ultraman, but he ducked, dodging it, and following up with a kick to the stomach and then another.

EX Lagoras swung his head into Ultraman’s chest, staggering the Ultra before then charging forward and slamming his head into Ultraman again. But Ultraman managed to grab the crest on the monster’s head and toss him to the ground. EX Lagoras got back up as he charged at the Ultra, Ultraman grabbed him by the jaw, but EX Lagoras smacked the Ultra’s side, Ultraman cringed in pain as Lagoras did it again and then chucked Ultraman to the ground.

Ultraman stood back up as EX Lagoras dashed forward, but Ultraman grabbed his head and stopped him, he lifted it, and kicked the monster in the chest causing the monster to stumble back. Ultraman then ran forward, and drop-kicked EX Lagoras on the head, sending the monster stumbling back and roaring in pain. Ultraman jumped to his feet and got ready to brawl as EX Lagoras ran forward, Ultraman landed two punches, but as he went in for a kick, Lagoras sidestepped, dodging it, and then smacked Ultraman in the stomach before swinging his tail and whipping Ultraman in the legs, sending the Ultra falling to the ground.

Ultraman struggled on the ground as EX Lagoras kicked him causing the Ultra to roll on the floor. Ultraman slowly stood up as Lagoras roared, Ultraman charged out his energy and created a Specium Slash. He threw it, but EX Lagoras charged up his Freezing Ray and Fireball, then combined the two into a Super Thermal Blast and fired it, destroying Ultraman’s Specium Slash and striking Ultraman in the chest. The impact sent Ultraman flying to the ground, Ultraman cried in pain as EX Lagoras made his way to him. Once Lagoras was right on top of Ultraman, he started to stamp on his chest with his foot as Ultraman’s colour started blinking again.

“Crap, I’m almost out of energy,” Ultraman grunted as EX Lagoras continued to stomp on his chest.

Ultraman fired a Specium beam in Lagoras face to get him off. Lagoras cried out as he stopped stomping. Ultraman stood up as he deployed his Specium Blades and like before, they extended, Ultraman ran forward and sliced off one of his head crests. Lagoras cried in pain, as a burst of Specium energy erupted from Ultraman’s shoulder. Ultraman ignored it as he turned back around and charged up a stronger Specium Beam, EX Lagoras charged up his Super Thermal Blast and launched, just as Ultraman fired his Specium Beam. The attacks were evenly matched until Ultraman put more power into his beam, destroying the attack, and striking EX Lagoras in the chest, terminating EX Lagoras.

A peacock fluttered down to the ground, Ultraman guessed this was the animal Nathan turned into as he sat down and laid on the ground to try to get some energy from the sun.

EX Vakishim roared as he stomped across the street, making large holes in every step. Ultraman Jack rose up and touched down in front of EX Vakishim. The monster roared at Jack as it fired missiles out his nose at Jack who cartwheeled out the way. EX Vakishim roared in fiery as Jack jumped, somersaulted in the air, and flying kicked Vakishim in the head, sending the monster falling into an empty building.

While on the ground, Jack jumped onto the EX Kaiju, and chopped him in the neck, then grabbed his head and wrestled it around. They both stood up and Vakishim got Jack off him by smacking him with the spikes on his arms, then as Jack ran in for another punch but EX Vakishim smacked him with his tail, sending Jack tumbling to the ground.

Jack continued to roll away, causing EX Vakishim to chase after him, it looked rather silly for a distance.

Then just as Vakishim was over Jack, he got his legs under the monster and threw him over himself. With Vakishim on the ground, Jack leaped onto him and wrestled with the monster’s leg. EX Vakishim smacked Jack off him, Jack tried to keep the monster on the ground, but Vakishim launched him back as the monster stood up. EX Vakishim stood up and turned to face Jack, with his arms raised, Jack stood back and was going to attack but EX Vakishim fired streams of fire from the tips of his arms at Jack, this burned Jack caused his Colour Timer to blink, and EX Vakishim to laugh.

EX Vakishim prepared to fire his Vulcan Fire again, but Jack was ready. He deployed a forcefield around him just as EX Vakishim fired his Vulcan Fire, the flames hit the forcefield doing no damage at all to Jack. This annoyed EX Vakishim as Jack readied for another attack. EX Vakishim launched his flame-coated horn boomerang from his head at Jack, the Ultra dodged it, but it started to come back, Jack’s right forearm transformed into a railgun and fired a blast at the horn, destroying it.

He then spun around and fired it again at the really annoyed monster, stunning the monster. And then to finish it off, Jack’s railgun turned back to his normal arm, and he deployed his blade. He ran forward and decapitated the EX monster, killing it as his body fell to the ground lifelessly. Jack then used an attack similar to Ultraman’s Specium beam but it was called the Cinerama Shot to finish off the body, completely destroying it. A toad jumped out of the wreckage and croaked in annoyance as he collapsed to the ground. Jack then walked over to Ultraman to check if he was alright.

Back at the destroyed warehouse, Nicole and Ruben saw the fights go down. The animal fight at the entrance had calmed down, Twilight and Sunset had just knocked out Kevin who turned out to be a sloth and were now standing over the unconscious bodies of the other tormentors turned beasts. Elena, Tyler, Joe, and Beth were all tired and wounded from their fight and now we're just resting on the ground.

“Twilight, look,” Sunset said, Twilight turned to see what she was looking at, Nightfall and Ruben were coming out of the warehouse.

“Hello sisters,” Nightfall responded.

“Who are you?” Twilight questioned.

“Who, me?” Nightfall asked innocently, “I’m just a young girl that needed your son to bring you into my trap.”

“Well it failed!” Twilight shouted, “Sam and his friend destroyed your monsters.”

“Oh that wasn’t the trap,” Nightfall replied, “and neither is this.” She then fired the ray gun at Ruben’s feet. The boy was then absorbed into the ground as a monster rose up from it. It was blue, metals, and sharp blades all over its body and had a large golden spike on its head.

“Did you just turn him into a monster?!” yelled Sunset.

“Oh no, he was merely absorbed into the monster and is in control of the monster,” Nightfall said, “well he’s mostly in control of EX Demaaga, I’m still working out the kinks.”

“You won’t be working out anything, after we’re through with you,” Sunset remarked.

“Right, we will stop you thief,” Twilight declared.

“You know, I don’t like the term thief,” Nightfall said, “I prefer if you call me by my name.”

“And what is it?” Twilight asked.

“Nightfall,” she replied.

EX Demaaga roared out, getting Ultraman and Jack’s attention. Ultraman had just enough strength to fight, as his colour timer had just turned blue again, but he didn’t have much. Jack helped him up as he prepared to fight the new monster. Jack fired more shots from his railgun, striking EX Demaaga in the chest and caused the monster to stumble back.

The two Ultras ran forward to attack, Ultraman punched, and Jack kicked EX Demaaga in the chest. Ultraman tried to roundhouse kick EX Demaaga in the face, but the monster stood back and dodged it, but this gave Jack the opening to kick EX Demaaga in the chest. The monster then charged forward, both Ultra grabbed him and managed to stop him, and kick him back. They then both tried to punch the monster, but EX Demaaga held up his bladed arms and the two Ultras punched the blades, causing damage to their arms.

With the two Ultra’s distracted with the pain in their arms, EX Demaaga slashed at Jack sending him to the ground, and was about to do the same to Ultraman but he rolled out the way and kicked him in the back of the leg, causing the monster to fall to the ground. Jack came back into the fight, he grabbed EX Demaaga by the arm and Ultraman lifted the monster back up with him. EX Demaaga threw Ultraman away, but Jack rolled over his friend and punched the monster in the chest. EX Demaaga was proving to be really strong and solid, Ultraman and Jack believed they were hurting themselves more than the monster.

“Jack, I’ll take care of EX Demaaga,” Ultraman told him.

“Are you crazy?! That thing is two strong for you on your own!” yelled Jack.

“I have to, I need to put my demons to rest,” He replied.

“Fine,” Jack sighed as he shrunk back down to normal size and ran to get to cover.

“Alright you devil,” Ultraman muttered as he pulled a fighting pose.

EX Demaaga roared at Ultraman as deployed his extended Specium Blades, another burst of Specium Energy erupted from his side.

EX Demaaga charged up and fired his Demaaga Varion from his head spike, Ultraman used his Specium Blades to deflect back at the monster, striking him in the stomach three times. Ultraman’s temperature started to rise, as he and EX Demaaga clashed their blades together with Ultraman managing to strike EX Demaaga a few times in the chest, and head.

EX Demaaga was now getting very annoyed, as he charged up his attacks. Inside Ultraman, Sam’s body started to glow orange, again as fiery red and yellow markings appeared. EX Demaaga fired powerful energy projections at Ultraman from his razor blades on his arms and back, causing a massive explosion on Ultraman. EX Demaaga roared in triumph, but as the explosion cleared, Ultraman stood there, completely unfazed by the attacks.

EX Demaaga roared in fury, as Ultraman readied his Specium beam, his arms glowed blue with surging energy, his body also started to burst with Specium Energy as he charged up. The Blue glow turned to orange as his temperature reached critical level. Finally, Ultraman placed his arms in the potion and fired the strongest Specium beam he had ever fired. His back was erupting Specium pulses as he did so, destroying nearby buildings. EX Demaaga tried to block it with his blades, but the beam was so hot and so powerful, it broke right through and destroyed EX Demaaga in seconds, leaving nearly nothing left.

Ultraman panted, his Colour Timer was going blinking so fast it looked like it wasn’t blinking at all. Ultraman stumbled, before falling back and shrinking back down to normal size. Christ ran up to him, followed by Beth, Elena, Tyler, Joe, and Spike.

“Sam! Dude!” Chris shouted, as he propped him up, “Come on! Don’t die!”

“Do you think you can yell a little quieter?” Sam gasped, “I’m so tired, that I can’t move a single muscle.”

“Sam, what happened to you?” Chris questioned, “you were like a volcano.”

“It’s kind of hard to explain,” Sam answered, “I must have been running on adrenaline or something.”

“I’ll say,” Chris remarked, “look what you did.”

Sam looked behind himself and saw the destruction he caused from his uncontrollable Specium pulses. “Oh my goodness,” he responded, “I did all that.”

“Yes, you did all the destruction for me,” came a voice, they all looked to see Nightfall walking up to them. Joe, Tyler, and Beth get into defensive positions to protect Sam, while Spike and Elena remain close to Sam.

“You failed Nightfall!” shouted Chris, “we destroyed your monsters. Your traps failed!”

“Oh, once again, you’re wrong,” Nightfall chuckled, “the trap did work. It wasn’t to kill you with the monsters, it was to lure Twilight and Sunset to me.”

“Wait, where are my mothers?!” Sam shouted.

“Right here,” Nightfall pointed out, Sam, Chris and the others were horrified to see a tiger carrying Twilight and Sunset unconscious bodies on his back.

“Mums!” Sam cried.

“Ah, ah, ah, me and my sisters need some time to catch up,” Nightfall stated, “come along Ruben.”

Ruben roared and the two walked back, Sam tried to get up, but as he stumbled to his feet, he collapsed to the ground and passed out. He felt himself slipping from reality as he heard Chris's muffled voice.

“Sam! Sam!” he cried, “You’re his friend right? Help him!”

Tyler gently grabbed Sam with his mouth and lifted him onto Joe’s back, Chris climbed onto Joe as well to keep Sam stable as they went back to the school.

Elena was more worried than ever about Sam, “Sssssaa… Ssssssaaaaa….” She hissed, she was still trying to say something, but she was getting closer each time. She walked alongside Joe, want to stay as close to Sam as possible.

Chapter 35: Are you an Alien... or a Human? (Edited)

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Sam found himself in the empty void of white once again. This time he didn’t feel so alive, he felt weaker, and his muscles hurt. And like last time, Ultraman was there as well.

“I warned you,” he told him, “I warned you not to overdo it.”

Sam just looked down in shame, he knew he was right. “I had to stop him,” he tried to retort, “Otherwise, he would have destroyed the city.”

“Do you know how much time you had left before you would have fallen into a coma-like state,” Ultraman responded, “5 whole seconds.”

“I know I was cutting it close,” Sam replied, “but I had to do something.”

“You're just lucky that I’m linked to you like a life support machine,” Ultraman said, “or else, I would have separated from you and fought Nightfall on my own. I would give up my own life to save another, not put that other in danger of death as well.”

“I would risk my life to save someone else as well,” Sam retorted, “heck, I’ve done that, I’ve shown that I would rather die than let a whole nation of beings suffer. Ultraman, let me fight with you, we’re stronger together than just one.”

Ultraman just stood in silence looking down on Sam, he knew he was right. If Sam wasn't with him, he would surely lose against EX Demaaga. “You know, I don’t think those shockwaves and high temperatures are related to me,” Ultraman told him.

“They’re not?” Sam questioned.

“Specium energy erupting from your body is linked to me,” Ultraman responded, “you glowing orange and your temperature rising to critical levels isn’t.”

“Then what’s up with me?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know,” Ultraman replied, “But I have the feeling that you are not what you think you are.”

“Am I an alien?!” Sam shouted.

“Calm down, I don’t know,” Ultraman told him, “I think this is something you have to work out on your own.”

“I guess we'll find out later,” Sam said, “right now we need to stop Nightfall and get my mothers back. Are you with me?” Sam held out his hand.

“Yes, let’s save your homes together,” Ultraman replied as he grabbed Sam’s hand and shook it.

Sam slowly began to open his eyes, his vision was blurry as he struggled to sit up. He felt something laying on his legs, as his vision started to get clearer, he looked around and saw that he was back in his old school. He was laying on a makeshift bed of hay, he also saw that Elena was asleep on his lap. He reached up a hand and petted her head, Elena leaned into his touch as she opened her eyes slowly. When she saw that it was Sam petting her, she sat up and started to lick Sam’s face.

“Ok, ok, easy there,” Sam chuckled.

“Good to see you awake,” said a voice, Sam looked up to see Chris, “You were out for quite a while.”

“What happened?” Sam asked.

“You collapsed for exhaustion after completely destroying EX Demaaga and half the town,” Chris replied.

“What?!” Sam exclaimed, “Wait, it’s coming back, where’s my mothers?!”

“I’m sorry,” Chris responded looking down in shame, “they were taken by Nightfall.”

Sam didn’t say anything, he was too shocked, “but why?” he finally said.

“My guess is that she took you to lure your mothers into her trap,” Chris retorted, “she used the monsters as a distraction for us so she could capture them.”

“We need to save them!” Sam declared as he tried to get up but then he fell to his knees.

“Careful mate!” Chris warned him, “you just woke up. You’re not fully healed.”

“But they’re my family!” Sam shouted as he stumbled to his feet and weakly took a few steps, “why do I feel so weak?!”

“You probably exposed too much energy when you destroyed EX Demaaga,” Chris assumed, “do you know what happened to you?”

“No, I don’t,” Sam replied, “I just have a giant time gap missing. I remember telling you to leave EX Demaaga to me and then I’m back down to normal size and on the ground surrounded by you and my friends.”

“Hmm, interesting,” Chris thought, “come with me, I want to run some tests on you.”

“What are you talking about?” Sam asked as Chris helped him to the old computer room, that seemed to be turned into a lab.

“What the?” Sam questioned, “this wasn’t here before.”

“Me and your friends turned this computer room into a sort of Laboratory while you were out,” Chris answered.

“How long was I out?” Sam asked.

“About a week or two,” Chris replied casually.

“What?!” Sam exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, we’ve fed you so you can stay alive,” Chris replied as he set Sam down on a bench.

“You could have spent that time looking for my mothers,” Sam said.

“Where do you think everyone is,” Chris stated, “why do you think it’s just us, your fox friend and elephant teacher here?”

“Really…?” Sam quizzed, “they’re out there looking for them?”

“Yes, they know how important family is,” Chris replied, “now hold still.”

Chris went over to some monitor and typed around a bit, just them a metal ring lowered down upon Sam. He looked up and was going to get out of its way because he didn’t have the strength to do so, so he let it come down. It turned out that it was a scanner and that it was scanning Sam to see what the reason could be for his flaming outbursts.

An outline of Sam appeared on a screen and Chris monitored the scan. He took notes of the scan, how Sam’s colour timer was connected to his heart, and other biological stuff.

“So what do you see?” Sam called out.

“Well other than your Colour Timer being connected to your heart, meaning that if it was pulled out it would snap the vanes going to your heart and kill you,” Chris replied, “You seem to have some sort of thermal heat generator inside you.”

“What does that mean?” Sam asked.

“I’m not a scientist so I don’t know if that is supposed to be there,” Chris said, “but I my guess is that this is where your fiery energy comes from in your Blitz state.”

“What about me erupting Specium Energy?” Sam asked as a small burst erupted for his shoulder.

“Well that seems to be with your Colour Timer,” Chris said, showing Sam the scan, “It seems like there are invisible cords coming from your Colour Timer that have been stretched to the limit. Some seem to still be intact while others have been snapped. Every time you have a small burst, that’s the cords slowly tearing, and when you erupt a powerful pulse, that’s a cord snapping in two.”

“And how many do I have left?” Sam asked a bit nervously.

“It seems about five,” Chris replied.

“Great, my life is being held literally by thread,” Sam remarked.

“What do you mean by that?” Chris asked.

“Well, back in Equestria, I was involved in a dimensional accident, and a female clone of me was created, she’s like a sister to me, and I think the other end of those cords is her,” Sam replied, “She and I have a connection so if we’re too far apart and keep erupting Specium Energy, we with die.”

“Oh my,” Chris remarked, “So we’re up against the time here. And these seem to snap at random, so it must mean that your female clone is getting further away from you.”

“So we need to rescue my mums and stop Nightfall before it’s too late,” Sam said as he held out his hand, “Will you help me Chris, despite the fact we basically met like a week or so ago.”

“Of course I will,” Chris said, grabbing Sam’s hand and shaking it, “us Ultra Brothers gotta stick together.”

“Right back at ya, bro,” Sam smiled.

Just then Elena came running in, yipping like mad. “Woah Girl calm down,” Chris said, “what are you saying?”

“I think she wants us to follow her,” Sam stated, Elena nodded and ran out the room. Chris helped Sam up and the two followed Elena outside.

Once they got outside, they saw what Elena was yipping at. Or rather who. It was Eden slithering along the ground like the snake she had become with a slip of paper in her mouth. Elena ground at the snake, but Eden didn’t react, she looked rather upset as she looked up at Sam with her slip or paper.

“You brought me this?” Sam asked, Eden nodded as Sam reached out to grab the slip of paper, Eden carefully opened her jaw for Sam to take it. Sam opened it and saw that it was a note, he read it and once he finished he turned to look at Chris with a worried look.

“What’s it say?” he asked as Sam gave it to him, and he read it, “‘The time has come. You better be ready Samuel, because nothing will stop me from fulfilling my plans. Meet me in front of you at three this afternoon, you better show up, unless you want your mothers to suffer.’ And the time now is ten in the morning.”

“Then let us get ready for her,” Sam said, “but first… I want something to eat. I'm hungry.”

After getting something to eat and getting his strength back, Chris called Sam’s friends back and they all got ready for when Nightfall would show up. The time ticked by slowly, as Sam waited, he wanted Nightfall to arrive now, and he could put a stop to her. Chris could see Sam was nervous, he knew that Sam wanted to stop Nightfall, but if he did anything wrong, it could lead to his own death. So the time was 2:50 PM, and Sam and Chris were all standing outside the school, Sam’s friends were all inside the school for safety.

“She’ll be here soon,” Sam said.

“Just remain calm, you don’t want to get worked up and lose any upper hand we may have,” Chris warned him.

“I know, I’m just worried for them,” Sam replied, “I’ve scared them so many times, like falling into a coma-like state, and running away from home.”

“And now you know how they must have felt,” Chris stated.

“Yes, it feels awful,” Sam commented.

“Just don’t forget, that I’m here by your side,” Chris replied.

“Right, thank you,” Sam responded.

“Don’t mention it,” Chris replied. The two stood there in silence as the seconds ticked by, then something came to Sam’s mind.

“So when this is all over and we beat Nightfall, what’s going to happen to you?” he asked.

“I’ve actually not thought about that,” Chris answered, “I actually believed for the longest time that I would still be trapped in the warehouse with her keeping me captive.”

“Well, why don’t you come with me back to Equestria?” Sam suggested, “you’ll have nice friends, great food, a new home.”

“I don’t know,” Chris responded unsure.

“Tell you what, if you come with me, I’ll help you find a place to call home,” Sam recommended.

“Really?” Chris quizzed.

“Yeah,” Sam said, “In fact, I feel like Rarity would definitely allow you to stay with her. She’s everything you want in a caretaker or mother, if you want to view her in that way.”

“Ok, I’ll take your word on it,” Chris said, “but I don’t want her to replace my mother.”

“Don’t worry, I doubt she would want to replace her,” Sam reassured him, “Twilight hasn’t replaced mine.”

Suddenly the two boys saw a portal open in the sky and a giant alien that resembled a bat floated down and landed in the town, followed by a monster that Sam had previously fought, Zetton.

“HAHAHAHA!!” laughed the alien, “Come on out Ultraman, I Alien Bat have come to defeat you!”

“Zetton!” cried the space Dinosaur.

“What the?!” shouted Sam as he prepared to fight, but Chris stopped him.

“No, I’ll take him on,” he said, “you need to fight Nightfall.”

“Alright, good luck,” Sam responded.

“Right,” Chris shouted as he ran and transformed into Ultraman Jack. He landed near the alien and monster and got into a fighting pose.

“Wait, you’re not Ultraman,” Alien Bat remarked.

“He’s a little busy,” Jack replied.

“In any way, you have come to die,” Alien Bat exclaimed, “Zetton, begin the Ultraman Annihilation Project!”

Zetton did as he was told as he ran forward Jack. The Ultraman and monster rushed at each other, as Jack ran past Zetton, the monster shocked him with an electrical current through his body. This stunned Jack long enough for Zetton to come closer and start pummelling the Ultra to the ground. Zetton then grabbed Jack by the head and threw him to his master, as Alien Bat caught him, and Jack tried to break free.

“Aim for the Colour Timer!” Alien Bat ordered.

Ultraman Jack kicked Zetton in the chest, sending the monster back, then he managed to get free from Alien Bat’s grip before elbowing him in the chest. Alien Bat stumbled as Jack grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder. With Alien Bat on the ground, Zetton launched solidified gasoline grenade missiles from his hands at Ultraman Jack, but the Ultra simply dodged them. Jack then wrestled with Zetton before pushing him through a building causing it to crumble to the ground.

Jack chopped at Zetton’s neck and even tried to strangle the monster, but Zetton knocked him off. Zetton got back up and fired his Laser arrows from his face at Jack who blocked them with his hands. Jack then ran forward and grabbed Zetton’s arm, but the monster just tossed Ultraman to the ground, and behind a building, before firing its Zetton Napalm at Jack.

Jack got back up on his feet and grabbed Zetton by the antennas and kicked him in the face and chopped him on the top of the head, as Alien Bat crawled on the ground and smacked Jack in the back of the leg causing the Ultra to lose balance and fall to the ground. Both monster and Alien beat Jack to the ground as his Colour Timer started to blink.

Back on the ground, Sam was watching it all, he was worried for his friend but then he heard wicked laughter coming from his left. He turned and saw that it was Nightfall.

“Such a sad image,” she remarked, “watching your friend lose to a couple of aliens. Even though I had nothing to do with them.”

“What?” Sam questioned.

“I didn’t summon them,” Nightfall answered, “But I’m glad that they did appear, that means I have you all to myself.”

“Where are my mother’s?” Sam growled.

“Right here,” Nightfall answered as she stepped aside, Ruben and his gang, looking like human’s again, carrying Twilight and Sunset. But they were tied up and gagged, just like how Sam was in the warehouse.

“Let them go!” cried Sam. Twilight opened her eyes and saw Sam, she tried to break free, but she couldn’t, she tried to scream but her voice was muffled.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Nightfall replied, “I need them to be whole again. You want to see a little magic trick.”

Suddenly, Ruben and Abdul ran to Sam and grabbed him, they held him up as Nightfall grabbed Sunset and Twilight by the arms. Her hands started to glow with magic as she levitated into the air, with Twilight and Sunset. A white orb of light surrounded the three girls, as something happened to them. The three girls became one. As the orb floated back down, and disappeared, Sam gasped in horror as for what stood in front of him was not longer Nightfall but a combination of Nightfall, Twilight, and Sunset. And not only was her upper half human, but the lower half was pony.

“Am I Princess Eclipse, Again?” the being spoke, “no, I’m so much more than just Princess. I'm a Nightmare Eclipse!”

“Oh crap,” Sam remarked in a small timid voice.

“Right you got what you want, now where is our reward?” Ruben spoke up.

“You want your reward?” Nightmare Eclipse questioned, “here’s your reward.” And she fired beams of magic at the gang knocking them all out.

“Oh my,” Sam stated, “so you’re Eclipse again, now what?”

“Simple,” Nightmare Eclipse replied, “I want to rule over Equestria like the queen I am.”

“You’re no queen,” Sam remarked, “a queen would be fair, and not use overs as components.”

“Oh Please, I was the main part, Twilight and Sunset were just there to complete me,” Nightmare Eclipse commented, “and now that I’m complete, it’s time to put you to rest.”

“I like to see you try, Nicole,” Sam said as he donned his Ultrasuit.

“Nicole is no more,” Nightmare Eclipse replied as the two started to fight.

Back with Jack, Zetton had brought Jack back to his feet and then threw him to the ground, Jack rolled and got back on his feet, as he deployed his blades and launched on stabbing Alien Bat in the heart. The Alien stumbled back in agony as he fell to the ground and died on the spot. Jack ran forward, Zetton grabbed him and lifted him up, then threw him into the sky. Jack then fired his Cinerama Shot, destroying Zetton, he then fired it at the corpse of Alien Bat, when it too blew up.

“Finally,” Jack panted, “now let me get back to Sam.”

Ultraman was having a tough time fighting back against Nightmare Eclipse, she was faster and stronger, and could fight from long range. Luckily Ultraman was human sized, so he wasn’t using Specium Energy. But that didn’t stop him from erupting with energy.

“Give me back my mums!” Ultraman shouted.

“You’ll have to separate us to do so!” Nightmare Eclipse shouted.

Jack then landed and readied his railgun, he fired it striking Eclipse in the side. “You have no choice, Eclipse, it’s two against one!” he cried. But the only thing he got in reply was evil laughter.

“You fools,” she remarked, pulling out the ray gun, “do you not know what I’ve been up to for the last week.”

She then fired it at the ground and was absorbed, as a monster rose from the ground. The monster was a mix-mash of other monsters, with a mace and blade on one arm, a crab pincer on the other, wings, two sets of legs, a long tail, spikes running down its back, large ears, poisonous sacks, feathers, a gorge on its chest with an eye just above it, and a horn on its nose.

“Boys I present to you, my most powerful EX monster. EX Tyrant!” cried Nightmare Eclipse from inside the monster.

Ultraman wasted no time in changing sizes to battle EX Tyrant, Jack waited until he had enough strength. Ultraman landed in front of EX Tyrant and ran towards the monster and tried to kick it, but EX Tyrant blocked it with his arms. But was too slow to react in time when Ultraman roundhouse kicked him in the chest, causing the monster to stumble back. Ultraman ran forward and grappled with EX Tyrant but the chimaera monster just swatted Ultraman away like nothing.

Ultraman kicked Tyrant in the side and then chop at his body and neck, but it seemed to do nothing as EX Tyrant swiped his mace blade down, slashing Ultraman across the chest. Ultraman stumbled back as EX Tyrant went to smack Ultraman with his pincer, but Ultraman dodged it and backhanded smacked him in the side of the face. EX Tyrant roared out in pain as Ultraman grabbed him by the head and started to elbow Tyrant in the back on the head before kneeing him in the face.

Back in the school, Elena and everyone were watching the fight, they knew they were safe enough by being in the school, but Elena wanted to do more than just sit and watch. So she ran outside and started to yip Sam on. The others soon joined her, Jack noticed this just as his Colour Timer returned to normal blue.

“What are you guys doing out here?!” he exclaimed, “get back inside now!” But Elena refused to move, “Oh you want to cheer us on. Well we’ll make sure we win.”

Ultraman punched Tyrant in the chest before grabbing his head and tossing him around. Tyrant threw Ultraman off him and spun around to swing his tail into Ultraman, but Ultra dodged it just in time. Ultraman stood firm as he powered up his Specium Beam and fired it at Tyrant, but to Ultraman and everyone’s shock, EX Tyrant opened his gorge and absorbed Ultraman Specium Beam.

“Seriously!” Ultraman cried as he tried to change his aim, but the beam just seemed to curve to the gorge. Suddenly Ultraman let out a Specium Pulse that seemed to knock Tyrant back, but he was still absorbing all of Ultraman's Specium beam. Soon Ultraman was out of energy to fire his Specium Beam. He tried to fire it again, but nothing happened, just as his Colour Timer started to blink. “Are you kidding me?! All my energy is nearly gone!”

Nightmare Eclipse laughed within EX Tyrant as the monster stomped forward and slashed his blade across Ultraman’s chest and swung his tail around, striking Ultraman and causing him to stumble. Tyrant fought with feist power, striking Ultraman with his mace blade, and pincer arms as well as slamming his front weight onto the Ultra when Ultraman was on the ground.

Ultraman grunted in pain as he continuously got stomped on, as EX Tyrant roared out loud, just as bullets of light struck the monster in the face, causing the Tyrant to get off Ultraman and fall to the ground. It was Ultraman Jack firing his Railgun at the monster, Jack went over to Ultraman and held out his hand.

“Do you always jump in without thinking things through,” Jack joked.

“Not always! Thanks for the save!” Ultraman replied as he took Jack’s hand, and he helped him up.

EX Tyrant roared out loud as he stood back up. Jack fired more bullets of light from his railgun at Tyrant, as the monster came out of the smoke that had formed from the attack, he seemed unphased by it but then Ultraman came flying in and kicked EX tyrant in the side, sending the monster falling to the ground. Tyrant slowly got back up as Ultraman and Jack prepared to finish him off.

“Cinerama Shot!” Shouted Jack.

“Slash Beam!” Cried Ultraman and both Ultras fired their beam attacks at EX Tyrant. Both beams stuck Tyrant in the chest and exploded.

Both Ultras panted as they pumped their fists in victory. But from the smoke and flames of the explosion, a steam of fire shot out and struck both Ultras in the chest catching them off guard and sending them flying back. It turned out that they didn’t destroy EX Tyrant and their attacks did little to no damage to even scratch it.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!” laughed Nightmare Eclipse sounding more insane every time, “This is the true power of my EX Tyrant! Chimaera Hell Beam, FIRE!”

The eye above the gorge started to build up with energy, Ultraman and Jack got ready as EX Tyrant fired a very powerful beam right at Ultraman Jack. He got ready to block it but Ultraman pushed him out the way and took the full force of the attack. The beam pushed Ultraman through several buildings and caused him to have three more Specium Pulses, one more pulse and Sam would die. Ultraman weakly looked at Jack who came running up to him.

“Sam!” he cried, Ultraman’s Colour Timer was blinking rapidly, “Why did you do that?!”

“It’s… up… to… you… now…” Ultraman gasped as his Colour Timer stopped and his eyes went out.

“No… NO!!” Jack yelled, “You can’t die! You promised me a new home! A new Family!!”

“HAHAHAHA!” cackled Nightmare Eclipse, “One down, one to go!”

“You’ll pay for this!” Jack screamed as he deployed his blades and ran to attack EX Tyrant.

Back at the school, everyone was horrified, they had witnessed the power of EX Tyrant, in how he defeated Ultraman in one blast. Elena was so shocked, tears were streaming from her eyes.

“SSSAAAA…. SSSSAAAA…. SSSSAAAAA….” She hissed until… “SSSSSAAAAMMMMM!!!!!!” She cried out his name. Everyone was shocked, Elena, a fox, just spoke. Elena’s voice reached Ultraman’s ears, his Colour Timer glowed white and shot a beam up into the sky and landed on his friends. The beam was harmless as Elena and the rest’s eyes all started to glow white.

Sam was once again in the empty white void of limbo, he lay on his back motionless and almost dead like. The layer of mist started to move upwards over Sam, as a sign that he wasn’t alone. Off in the far distance, figures could be seen making their way in Sam’s direction. Their outlines first resembled animals, but as they got closer, they started to shapeshift into humans. And not just any random group of humans, they were Sam’s friends.

Once they reached Sam’s body, Tyler, Sommer, Oscar, and Chloe all lifted him up and they continued to wake into the mist. As they walked carefully with Sam in their arms, the mist started to disappear and was replaced with green grass and yellow flowers. The white sky started to turn blue, as they reached the end of the cloud ceiling. Soon, the white empty void of limbo was replaced with an endless field of flowers.

The group reached a small hill with a lone tree standing on top of the hill. The four gently laid Sam under the shade of the tree as they all kneeled around him. Then, Elena spoke up.

“Sam,” she said, “you can’t die. Not now after we just reunited.”

“You can beat this evil,” Joe stated.

“You have to,” Thomas spoke up.

“We’re here for you,” Sommer remarked.

“Sam,” spoke Miss Dickson as she placed a hand on his chest, “You taught and showed us what it means to be. A student.”

“A leader,” Joe remarked, as he too placed his hand on Sam’s chest.

“A Friend,” Thomas said.

“A Kisser,” Phoebe stated.

“A Rival,” Oscar commented.

“A Jokester,” Erin noted.

“A Sweetheart,” Chloe mentioned.

“A Sibling,” Bethany declared.

“An Artist,” Kelly asserted.

“A Straight Man,” Reece spoked.

“A Boss,” Sophia remarked.

“A Hothead,” James stated.

“An Impressionist,” Sommer commented.

“A Talker,” Millie quietly noted.

“A Fighter,” Tyler mentioned.

“A Boyfriend,” Elena said, the last to put her hand on Sam’s chest. Their bodies started to glow different colours as an object appeared in a flash of light.

Sam slowly opened his eyes, and his friends all smiled at him. Sam looked at them and smiled back at them, as he placed his own hand on top of all theirs.

“Thank you, everyone,” Sam declared, as his friends slowly disappeared in their lights. Sam grabbed the object and stood up and point it to the sky, “ULTRAMAN!!!”

Jack was struggling to fight EX Tyrant, his Colour Timer was flashing rather fast, and he was almost out of energy, but he had to keep fighting. Nightmare Eclipse was having a grand time, Jack was barely hurting her, and she had tons of strength to use. When Suddenly a shockwave was unleashed from Ultraman, Jack and EX Tyrant turned to look at him, and in a blind flash of light, Ultraman stood back up, but as the light faded, Jack and Nightmare Eclipse were shocked to see that Ultraman wasn’t a robotic suit, but a fully organic Ultra.

“Holy Moly!” Jack exclaimed.

“How are you alive?!” shouted Nightmare Eclipse in anger.

“Chris. Stand Down.” Ultraman spoke. Chris nodded and returned to normal and was about to collapse to the ground, but Oscar caught him and brought him back to rest.

Ultraman just stood still, not even striking a fighting pose. EX Tyrant fired a steam of flames at Ultraman, but he just stood there completely unphased by the flames. With one swish of his arm, the flame disappeared. Tyrant then tried to use its Arrow Ray, but like the Death Fire attack, Ultraman was completely unphased by it, as he started to walk closer to EX Tyrant.

Now starting to panic, Nightmare Eclipse made EX Tyrant fire all types of attacks at Ultraman, Freezing Gas, Eye lasers, Arrow Rays anything to stop the Ultra, but Ultraman just kept walking. Suddenly Ultraman ran at the last minute and kicked EX Tyrant in the chest, sending the monster falling to the ground. As EX Tyrant stood up, Ultraman used his Slash Ray to destroy EX Tyrant’s poisonous sack on his head, venom splashed on the monster's body, poisoning him, and starting to feel weaker. Ultraman then grabbed the blade on the mace arm and pulled it straight off the arm and stabbed the blade deep into the Gan Q eye on the chest.

Crying out in pain, Nightmare Eclipse looked up and saw Ultraman jump back a good few metres away.

"What are you, Ultraman?” Nightmare Eclipse asked, “Are you an alien... or a human?"

"I am both. I was born to fight those who break universal laws, like you,” Ultraman replied as he then started to charge up a power the strongest Specium Beam he had ever charged. His arms glowed light blue while the black markings on his body glowed fiery orange.

“Ultra Specium Beam, Blitz Empowered!” He cried as he fired a Specium Beam with a mixture of blue and orange at EX Tyrant.

The monster opened its gorge in hope to store it, but the beam just kept coming, and it was starting to burn EX Tyrant on the inside. EX Tyrant tried to fire a beam out the Gan Q eye but because The axe blade was buried deep inside the eye, it was blocking the beam from being unleashed. EX Tyrant’s body started to swell with energy building up inside him and Nightmare Eclipse was getting really hot from the heat. She cried out for Ultraman to stop but he kept on firing until at last, EX Tyrant exploded in a fiery explosion that would match that of a nuclear bomb.

Nightmare Eclipse landed on the ground with a massive thud in front of Elena and everyone who had been watching it all happened. She looked up and back up in fear as Elena, Joe and Thomas had their teeth snarling at her. Eclipse looked up at Ultraman who then charged and fired a special Colorium Beam down on Eclipse, which separated her back into Twilight, Sunset, and Nightfall. Ultraman shrank back down to Sam and ran to give Twilight and Sunset a hug, which they returned with smiles and tears of happiness. They all looked to the smoking crater that Nightfall lay in.

“Nightfall, you have failed,” he declared, “Your monster was destroyed, your lackies out cold, and you’ve been defeated by a ten year old. Surrender now or else I’ll let my friends eat you.”

Sniffs could be heard from Nightfall, she was crying.

“Nightfall, you have two options,” Twilight called out to her, “you can either make amends for your actions, or go to Tartarus for the rest of your life.”

“The choice is yours,” Sunset said, “we just hope that you make the right one, sister.”

“I’m… I’m sorry,” came Nightfall’s stuttering voice, “I’m so sorry. I just wanted to be whole once again. I just wanted to be loved again. Please forgive me for everything.”

Sam started to feel sad for Nightfall, enough though he was still really angry at her for doing what she did, he could help but feel sorry for her. He walked over to the crater and offered to help her out. She looked up at Sam with hope in her eyes, as she grabbed a hold of his hand.

“Why don’t you start over again,” Sam suggested, “make this place your new home, and have a fresh start as Nicole Foster.”

“Really?” Nightfall asked, “you want me to live here and start anew?”

“Yes,” Sam replied, “and my friends here can teach you how to be a good person once again.”

“Oh thank you Sam,” Nightfall cried, hugging Sam with tears in her eyes, “Thank you so much for giving me another chance.”

“You’re very welcome at Nightfall,” Sam replied.

“Please, call me Nicole,” she responded.

“Very well then, Nicole,” Sam remarked.

They stopped hugging and Twilight and Sunset came up to her, “You’ll be happy here,” Twilight said.

“And I can do good by trying to reverse all the humans back to animals,” Nicole replied, “I’ve shown how good I am with tech.”

“That’s a job and a half,” Sunset remarked, “but good luck to you.”

“Thank you, I’ll try my best,” Nicole said. Just then Spike came out of the school.

“Spike!” Twilight cried, opening her arms to let Spike run into them.

Spike barked happily to see his adoptive sister, “Wait Spike where you slept the whole time,” Sam asked. Spike just nodded, “Oh my goodness.”

Soon it was time to head back to Equestria, Nicole had given back the EX Capsules she stole to Twilight and Chris took a minute to say goodbye to his home. Just as they were about to enter the pond and swim back to Equestria, they heard yipping coming from Elena. She came running up to Sam and nudged his hand.

“What’s wrong Elena?” he asked, he looked into her eyes, and he got what she was wanting to do.

“I think she wants to come with you,” Nicole replied.

“Is that true?” Sam questioned, looking into Elena’s eyes, “do you want to come with us?”

“She’s been living here, waiting for you to return,” Nicole remarked, “she wasn’t ready for you to disappear.”

“We’ve seen how much she cares for you,” Twilight chimed in, “She went out of her way to find you when you were captured.”

Sam just kneeled down and wrapped his arms around Elena’s soft neck. “Let’s go and say goodbye to our friends,” he told her. Sam let go of the hug and the two went over to their group of friends. “Guys, I know I’ve only been here for a short while, but to me, It’s felt so much longer. It was nice to see you all again, even though you’re all animals. Joe, you are the leader of our team for now on, protect them and be a true leader like I was. I’m going to miss all of you so much, I love you all.”

Tears started to fall from his face, as his friend all nuzzled in closer and a warm and comforting embrace. They were like that for a little while before it was time for Sam to leave. First Spike jumped into the pond, took a deep breath, and started to swim down. Next, Sunset stepped into the pond, she waved goodbye and followed Spike into the water. Then Twilight got into the water as well, she waved goodbye, wished Nicole luck one last time and with the capsules strapped to her back, swam after Sunset. Just as Chris too swam below the water, Sam and Elena looked at each other, back at their friends, at their school and then back to the pond. Elena went first as she started to doggy paddle below the pond and finally, with one last wave goodbye and a single tear falling down his face, Sam went below the water and headed back to Equestria.

Sam popped his head out of the fountain on the other side of the portal to his home world, gasping for air as the swim was very long and they could have drowned. Twilight used her magic to help him out of the water and set him gently on the ground.

“Well that was an experience,” Sunset remarked.

“Tell me about it,” Spike spoke up, finally able to speak after so long.

“How did it feel to be fused with Nicole?” Sam asked.

“It was strange,” Twilight replied, “it felt like I was whole again, like I wasn’t complete. But I’m glad to be myself once again.”

“You think Nicole will be alright?” Sunset questioned, “she is like the only human on earth.”

“With my friends by her side, I think she’ll be fine,” Sam remarked, “as long as they don’t go feral and eat her.” Sam then turned and saw Chris get up, still coughing and gasping for air.

“I’m never that good at holding my breath,” he commented. Sam chuckled but then his eyes fell on the fox, just at the base of the fountain.

“Elena?” Sam questioned

“S…Sam?” Elena spoke, she gasped that she was able to speak with no problem, “I can talk!”

“And that’s not just it,” Chris said, “take a look at yourself.”

Elena struggled to get up and look at her reflection in the water of the fountain. She saw that she looked human, but she had fox ears, fur, tail, paws, and a nose. She was a humanoid fox girl.

“I’m… I’m…” she stuttered.

“Cute, adorable and beautiful,” Sam remarked, walking up and hugging her. She liked that but had to pull back as she felt her fox breasts on his body. Other than the fur coat she had, she had no clothes and was basically standing there naked.

“This is going to take some getting used to,” Elena stated.

“Woah,” Chris commented as he looked out at Equestria, the sun was slowly lowering behind some mountains, “This place is beautiful.”

“Thank you, young one,” came a familiar voice, “me and my sister always make sure that this land is peaceful and gorgeous.”

“Princess Luna!” Sam cried as he ran up to the midnight blue alicorn and gave her a hug.

“It’s good to see you too Sam,” Luna returned the gesture by nuzzling his cheek, “I trust your mission went well.”

“Well we got the capsules that Nightfall stole,” Twilight replied.

“And we brought some friends!” exclaimed Sam, “Princess, I would like you to meet Elena and Chris.”

“Greetings you two,” Luna replied, “I am Luna, Princess of the Night.”

“Princess?!” cried Chris before getting on the floor and bowing to her.

“No need to be so formal,” Luna kindly replied, “a friend of Sam is a friend of mine.”

“Thank you Princess,” Chris said as he got back to his feet.

“I must tell my team about you,” Sam said.

“Oh that’s going to be harder than you think,” Luna commented.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“Just after you all left, Ace was discussing something with your team,” Luna replied, “I didn’t hear what they were saying as I had duties to attend to, but Tia mentioned that they were going to do something far away from Equestria.”

Suddenly a burst of Specium Energy erupted for Sam’s left shoulder, scaring everyone.

“What was that?!” exclaimed Sunset.

“Chris…” Sam turned to his Ultra Bother with worry.

Chris donned his Jack suit, spooking the ponies, “lucky I integrated so of my tech into my suit,” he said as she scanned Sam, his mental cords with Gwen had relaxed but not much, and as they hadn’t been fixed, Sam only had one cord left, and it was started to split.

“Sam, what’s going on?” Elena asked.

“Well it’s hard to explain,” Sam replied.

“He has a mental link with someone called Gwen, and their mental cords have been straining all the time they have been apart for so long,” Jack replied.

“And if these cords snap… I could die,” Sam finished.

“WHAT?!” Twilight shouted, “you mean to tell me that you’ve been on the verge of death this whole time!”

“It’s only been happening because me and Gwen are so far apart,” Sam replied, “I need to get to her and so it’s not staining to the point it could snap at any time.”

“We don’t even know where they are!” Twilight yelled.

“Wait, yes we do,” Jack said, “Me and Sam can follow the mental cord that is linking them both.”

“Well where is the leading?” Sunset asked.

“That way,” Jack replied, pointing north east of Canterlot.

“But the only kingdom that way is the Ice Kingdom,” Luna remarked.

“Wait, Ace was discussing it, and they’re in the Ice Kingdom,” Sam thought out loud, then it clicked, “Oh no. He wouldn’t. But he would.”

“What are you saying?” Jack asked, as Sam donned his Ultrasuit.

“I’ll explain on the way,” Ultraman said.

“Princess, did Celestia mention that Pinkie and the girls went with them?” Twilight asked.

“You called?” came Pinkie’s voice from behind Twilight.

“AAHH!” She yelled, “Pinkie!”

“I guess that answers your question,” Sunset said.

Ultraman retracted his mask as he bent down in front of Elena, “I don’t want you to die,” Elena stated.

“Don’t worry Elena,” Sam told her, “I’ll be back.”

“Please make sure you do,” Elena said, kissing Sam on the cheek making him blush.

“Mum, take Elena back to Ponyville,” Sam said, “Me and Chris will go find the others.”

“Ok, just make sure that that last cord doesn’t get broken,” Twilight said motherly.

“Right,” Sam replied as his mask came back on, “Jack let’s fly.”

And the two Ultras took to the sky and flew towards the Ice Kingdom with Twilight and Elena looked to where they flew off with worry on their faces.

“So do you mind explaining the situation?” Jack called out.

“Ok so it’s like this,” Ultraman replied…

But I mustn’t tell you any more, or I will spoil the next chapter.

Chapter 36: Breaking the Ice to Free Her (Edited)

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Sam’s hunch was right. Ace had led his team to the Ice Kingdom, hundreds of miles away from Equestria. At the moment of Sam, Twilight, Sunset, and the others' arrival back in Equestria, Ace, Gwen, Devon, and Nicholas were smack bang in the middle of the cold Ice Kingdom. They had to take the train in order to keep their strength up, which took about a week to get to the end of the line.

First they needed to get a train to the Crystal Empire, then get another train to cross the Trotland Bridge that was the border of Equestria. They passed Bug Bear Territory, Dream Valley, The Purple and Black Mountains, and even Mt, Vehoovius and the Elk Mountains. They Arrived at the end of the line in the city of Shanghay and had to head through the Fields of Forever until they got to the small town of Trot, which took them another half week. They then found the path up to Poniesburg, and then they finally entered the Ice Kingdom.

As they walked through the snow, the weather changed. For the worse. It started off as snow gently falling from the sky, but eventually a blizzard hammered down, threatening to blow the four kids away.

“How much further until we get to the castle, Ace?!” Shouted Gwen over the howling wind, “This blizzard is going to kill us if we don’t get to cover!”

“Quit your whining!” Ace snapped back at her, “This is nothing to an Frostling like me.”

“But you’re not a human!” Nick yelled at him, “we could get frostbite!”

“And freezing temperatures is an Ultra greatest weakness!” Devon bellowed.

“Just shut up!” Ace shouted at them, “Man up and pull through this! The castle will be in the centre of this storm!”

“Ace, if this blizzard doesn’t kill us, I’m killing you!” Nick cried.

“I thought you guys wanted to help me save my mother?!” Ace shouted.

“You never mentioned that we had to walk through a blizzard!” Nick yelled.

“Urm guys?” Gwen tried to get their attention.

“I’m not a weatherman, how was I meant to know that there was a blizzard?!” Ace shouted.

“Guys?” Gwen repeated.

“We should have waited until Sam came back!” Nick yelled, “At least he knows how to treat a team!”

“Guys,” Gwen was not starting to lose patience.

“If you don’t want to help me save my mother then fine!” Ace shouted, “you can freeze to death if all I care for you one-eyed, little shi…”

“GUYS!!!” Gwen screamed.

“WHAT?!” Ace and Nick snapped.

“We’re in the centre of the storm,” she remarked, pointing to the giant ice castle behind her.

“Sweet Mother of Ultra,” Devon exclaimed.

“It’s so beautiful,” Gwen commented.

“I’m home,” Ace stated, looking up at the castle.

“You never mentioned that your mother was a queen,” Nick said.

“I told Sam, I guess I forgot to tell the rest of you,” Ace replied.

Suddenly the ground started to shake as snow erupted from the ground as three freezing monsters emerged from snow. The first was a monster that Sam had fought before, Peguila. The second was the yeti like monster named Guigass and the third had the head of a slug named Gandar.

“Peguila, Guigass and Gandar!” exclaimed Ace, “They should be sealed in ice.”

“What do we do against them?!” Gwen asked, “We can’t fight in freezing temperatures!”

“I know what to do,” Nick said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his three capsules, “Windom, Miclas, Agira, take care of these monsters!” Before throwing them and revealing what they were.

Windom appeared to be a robot with a head that resembled a horned owl. Miclas looked like a frog with an Incan mask. And Agira seemed to be a bipedal ceratopsian.

Windom launched at Peguila and punched it in the face, causing the monster to stumble back as the two engaged in a fight. Miclas charged at Gandar and rammed his horns into the monster, pushing Gandar back and away from the kids. Agira ran forward and headbutted Guigass in the stomach forcing the yeti monster back and into a fight.

“That should keep the guard dogs busy,” Nick commented.

“Quick, we need to get into the castle!” Ace shouted as they ran towards the castle.

They opened the icy door and then closed it once everyone was in. The monsters could still be heard outside fighting, but other than that, it was really quiet in the castle. It was also rather cold inside as well, but not as cold as outside.

“Ok, I say we split up and look around,” Devon said.

“Who made you leader of this team?” Ace snapped, “I’m going to find my mother and cure her.” And Ace stormed off.

“God he’s getting on my nerves,” Nick remarked, “why is he acting like this? He never acted like this before.”

“He’s probably grown tired of waiting to help his mother,” Devon replied.

“It has been some months since Sam first met him,” Gwen stated.

“Hmm, at least he gets to help her,” Nick retorted, “he’s lucky to still have the chance to see his mother, unlike me. Not anymore.” Nick then walked off to go looking around.

“Poor Nicholas,” Gwen said, feeling sorry for him.

“I know,” Devon agreed, “but there’s not much we can do. Rainbow can only do so much in looking after him.”

“And we’re like his family, right?” Gwen asked.

“In a way, yeah, we are like a family,” Devon answered.

“Well I guess we should start looking,” Gwen said.

“Yes, and I better stick with you,” Devon responded, “in case you erupted Specium Energy again.”

Gwen nodded as the two walked off and started to look around. Unaware that they were being watched.

Gwen and Devon entered a hallway, it was dark, and they could barely see, but Devon had a flashlight with him as they walked down the hallway, their echoing feet softened by the carpet. Suits of armour made of pure ice lined up on guard. On the walls, pictures of The previous rulers of the land seemed to watch Devon and Gwen.

“This is rather creepy,” Gwen remarked.

“I know,” Devon responded, “something about these suits of armour is really unsettling.”

Gwen looked up at the pictures on the wall as they soon arrived at the last and most recently one. It was a woman with snow white hair and ice blue skin. She was holding a baby in her hands.

“That must be Ace’s mother,” Gwen said pointing to the picture.

“Yes, it must be,” Devon replied.

“She looks beautiful,” Gwen commented, “and Ace looks so cute as a baby.”

Devon and Gwen continued to look around the castle when it suddenly dawned on them.

“Wait, what are we looking for again?” Devon asked.

“I think we were meant to be looking for Ace’s mother,” Gwen replied, “but I think he’s pretty sure of where she is.”

“Halt!” shouted a voice, Devon and Gwen jumped as they saw piles of snow move towards them before they rose up and morphed into Snow Golems.

“What the heck are those?! Gwen exclaimed.

“We Snow Golems, we Queen Crysicle guards, and you intruders,” Said the lead Snow Golem.

“And apparently not well spoken,” Devon mocked.

“We may look brainless,” the lead Snow Golem stated as two piles of snow moved behind Gwen and Devon before raising up into Snow Golems and trapping the two in their bodies, “but we are smart and sneaky.”

“And we don’t speak your language,” one of the other Snow Golems said.

“Shut up Larry!” shouted the lead Snow Golem.

“I can’t move!” Gwen shouted, “and it’s really cold in here.”

“Two down, two to go,” the lead Snow Golem remarked, “go and find them.”

“Yes Sir Chilly,” the Snow Golems cried as they all moved out.

“That’s your name?” Devon commented.

“Got problem with that?” Sir Chilly questioned, pointing an ice dagger at Devon’s neck.

“No,” Devon squeaked.

Meanwhile Nicholas was making his way through the castle, he was still a little upset with Ace.

“He thinks saving his mother is on par with saving the world. When this is over I want him to apologise to us for treating us like dead weight,” He remarked to himself as he stomped through the halls, “At least when we save her, he’ll be about to reunite with her. The only time I’ll be able to reunite with my mother is when I die.”

As he moved down the halls, he saw a door that was different to most on the floor he was on. He opened it and saw a staircase going down.

“Bingo basement,” he commented, as he started to walk the stairs, closing the door behind him.

It was dark going down the stairs, and even though he was going down, it looked like he was going up. A light appeared at the end of the seemingly endless staircase, Nick entered into the light and saw he was in some sort of control room, with buttons and levers on a control panel, and a large window in front of him. He tried to look through the window, but he couldn’t see anything.

“I wonder what these buttons do,” Nick responded, as he looked over the switches and buttons.

He flicked a switch, and he turned on the lights in the room on the other side of the window and was shocked to see what was on the other side. It was a large room with Snow Golems with pickaxes chipping away at a giant ice block which contained a giant monster with wings, blue scales, and sharp spikes.

“Oh Sweet Celestia!” he exclaimed, “what is that thing?”

“Intruder!” cried a voice, Nick turned to see a Snow Golem at the entrance to the control room, it grabbed a pile of snow out of its own body and threw it at Nick. I splatted down on Nick's right leg and held him in place. The Snow Golem threw another chunk of itself at Nick's other leg, freezing that in place as well. With Nick stuck in place, the Snow Golem jumped and absorbed Nick into its body.

“What the crap are you?!” Cried Nick, his mouth was covered by the snow and his voice came out muffled.

“Silent Intruder!” the Snow Golem ordered as he started to walk back up the stairs.

Ace had just reached the top of the stair and was making his way down the hall. This was his home, so he knew the way around the castle like the back of his hand, so he knew where his mother was going to be. But he was also a little cross still with Nick and the others.

“They know how important this is to me, but they’ve done nothing about it,” Ace said, “I know I lived off Equestria, but still, most of the time we could have saved her we’ve been playing around. And I’m not saying Sam is a bad leader, I’m saying that everything up to this point has surrounded him. Well I’m going to show that we all have something important in our lives we want to get back.”

He soon came to two large wooden doors, and he knew what was on the other side. He grabbed one of the handles and opened the door, he entered the room and closed the door behind him. The room was a large study room, lit by a fire in a fireplace. Books stacked on the shelves and chairs sat around the room. A large chair sat in front of the fire, a hand was held out of the armchair holding a glass of wine, and Ace knew that was his mother’s chair.

“I started to wonder when you will return home,” said a sinister yet soothing voice.

“I’ve come back to save you mum,” Ace stated.

“Oh have you now,” a figure stood up from the chair, and revealed to be a curvy woman with a long beautiful blue dress, long white hair, and blue skin. Ace was taken aback by her red glowing eyes, he was expecting them to be turquoise not blazing red and yellow. She also had red veins covering her body, “well let me welcome you home my dear son.”

“Mum…? What happened to you?! You look worse than the day left!” Ace declared.

“Hahaha,” Queen Crysicle chuckled, “over the months you were away, I started giving into the evil that coursed through my body. I’ve created this blizzard so that no outside force could stop me in my grand plan to take over this world.”

“And what’s that?” Ace asked.

“There’s a monster, frozen underneath this castle, everywhere it goes, it’ll bring the blizzard with it, creating a frozen waste land where I can rebuild and rule over this place alongside my new husband,” Queen Crysicle replied.

“That jerk was the one who corrupted you in the first place!” Ace shouted, “this isn’t you mum, you’re not evil, you’re caring and kind.”

“This is me now, you brat!” Queen Crysicle shouted, “It feels so good to be bad! You could join me, you know. Rule this world as mother and son.”

“I’ll never betray my friends,” Ace replied.

“Oh, then I guess you wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to them,” Queen Crysicle said as the three Snow Golems entered the room with Nick, Gwen, and Devon all still stuck in the Snow Golems bodies.

“Guys!” Ace cried, “Don’t hurt them!”

“You have two choices, son,” Queen Crysicle said, “you can join me in taking over Equestria, and your friends will die. Or you can help your friends where you’ll freeze to death.”

“Don’t worry about us, Ace!” Gwen cried, “save yourself!”

“Guys,” Ace muttered, “Nick, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think about you guys.”

“I forgive you,” Nick responded, his voice muffled by the snow.

“So what’s your choice?” Queen Crysicle asked.

“Let them go,” Ace replied, “you can’t kill me, I’m your son.”

“NO!” cried Gwen.

“Don’t be an idiot!” shouted Nick.

“Well if you’re against me, then you’re no son of mine,” Queen Crysicle remarked as she created a large icicle.

She was just about to stab Ace with it, but suddenly, the window of the study room shattered as Ultraman and Ultraman Jack burst through. Ultraman kicked Queen Crysicle in the side, sending her to the floor and grabbing the icicle and throwing it into the fire, melting it. While Jack readied his railgun and fired a sonic blast that completely destroyed the Snow Golems.

“Sorry I’m late guys,” Ultraman said, “We only just came back to Equestria, and it took us quite a while to get here.”

“If you just got back from Equestria then how did you get here so fast?” asked Nick.

“We can fly at Mach 5 speed,” Ultraman replied as his suit retracted, and Sam ran up to Gwen to give her a hug.

“Well it’s good to see you, Sam,” Devon greeted before pointing at Ultraman Jack who retracted his suit, “but who is he?”

“I’m Chris,” he said, holding out his hand, “Sam helped me back on Earth.”

“More like you helped me,” Sam said, “If it wasn’t for you I would be dead.”

“Aww shucks,” Chris giggled. But then they all heard evil laughter coming from Queen Crysicle.

“You think you have won?” She chuckled as she got up off the floor, “the fun is just beginning. Awaken Glaciero!”

The Ground started to shake as underground, the monster in the block of ice awoke and started to come alive. It burst out its ice block prison and burst out the snow outside the castle where the monsters were still fighting. The six monsters stopped their fighting and looked at the monster known as Glaciero.

Glaciero roared out loud as it charged up an energy beam and fired it at the six monsters striking them all. Gandar, Guigass, and Peguila launched back and exploded on the ground, while Miclas, Windom and Agira were greatly weakened as they fell to the ground.

“Nick, call your monsters back before they get destroyed!” Sam called.

“Right. Miclas! Windom! Agira! Return!” Nick shouted as his monsters disappeared into energy particles and returned to their master in small capsules.

Glaciero turned to look at the castle and started to make his way toward it. Sam got ready to fight but then Ace stopped him.

“No Sam, This is my problem,” he said, “let me deal with it.”

“Right, I’ve used too much energy getting here anyway,” Sam remarked. Ace nodded as he donned his Ultrasuit and jumped out the window before growing to match the size of the monster.

Glaciero roared at the Ultra as both ran forward and started to fight. Tiga slammed his shoulder into Glaciero’s chest before jumping up and chopped its head. Glaciero tried to slash Tiga with his claws, but Tiga dodged it and punched the monster in the chest multiple times. Glaciero managed to get a few slashes in then grabbed Tiga by the shoulders and threw him to the ground, Tiga rolled on the floor before kicking Glaciero in the chest to get it back while he got back up.

Tiga grabbed Glaciero by the head and kneed it in the face, then kicked it back and cartwheeled away, but Glaciero charged forward and knocked Tiga to the ground. Glaciero roared out loud as Tiga stood back up, Glaciero roared as it charged up and fired energy bolts for its second pair of eyes on its head crest but Tiga dodge most of them and fired some Hand Slashes at some. Glaciero roared and opened its wings and took flight, it flew towards Tiga and slashed the Ultra with its wing, causing Tiga to stumble.

“What a fool,” Queen Crysicle commented, before anyone could do anything, Crysicle jumped out the window and grew to a giant size.

Tiga turned to look where Glaciero flew off to, when suddenly she appeared behind Tiga, and grabbed him on his arm and around his neck.

“You’re being a naughty boy,” Crysicle said, as she choked Tiga.

“Mum please stop!” Tiga cried.

Crysicle held Tiga still as Glaciero came back and started to swipe its claws across Tiga’s chest. Tiga kicked Glaciero in the chest, then got his arm free and elbowed Crysicle to get her off him. He tried to elbow her again, but she blocked it and then shoved Tiga into Glaciero, who slashed Tiga with its claws and sent him back to Crysicle who kicked him in the chest. Tiga tried to hit Crysicle but she backed up as Glaciero came closer, Tiga kicked it in the chest then in the side, sending the monster falling to the ground.

Crysicle created a rod and pure solid ice, Tiga turned around to see her make it and started smacking him with the rod, causing him to go crashing to the ground and causing his Colour Timer to start flashing. Snow came down hard as mother and son wrestled in the blizzard. Crysicle had Tiga pinned to the ground, Tiga tried to get his mother off him because she was too strong and was holding him down, Glaciero was making its way over.

“That’s just not fair,” Gwen remarked.

Chris was analysing the battle, his Ultrasuit mask was over his head, and he was taking notes. He switched his visuals and noticed something about Crysicle. It seemed like she had absorbed something bad.

“Sam, I can see that Crysicle has absorbed something,” he told him, “I might be the reason why she’s evil.”

“Ok, so how do we get it out of her?” Sam asked.

“You can use your Ultrix device and use the power of Ultraman Cosmos to pull it out,” Devon stated.

“Right, Gwen, charge me up!” Sam asked.

“Ok,” Gwen said as she donned her Mary suit and used her powers to give Sam the energy to fight.

Once she was done, Sam jumped into the snow, donned his Ultrasuit and grew into Ultraman. Ultraman charged and knocked Crysicle off of Tiga, once she was off, Ultraman held out his hand and Tiga grabbed him as Ultraman helped him back up.

“I know you don’t want to fight your mother,” Ultraman told Tiga, “but you’ll need to hold her off while I take care of Glaciero. Do you think you can do it?”

“I can try,” Tiga said, “but you can’t fight in the cold like I can.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t try to,” Ultraman said as he deployed and extended his Specium Blades and ran toward Glaciero, while Tiga went to fight his mother.

Ultraman and Glaciero ran at each other, as Ultraman slashed it with his Specium Blades causing the monster great pain. Ultraman retracted his Specium Blades and created a large Specium Slash out of them before throwing it and vivisecting Glaciero clean in half, the two halves falling to the ground and exploding. Crysicle had created a whip coated in a flexible ice and was striking her son with it. Tiga was trying his best to block it, but the ice whip was very painful. Ultraman appeared behind her and got her attention as Tiga ran up and grabbed Crysicle from behind.

“Hold her still Tiga!” Cried Ultraman as he deployed a Specium Blade and slashed at Crysicle’s chest creating a cut on her chest. The Ultraman jumped back and activated his Ultrix.

“Ultraman Cosmos, Luna Extract!” Ultraman called out as a hologram of the Cosmos appeared above him.

Ultraman gathered his Energy at his Colour Timer and let it fly out his right palm towards Crysicle. The warm soothing energy was absorbed into Crysicle and forced out the evil source from her body. An orange glowing crystal was forced off the cut on her chest and fell to the ground, once Ultraman stopped firing the energy he healed completely. Crysicle’s eyes stopped glowing red and turned back to turquoise.

“Wha… What’s going on?” She questioned.

“Tiga got her back in the castle,” Ultraman said.

“Right,” Tiga said as he walked his mother back to the castle. As he did, Ultraman looked down and grabbed the orange crystal, it was blinking like a beating heart.

“What is this thing?” he questioned as he teleported back to the study with the crystal in hand.

Ace gently placed his mother in his chair, her red veins had disappeared and her uses were turquoise again. She weakly looked around the room at all the kids but when her eyes fell on Ace’s, she couldn’t believe it.

“Ace? Is that really you?!” she questioned, blinking a few times to check if her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.

“Yes mum, it’s me,” Ace replied. Crysicle was overjoyed to see her son, so she grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.

“Oh, mummy has missed you so much, baby!” she exclaimed.

“I’ve missed you too mum,” Ace responded, with a tear falling from his eye, “but can you not do this in front of my friends.”

“Hmm?” Crysicle quizzed as she looked around at the rest, “oh sorry sweetie, it's just I’ve been so worried about you.”

“I know,” Ace replied, “but I did it, I found a great hero to save you from corruption.”

“And that was me you’re highness,” Sam said bowing to her.

“You did? Oh thank you so much,” Crysicle thanked, “oh and please, you don’t need to bow to me, you did save me and looked after my son.”

“Oh ok,” Sam said, just then Crysicle noticed that Sam seemed family to her. She leaned in closer to have a better look at Sam, this made him feel a little uncomfortable, “Urm… Is something wrong?”

“No nothing to worry about dear,” Crysicle assured him, “you just seem to resemble my ex.”

“He was the one that corrupted her in the first place,” Ace clarified.

“Ah,” Sam replied as he held up the crystal, “so he was the one who implanted this into you.”

“Yes,” Crysicle replied, “we were making love, when he made me absorb that. It made me go through a painful experience that led to the decision for Ace to go and find someone to help me.”

“Oh dear,” Gwen commented.

“What happened to you after Ace left?” Nick asked.

“I just lost myself,” Crysicle replied, “I could feel and see everything I was doing but, my mind wasn’t in the right place.”

“What did your ex look like,” Devon asked.

“He was tall, had a beard and deep voice, had red and yellow glowing eyes, he wore a suit with a red cape, and he had red veins across his body,” Crysicle answered, “oh and he had this on his chest.” She pointed at Sam’s Colour Timer.

“What?!” Sam exclaimed before calming down, “that description almost sounds like… like my father. But that can’t be, he’s dead.”

“But most of us died and bonded to the Ultrasuits,” Nick mentioned.

“Yeah you’re right,” Gwen chimed in.

“Well in any case, I’m glad that I did help you,” Sam replied.

“We best get back home now,” Devon said, “they’ll be wondering where we are.”

“Right,” everyone replied as they got ready, but Sam noticed that Ace wasn’t.

“Ace? Aren’t you coming?” he asked.

“I… I actually want to stay with my mother a little while longer,” Ace replied.

“Really?” Sam questioned.

“Yes, don’t worry, I’m not leaving the team, I just want to catch up with her,” Ace said.

“Fair enough,” Sam responded, reaching out his hand, “see you soon, Ultraman Tiga.”

“Same here, Ultraman,” Ace replied, shaking his hand.

“Ok Guys let’s head home,” Sam called out as they donned their Ultrasuits and flew back to Ponyville, Ace and Crysicle waving goodbye to them. The blizzard was gone so it was clear weather for the whole trip back.

But on the trip back, Sam couldn’t get this off his mind. This orange crystal, that can turn beings evil and berserk, and Crysicle’s ex resembles himself. It was all strange to him and he didn’t know what to think of it, he thought to himself that he’ll drop the crystal off at the Canterlot Lab and see what the scientist can find about it. But the whole time back, he felt like this wouldn’t be the last time he hears about this ex that resembles himself.

Meanwhile, deep in the dark part of the Everfree Forest, a secret base was hidden from view. Inside the base, in one of its many labs, two otherworldly creatures were discussing the situation.

“This is just great,” one remarked, "this is twice that our plans have been foiled by those kids.”

“Settle down Hipporit,” the second retorted, “we have the main plan in action, Dada has collected the DNA from the boss and Zarab and Guts have started the process.”

“I guess I should calm down, Temperor,” Hipporit said, “but how long is the process going to take?”

“From what I held, it shouldn’t be too long,” Temperor replied, “I’ve spoken to Guts, and he says it’ll be ready before we know it.”

“I hope so,” Hipporit remarked, “the sooner he’s out of the picture the better.”

“Welp, we’ve goofed around long enough,” Temperor stated looking at the time, “we best get back to work.”

“Right, what were we doing again?” Hipporit questioned, “making the Nightmare Fumes for the Princesses?”

“Yes, now let's get to work on them,” Temperor said, “you got the sample of the tantabus?”

“Yes,” Hipporit replied. And the two aliens got back to work. Knowing that the end of Sam was soon to come.

Chapter 37: Framed Beyond Trust Part 1 (Edited)

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Once Sam and co had arrived back in Ponyville, everyone greeted them with smiles to Sam all fine. Elena ran up and hugged him as she missed him so much, despite the fact he was gone for a couple of hours. Sam told everyone where Ace was and introduced Elena and Chris properly to the team and his family and friends. Later he dropped off the crystal and the lab in Canterlot to see if the scientist could find out what it was.

The rest of the week was pretty eventful from the ponies. Rainbow Dash used unorthodox methods to prepare for the Wonderbolts Reserves entrance exam, their friendships were tested when they took a trip to the Rainbow Falls Traders Exchange and things went wrong and Rarity lost her creative mojo, and Spike tries to help her make her go insane with creative power. The Equestria games were also on the way, and Twilight and everyone wanted to go see them. Well, all except Sam.

He wasn’t a fan of sport, and his hearing was pretty sensitive, so he didn’t like all the shouting and cheering. So he decided to stay behind and look after the town. He stood at the Train station to see his family off.

“Are you sure you’ll be ok on your own?” Twilight asked.

“Of course I will,” Sam replied.

“Alright, We’ll be back tomorrow morning,” Twilight told him as she gave him a hug, “alright ponies, let’s board the train.”

The ponies boarded the train and waved goodbye to Sam as he stood at the platform. Once the train was out of sight and he couldn’t hear Pinkie yelling at him, he turned around and walked back to town. He promised he was going to spend the day with Elena, He found her waiting outside Sugarcube Corner for him.

“Hey Elena!” Sam called out. Elena’s ears perked up as she turned to see him running towards her.

“Sam!” she exclaimed excitedly, she ran towards him and gave Sam a big hug, “I thought you forgot and went with them.”

“Why would I, you know very well, I don’t like loud noises,” Sam said, “in fact neither should you. With you being a fox and all.”

“Yeah, my hearing is too sensitive for all that noise,” Elena answered.

The two then sat down at a table and enjoyed a milkshake and their own muffins, made by Mr and Mrs Cake. After they ate, they decided to walk around the town then they played in the Ponyville lake for the rest of the day. Sam and Elena really enjoyed their time together, but soon it started to get dark, and they decided to grab a bite to eat and head back to the Golden Oak Library.

“So where are you living again?” Sam asked her.

“I’m living with Fluttershy and her animals,” Elena replied, “but it’s rather far to walk and it’s all really dark.”

“Aren’t foxes nocturnal?” Sam questioned.

“I’m also half human,” Elena answered in a deadpanned tone.

“Well, why not stay with me tonight,” Sam suggested.

“Really? Twilight and Sunset won’t be mad when they see me with you?” Elena asked sweetly.

“You’re too cute to be mad at,” Sam replied, rubbing her ears. Elena leaned into the touch, she may be half human but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t affected by pets and the like.

The two entered the library and were greeted by Owlowiscious, Camillia and Sunset’s own pet, Ray the gecko. “Hey guys,” Sam greeted them, Owlowiscious flew over and perched on Sam’s shoulder and nuzzled him, “you don’t mind if Elena stays over tonight right?”

“Who?” Owlowiscious responded.

“Don’t pull that trick on me you wise old bird,” Sam remarked, making Owlowiscious giggle a bit before nodding that she could stay, “Thanks Owlowiscious. He says you can stay tonight.”

Elena heard him, but she was too busy getting nuzzled by the two lizards on her shoulders. “They’re so cute!” she squealed.

“Ok you two you can stop now,” Sam said holding out his hand, Camillia and Ray climbed onto his hand, and he gently placed them in their enclosure. Ray and Camillia then nuzzled each other.

“Aww, they look like us,” Elena commented, this made Sam blush.

“You… you think so…?” he stuttered.

“Yeah, they look really cute together,” Elena replied.

“Hey you hungry, because I’m feeling hungry, I’m gonna see what we have,” Sam said before dashing to the kitchen only to get stopped by Owlowiscious holding a sheet of paper with the house rules written on it. Circled in red was rule number 6, ‘no snacking at once after dinner.’ “Oh come on Owlowiscious,” Sam complained, the owl just stared at Sam, “Ok no snacking.”

“What time is it anyway?” Elena asked.

Sam looked at the clock, “It’s about 8:00 PM,” he replied, “which is the time that I have to go to bed.”

“Do you have too?” Elena questioned.

“When Ponies aren’t here, the owl is in charge,” he motioned Owlowiscious.

Soon Sam and Elena were upstairs getting ready for bed, Sam was just washing his face, while Elena was in his bed already. When Sam came back and saw that Elena was snuggled in his bed, he could help but smile. He walked over and climbed into the bed, as Elena half asleep snuggled closer to him. Owlowiscious fluttered off his perch and turned off the light and closed the door as Sam and Elena drifted off to sleep.

As the time struck midnight, Canterlot was as quiet as possible. Everyone was sleeping silently in their beds. Celestia and Luna had to return to Canterlot earlier than most of the ponies as they had important princess duties to attend to in the morning. But as Celestia was sound asleep and Luna was in the realm of dreams, no one was prepared for what happened that night.

At the Canterlot Laboratory, the scientists have discovered that the orange crystal was called a Devil Splinter, and whoever absorbs it, goes berserk and insane with evil and power. The only pony left at the lab was the security pony who was in the office napping. The Devil Splinter was kept in the vault in the basement near the generators. Outside, a figure stood in front of the building, and deployed his… Specium Blades.

‘Ultraman’ charged up a Specium Beam and blasted the door down, the explosion sounded the alarm and woke the security pony jumped and looked around in confusion.

“Wha…? What’s going on?” he exclaimed as he looked at the cameras. The one pointing at the front down only saw smoke, but then two glowing red eyes shone through the smoke and walked down the hall. ‘Ultraman’ was making his way down the hall and to the vault.

The security pony watched as ‘Ultraman’ stopped walking and fired his Specium Beam into the ground, creating a hole to the basement. ‘Ultraman’ jumped into the hole and landed next to the generators before using his Specium Blades to destroy both normal and back-up generators. The security pony panicked as he jumped off his chair, lit his horn and teleported to check on the vault.

‘Ultraman’ was about to open the vault, when the security pony teleported in front of him and blocked his way. “Hold it right there!” he exclaimed pointing his horn at the ‘Ultra’, “get down and hooves where I can see them!” Due to their being barely any light, apart from the magical aura around the security pony’s horn, he could see very well who the figure in front of him was.

‘Ultraman’ bent down and stared right in the face with his glowing eyes, then muttered sinisterly, “No witnesses,” before grabbing the pony by the horn, blocking him for using his magic and destroying his horn before throwing him near the two fires that were once the generators.

‘Ultraman’ sliced open the vault with his Specium Slashes and saw the Devil Splinter right in front of him. He grabbed it and calmly walked out the vault. He was about to go back up the hole, when he felt his leg get grabbed by the security pony.

“No… I won’t… let you… go,” he struggled to say, but ‘Ultraman’ pulled his leg out and smashed it hard down on the pony’s head. ‘Ultraman’ looked up and flew up the hole, before walking back out the wrecked doorway. Just as he was about to fly away, he turned back to the lab, and fired his Specium Beam at the building, causing an explosion that triggered the laboratory to come crumbling to the ground.

The explosion awoke Celestia from her sleep, she got up and dashed to her balcony. She took flight and saw the destroyed building, she gasped in horror as other ponies came out to see what was going on.

“What happened in Equestria?!” she exclaimed, she then spotted something fly away from the wreckage, it was hard to see in the night, but she made out a humanoid shape and how it flew was too similar to how someone else flies. Only one pony, or rather person came to her mind, “Sam?

The next morning, at around 10 AM, Sam and Elena were still in bed. They had snuggled closer to each other, and it was an adorable sight. Unfortunately, their relaxing sleep was rudely disturbed by Twilight bursting into the room.

“SAM!” She shouted, this scared Elena so much, she wrapped her arms around him.

“Aw that’s really cute,” Sunset remarked.

“And good morning to you too,” Sam commented, annoyed.

“What were you up to last night?” Twilight asked.

“I was asleep with Elena all night,” Sam replied.

“Are you sure?” Twilight questioned, “you didn’t take a midnight flight to Canterlot or some place?”

“Why would I do that?” Sam quizzed, “Ask Owlowiscious, he’s been keeping an eye on me all night.”

Twilight turned to her pet who nodded in response. “See Twilight, I told you Sam wasn’t the one who did it,” Sunset told her.

“You’re right, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions,” Twilight agreed.

“What do you mean, ‘did it’?” Sam asked.

“Apparently, you attacked the Canterlot Laboratory last night,” Gwen answered as she walked into the room and handed Sam a letter, “well that’s what Celestia said in this letter.”

Sam was puzzled, he looked down at the letter and read it:

Dear my faithful student Twilight,

I have terrible news about what occurred last night. The Canterlot Laboratory was attacked and destroyed, the Devil Splinter stolen and the security ponies in incredible pain. From the wreckage of the building, I thought I saw Ultraman fly away. It was hard to see from the fire and smoke, but the structure of the figure looked like Ultraman. I suggest you keep a close eye on Sam in case this is him, I don’t want to believe a kind soul like Sam would do such a thing, but they’re too many hooves pointing in his direction.

You’re sincerely, Princess Celestia.

“But it wasn’t me!” Sam declared, “I was here sleeping all night.”

“In any case, I think it would be best if Gwen stuck close to you,” Twilight said.

“Don’t I normally?” Gwen retorted.

Suddenly the ground started to shake as something burst out of the ground, it seemed to be the tip of a tail. It wiggled around before going back under the ground as a giant monster replaced it. The monster looked like a giant earth worm, it was the Subterranean Monster Telesdon.

Telesdon roared out loud as it stomped around Ponyville seemingly looking for something. Sam quickly jumped out the window and transformed into Ultraman, ready to fight. Telesdon turned around and saw Ultraman land behind him. Ultraman ran forward and started to wrestle with the monster, But Telesdon seemed a little stronger than most monsters, as it just simply threw Ultraman away. Ultraman stood back up just in time for Telesdon to headbutt him in the back and send him flying to the ground again. Ultraman got back to his feet only to turn around and see Telesdon launch itself and try to break Ultraman in the face with his sharp beak. Ultraman held its head back as hard as he could, but he then held something from behind him.

He looked over his shoulder and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon hugged each other in fear of the monster. “Oh for the love of…” Ultraman muttered, “Run you two! Run!”

But Diamond and Silver couldn't, they were too scared. Luckily, Devon came running up and protected them. Just as Telesdon got off of Ultraman and started to charge up its Lava Heat Ray. Ultraman stood up and protected Devon, Diamond and Silver from the blast and getting seriously burnt on his back.

Ultraman stumbled on his feet to turn around and face Telesdon, He ran forward and jumped onto Telesdon’s back then started to beat it on the head, before getting Telesdon into a headlock. Telesdon tried to get free from Ultraman’s grip as the Ultra wrestled with its head. Telesdon managed to get free and fell to the ground, it started to claw at the ground and burrow away. Ultraman stood and stared at the hole that Telesdon dug, he was a little confused and concerned, why Telesdon appeared.

Later that day, Sam, Gwen, and the others were trying to think of what had happened last night at Canterlot. Chris being the smart wise kid of the team was calculating results for witnesses of the incident.

“Right Celestia has said that she saw Sam flying away from the scene, but she also said that she couldn’t see very well because it was dark,” Chris said as he wrote notes on a chalkboard that he seemed to pull out of nowhere. “Now here’s the reasons why it couldn’t be any of us. I’m too big and bulky in my Ultrasuit so it can’t be me. It can’t be Devon because the Zero Suit is mostly blue. It’s not Ace as he’s still with his mother. It’s not Gwen as she’s the only female member of our team. So that would leave just Sam and Nick.”

“Have you got any proof that it can’t be us?” Nick asked.

“Well, Nick you’re a little slimmer than Sam and that reflects on your suits,” Chris replied, “from what Celestia said, he had the same body structure as Sam, so that rules you out.”

“But it couldn’t be me,” Sam told them, “I was asleep back at the library.”

“Ah and here’s the reason that it’s not you,” Chris said, “it was in the position of how this being flew. When us Ultras fly, our arms and legs are completely straight, legs together, and arms reaching for the sky. But this being seemed to fly in a sort of Y shape, with its arms more out to the side.”

“How do you know all of this?” Gwen asked.

“I visited Canterlot earlier today, while you’ll all headed back home,” Chris replied, “When I heard what happened, I started to ask around and get the information for the townsfolk.”

“I just still don’t get it,” Sam thought out loud, “who or what would do this?”

“Well whoever they were, they had a goal on their mind,” Nick said, “and that was to get that Devil Splinter and frame you.”

“But who would do this?” Sam questioned.

“I’ve heard for Twilight about the time Canterlot was attacked by shape-shifting creatures, Changelings I think they’re called?” Gwen responded.

“How do you know that, Twilight’s never told you that,” Sam remarked.

“I’m a female clone of you with your memories,” Gwen replied deadpanned.

“Oh right,” Sam stated, “we’ve treated you like your own self that I forget sometimes that in reality you're still just a female version of me.”

“Anyway, could it be a Changeling?” Devon asked.

“I doubt it,” Chris replied, “my guess is that they don’t know about us.”

“Yet, don’t know about us yet,” Nick declared, “they’ll find out about us someday and try to use that against us.”

“But I doubt they can perform our Specium Attacks,” Chris said, “let’s not focus on them and try to think of what to do about this imposter.”

“What do you think we should do Sam?” Devon asked.

“Wait, you're asking me?” Sam questioned.

“You are our leader,” Nick said, “So what do we do?”

“Hmm. I say we stay on high alert,” Sam told them, “Be on guard if something like that happens again.”

“Right,” they all replied.

But none of them were ready for what was about to happen that night.

Night-time soon came, and everyone was asleep in their homes. The night was peaceful and still, the moon high in the sky and shining down on the little town. Down at Sweet Apple Acres, the Apple Family were all sleeping soundly. Granny Smith had fallen asleep in her rocking chair, Apple Bloom was snuggled in her bed, and Applejack was sound asleep. Big Mac, however, was out in the fields patrolling the Acres. He was making sure that no vampire fruit bats were draining the apples. He trotted across the grass examining each tree as he passed them, he was getting tired, and his eyes were getting heavy.

Presently, he heard the sounds of bats screeching, but he also heard the sounds of other panicking animals. He then saw from the light of his head torch, said animals flying and running passed him.

“What is going on?” he questioned.

He was confused as to why they were fleeing and where they were fleeing from, but what he heard, and saw was nothing compared to what he smelt. He took two big sniffs of the air.

“That smells like…” he eyes widened when he realised what he could smell. He muttered, “Smoke,” before turning to see a glowing orange light coming from a selection of the Acres. He screamed and ran back to the barn and rang a cowbell to wake up everyone.

“What in Tarnation is Big Mac doin’?” Applejack queried as she groggily got up, before looking out her window to see the glow off in the distance, “What the Hay?! Big Mac what’s goin’ on?!”

“The orchard is on fire!” he shouted back.

“WHAT?!” Applejack exclaimed as she ran downstairs to meet with him out the front. Granny Smith and Apple Bloom also came out of the house.

“What’s happenin’?” Apple Bloom asked.

“The darn orchard is on Fire!” Applejack cried.

“What are we gonna do?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.

“We need to put it out,” Granny Smith responded wisely, “Apple Bloom you run into town and try to get some more help. Applejack, you, and Big Mac help me contain it until real help comes.”

“Right!” they all replied as Apple Bloom ran off to Ponyville to get some help.

For an hour, Applejack, Granny Smith, and Big Mac were running back and forth with buckets of water to try and control the fire, making sure that the fire didn't spread any further. They even resorted to using water balloons and water guns to hold it back. But as Applejack was trying to contain where the fire started, she began to see something that shook her to her core.

Not only were the trees burnt, some had been sliced and lay on the ground, and helped spread to fire more due to also being on fire. She kept on running through the fiery tree, until she took a wrong turn and was blocked by a wall of flaming trees. She was about to run back the way she came from, but she held a thump behind her, she turned and saw that trees had been cut down and were blocking her way out. She tried to spray water on the fire with her water balloons and water gun, but she soon ran out and did little damage to the fire.

“HELP! ANYONE! HELP!” she cried, but no one could hear her. Well except one. The smoke was starting to get to her, she coughed and sputtered as she could barely stand.

As her vision started to fade, she looked up and saw a figure floating above, looking down at her. Applejack couldn’t make it out who this was, but they seemed to have a striking resemblance to Ultraman. The Figure looked down on her, seemingly smiling at their handy work, before flying off.

“Sam…?” Was all Applejack could say before she passed out from smoke inhalation.

As dawn began to break, the fire was finally out. Most of Ponyville were there, having helped throughout the night to put out the fire. Unicorn’s had used their magic to carry orbs filled with water from the lake until it was half empty, Pegasi had to lift up the water tower and pour it onto a real bad patch of fire.

Once they had finished, a large portion of Sweet Apple Acres looked like a warzone. Trees were either burnt to a husk, laying on the ground, or both. Apples splattered everywhere, and the grass around the whole area was just a large black patch.

Applejack was found unconscious laying in a ring of falling trees and was taken to the hospital for treatment, she was unharmed but sadly, her hat had been burnt by the fire. Big Mac, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith looked over the carnage that had befell on them.

“This…This is just awful!” Apple Bloom remarked, sobbing into her hooves.

“In all my life working on this farm, I have never seen anything like this before,” Granny Smith stated mournfully.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac chimed in grief.

From a good distance away from the three, Twilight, Sunset, and the rest of them stood. They two were saddened by this.

“Man what a mess,” Rainbow remarked.

“I hope they’ll be ok,” Fluttershy commented.

“The fire had only affected about a third of the orchard,” Twilight told them, “so they still have two thirds left.”

“But will that be enough to keep them in business?” Rarity asked.

“Let’s hope,” Sunset replied, “for their sake, they need it.”

“Does anyone know the condition of Applejack?” Pinkie asked.

“We Found her surrounded by fallen trees, out cold from inhaling too much smoke,” Twilight replied, “we managed to make her conscious again before Ratchet and First Aid came and took her to the Hospital. Though what she muttered when she regained consciousness was a little unsettling.”

“What did she say?” Fluttershy questions.

“She said it was Sam who set the trees ablaze and sliced them down,” Twilight replied, looking at Sam who was resting and catching his breath.

“You don’t think it was Sam, right?” Rarity questioned.

“I don’t want to believe it,” Twilight replied, “But there’s evidence that it could be him.”

“How so?” Rainbow inquired.

“Well for starters, he wasn’t home last night,” Twilight replied, “Gwen said he went for a walk.”

“Anything else?” Pinkie questioned.

“When he came back he was covered in soot,” Twilight answered.

“It does seem like it could be him,” Sunset thought out loud, “But I doubt Sam would do something like this. Like how I don’t believe he was the one who destroyed the lab.”

“Sam would never do anything like this,” Fluttershy said.

“I don’t know,” Rainbow responded, “he has the power to do something like this.”

“I can hear the townsfolk start making speculation about who did this,” Rarity stated, “and most of them are thinking it’s Sam.”

“Whoever this was, they were quick, stealthy and knew what they were doing,” Twilight said, “and knew he had to bring Applejack far enough that no one could hear her.”

“I suggest that today, we keep a close eye on him,” Sunset remarked, “just in case he does something.”

Meanwhile, over with Sam and his team, they were trying to put together what could have happened.

“Ok so if this connects to the events the other night, then it does rule out everyone but Sam,” Chris stated.

“You had one job Gwen,” Ace joked.

“I thought it would be fine for him to go for a walk at night,” Gwen replied, “he didn’t need my company for that, plus, we were getting bored of each other.”

“But I keep telling you that I didn’t do it,” Sam explained, “I was going on a night walk to try and clean my head and figure out who could have destroyed the lab, when I saw the orange glow at Sweet Apple Acres. I heard Apple Bloom screaming fire and went to help put it out. I can fire a stream of water from my right hand, so I had to help.”

“Devon, you’re awfully quiet,” Nick stated, “why don’t you share with us your opinion.”

“You want my opinion?” Devon repeated, “I’m just waiting for you all to make fools out of yourselves.”

“So you know what’s going on?” Ace asked.

“Well if you want to know,” Devon said, “this all seems like the work of an imitation alien.”

“An imitation alien?!” they all repeated.

“They can take the forms of Ultras or others to trick beings,” Devon told them, “their forms range in likeness depending on the alien. When a Zarab imitates an Ultra, the giveaway is red eyes, extra black markings, and pointed feet. But when a Babarue imitates an Ultra, it’s pretty much identical.”

“Well damn,” Nick remarked.

“Zarab aliens also can’t perform the normal energy attacks us Ultras have, but a Babarue can,” Devon continued, “so who did this is highly likely to be a Alien Babarue, but I need concrete evidence to prove I’m right.”

“In any case,” Sam said, “we need to prepare for the worst. I have a feeling that we’re going to have close eyes on us.”

“You’re grounding us?!” Sam shouted.

“It’s only until we can confirm it's not you,” Twilight told Sam and Gwen that evening.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit extreme,” Gwen stated.

“Yes, what if a monster attacks?” Sam exclaimed.

“Then we will call for you,” Sunset replied.

“Then at least we know what you’re up to,” Twilight chimed in.

“Ok fine,” Sam said, “but it’s not me, I keep telling you all that.”

“You do believe him right?” Gwen questioned.

Twilight didn’t know what to say, she wanted to believe Sam but there were just too many hooves pointing in his direction, so she didn’t answer the question. “I’m going to have a word with Mayor Mare about the situation,” she said, “I want you two in bed before we get back.”

“Ok mum,” Gwen and Sam replied, a little annoyed. Twilight and Sunset left the library and headed into town.

The hours passed by. Sam and Gwen were bored out of their minds, even Spike was bored. They tried to pass the time with some board games and a game of Eye-spy. But because they were so bored, and Sam was still a little upset that Twilight seemed to not believe him, he was getting rather grumpy, and Spike was being a bit of an idiot. Clearly this was his first time playing it.

“I spy with my little eye,” Gwen said, “something beginning with ‘M’.”

Spike was trying to think of something that began with M, while Gwen was trying to help him by nearly saying it and motioning to the object. But this only made me get more frustrated.

“MUG!” he shouted.

“Well done, bro,” Gwen cheered, “right your turn.”

“I spy with my bored little eye,” Sam sighed, “something beginning with ‘T’.”

“Breakfast!” called Spike, Sam and Gwen just looked at him.

“What?” Sam questioned.

“I always start breakfast with tea,” Spike replied, “then I have a little gem, and then an egg and some slices of bread.”

“I wasn’t referring to the sound Spike,” Sam answered, “I was talking about a letter.”

“No, it doesn’t begin with a letter,” Spike responded, “Derpy doesn’t get here until 10:30.”

“I can’t do this anymore,” Sam remarked as he got up, “Gwen you take over from me.”

“Alright,” Gwen commented, “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ‘R’.”

“Army!” answered Spike, raising his claw.

“For Celestia's sake Spike, the army begins with an ‘A’!” Sam snapped, “She means something that begins with ‘R’. RRRRRRRRR!”

“Motorboat!” Spike cried.

“What?!” Sam shouted.

“Motorboats begin with a RRRRRRRR! RRRRRRRR!” Spike replied.

“OK, Ok, my turn again,” Sam said, “what begins with ‘come here’ and ends with ‘ow’?”

“I don’t know,” Spike replied.

“Come here,” Sam said, Spike came closer before Sam bonked Spike right on the nose.

“OW!” Spike cried.

“I don’t think you got the hang of this game Sam,” Gwen joked, “tell you want, let's try something else. Urm. I hear with my little ear, something beginning with ‘U’.”

“What?” Sam questioned.

“Ultraman,” Gwen replied.

“I don’t hear an Ultra,” Sam replied.

“Listen very closely,” Gwen said, Sam listened, and they could hear very faintly, an Ultra go flying pass.

“Oh yeah,” Sam responded, but then it clicked, “Wait, all of us are grounded.”

“Yeah,” Gwen retorted, as it clicked for her, “then why is one of us outside?”

“I’m gonna check it out,” Sam declared as he jumped out the window and donned his Ultrasuit.

“Sam, wait!” Gwen cried after him, but Sam didn’t hear her.

Sam made it to the middle of town, his Ultrasuit allowed him to see in the dark much better with his night vision mode. He looked around for the slightest movement and listened out for the slightest sound. He slowly and quietly moved around, his arms ready to fire his Specium Beam. He thought he heard something from behind him, he turned around, but he didn’t see anyone.

He continued to move slowly until he was nearing the town hall, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a little bit of movement, the town hall's doors open then close. Ultraman quickly and quietly reached the front of the town hall, he slowly opened the door and entered the building. The lights were off meaning that nopony was inside, Ultraman looked around, but he couldn’t see anyone inside the building, he stepped forward a bit, but then he felt something break under his foot.

He looked down and saw it was the devil splinter he gave the scientist at the Canterlot Laboratory, except now it was in broke in two, and was starting to glow brighter. Suddenly Ultraman heard someone rush out of the town hall. He didn’t get a good look at them, but he did see the door open and close behind whoever ran out. But his attention was drawn back to the broken devil splinter, it glowed brighter and brighter until Ultraman then realised what it was about to do.

“When it breaks it explodes!” he exclaimed, and just as he was going to dispose of the devil splinter, the town hall detonated in a massive explosion. Ultraman was launched out the entrance bringing the doors with him, he rolled on the ground before coming to a stop a good distance away. Sam deactivated his Ultrasuit and groaned as he stood up.

“Holy Tartarus,” he remarked as he looked at the blazing inferno that was once the Townhall.

Ponies came out to find out what the noise was and were shocked and horrified to see the town hall in flames. Sam could hear them mutter about what happened, and why Sam was the only one present.

“Sam!” cried Twilight’s voice, Sam turned his head slowly to face Twilight who was staring at him with horror written on her face. She ran over to him, Sam expected that she was coming over to comfort him, but he was wrong. Instead of a nice warm hug, he was met with a cold hard smack across his face by Twilight’s hoof. “What in Equestria did you do?!”

“But I didn’t do anything!” Sam replied.

“He’s lying!” cried a voice for the crowd of ponies.

“I saw him enter the building, and destroy it,” shouted another.

“He’s the one to blame for all of this,” yelled a third.

“He’s a devil!”

“He should be here!”

“It’s all his fault!”

These callouts started to convince the crowd, Sam couldn’t believe what he was hearing, the ponies that had welcomed him into their town were calling him a monster, a devil, the one that started it all. Sam looked and saw Rainbow and the others also looking at him with anger, horror, and fear.

“How could he,” Fluttershy sobbed.

“We loved him,” Pinkie wept.

“It can’t be true,” Rarity cried.

“Guys it wasn’t…” Sam tried to say but Rainbow cut him off.

“Back off monster!” Rainbow shouted, “don’t get any closer if you know what’s good for you.”

Sam covered his mouth as he looked around, at all the anger frowns staring at him. He saw his team who were blocked by the ponies even Elena was blocked for seeing him. She had tears welling up in her eyes, but she was upset that ponies were turning him away and not believing him.

Same with the rest of his team, Gwen and Chris were shocked and Devon and Nick were cross with the ponies. Sunset and Trixie were standing with each other, and they couldn’t believe what the townsfolk were shouting either. Twilight heard what the townsponies were yelling and she had to come to a decision.

“Mum please, you have to believe me,” Sam pleaded. But Twilight didn’t as she stared down at him with tears and anger in her eyes.

“No son of mine would do such a thing, I don’t even recognise you anymore, you’re not my son,” she spoke grimly, Sam’s eyes widened with shock and sadness, “from this day onward, you are hereby exiled from Ponyville.”

“No,” Sam stuttered.

“Get out and never return,” Twilight spoke again, in tears Sam stood up and started to run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp_Yt1vs77w

Sam didn’t know where he was running too, but he just kept running. He passed ponies who gave him death glares and ran out of town while the townsponies sang until he was out of sight.

Sunset stood next to Twilight and the others, watching Sam run away.

“Are you sure that was a good idea?” Sunset asked.

“Best choice since I adopted him,” Twilight scowled as she turned and walked back, followed by her friends. Sunset, Trixie, Gwen, Nick, Devon, and Chris stayed there a little longer and looked out across the land, neither of them could see Sam.

“Please be ok Sam,” Sunset whispered, “for Mumma Sunset’s sake.”

Sam had been running all night, and the sun was just starting to rise over the mountains. Sam was tired, his colour was flashing, and he was hungry. But he didn’t stop, he didn’t stop for food, water, or some place to rest, he didn’t even know where he was going.

“I must be heading towards Appleoosa or something,” he thought out loud. Sam did slow down once his Colour Timer started to blink, “maybe Braeburn or the Buffalo would want me. Clearly no one in Ponyville and Canterlot would as they all think it was me. Man, I don’t even recognise myself with this scar on my face.”

Sam continued to walk until his feet hurt and his legs ached, he saw a rock and went over to sit on it. He then started to plan what to do next.

“So I have a few options here,” he said to himself, “I could either wait until I have enough energy to fly to the Crystal Empire and stay with Auntie Cadence, or I could continue on to Appleoosa. What to do. What to do.”

He was so focused on thinking about what to do, that he didn’t realise he was being watched. Suddenly the ground started to shank, Sam looked around and saw the ground erupt and open up as Telesdon climbed out of the earth. Telesdon roared out loud before looking down and spotting Sam and growled at him.

“Oh you have got to be kidding me?!” Sam cried as he jumped off the rock and started to run again, Telesdon chased after him.

Due to his Colour Timer still flashing, Sam was soon running out of breath, but he knew he couldn’t stop. He looked behind himself and saw that Telesdon was slowly gaining on him. Because he was looking back at Telesdon he wasn’t looking where he was going and he tripped and rolled on the ground, before coming to a stop, laying on his back. He looked up to see Telesdon staring down at him.

“Come on then!” Sam shouted, “finish me off already! I have nothing to live for anymore!”

Just as Telesdon was about to open its mouth and chomp down on Sam, another roar was heard close by. Telesdon and Sam turned and saw Sadora who wanted Sam for itself. Telesdon roared at Sadora and went to challenge it in a fight, this gave Sam the opportunity to take cover from the fight that was about to happen.

The two monsters circled each other, before they charged at each other Telesdon got the first hit as it slammed its shoulder into Sadora’s body. Sadora threw Telesdon off it, then grabbed the Underground monster by the neck with its pincer, Telesdon cried in pain and kicked Sadora back with its foot. Sadora stumbled back before charging forward to attack again, but Telesdon ducked and caused Sadora to roll over it and slam on the ground hard.

Telesdon went in to peck Sadora’s face with its sharp beak, but the Rock monster grabbed Telesdon’s head with its pincer before smacking it with the other, sending Telesdon back and giving Sadora the chance to get up. The two monsters wrestled around for a bit before they were interrupted by a blast of purple fire. Sam looked up and saw a monster he had never seen before. The monster appeared to be female and resembled a harpy dragon with a face similar to a bird, with purple fur covering her body; she also had the Egyptian Symbol of Life on her chest.

The Harpy Dragon Monster flew down and kicked Telesdon away and sucker punched Sadora in the face, knocking it to the ground. Then gave Telesdon a right hook to the side of the head before kicking Sadora, causing it to roll on the ground. The Harpy Dragon grabbed Telesdon as the monster was running out her, lifted it up above her and threw it to the ground before stomping on the monster’s chest repeatedly. The Harpy Dragon then grabbed Telesdon but the head and got it in a headlock while beating the monster in the head before tossing Telesdon to the ground.

Sadora came back into the fight but was headbutted in the chest by the harpy dragon. The dragon smacked Sadora in the face, then grabbed it by the horns and kneed it in the face. The Harpy Dragon tossed Sadora to the side and then grabbed it by the head and got it in a headlock as well. Sadora tried to get free, but the Harpy Dragon’s grip was too strong, as she started to choke it. Foam formed in Sadora’s mouth as it struggled to breath and break free, but soon, its arms went limp and Sadora stopped struggling, the Harpy Dragon had strangled it to death. The Harpy Dragon roared as she tossed Sadora’s body to the ground, roaring in victory, before turning and looking directly at Sam.

Sam’s heart dropped in fear as he backed up from the monster staring at him. But he looked into her eyes, and he saw that she didn’t want to hurt him and showed kindness and compassion. But that was interrupted by a blast of magma energy to the back, the Harpy Dragon spun around and saw that Telesdon was joined by a Golza.

The Harpy Dragon roared at the two monsters as the three of them charged at each other. The Harpy Dragon headbutted Telesdon in the chest and grabbed Golza by the head as it came close to her before smacking it and sending Golza stumbling. Telesdon got back up and the two monsters tussled with each other before the Harpy Dragon threw Telesdon to the ground. Golza then had a wrestle with the Harpy Dragon before he too was shoved to the floor.

As the Harpy Dragon was grappling with the Telesdon, Golza came up from behind and held the Harpy Dragon still while Telesdon slammed into the harpy dragon, Golza let go which sent her falling to the ground. The ground shook as she fell, knocking Sam off his feet and on the floor hard. The Harpy Dragon noticed that Sam was hurt and roared in anger as she stood back up. Golza swung its tail, smacking the Harpy Dragon in the face causing her to stumble.

The Harpy Dragon pushed Telesdon back and kicked Golza in the chest, then she tussled with Telesdon. Golza snarled and stomped over to the Harpy Dragon but suddenly, something flew in front of its vision. It was a giant monstrous lunar monster creature that flew around Golza.

Golza tried to swat it away, but the moth creature was too fast, managing to slash at the monster’s head. The Harpy Dragon headbutted Telesdon pushing it back before swinging her tail in the monster’s side sending Telesdon rolling to the ground.

Telesdon weakly got up and started to charge up its magma stream, the Harpy Dragon also charged up her Plasma Fire. Both monsters fired their attacks and were caught into a beam lock, but the Harpy Dragon pushed more and overpowered Telesdon, as her attack struck Telesdon in the chest, pushing the monster back and causing it to cry out in pain. Telesdon let out one final weak roar as it collapsed to the ground dead.

The Moth creature kept Golza busy as the Harpy Dragon then charged and headbutted Golza in the chest, pushing the monster back. Golza held the Harpy Dragon’s head, but she just threw Golza to the ground, before kicking it in the chest as it stood back up. After Swiftly dodging a Supersonic Ray fired from Golza, the Harpy Dragon grabbed Golza by the head and smacked it away, making Golza stumble. As Golza turned around the Harpy Dragon ran forward and performed a running kick into Golza’s chest, Golza stumbled back some more, clutching its hurt chest. The Harpy Dragon roared as she fired her Plasma Fire again, Golza could take it and exploded.

The Harpy Dragon had won, as the Moth creature landed near her, the moth creature lifted up a claws and the two monsters high-fived each other. They then looked around for Sam and saw him lying on the ground. Sam was really tired, he was starving, and he felt too weak to move. He felt his consciousness slipping away as he looked up at the two remaining monsters. As his vision started to fade, he saw five silhouetted figures look down at him, one reaching out to him, just as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Who are those strange figures? Why are these two monsters friendly? Will Sam be forgiven? Will the truth be revealed? Stay tuned to find out.

Chapter 38: Framed Beyond Trust Part 2 (Edited)

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When Sam fell unconscious, he didn’t end up in the endless void of Limbo, as this time rather than using all his strength to save someone else, he was merely tired and hungry. But after he passed out, he had no idea what was happening to him at the moment. After a few hour nap, Sam started to come back to reality.

His eyes were still close, but he felt that his head seemed to be sandwiched in between two pillows. He weakly opened his eyes, his vision was blurry, and he couldn’t see very well. Slowly his memories started to come back to him. Last thing he could remember was getting chased by Telesdon, and then saved by a Harpy Dragon like monster. He also remembered just before passing out, the shadowy figures looking down at him and that one of them reached out to him.

His sense of feeling started to come back, he felt rather warm and snug, and felt that he was being hugged from behind. He tried to look down, but his head was rather limited to movement. Then he felt something shift behind him, and he heard a voice.

“Oh, you must be finally awake,” the voice spoke out to Sam. The voice sounded rather sweet, and friendly. Sam tried to turn his head to look up, he managed to turn it enough to see who was talking. The one the voice belonged to, appeared to be a fairly pretty girl, with long brown hair with orange streaks, orange eyes, a cute smile, and… wolf ears?

“AAH!” Sam yelled, this made the girl jump and she let go of Sam who fell out her grip and landed on the ground with a thud. “Ow!” he remarked, as he turned to look at the girl, only to turn red in the face and look away. The girl had no top on, exposing her bust, and now Sam realised where his head was, it was in between her bosom.

“AH! I’m so sorry!” the girl cried in a panic, grabbed a red top, and put it on, “Ok you can look now.”

Sam slowly turned back around to face her, and what he saw was a human-like girl, with long brown hair, with fiery orange streaks, a pair of wolf ears sitting atop her head, a long, following wolf tail, and a sort of edgy goth-like outfit.

“It’s good to see you’re awake,” the girl remarked sweetly, she sounded rather nice.

“Who are you and where am I?!” Sam asked in a panic.

“Calm down sweety,” the girl replied, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“How do I know I can trust you?” Sam questioned.

“Because we saved you from those monsters,” came a second voice from behind Sam. He turned to look behind him and saw six other girls standing there.

One had pink hair, dark purple draconic wings and tail, and jewellery that seemed to relate to ancient Egypt. The second, seemed to be the shortest of the all, she had cat-like ears blended into her midnight blue hair with silver streaks, she also had an orca tail. The third had moth wings on her back, and a leafy antenna. The fourth looked the most human with long dark blue hair and red devil horns on her head. The fifth had bright blue hair with white markings and blue eyes. And the sixth, seemed to be the most different to the others, she had white hair, with green bangs in front of her left eye, her skin was white, and she had a secondary pair of arms sitting behind her main pair, she also had moth-like wings on her back.

“Who…Who are you all?” Sam asked.

“We are the Type Seven,” The first one said, “You have nothing to fear, child.”

“How do I know I can trust you?” Sam questioned, “I don’t know any of you.”

“We were the only ones that rescued you from the monsters,” the one that had been hugging Sam spoke up.

This seemed to calm Sam’s nerves a little, their voices sounded really kind, sweet and soothing to him. “Can you tell me who you’ll be?” he asked.

“I am Trickywi, the Type Guardian of Rock,” the first one replied, “But you can call me Tricky.”

“I am Shylily,” the second one replied with a German-like accent, “the Type Guardian of Ice. But you can call me Lily.”

“I’m Sanagi Yuzu, but I prefer Yuzu,” the third one responded, “I’m the Type Guardian of Grass.”

“I’m Akuma Nihmune, but Numi is easier to say,” the fourth answered, “I’m the Type Guardian of Electric.”

“You can call me Bao,” the fifth one spoke, “I’m the Type Guardian of Water.”

“My name is Juniper Actias,” the more insectoid one replied, “I’m the Type Guardian of Bug.”

“And I’m Sinder,” the last one said from behind Sam, “I’m the Type Guardian of Fire.”

Sam looked around at them, he could hear in their voices that they were friendly and wanted to help him, but he didn't know if he could trust them. He was just betrayed by the town that had welcomed him into their lives.

“We can understand why you might be a little nervous of us,” Tricky replied, “being complete strangers that look human but are not completely human.”

“But we can assure you we did not bring you here to torture you,” Sinder spoke up, before coming closer and kneeling down to Sam’s level, “in fact, we think you’ve been through enough torture for a kid of your age.”

“You don’t know what I’ve been through!” Sam snapped, thinking they had got it wrong.

“Oh we know what you’ve been through,” Tricky said, “Getting bullied to the point you have physical damage, that being you’re terror-scars.”

“Losing both parents, to an unknown illness and having their soul separated from their body,” Numi chimed in.

“Having your hands busted by Daddy’s little bratty princess,” Bao called out.

“Running away from said bully into the forest from having lost your temper,” Yuzu spoke up.

“Having your new adopted parents taken from you to be used as components to complete a heroic angel turned demon centaur,” Lily remarked.

“And now getting betrayed by the townsfolk because they believe you were the one that destroyed the town hall,” Juniper finished off the list.

“How the heck… do you know that?” Sam quizzed, he was both very shocked and very confused.

“While you were asleep, we may have looked through your memories,” Tricky innocently stated.

“How can you do that?” Sam questioned.

“Lily’s an Orcat, she can sense how others are feeling and she showed us your feelings and thoughts,” Tricky replied.

“Ok I guess that makes sense,” Sam said. He then tried to take a step forward, but he tripped and fell, smacking his face on the ground where he had his scar on his face, “OW!”

“Oh no! Sinder, get me some bandages!” Lily cried as she ran over and helped Sam up, she then used her ice powers to create an ice pack and placed it gently on his scar, “this may sting a little.”

Sam cringed in pain a little, as Sinder came back with the bandages, and helped Lily patch up Sam’s face. Soon, Sam had bandages wrapped around his head and over his damaged eye. “There you go honey,” Sinder responded with a sweet tone, “that should heal overtime.”

“Th…Thank you,” Sam replied as a tear escaped from his other eye, “you barely know me, and you’ve helped patch up my injury. Why? I’m no hero, I’m just a kid that no one believes.”

“Sam, you’re not just a kid,” Tricky said, getting on her knees and staring Sam in the face, “You’re a Warrior of Light, a Beacon of Hope, you are, Ultraman.”

“That’s not what the ponies of Ponyville think,” Sam declared, “they think I’m the one that destroyed the Canterlot Lab, set Applejack’s trees on fire and sent her to the hospital, and blew up the Town Hall. They don’t trust me anymore, and once the news gets spread across Equestria, I will no longer be wanted on this planet.”

“We believe you,” came Bao’s voice, “I don’t know how much that helps you but, if you have nowhere else to go, you could stay here with us?”

“Really? You’d let me stay here with you?” Sam asked.

“Of course,” Tricky replied, “we won’t dare abandon a child, especially when they’re the saviour of the world.”

Sam felt tears welling up in his eyes again as he smiled, “oh thank you,” he whimpered, as he got hugged from all seven of them.

“Shh, it’s okay little one,” Yuzu said softly, “we’re here.”

Sam continued to hug the seven, until his stomach rumbled, the girls all looked down at him who gave a nervous smile and chuckle.

“Someone’s hungry,” Numi jokes, smiling down at Sam.

“Sinder called OniGiri and asked her to make something for our new roommate,” Numi told her.

“Ok, what would you like to eat Sam?” Sinder asked.

“I fancy a pineapple and ham pizza,” Sam replied, “I haven’t had one in a while.”

“Right,” Sinder replied as she went off to contact their friend.

“Tell her not to burn it like she did with the rice!” Bao joked.

“Or to not steal and eat it!” Tricky called out, “like what she did to my jerky.”

“Alright!” Sinder chuckled as she contacted OniGiri.

“I’m feeling thirsty,” Numi remarked, “Lily, go make us some coffee would you please.”

“Sure,” Lily said before skipping off.

“Try to make it taste slightly like mud this time,” Numi called out.

“Nothing I can do about that I’m afraid,” Lily called back.

“What is that?” Numi asked.

“Because it is mud,” Lily replied, “we ran out of coffee 130 years ago.”

“So every time we’ve drank your coffee since, we have in fact been drinking hot mud,” Numi said unamused, Sam was trying to not laugh.

“With sugar,” Lily corrected.

“Of course that makes all the difference,” Numi replied.

“Well it would if we had any but unfortunately, we ran out of sugar a couple of decades before we ran out of coffee,” Lily said, “since then, I’ve been using sugar substitutes.”

“Which is?” Numi questioned, a little worried of what she was going to say.

“Dandruff,” Lily answered, everyone looked disgusted, while Sam hollowed with laughter.

“lovely,” Numi retorted.

“Still I could try adding my milk this time,” Lily added, “well my blowhole juice.”

“No!” Numi stopped her, “call me Mrs picky but I’ll let it slide for now.” Sam was on the ground laughing his head off.

“Right I’ve called Giri and she’s gonna make him a pizza,” Sinder told them, “she also said she’ll bring it herself instead of one of her Onis, so she can meet Sam for herself.”

“Yes,” Sam remarked, pumping his fist into the air after calming down enough to do so.

“In the meantime, do you want to see something cool Sam?” Tricky asked him, Sam nodded, “come with me.” Sam followed Tricky to a spiralling staircase, he walked up them until he came to a large open room that looked pretty run down, but it was when he looked up and saw a giant statue of a monster, that he knew where he was.

“Wait this is…” he stuttered.

“The Temple of Nephasis? Yes, you’re corrected,” Tricky finished his sentence, smiling, “you and your friends saved our temple from being destroyed by Golza and Melba.”

“So you’re…?” Sam asked.

“The great Nephasis, yes that’s me,” Tricky finished again, “I got to thank you for saving our temple, It was built by Starswirl the Bearded, to hide us from a powerful being that wanted nothing but to rule over all living things.”

“Why did the monsters want to destroy this place?” Sam asked.

“They were under the control of another evil force,” Tricky answered, “they want us out of the way, so we didn’t stop him.”

“Is this the same as the one that you had to seal yourselves away?” Sam asked.

“No, our enemy that we went to war against is sealed away in a mountain, behind the portal to the Breezie World,” Tricky stated, “this new foe has a darkness I’ve not felt before, though it’s similar to the dark energy of King Sombra.”

“But mu…” Sam was about to say mum, referring to Twilight, but he remembered what she did to him, “but my former caretaker said she and her friends destroyed King Sombra. Are you saying he’s back?”

“I doubt he’s going to come back,” Tricky answered, “he exploded when exposed to the power of the crystal heart and no trace of him was found. Even if he did, we’ll send Gomora here to go and stop him.” Tricky pointed to the statue.

“So that’s Gomora,” Tricky stated, “he’s in Petrification Mode for the time being, but when the time comes, we’ll summon him back to life.”

“HEY TRICKY!” called a voice from the other side of the room, Tricky and Sam looked, and they saw a girl with a demon tail, sharp horns, purple hair, glasses, and a cooking apron.

“Giri!” Tricky screeched, she grabbed Sam by the arms and flew over to OniGiri, “Hello, hello!”

“Hi Tricky, it’s nice to see you again,” Giri greeted her friend with a hug, “so this is the Sam Sinder told me about.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Sam said nervously, “it’s nice to meet you Miss OniGiri.”

“Aww, he’s so well mannered,” Giri remarked, “it’s nice to meet you too Sam, but you don’t have to be so formal. Just call me Giri.”

“Ok Giri,” Sam replied.

Sam decided to stay with The Elemental Seven for a few days, to let his eye heal. He rather liked staying with them, Tricky made him laugh many times whenever she screeched like a Pteranodon, Lily, Numi and Bao would soothe him to sleep with a little lullaby, Juniper stayed by Sam’s side, sometimes wearing barely any clothing so Sam could feel her soft moth fur, and Sinder even made him some new clothes, Even Giri showed up every now and again to give Sam food of his choice. Sam felt like he now had a new family with the seven girls, he felt happy and safe around them.

However, the ponies were feeling rather depressed. The Townhall was getting fixed, but the progress was going pretty slow. No one was smiling, everything seemed grey, and that wasn’t just because it was raining, even Sam’s siblings were down, they’ve known Sam longer than anyone, and they knew Sam would never do something like this. The Mane 7 weren’t any better.

Rarity had shut herself in her house, sobbing while eating tubs of ice-cream. Fluttershy had also shut herself in her cottage, not wanting to face the world. Pinkie had lost her colour and was just as grey as everyone else, literally, her pink fur, mane, and tail were all colourless, replaced with different shades of grey, having lost her colour, Pinkie wasn’t all bouncy and happy, but rather slow and sad. Rainbow was just as down, but tried not to show it, wanting to keep her emotions up. Twilight and Sunset were in the library, Twilight was reading with a frown on her muzzle, and Sunset was just laying on a couch staring out the window at the pouring rain.

Gwen, Devon, Nick, and Chris were also feeling the most down, they of course, knew Sam wouldn’t didn’t do it and were depressed that the ponies just exiled Sam from Ponyville. They were with the CMC in their Clubhouse and wanted to know how they were holding up.

“So how’s everyone?” Gwen asked.

“AJ’s feeling better, though a little sad that her hat had set a flame,” Apple Bloom replied, “she’s awake and still resting at the hospital. She probably doesn’t even know what happened. She was still knocked out when the Townhall exploded. Honestly, she’s probably better than everyone else in town at the moment.”

“You’ve not told her?” Diamond asked.

“Ah can’t,” Apple Bloom answered, “how do ya tell your big sister that her nephew was kicked out’a town.”

“Rarity’s not feeling too good,” Sweetie Belle said, “I was over there yesterday, and I nearly didn’t recognize the place. She had ice-cream pots everywhere, her make-up ruined, her mane and tail all messy, she looked like she hadn’t slept or showered in days.”

“Rainbow is the only one trying to keep her emotions up,” Scootaloo responded, “she doesn’t want to believe it was Sam, but she’s believing Twilight’s logic.”

“I’ve asked her if she really thinks that it was Sam,” Nick remarked.

“What she’d say?” Devon asked.

“She said she wants to believe Sam, as he’s Ultraman, but everything just points to him, and she has to go along with the crowd,” Nick replied, “she didn’t want to seem disloyal to the townsfolk.”

“Well at least we know she’s not as bad as the others and thinks Sam isn’t to blame,” Silver Spoon said.

“My mum is probably the worst,” Diamond said.

“What do you mean?” Chris asked.

“She never liked Sam from the start,” Diamond replied, “she was actually glad that Sam was exiled, I couldn’t believe her.”

“Oh I’ll give her something to be glad about,” Nick remarked.

“Don’t get so hot headed,” Gwen told him, “Twilight is just not believing me, she’s sticking to the facts and refuses to believe anything else, unless it's a hard fact that it wasn’t Sam.”

“Which makes no sense!” Devon declared, “I thought she loved Sam like he was her own.”

“She does, or she did,” Gwen answered, “and I don’t get why she believes logic over love. Plot convenience, I guess.”

“Guess so,” everyone agreed.

Back at the Library, Twilight was still silently reading, with Sunset also now reading on the couch. Though she wasn’t as focused as Twilight. Spike was just feeding Peewee, Owlicious, Camillia and Ray, he too was also sad about losing his brother, as well as the pets, they all missed Sam as well. Spike couldn’t stop thinking about Sam, and got distracted, as he poured seeds onto Owlicious.

“WOO!” the owl cried.

“Oops, sorry Owlicious,” Spike apologised, Sunset heard Owlicious cry, and went to go check on them.

“What happened?” Sunset asked.

“I accidentally poured bird seed onto Owlicious,” Spike replied.

“You’re normally very careful with feeding the pets,” Sunset remarked.

“I guess I got distracted,” Spike admitted.

“By what?” Sunset questioned.

“By… Sam,” Spike answered, sad and softly.

“Ok, that’s it!” Sunset declared as she stomped over to Twilight in her study room and pulled her book away from her.

“Hey!” Twilight yelled, “I was reading…” she didn’t get to finish as Sunset shouted back.

“We need to talk about Sam,” Sunset told her.

“What’s there to talk about that we haven’t talked about already,” Twilight answered as she got up from her chair and started to walk away. Sunset followed her out into town.

“You know very well what I mean,” Sunset clarified, “we need to talk about how he wasn’t the one who did it.”

“Sunset we’ve gone over this,” Twilight said, “Sam was the one who did it, everything points to him.”

“He wasn’t!” Sunset shouted.

“Firstly, he said he would stay in Ponyville the day of the Friendship Games, which would give him time to fly to Canterlot and destroy the lab before any of us knew,” Twilight told Sunset.

“Only Celestia noticed him, and she said he was flying differently to Sam,” Sunset snapped back.

“Secondly, Sam was the other one at the townhall at the time, and after I told him not to go out,” Twilight noted.

“Gwen claimed they saw and heard something that looked like Ultraman, while Sam was with her,” Sunset told her.

“And Thirdly, Applejack said she saw Sam floating above her before she passed out, meaning that Sam was the one that set her trees on fire and cut them down!” Twilight shouted crossly.

“He arrived there first to put out the fire!” Sunset yelled, “he even rescued Applejack the ring of fire for crying out loud!”

“Applejack is honest,” Twilight said, “and she would give me the honest answer that…”

“Sam was the one that saved me from burnin’ alive!” came a southern voice from the gloomy weather. Twilight and Sunset turned and saw Applejack with a cross look on her face.

“Applejack?! What are you doing out of the hospital?” Twilight asked.

“I was discharged an hour ago,” Applejack, “but I wished I stayed in there.”

“Did they tell you what happened?” Sunset asked.

“Yes,” Applejack grumbled, “and I have somethin’ I need to tell you on the matter.”

“So you agree with me that Sam was the one who did all this,” Twilight said.

“Wrong Twilight,” Applejack told her, surprising her, “I want to say that you’re wrong.”

“But how am I?!” Twilight questioned, “he was there at all three events. He…” Twilight was suddenly back-hooved by Applejack across her face.

“Open your damn eyes, Twi!” Applejack shouted, “Princess Luna appeared in my dreams and Princess Celestia visited me in the hospital and explained what they determined.”

“What did they say?” Sunset asked.

“Celestia told me what the security pony saw, the Copycat Ultraman’s colour looks dull compared to Sam’s bright red, the colour timer’s colour was purple, and the eyes were red and pointed. He also pointed out that his Specium beam and blades where purple and dark red energy helix ray,” Applejack told them, “The next night, where my apple trees where set on fire, one of Luna’s night guards noticed the fire and reported that same being hovering above my trees before they were set alight. And I can say that that was the copycat I saw.”

“But what about the town hall?” Twilight questioned, still rubbing her face where Applejack had smacked her.

“It was from this,” Applejack answered, as she took off her hat, and poured out what remained of the devil splinter. “This was what was stolen from the Lab and was used to explode the townhall. All of these are connected to the fake Ultra, not the real one. The real one, your own son, who you had exiled from the town.”

This finally got through to Twilight, and the realisation hit her like a ton of bricks. Twilight believed Applejack, she knew Applejack couldn’t tell a lie if she tried to, and she was being 100 percent honest. This was too much for Twilight to handle and she slowly laid down on the wet ground. She had abandoned her son in a time where he needed all the help and support from his family and friends, and she tossed him aside like a piece of rag.

“What have I done?” she whimpered.

“You abandoned your own son,” Sunset said, “he’s now out in the middle of who knows where, probably cold, wet, hungry and everything else worse.”

“You’ve screwed a lot of things up before Twi,” Applejack said, “but this is by far the worst. You’re a terrible mother.”

And then the dam broke, Twilight burst into tears, she couldn’t handle it any more and just let her tears pour out like streams. Applejack was right, she was a terrible mother, deep down in her heart, she hoped that Sam would forgive her, but her mind was saying that no matter what he would never forgive her. Suddenly, all three of them held a very unsettling laugh echoing around them. The three ponies looked around to see who this bellowed to, when they spotted a figure standing a good distance away from them.

“S…Sam…?” Twilight sobbed, struggling to see through her tears.

The outline seemed to be Sam, but as the figure started to make its way towards them, they could see a difference. For one his colours were much darker, his eye black with red reptilian irises, and with no mouth.

Despite not having a mouth, he seemed to be laughing without any issue. The Figure stopped close to them, Applejack, and Sunset stared angrily at it, while Twilight hid behind them.

“You silly ponies are so easy to fool,” the figure spoke, his voice sounding like a deep and menacing version of Sam’s, “But I must congratulate you for getting it right eventually."

“Who are you? And how are you talking with no mouth?” Sunset growled.

“I have no real name, but you can call me Mimic,” he replied, “as to how I’m talking, I am merely speaking to you through telepathy, and it’s not just you, but everypony in this town!”

He was right, ponies started to crowd around, with Pinkie, Rarity and Rainbow coming up to their friends. As for Fluttershy… she was still inside her cottage, due to being too far away to hear Mimic’s voice in her head.

“Attention Ponies of Ponyville!” Mimic called out, “I have an announcement to make! I am the one behind the great tragedies that had befallen upon you all!” Everyone gasped as Mimic continued. “I was the one who framed Sam for destroying the Lab and sealing the Devil Splinter! I was the one who set Young Applejack’s trees on fire and surrounded her in a ring of fire! I was the one who blew up your precious town hall! But it was all of you that had turned your backs on your beloved Hero of Light! So who’s the real villain? HUH?! Is it me? Or all of you?!”

The crowd of ponies whispered to each other, Mimic had a point. He may have caused destruction and nearly killed a couple of ponies in the process, but they were the ones that betrayed Sam, broke his heart, banished him from their town. From his hometown. Mimic was right, they were the true villains.

Suddenly, as Mimic was laughing evilly, a powerful blast of fiery magic struck Mimic in the arm, tearing it off from the upper arm. Mimic cried in pain as he and everyone else turned to see Twilight, her fur coat was cream, her eyes blazing red and her mane wings and tail completely aflame. Her face of pure sadness was replaced by a look of pure rage, rain drops evaporated upon landing on her burning mane, tail, and wings, even her own tear evaporated before even falling down her face.

“Shut up!” she shouted, “We might have been the ones to turn our back on my son, but it was you who pulled the strings and set everything into motion! You wanted Sam to be out of the picture so you could destroy us all! But I won’t let you destroy our already broken hearts!”

“YEAH!” cried her friends as they stood behind her, but Mimic only chuckled, as he bent down and picked up his arm, and brought it back to his stump, before his muscle and tissue grew back and connected back on the arm.

“You fools,” he chuckled, “you can’t kill me, and I’m not the one you should fear. My master created me from the cells of your beloved hero, and he’s the one you should all fear. I’ll path the way for his wrath, and he’ll destroy you all and allow the darkness to consume this universe!”

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” came a voice from the sky, as a blast of Zeperion energy struck Mimic in the shoulder, tearing his flesh but he regenerated his muscles and tissue.

“Who dares?!” Mimic cried looking up, everyone else looked up and saw Tiga floating above them all.

“Ace!” cried Gwen from within the crowd.

“I leave you all for a few weeks and this is what I come back to?!” he shouted, “Sam’s gone and all of you are to blame, and we have this creepy clone of Sam in his place.”

“I’ve been wondering where you were,” Mimic remarked, “but you’re foolish to come back. Unless you come back to seal your fate.”

“I fear that it will be your fate that will be sealed,” Tiga responded, getting into a fighting pose, “permanently.”

“Do you really think you can destroy me?” Mimic laughed, “I’m powered by darkness and minus energy, what makes your Zeperion energy any powerfuller?”

“I fight for Light and Justice,” Tiga told him, “I will burn away the darkness in order to ensure that vermin like you don’t succeed and that this universe can live in peace.”

“Come on then hero of justice,” Mimic taunted as he transformed into his dark copy of Ultraman, “let’s see what you can do!”

“Glady!” shouted Ace as the both of them charged at each other and started to tussle.

Ponies ran for cover as Tiga and Mimic fought, Tiga ran forward and tried to kick Mimic, but the dark clone jumped and dodged it before trying to slash at Tiga, but he managed to block it twice in time. With both arms blocked, Tiga kicked Mimic in the chest causing him to stumble back. Mimic went to punch Tiga in the face, but the Ultra dodged it and side-stepped around the copycat, before grabbing a punch and pulling it away so he could elbow him in the chest, then Tiga grabbed Mimic by the leg and hoisted him up and threw him to the ground, however Mimic somersault throw the air and landed on his feet.

Tiga ran forward at Mimic, who roundhouse kicked Tiga in the face, sending the Ultra flying back into a bunch of barrels. Mimic laughed as he stuck a fighting pose again as Tiga got up. While Tiga and Mimic were fighting, Devon, Chris, Nick, and Gwen agreed they needed to find Sam. So While Mimic was distracted with Tiga, Gwen snuck out of town, donned her Ultrasuit and flew to Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Fluttershy!” Gwen shouted as she burst into Fluttershy’s cottage, her mask off to not scare her even more.

“AAHH! Oh Gwen, you scared me,” Fluttershy remarked, “what’s going on?”

“I’ll explain on the way,” Gwen said, “we need to go find Sam. Ponyville and possibly the whole of Equestria will be in danger if we don’t find him.”

“But I thought he blew up the Town Hall,” Fluttershy responded.

“Again, I’ll explain on the way now, come on!” Gwen yelled. So she and Fluttershy flew up in the sky and headed off to find Sam.

“How do you know where he is?!” Fluttershy called out.

“We’re mentally linked to each other,” Gwen replied, “I can sense where he is. Got him.” Gwen soured through the sky with Fluttershy on her tail.

Gwen could feel that Sam was somewhere west of Ponyville, and as she and Fluttershy flew in that direction, Gwen could sense they were getting close. Soon they arrived at the Temple of Nephasis, Fluttershy was feeling rather nervous, she remembered the last time she went into the temple she was really scared and could have died from falling rubble when Fire Golza attacked.

“Are you sure Sam’s in there?” Fluttershy asked, with nervosity in her voice.

“Positive,” Gwen replied, “Our link has been getting stronger the closer he is to me, he has to be in here.”

Suddenly the ground started to shake, as a cloud of sand and dust erupted from the ground, as a giant insectoid monster crawled out the ground. The monster seemed to be a mix of an ant and a stag beetle, It was the Magnetic Monster Antlar.

Antlar stared at the temple, and then down at Gwen and Fluttershy, hunger in its eats. “Stay Behind me Fluttershy,” Gwen said as she got ready to fight.

“Trust me, I will,” Fluttershy agreed.

Just before Antlar could give the first move, a foot knocked it on the back of the head causing Antlar to stumble forward. Gwen and Fluttershy looked and saw just landing near them, Ultraman. Gwen and Fluttershy to the opportunity to take cover in the temple. Antlar screeched in pain as it rubbed its head, before turning to face Ultraman who stood in a fighting pose.

The two just stood there waiting for one of them to take the first move. Ultraman sprinted towards Antlar and grabbed a hold of it before starting to push it back. As Ultraman pushed Antlar back, the insect monster tried to get a grip on the sand, and once it stopped moving Antlar dug its claws into Ultraman’s armour, piercing it and digging into Sam’s skin. Ultraman managed to pull back and then punched Antlar in the stomach and chopped it in the chest before kicking it in the chest again.

Antlar’s pincers moved in and out before the monster charged at Ultraman, but the Ultra grabbed it by the pincers and held it back, but Antlar put the pressure on Ultraman, causing his feet to sink into the sand and thrust its head so hard that it sent Ultraman flying and landing hard on his back. Antlar charged forward, but Ultraman kicked it to keep it back as he got back to his feet. Ultraman then grabbed Antlar around the waist and started to squeeze it, Antlar then used its magnetism powers to lift a boulder up from the ground and smash it into Ultraman’s back, causing Ultraman to loosen his grip and Antlar tossed him to the floor.

Antlar started to dig with its feet into the group until he was completely submerged. Ultraman waved away the dust and looked around for Antlar, suddenly the ground underneath him caved in and Ultraman fell into a sick hole dug by Antlar. Said monster poked its head out of the ground right in front of Ultraman and tried to close its pincers around Ultraman, but Ultra held his arms out to force it to not shut.

“Come on Bro!” Gwen cried out.

“Sam!” shouted Fluttershy.

Ultraman held them calling out to him, he started to spin around, faster, and faster until he shot out of the sand trap. Antlar borrowed back into the sand, as Ultraman landed and burst out of the ground behind him. Ultraman started to charge up his Specium Beam, but Antlar used its magnetic waves to disrupt the charging beam, before stomping forward and clamping its pincers around Ultraman. The Pincers pierced the suit and dug into Sam’s flesh, causing him to scream in pain as he tried to pull against the pincers.

“Whirlpool!”

“Rock Blast!”

Suddenly two voices cried out from behind Antlar, as Ultraman looked up and saw a giant Whirlpool carrying Five large boulders. The whirlpool crashed down on Antlar, followed by the boulders landing on its head, causing the monster to screech in pain and let go of Sam. Antlar stumbled back and while it was distracted with the pain, Ultraman charged up his Specium Beam and fired it at Antlar, after firing it, Antlar exploded.

Ultraman sighed as he clutched his sides and reverted back to Sam. Sam stumbled to the entrance of the Temple and was greeted by Bao and Tricky who helped support him. Gwen and Fluttershy came running over as well.

“Are you ok, Sam?” Bao asked, generating water over his flesh wounds to not get infected.

“I’ll live, I’ve had worse,” Sam retorted, getting a little chuckle from Tricky and Bao.

“Don’t worry,” Tricky assured him, “Sinder and Yuzu will patch those wounds up nice and quickly.”

“Sam!” Gwen cried, with tears of happiness to see her brother.

“Gw-Gwen?” Sam questioned as he looked up and saw the two running towards him. Gwen opened her arms and wrapped Sam in a tight hug.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she whispered in his head.

“I did too Gwen,” Sam replied, “but do you think you could loosen your grip on me? I’m still bleeding from Antlar.”

“Oh sorry,” Gwen apologised as she let go of him.

“Sam!” Fluttershy called out, she had a big smile on her face, expecting Sam to be happy to see her. But Sam wasn’t happy, he was annoyed.

“What are you doing here Fluttershy?” he questioned harshly, “come to accuse me for being the criminal that destroyed the Town Hall, Applejack’s apple trees and the Canterlot Lab?”

“N-no,” Fluttershy was shocked and a little heartbroken that Sam didn’t call her auntie.

“Bro calm down,” Gwen told him, “we came here looking for you.”

“So is this the Gwen and Fluttershy you told us about?” Tricky asked.

“Yeah,” Sam replied, “and what do you mean looking for me? Has Twilight decided to didn’t want her only daughter now?”

“No, our mother has finally seen sense and wants you to come back,” Gwen stated.

“Your mother,” Sam retorted, “My mother is a jackass.”

“Are you referring to your previous mother or Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, but only got a glare from Sam, “I’ll keep quiet now.”

“Ok I will admit that she didn’t treat you right, when the townhall blew up,” Gwen admitted, “but Auntie Applejack told mum off, and the real criminal behind the destruction revealed himself to everyone and is right now fighting Ace! We want you to come back home, no, we need you to come back home and destroy Mimic.”

“My home is here now!” Sam shouted, “with my new protectors.” He motioned to Tricky and Bao.

“Sam, not only do you need to be projected, but you also need to protect others,” Gwen said, “You. Are. An Ultra!”

“So say I do come back, what will happen once I do destroy the enemy?” Sam questioned, “How long will it be until they want me gone again, and then what would happen to me Gwen, you tell me?!”

“You selfish idiot!” Gwen cried as she slapped Sam around the face, “the Sam I know would risk his own life to save someone that had bullied him. And I came all the way out here to find him, because I believed that it wasn’t him from the start.”

“Well you wasted your time,” Sam responded. Gwen’s eyes widened before she closed them tightly.

“Let’s go Auntie Fluttershy,” Gwen finally spoke, her voice shaken.

“But what about Sam?” Fluttershy asked.

“He’s made his choice, he’s not coming with us,” Gwen answered as she turned her back and walked away. Fluttershy looked at Sam and then back at Gwen and followed her, as Gwen donned her Ultrasuit, she looked back at Sam.

“I hope you understand what I’m doing sis,” Sam said, “this is my only choice.”

“To do what, Sam? Protect a ruined temple rather than the town that had welcomed you? Some choice,” Mary remarked as she looked to the sky and flew back to Ponyville with Fluttershy in tow.

“Man, what do I do?” Sam said as he fell to the ground, he was now starting to feel conflicted.

“You fear that you’ll lose the ones that had welcomed you into their town, like you were betrayed before,” Tricky remarked.

“What do you think I should do?” Sam asked.

“Simple, you go,” Tricky replied.

“But…” Sam tried to say but Tricky cut him off again.

“But nothing,” Tricky stated as she looked Sam in the eyes, “Listen, what difference does it make, if a few individuals with elemental powers can fight and defend themselves from monsters, compared to a whole town of defenceless ponies? And it's not just any town, it’s your town. The town you’ve been living in. Learning. Living. Laughing. Loving. All the ponies in that town, in your town, need your help. Even if you’re afraid, we all are afraid, but we got to stare our fears in the face and show them that you are not afraid. So what are you? A little scared baby? Or Ultraman, Warrior of Light, Fighter of Justice.”

“I’m… I’m Ultraman,” Sam responded.

“I didn’t hear you!” Tricky shouted, “Who are you?!”

“I’m Ultraman!” Sam shouted.

“I still can’t hear you!” Tricky screeched, “Who. Are. You?!”

“I am Ultraman!!” Sam yelled, “I’m the Warrior of Light! Fighter of Justice! And my home is Ponyville!”

“That’s the spirit!” Tricky screamed, “Now go and save your home!”

“Yes!” Sam shouted as he donned his Ultrasuit and flew after Mary and Fluttershy. He quickly caught up with them. Fluttershy and Mary were shocked to see him.

“Sam! You came?!” Mary questioned.

“I’m not going to let some creepy destroy the place I worked so hard to call home,” Ultraman remarked.

“Good to see your back to yourself,” Fluttershy stated.

“Yes, and Gwen, I’m sorry for getting mad,” Ultraman apologised, “you too Auntie Fluttershy.”

“That’s the Sam I know,” Mary responded, she then looked behind herself and saw a harpy dragon flying this way.

“Hey Sam!” called a voice on the dragon’s back, Sam turned and saw that the voice belonged to Sinder, and that the dragon was Tricky and on her back, was Lily, Numi, Yuzu, Bao, Sinder, and Juniper, “I hope you don’t mind by we want to help.”

“Really?” Ultraman questioned.

“We’ve been locked in that temple for millennia!” Lily cried, “we want to have the chance to fight again.”

“Very well then,” Ultraman said as he landed on Tricky’s back along with Mary and Fluttershy. To make room, Juniper got off and turned into her monstrous moth form, and Numi, Bao and Yuzu climbed onto her. The Dragon and moth monsters both then flew off to Ponyville, where the fight was not going in their favour.

Back in Ponyville, the little town looked like a warzone. Ponies hid from the raging fight outside, foals and parents were separated from each other, and some ponies had been caught in the fight and were badly injured, this included the remaining Elements of Harmony.

The Ultras weren’t having much luck with Mimic. He was wiping the floor with the Ultras. He had thrown Jack into a building causing it to crumble, pelted Nick into the ground, broken Devon’s back and had Ace’s laying in the mud.

The Elements of Harmony had tried to help in the Ultras place, but they were quickly taken out of action. Rarity and Pinkie ran at Mimic who dodged them and the two clashed into each other. Rainbow and Applejack tried to attack him at the same time too, with basically the same result, Mimic dodged them, and Rainbow crashed into Applejack. Twilight and Sunset tried blasting him with their magic, and it seemed to work, until he absorbed the blasts and fired them back and powerful beams that sent Sunset crashing into a building and shot Twilight out of the sky. Mimic placed his foot on top of Twilight’s head and chuckled to himself as he looked around at all the destruction he had caused.

“Master will be happy that I’ve wasted the Ultra Siblings,” he laughed, “and soon my first kill.”

“Even if you kill me,” Twilight said, “the others will avenge me, and the Princess’ will incinerate you.”

“I’ve knocked your friends out cold, and your head is under my foot,” Mimic responded, “you don’t have a chance to stop me. Say goodbye fool!”

Mimic was about to crush Twilight's head with foot, but then suddenly a blast of fiery plasma struck him and sent him flying backwards. Twilight looked up and her eyes widened with hope and happiness. Up in the sky, flying out of the rain clouds and clearing them revealing the night sky behind them, Tricky followed by Juniper, carrying their passengers.

“YAHOO!” screamed Sam as he stood at the front on Tricky’s neck. Sam and Gwen jumped off and landed on the ground in their Ultrasuits. Fluttershy gently fluttered to the ground and quickly helped Twilight up and helped her to safety. Tricky and Juniper transformed back to their humanoid appearances and landed on the ground with the others in heroic landing poses.

Mimic groaned as he got back to his feet and looked to see Sam. Finally the real and the false were meeting face to face. “So you finally decide to show yourself,” Mimic said.

“Damn no wonder you guys banished me,” Ultraman said, “you can hardly tell us apart.”

“But I have to ask, why are you even back?” Mimic questioned, “why are you back to defend and save the very ponies that abandoned you?” Ultraman didn’t answer intimately, he had to think about his answer. “Well?” Mimic was getting impatient.

“They may have betrayed me, exiled me from their town, and may have made it so I have nowhere else to go,” Ultraman replied, “This is my home, and these ponies are like family to me, and I will defend them with my life! Girls now!”

Tricky and the rest summoned their elemental weapons and charged their attacks. Earthquake!” Tricky shouted as she slammed her Garnet Hammer into the ground, causing the ground around Mimic to erupt and shake.

“Ice Spinner!” Lily yelled as she threw the blade of her Opal Axe at Mimic slashing him across the chest.

“Razor Leaf!” Yuzu screamed, as she spun around, summoning razor sharp leaves and firing them at Mimic, cutting him on the arms.

“Electrio Web!” Numi cried, as she whirled her Ettringite Whip around, and launched some electric webbing at Mimic, trapping him and let off a discharge of electricity through his body.

“Scald!” Bao bellowed, as she pointed her Lapis Trident at Mimic it started to glow and fired a powerful stream of scalding water at Mimic giving him burns.

“Fire Spin!” Sinder roared, as she spun around and shot fire out her Ruby Scythe, the flames spiralled around and landed around Mimic, surrounding him in a flaming vortex.

“X-Scissor!” Juniper shouted, as her claws started to glow with sickly green energy, she the ran forward and slashed Mimic across his chest in a X shape, causing him to flinch.

“Hebdomad Type Finale!” The seven girls all cried together, and they crossed their weapons. Their weapons started to glow in their respective colours, they then pointed their weapons at Mimic as Ultraman charged up a Specium Beam. The Type Seven unleashed a multi-coloured beam from their crossed weapons and Ultraman fired his Specium Beam at Mimic, striking him in the chest and blasted him through multiple buildings and causing an explosion.

“Damn those were some cool attacks,” Ultraman panted, using that much energy made him a little exhausted.

“Some of our best,” Tricky responded.

But then all their hearts skipped a beat, when they heard the evil laughter coming from where Mimic was. They all turned and saw Mimic slowly making his way toward them, but now he looked more twisted and disturbing than ever. He was no longer in his Ultra disguise, his skin was torn and blood, his limbs were longer, his hands were massive and sharp, his eyes were empty, clothes ruined and had a wide, unsettling open smile, with sharp teeth and flesh strands.

“HAHAHAHAHA!” he laughed, even his voice sounded more twisted, “That tickled.”

“How the fuck are you still alive?!” Lily shouted.

“I merely absorb Type attacks,” Mimic said, “now let's see how you like them back at you.” And Mimic raised his arms and fired each Type attack back at them, empowered by his dark powers. Each blast was too quick for the girls, and they got struck by all of them, and were launched back. Ultraman managed to dodge his Specium beam and got ready to fight Mimic.

Mimic and Ultraman charged at each other, Mimic tried to kick Ultraman, but he dodged it in time. Ultraman tried to punch Mimic, but the demonic copycat grabbed his fist before they could make contact. They pushed back against each other, and circled each other, waiting for the other to attack. Mimic tried to chop at Ultraman who blocked it and spun around him, before pushing the demonic copycat back and getting kicked in the side.

Ultraman tried to chop at Mimic, but he dodged the attack, grabbed Ultraman’s arm, and kicked him in the back, then threw and flipped him onto the ground. Mimic tried to elbow slap Ultraman, but the Ultra rolled out of the way in time and got back to his feet. Mimic cartwheeled over to him and back kicked him in the side, then managed to block and dodge some attacks from Ultraman. The two continued to tussle with each other until Mimic grabbed Ultraman and threw him into a cart, destroying it.

“Sam!” Tricky cried, as Mimic ran over and started to strangle Ultraman, “Numi give me a hand!”

“Right!” Numi replied.

“Thunder Cage, Rock Throw, Combo Thrust!” The two girls shouted Tricky summoned a large rock, and Numi trapped it in an electric cage. Both girls then picked it up and threw it at Mimic, striking him in the back.

Since Bug and Rock were not energy attacks, they had more effect on Mimic as he couldn’t absorb them as well. Mimic cried in pain, giving Ultraman the chance to get his grip off his neck and hold him back and throw him over his shoulder. Mimic slammed on the ground, creating a dust cloud. As Mimic stood back up, he focused his energy, as his arms and legs swelled up with muscles, and blades grew out his forearms and forelegs.

“I’ve got more tricks up my sleeves,” He remarked as he got ready to fight again.

‘He’s like Ace,’ Sam thought, ‘he’s got a strong form.’

He was right, Mimic was much stronger in this form, as Ultraman found out as he went to hurt him, Mimic barely flinched as he then chopped Ultraman with more power than before. Mimic grabbed Ultraman’s arms with one hand and punched him in the chest, then kicked him in the side before throwing him to the side and kicking him in the back to the ground. Ultraman stood up and shook his head, he turned around and braced for a smack from Mimic, he managed to duck from another smack and block a third, but he was then pulled to the ground.

Ultraman stood back up and blocked another swipe from Mimic, he tried to punch him in the chest, but Mimic barely felt it, Ultraman then tried to kick him, but Mimic stopped it with his claws, and smacked Ultraman across the face before kicking him in the stomach hard, causing Ultraman to recoil over. Ultraman looked out to see Mimic stepping closer to him, Ultraman backed up against a building, as Mimic brought a fist up and brought it down, luckily, Ultraman dodged it time, however, the building was destroyed by the powerful punch.

The two continued to brawl, Ultraman dodged a roundhouse kick from Mimic and tried to do one of his own, but Mimic dodged it as well. Mimic did manage to land a kick onto Ultraman and even slash with his arm blade, Ultraman couldn’t do much to hurt him; he just wasn’t strong enough on his own.

“Whirlpool, Rock Blast, Combo Drop!” cried Tricky and Bao’s voices as they didn't use the same attack to help Sam against his battle with Antlar earlier.

A large whirlpool with boulders inside, dropped onto Mimic and boulders fell on top of Mimic causing him to cry in pain, with this distraction, Ultraman got up and slugged Mimic in the face, knocking him to the ground. Ultraman looked to the sky and flew up into the air, Mimic got up and looked to the sky to see Ultraman flying away, he then focused his energy, his blades stayed as his muscles shrank away and were replaced with wings on his back, before he too took flight.

“Juniper,” remarked Tricky, “you fly up and see if you can give Sam a hand.”

“Right,” Juniper replied as she opened her insect wings and flew into the sky after Ultraman and Mimic.

“In the meantime, let’s make sure my friends and family are ok,” Mary said.

“Yes, right,” Tricky agreed as the six of them went to check on everyone.

By this point, Ultraman’s Colour Timer was starting to blink as he flew high into the sky followed by Mimic. Ultraman tried to fly faster, but with Mimic being in a sky form, he caught up and knocked Ultraman out the sky. Juniper buzzed up behind Mimic.

“Pin Missile!” she cried as she used her spear to fire spikes of energy at Mimic. The copycat dodged them and headed back to the ground, Juniper cursed and flew after him.

Ultraman came falling down and crashed onto the ground, Mimic landed nearby, laughing like a mad man. Ultraman couldn’t move, he didn’t have enough strength, as Mimic placed a foot on top of his head. But just before he could slam his foot down off Ultraman's head, Bao, who had grown to match Mimic’s height appeared and pushed Mimic away from Ultraman. The two began to brawl and tussle.

“This isn’t looking good,” Lily remarked.

“I know,” Yuzu responded, “how can we stop him, and how do we help Sam?”

“If only our leader was here,” Sinder retorted, “she could use her dragon type abilities or her healing light.”

“Wait! Sinder, you're a genius!” Tricky shouted.

“Am I? What did I say?” Sinder asked, confused.

Tricky didn’t reply; she just turned to the crowd of ponies that had come out of hiding. “Unicorns! Ultraman needs your light!” she shouted, “Aim your horns at his chest and give him your light! Sinder, use your Sunny Day move!”

The unicorns, including Twilight, Sunset, Trixie, and Rarity, were a little confused what Tricky meant, but they aimed their horns and unleashed beams of light at Ultraman’s chest, Sinder got what Tricky was saying and used her Sunny Day move to summon a mini sun over Ultraman. Ultraman absorbed their light, but it wasn’t enough.

“We need more Light!” Tricky shouted.

“We don’t know where to get more!” Twilight yelled back.

Just at that moment, the sun started to rise from behind the mountains, the rays from the sun shone down upon Sam, who started to shift. Twilight then heard the flutter of wings above her, she looked up to see Princess Celestia and Luna flying down to aid them.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight gasped, “what are you doing here?!”

“Rainbow came to us and told us everything,” Luna replied, Twilight turned to look at Rainbow.

“I snuck away while Mimic was busy,” she replied.

“Now, let’s help our young hero,” Celestia said as she lit her horn and fired a beam of light at Ultraman, with her powerful light beam.

Ultraman was completely re-energized as he stood back up, he turned and nodded to Celestia, as a way to say thank you. He looked back at Mimic who was biting down hard on Bao’s shoulder, causing blood to pour out. Then Ultraman turned to look at the sun, he knew what he had to do.

He created a Specium Slash and threw it at Mimic, slicing at his shoulder to let go of Bao. Mimic roared in anger and pain before turning to face Sam, Bao shrank back to normal size as Numi and Yuzu came over to help her. Ultraman charged at Mimic and grabbed him by the arms before lifting him up into the sky. Twilight could see the direction Ultraman was heading.

“SAM!” she yelled as loud as she could, but even if Ultraman did hear her, he didn’t listen, he just kept flying higher and higher into the sky until they were out of sight and in space.

Mimic slashed and scratched at Ultraman but he just kept flying. Mimic started to feel hotter every passing second, when he looked behind him, he saw that Sam was flying straight towards the sun. Mimic’s skin started to tear and burn from the heat of the sun, but no sooner did he regenerate, his skin would burn and tear again.

“What are you doing you fool?!” Mimic shouted, “you’ll kill us both!”

“You made it so I have no use living in this world anymore!” Ultraman shouted, “So I’m making it, so you don’t either!”

“Stop! Stop!!” Mimic cried as his body was set aflame, “STOPP!!!” Those were the last words that Mimic said as Sam flew the both of them into the sun, incinerating the both of them.

Back on Equus, Twilight and everyone stared up at the sun, and saw a massive light blue explosion that sent a Specium Shockwave across the universe. To the mere pony or other creature that lived in Equestria, this was just a random occurrence, but to Twilight and the ponies of Ponyville, this was the end of Ultraman, and the death of Sam. Twilight’s eyes shrank to the size of pins as she sat on the ground, and tears flowed out her eyes.

“No,” Fluttershy gasped, her voice nothing but a quiet squeak, like a mouse in an empty room. Rainbow was in total shock and silence, she turned away to try and hide herself crying. Applejack just looked down in sorrow, hummed a little tune, the Theme of Ultraman. Rarity and Pinkie were just so horrified that they hugged each other and cried their eyes out. Sunset and Trixie trotted up beside Twilight and sat down next to her and embraced her for comfort.

Even Sam’s friends were devastated, Gwen was trying to hold her tears back, and was hugged by Nick for comfort. Devon turned away and looked to the ground. Chris closed his eyes and lowered his head, Ace looked over to Elena who was crying her little heart out, Ace walked over to her and gently petted her head. Celestia and Luna glanced at each other both with sorrowful expressions.

“I never got to tell him… That I’m sorry,” Twilight muttered.

“Don’t blame yourself Twilight,” Sunset told her.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Trixie responded.

“But it is,” Twilight retorted, “I was the one who exiled him. I’m his mother, and I should have been there for him, but I wasn’t.”

At the back of the group, Tricky and the other Elemental Seven were also feeling sad. They had only known Sam for a few weeks, but to them it felt longer, like they had really bonded to the child. Tricky was using her own wings to wipe her tears away, while the others just let them fall to the ground, though in Lily’s case, they turned to ice drops and Sinder’s just evaporated.

Meanwhile in a place in between Space and Time, Sam's motionless body lay floating in place in a misty yet bright and golden space that seemed to be endless. Though it seemed that Sam was alone, he wasn’t. Two giant figures, both red and silver, one with horns and a beard and the other pigtails and a feminine build and both had long red capes.

The Female raised her arm above Sam’s body and opened her hand as a shower of golden energy gently flowed over Sam’s body. The energy felt warm to Sam, as he slowly opened his eyes, and looked up to the figures.

“Wha…?” he questioned in a groggily tone, “where… am… I…?”

“You are in the Realm in between Space and Time,” spoke the male figure.

“And… who are… you?” Sam asked again.

“I am the Commander of the Inter Galactic Defence Force, better known as, The Father of Ultra,” the male figure answered.

“And I am the Commander of the Silver Cross Aid, also known as, the Mother of Ultra,” the female figure replied.

“Oh, so why am I here and not in the afterlife?” Sam inquired.

“I have performed a miracle on you,” Mother of Ultra replied, “I have revived you from the dead.”

“You shouldn’t have bothered,” Sam remarked, “no one wants me, the ponies have made that clear.”

“That is not true,” Father of Ultra said, “they had given you their light so you could continue the fight.”

“And there are those who do not wish your death,” Mother of Ultra told him. Sam then started to get memories flash in his head, of the time he and his friends having fun, and being loved and cared for by his family.

“My boy,” Father of Ultra spoke again, “Your job isn’t completed, the kaiju that have been appearing have been summoned by an evil force. And you need to stop them.”

“We have given you a second chance of life to lead your team, family and friends in the right direction,” Mother of Ultra told him, “do you think you’ll be up to the task?”

“Yes, Yes I am,” Sam replied.

“Good,” Father of Ultra smiled, “before you go, hear my advice. To really remember this, be strong enough to be gentle.”

And with that, Sam was enveloped by a bright light, and he was teleported back to Equestria. He appeared behind everyone who was still crying. Not much time had passed in Equestria, a minute in the realm between Time and Space was about a second or so in the real world. Sam walked over and stood next to Tricky who was now wiping her eyes with her tail, she just gave her tail to Bao who was on the other side of her.

“Here you go Bao,” Tricky sobbed.

“Thank you,” Bao wept as she dried her eyes.

“Something must be very sad?” Sam said as Bao gave Tricky her tail back who then gave it to Sam without knowing that it was him standing there.

“Well of course it’s sad,” Tricky retorted.

“Sam?!” Both exclaimed.

“What did I miss?” Sam asked. Tricky and Bao's shocked faces turned to faces of joy as Tricky screeched and picked Sam up.

“Sam’s Alive!” she screamed. Her screams of excitement and joy cause the others to turn to her and also smile and shout and yell with happiness.

Once Sam had been smothered by Tricky, and she placed him down, Sam’s team ran up to him and hugged him to death, Elena then jumped onto him and started to lick his face non-stop. The Elements of Harmony all ran over and helped Sam back up onto his feet.

“I can’t believe you’re alive!” Fluttershy shouted.

“Are you a ghost?” Rainbow asked.

“Well I’ll be,” Applejack remarked, “someone just couldn’t pass on just yet.”

“This is a miracle!” Rarity exclaimed.

“I need to throw ‘Sam’s back from the dead and save the world’ Party right now!” Pinkie screamed, her bright pink colours, puffy mane, and tail, and bounced back as she dashed off to get the party ready.

“It’s good to see you’re back safe and sound,” Celestia said as she lowered her head and kissed Sam on the forehead.

“But we must ask, where in Equestria did thou go?” Luna asked, letting her old self slip out.

“Well it wasn’t Equestria,” Sam replied, “I remember flying into the sun to kill Mimic, and then I’m waking up the Realm between Time and Space with these two giants looking down on me. The female one used her powers to revive me.”

“Mother and Father of Ultra?” Devon asked.

“Yeah that’s them,” Sam replied.

“The Realm between Time and Space?” Celestia questioned.

“Those are the realms of two of the Creation Trio,” Luna said.

“Well either way, I’m so happy you’re back my son,” Sunset commented as she gave Sam a tight hug.

“So am I,” Trixie chimed in as she joined the hug.

“I’m glad to be back home too,” Sam replied, but then his eyes fell upon Twilight. She stood in front of him and had something to say to him.

“Sam, I know how you’re feeling about me,” she began, “I know you hate me for not being by your side and believing the crowd rather than my love for you as a parent. I understand that you hate me, and I will understand that you don’t want to forgive me, but please, I’m so, so sorry that I abandoned you. Please can you forgive me, if not as your mother, but as a friend? Please?”

Sunset and Trixie let go of Sam as he made his way to Twilight, she hoped that he was coming to her to hug her and forgive her. But Sam just walked right past her, shattering Twilight’s already broken heart. But then he stopped, turned his head, and he spoke.

“I’m not one to hold a grudge, and I can see how you can mistake him for me,” he said, “I do still love you, but I can’t, and I wouldn’t get over how you betrayed me, and it’s going to be a long time before I have trust in you.” Sam then turned and walked off. Leaving Twilight with a lot to think about.

Soon, one by one, everyone walked off. Celestia and Luna flew back to Canterlot, the Elements of Harmony went back to their homes, Sam and his team wandered off to meet with the CMC, and the Elemental Seven stuck around and helped repair the town that the battle had destroyed. Sam may have sounded a little too harsh and maybe he could have worded it differently, but I think Twilight deserved that. Don’t you?

Chapter 39: Twilight's Kingdom Part 1 (Edited)

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It took a while for the Ponies to rebuild Ponyville, the Type Seven had stayed with them to help rebuild, and with their help, Ponyville was back, and looked better than ever. The Seven girls were sad to say goodbye to Sam, but they promised they would come back for a visit at some point, Sam hugged them all and then they took their leave.

Throughout the reconstruction of Ponyville, and after the Type Seven left, there was tension between Sam and Twilight. Sunset, Spike, Gwen, and the others tried to help, but nothing seemed to work. Sam still blamed Twilight for what she did, and Twilight knew that she wasn’t going to be forgiven any time soon. Twilight felt terrible, and she knew Sam hated her for what she did, even though he said that he still loved her. Twilight she had been the worst parent ever.

But when it came to her Princess duties, she had to put on a smile and attend events with the Princesses. Like Today, in which the Duke and Duchess of Maretonia were visiting the Crystal Empire. Twilight is delighted that her friends are accompanying her, but sadly, Sam had chosen to stay behind in Ponyville, with Trixie looking after him.

“He’s never going to forgive me,” Twilight sighed.

“Cheer up Twi,” Sunset assured her, “even though it was your fault he’s cross at you, but you’ll gain his trust sooner or later.”

“Soon would be better than later,” Twilight groaned.

“Seems like only yesterday I was saving this place from being totally destroyed,” Spike spoke, as he leant up against the crystal statue of himself, “Hey, you guys remember that?”

“You only mentioned it about fifteen times on the train here,” Rainbow retorted, feeling annoyed.

“Yes, and we never hear a peep out of you about your exploits,” Rarity said sarcastically to Rainbow.

“Heh, point taken,” Rainbow nervously chuckled.

“I am glad you all wanted to come, well most of you that I wanted to come,” Twilight spoke up, “but I don't think it's gonna be that exciting. I pretty much just have to smile and wave as the dignitaries arrive.”

“Yes, but you get to smile and wave like a princess,” Sunset said, trying to cheer her up.

“How exactly is that different than smilin' and wavin' like not a princess?” Applejack asked.

“It isn’t,” Twilight replied sadly.

“What's wrong, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, feeling worried for her friend.

“Why the looooooooong face?” Pinkie cried as she grabbed Twilight’s face and pulled it. Twilight rubbed her chin once Pinkie stopped pulling.

“I've just been feeling a little unsure about things lately,” Twilight replied, “It doesn't seem that my new role as a princess equates to all that much.” Twilight knew this was half the reason, the other half was that she wanted Sam to forgive her, but she knew he wasn’t going to.

“That's just silly,” Applejack remarked, “You've got a real important role in Equestria.”

“Princess Celestia wouldn't have asked you to come today if she didn't think so,” Fluttershy responded.

“I guess you’re right,” Twilight could only agree.

“Of course we are,” Rarity joked, “Now hurry along! You don't want to risk having that important role diminished because you were tardy for your regal meet-and-greet.”

Soon, the trumpets sounded out in a fanfare, signalling that the Duke and Duchess had just arrived.

“The Duke and Duchess of Maretonia!” Flash called out to the ponies of the Crystal Empire.

The Duke and Duchess trotted down the path with the crowd of ponies all standing aside and watched them trot by. Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadence all trotted up to greet them, while Twilight stood out on the front balcony of the crystal castle and unveiled the royal banner. The Duke and Duchess bowed before the Princesses, as they began to lead them into the castle while Twilight smiled and waved down at them.

“That was it? Princess Celestia had you come all the way to the Crystal Empire just to do that?” Spike shouted, feeling a little confused now to why they all came if Twilight was meant to do just that. Twilight’s face fell as she lowered her head, Spike then realised what he just said and tried to cheer her up, “I mean, whoa, really regal and important!” Before he got a smack behind the head by Applejack, the girls were annoyed at Spike and concerned for Twilight.

Later Twilight was pacing the crystal halls of the castle just outside the throne room, it was late, and everyone was asleep in their guest rooms. Just then the door swung open, and the Duke and Duchess stepped out, Twilight bowed to them as they stopped just in front of her.

“Your highness. Thank you for understanding our desire to keep the number of those privy to these confidential discussions to a minimum,” the Duke said.

“Of course,” Twilight replied, the Duke and Duchess then trotted past Twilight and soon left the castle. Presently, the Princesses also left the throne room, Twilight trotted up to them, “Is there anything else I can do to assist with their visit?”

“I'm sorry, Twilight,” Cadence apologised, “but their visit is already over.”

“Oh,” Twilight sighed, feeling defeated.

“Something wrong?” Luna asked.

“Well two things, the first is I just don't really understand why I'm here,” Twilight told them, “Couldn't one of the royal guards have unfurled the banner?”

“Having all four of us in the Empire to greet them lets the dignitaries know that their visit is considered an important one,” Celestia explained.

“Plus, it gives me an opportunity to see my favourite sister-in-law,” Cadence gave Twilight a sisterly smile as she wrapped an arm around her neck.

“And I'm happy to see you,” Twilight said, “All of you.”

“But...?” Cadence questioned, sensing a ‘but’ coming.

“But I... Well, it's just that Princess Luna raises the moon, Princess Celestia raises the sun, you protect the Crystal Empire, and all I seem to do is... smile and wave and be a terrible mother to her first adoptive child,” Twilight sighed as she walked out onto the balcony. She then started to sing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u58V8FPM1lM&list=PLfJpfTZK5SWAYkDYaPN3rW7q3RjZzlzl0&index=154

It isn't that I'm ungrateful
For all the things that I've earned,
For all the journeys I have taken,
All the lessons that I have learned

But I wonder where I'm going now,
What my role is meant to be
I don't know how to travel
To a future that I can't see

I have my wings, I wear this crown
I'm a princess, this is true
But it's still unclear to me
Just what I am meant to do

I wanna have a purpose
Wanna do all that I can
I wanna make a contribution
I want to be a part of the plan

Your destiny's uncertain
And that's sometimes hard to take
But it will become much clearer
With every new choice you make

Patience is never easy
I understand wanting more
I know how hard it is to wait
To spread out your wings and soar

But you stand here for a reason
You're gifted and you are strong
That crown is upon your head because
You belong

Know that your time is coming soon
As the sun rises, so does the moon
As love finds a place in every heart
You are a princess; you'll play your part

We understand you wanting more
A chance to shine, a chance to soar

Soon will come the day it turns around

Know that your time is coming soon
As the sun rises, so does the moon
As love finds a place in every heart
You are a princess; you'll play your part

You are a princess; you'll play your part

“You’re time to come,” Celestia told Twilight as she gave her a hug, this cheered up Twilight a little.

“Oh before we head off,” Luna said as she was about to go back inside, “what was the second reason?”

“Oh, It was just I don’t think Sam will ever forgive me for betraying him,” Twilight sighed again.

“Don’t feel so upset, he’ll come around to you,” Celestia told her motherly, “he may show that he hates you but deep down he still loves you.”

“Try not to let it get to you, sis,” Cadence said. Twilight smiled at them as they walked back inside, Twilight decided to stay outside on the balcony a little longer as she stared up at the moon.

Meanwhile, in Canterlot, a unicorn, with brown fur, white mane and tail, blue eyes, and a cutie mark of four emeralds, named Rare Find was walking through a dark, misty alleyway while levitating a bucket of oranges. Rare Find was feeling nervous, he sharply spun his head around upon hearing something behind him. But it was only an empty can rolling on the floor. Breathing a sigh of relief, Rare Find turned to continue onward, but he jumped in fright when he saw a figure staring in front of him. The figure was wearing a cloak, so he was hidden underneath it, his breath was heavy and warm as vapour escaped his mouth into the cold air.

“Very sorry,” Rare Find apologised, “you came out of nowhere.”

"‘Is he friend or is he foe?’ the pony wonders,” the figure narrated, the figure's voice was eery, raspy and weak sounding, “I can assure you... I am no friend. I am Lord Tirek, and I will take what should have been mine long ago.”

Suddenly, the figure started to absorb Rare Find’s magic, stealing it from his horn and eating it. Rare Find’s eyes started to fade as his magic was taken, as the last of his magic was stolen, his cutie mark disappeared and fell to the ground dropping his oranges and feeling really weak. As Tirek ate the last of his magic, his body started to tremble as he grew a bit bigger, Rare Find was now terrified by this. Tirek grinned evilly as his eyes glowed a menacing yellow.

Suddenly Celestia shot up in her bed, gasping from the horrifying dream she just had. Luna then burst into her room concerned and worried as well.

“Sister are you alright?!” she cried.

“I've just had the most terrible dream,” Celestia told her.

“Why do you think I'm here?” Luna said, “You know as well as I that this was not a dream, but a vision.”

“Then we haven't much time,” Celestia stated, “The stronger he becomes, the more we are all in danger.”

The next morning Celestia and Luna had called Cadence and Twilight to the throne room to explain what is about to come to Equestria.

“Tirek and his brother Scorpan came here from a distant land, intent on stealing Equestrian magic,” Celestia started, “But Scorpan soon came to appreciate the ways of Equestria, even befriending a young unicorn wizard.”

“Scorpan urged his brother to abandon their plans,” Luna continued, “When Tirek refused, Scorpan alerted us to Tirek's intentions. But Tirek had stolen enough magic to grow to a gigantic size, and he was nearly unstoppable.”

“Until, a giant monster that had been attracting lightning to its back plates from the stomp clouds appeared and defeated Tirek. Scorpan returned to his own land, and Tirek was sent to Tartarus for his crimes,” Celestia finished, “But it appears he has found a way to escape.”

“We believe it happened when Cerberus left his post at the gates,” Luna theorised.

“But that was a long time ago,” Twilight stated, her eyes twinkling when Cerberus showed up in Ponyville, “Why is he just now starting to steal magic?”

“His time in Tartarus left him very weak,” Celestia remarked, “He has just now gained enough strength to use his dark powers.”

“But with each passing moment, he grows stronger still,” Luna said.

“And I know just the princess who can stop him,” Cadence grinned.

“Yes,” Twilight replied, “I'll find him and…”

“No, Twilight,” Celestia stopped her, “I'm afraid I must call in another to stop Tirek. Discord.” Cadence, Luna, and Twilight all gasped at Celestia’s decision.

“...As in Discord, Discord?” Applejack questioned. Twilight had told her friends what Celestia had decided once she arrived back in Ponyville, and they were equally as shocked.

“Yes!” Twilight replied.

“Who’s Discord?” Chris asked.

“He’s a draconequus that’s a mixture of different animals,” Sunset replied.

“He caused a lot of trouble for us,” Rainbow chimed in.

“How come we’ve never meant him?” Chris questioned.

“Because He’s not properly appeared in the story until this point,” Sam replied, sounding fed up.

“I don't think it's that big of a surprise,” Fluttershy stated, “He can be very helpful.” Fluttershy turned back to see the other’s faces looking at her with ‘really’ expressions.

“He can sense when there's a magical imbalance,” Twilight said, “The next time Tirek steals magic, Discord will be able to track him down!”

“So what are you supposed to do in the meantime?” Rainbow asked.

“Nothing,” Twilight answered, as she turned around and started to walk away, “Unless of course one of you needs me to smile and wave.”

“Where are you going?” Gwen called out.

“To the Castle of the Two Sisters,” Twilight replied, “I'm not really needed anywhere else. Might as well catch up on some of my reading.”

“You want some company?” Rainbow asked.

“It has been a while since we visited the castle,” Applejack chimed in, “Might be fun!”

“Maybe I could use a little company right now,” Twilight remarked. As the gang were entering the Everfree Forest, Sunset realised that Sam wasn’t with them, and noticed he was walking back to Ponyville.

“And where do you think you’re going?” she asked sternly.

“I’m going back to Ponyville, to hang out with the CMC,” Sam replied as he tried to walk past her.

“Oh no you don’t,” Sunset stated as she teleported in front of him and picked him up with her magic, “you’re coming with us, and you need to forgive Twilight.”

“Come on, she exiled me from Ponyville,” Sam argued.

“And you flew into the sun to save us all!” Sunset disputed back, “so you are coming with us and you’re going to forgive Twilight for banishing you!”

“You can’t make me do something I don’t want to do!” Sam shouted back, but stopped and gulped when Sunset gave him a death stare and lit her horn with powerful magic, “On second thoughts I come, get some fresh air, why waste it cooped up inside a stuffy treehouse.”

“That’s a good boy,” Sunset smiled as she placed him on her back and trotted off after Twilight, with Sam frowning on her back.

Soon the girls and kids arrived at the Castle of the Two Sisters, they looked over the cliff to see the Elements of Harmony attached to the tree of Harmony from when they had to give them back to the tree when Twilight became a princess and the Everfree Forest started to take over. (Jeez, Sam and co have missed out on a lot.)

“I still can't believe we had to give back the Elements,” Rainbow stated.

“It had to be done or the Tree of Harmony wouldn't have survived,” Rarity responded.

“But Twilight was right,” Fluttershy spoke up, “Even without the Elements, our friendship is as strong as ever.”

“I just hope another 'friend' of ours never makes us sorry we had to give them up,” Applejack remarked.

“Oh, you're talking about me, I presume?” Came a voice, everyone looked up to see the one called Discord, floating down from the sky with an umbrella and holding a bag.

“Did he just arrived like Mary Poppins?” Sam questioned to no one.

“How'd you guess?” Applejack asked sarcastically.

“My ears were burning,” Discord replied, with his ears were actually on fire. He pulled out a cup of water and splashed the water on his ears putting out his flaming ears.

“What are you even doing here, Discord?” Rainbow asked annoyed.

“Oh, just a bit of light reading before I head off on my extremely important mission,” Discord replied, putting on a pair of reading glasses and flicking through the girl’s friendship journal. Then he landed on the ground in a sergeant’s uniform, and pulling down a flag with Celestia, Luna and the sun and moon on it, “I suppose you all know that I've been tasked to capture a certain escapee.”

“Big deal,” Spike scoffed.

“You're right, Kid. It is a big deal,” Discord replied as he blew bubbles out his pipe and blew one big enough to trap Spike inside it, Spike floated into the air, the bubbled popped and Spike fell started fall, but Rainbow flew up and caught him, “Seems I possess a magic that gives me quite an important role in Equestria. Maybe they should make me an Alicorn princess.” As Discord teleported in front of them with Alicorn wings and horn and a massive crown, Offscreen cheering can be heard as he gave out wet kisses. This made Twilight rather bothered.

“In your dream!” Rainbow declared as she kicked Discord’s crown off his head.

“Oh, I never dream of such things,” Discord replied, “Ask Princess Luna.”

“Don't you have a creepy magic-stealin' villain to track down?” Applejack asked rhetorically.

“Yes, yes, yes, of course,” Discord replied as he grabbed them all and teleported in front of the Tree of Harmony, “It's just that I couldn't help but notice that Twilight hasn't yet opened this little chest of hers.” Everyone turned to look at Twilight when he pointed out the chest, “I-I-It got me thinking, what if what's locked inside is something that could help her prove her royal worth? I only bring it up because she said that she's been feeling like her role as a princess doesn't equate to much.” He then made Twilight have a pouty expression.

“Wait a minute!” Pinkie exclaimed, “How do you know how she was feeling?!”

“Oh, my. Is eavesdropping not the way you're supposed to find out what your best pals are up to? Woe is me. Will I ever learn the intricate nuances of being a good friend?” Discord responded in mock sadness, the girls, and Ultra Siblings just gave him looks, Discord cleared his throat, “Well in any case, I suppose now is as good a time as any for me to make my exit.” He then walked to a scooter that wasn’t there before, and after putting on his helmet and starting the scooter, he teleported away.

“And good riddance!” cried Applejack, when suddenly Discord teleported back right behind her.

“Oopsie-doopsie, I almost left with the little journal you've all been keeping. What a fascinating read. Haven't you girls just learned so much? I've bookmarked a few of the more interesting passages. You really should take a look!” He said as he balanced the journal on Twilight’s horn, before turning to Fluttershy and whispering to her, “We're still on for tea later, aren't we, Fluttershy?”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” she replied sweetly.

“Well, I'll bring the cucumber sandwiches...!” Discord declared in a singsong voice as a doorknob appeared, he twisted it and opened a door, before disappearing into it and closing the door behind him.

“My, what a strange creature,” Chris commented.

“Indeed,” Nick agreed.

“Sometimes I think the 'reformed' Discord is more obnoxious than the 'before-he-was-reformed' Discord,” Sunset remarked, “and I wasn’t even there when you’ll reformed him.”

“Indeed,” Rarity chimed in.

“But he could be right, couldn't he?” Fluttershy spoke up, “What if there is something important in that chest?”

“There's only one way to find out,” Twilight said.

Later everyone was in the Castle’s library looking through book, to see if they could find anything about the chest. They had basically cleared about half of the libraries books and found nothing. Everyone was looking for anything that mentions the chest, except Sam. He was in the corner reading one of his comic books, and luckily, this one wouldn’t send them all to another world.

“Anything?” Twilight asked. Array of various no’s came back in reply, “There must be something in this library that can help me figure out how to open it. The answer's in one of these books. I just know it.” Twilight spotted the journal laying on the ground amongst a bunch others, Twilight rolled her eyes and levitated over to her, before she started to look through it as well.

Their search to find answers about the chest had led into the night, as Tirek was still absorbing unicorn magic as he did to poor Neon Lights. As Tirek grew larger after absorbing his magic, he spotted another unicorn sorting out a box. Tirek crept towards the unicorn, but just as he was about to absorb his magic, the pony’s head spun around, but it wasn’t a pony’s head that was looking at him, it was Discord.

“Tirek, I presume?” Discord questioned with a smirk. Tirek was shocked, he wasn’t expecting Discord. He squinted to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

“Discord,” Tirek groggily remarked, “You're free?”

“As a bird,” Discord responded as he used his magic to turn himself into one.

“I commend you on your escape,” Tirek bowed.

“I'm afraid the feeling isn't mutual,” Discord stated as he snapped his fingers and chains appeared and locked Tirek’s arms. Tirek then tried to fire a blast of his magic at Discord, who dodged it by simply splitting his head in half and merging them back together.

“Oh, I should have known you would want to have Equestria all to yourself,” Tirek grumbled.

“Oh, I'm not doing this for me,” Discord said as he was suddenly in a police uniform, and spinning a police baton around, “I'm doing it for my friends.” He then went up close to Tirek and whispered, “Just between the two of us, it's mostly for Fluttershy.”

“Fluttershy?” Tirek questioned, “You're not saying you're friends with ponies?”

“Surprise!” Discord shouted as he burst out a large birthday cake.

“I am surprised that someone with your intellect does not see this 'friendship' is but a new form of imprisonment. Clearly you've had to abandon your true nature to stay in their good graces,” Tirek remarked.

Discord was playing the harp with a halo above his head, as Tirek waffled on, “I have done nothing of the sort!” he protested, before waving his halo away.

“Oh, please, I've seen this before. But he was always weak minded. You are Discord, you are legend, you cannot fall into the same trap that claimed my brother! Help me to grow strong and be rewarded with something far greater than friendship. Freedom,” Tirek’s eyes glowed yellow as his words started to get to Discord. Discord perked up an eyebrow, “Once I've stripped these ponies of their magic, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see their world turned upside down. Who better to do so than the master of chaos himself? Join me, Discord, and reclaim your greatness. Unless, of course, 'pony errand boy' is the role you've always wanted to play in this world.”

Discord looked behind himself to see a photo of himself and Fluttershy, and his Discord lamp beside it, he then ponders Tirek’s offer.

Back at the Castle of the Two Sisters, Twilight was reading through the friendship journal, focusing on the sections Discord had bookmarked, and she was a little shocked to discover a pattern. She smiled at what she saw.

“I think I found something!” Twilight called out, the girls and Ultra Siblings all turned to face her, except Sam who had fallen asleep, “I've been reading our journal, and there's something interesting about the sections that Discord bookmarked.” The girls all started to come closer to Twilight, “Applejack, do you remember when you had to tell everypony that the tonic Granny bought from the Flim Flam brothers didn't really work?”

“How could I forget? It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do,” Applejack replied as the memory of playing in her head, of when she pointed out the tonic was a fake, “And in that moment, I knew I had to be honest. I just knew it. But what's that got to do with openin' the chest?”

“I've found that each of you has had to face a situation where living up to the Element of Harmony you represent wasn't easy,” Twilight answered, “Fluttershy, it was when you realised that the way to show kindness to the Breezies was by forcing them to leave your home.”

“Oh, the looks on their poor little faces!” Fluttershy responded, “But I knew that, as difficult as it was, pushing them away was the kindest thing I could do.”

“Rarity, even after Suri took advantage of your generosity at Fashion Week in Manehattan, you didn't let it cause you to abandon your generous spirit,” Twilight stated.

“I simply couldn't have lived with myself if I didn't do something special for the friends who have always been so generous to me!”

“Rainbow Dash, you had the chance to fly with the Wonderbolts at the Equestria Games, but instead you chose to compete with your friends,” Twilight exclaimed.

“Sure!” Rainbow admitted, “But being loyal to my friends was way…”

“Ooh, my turn, my turn!” Pinkie shouted, cutting Rainbow off.

“Pinkie Pie, you realised that seeing your friend laugh was more important than proving you were a better party planner than Cheese Sandwich,” Twilight stated.

“Best party I've ever had,” Rainbow declared.

“And yet we missed it, due to Zetton rampaging,” Sam dryly stated.

“It's clear we've all had our moments to shine, Twilight, but I'm with Applejack,” Sunset said, “What does any of this have to do with the opening of the chest?”

“All of you had tough choices to make. But when you made the right one and embraced your element, it helped somepony else make the right choice too. Each of you received something from the pony whose life you helped change,” Twilight replied, “I know it sounds crazy, but maybe there's something special about those objects that could lead us to the location of the keys. The chest is connected to the Tree of Harmony, the Tree is connected to the Elements, and the Elements are connected to all of us. There must be a connection! I hate to admit it, but maybe Discord was trying to be a good friend after all.”

Later the group stood in front of the chest with their objects. Rarity had Coco Pommel's spool of rainbow thread, Rainbow had Spitfire's Wonderbolts pin, Fluttershy had Seabreeze's flower, Applejack had Silver Shill's gold bit, and Pinkie had Cheese Sandwich's rubber chicken Boneless. The girls placed their respected objects down on the ground.

“I don't see anything on them that would give us a clue as to where the keys might be,” Sunset pointed out, “They're just... ordinary, everyday objects.”

“Come on, Boneless!” Pinkie shouted as she started to shake Boneless around, causing it to squeak, “Give us that key!”

“I don't think that's going to work,” Twilight said, before ducking out the way as Pinkie threw Boneless across the room and it smacked into the chest.

A bright light shone out the chest and engulfed Boneless, turning the rubber chicken into a golden key that resembled Pinkie’s cutie mark. Everyone watched at the chest, pulled and inserted the key, even Sam was impressed. The girls then placed their objects on top of the chest, the same magic surrounded the items and turned them into keys that resembled their cutie marks. The keys floated down and inserted themselves into the chest, leaving only one key left.

“There's still one key missing,” Twilight stated, “The key that represents the element of magic. My element.”

“Oh, but I'm sure that if we've gotten our keys, you have too, Twilight,” Fluttershy commented.

“Think, Twilight,” Rarity encouraged, “When have you completed a difficult magical task, and in doing so encouraged another pony to do the same?”

“I haven't,” Twilight admitted, “If I had, I would have written about it in the journal.”

“Don't worry, Twilight,” Spike assured her, “I'm sure you'll get your key eventually.” Suddenly Spike covered his mouth and let out a burp, as green flames flowed out his mouth and a scroll appeared. Twilight used her magic to levitate the scroll over to her.

“What’s it say?” Spike asked.

“That I'm needed in Canterlot at once!” Twilight exclaimed.

Twilight flew as fast as she could to Canterlot, Sam and Gwen had come with her, Sam didn’t want to go, but at Sunset’s insistence he was forced to go. The trio arrived at the castle and dashed into the throne room.

“We came as quickly as we could!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Is something wrong?” Gwen asked, “Is it Tirek?”

“I'm afraid I put too much trust in Discord and the effect that friendship would have upon him,” Celestia declared.

“Discord has betrayed the ponies of Equestria and joined forces with Tirek,” Luna spoke out.

Meanwhile, in a theatre, a crowd of ponies were about to want a play, but they were shocked to see Discord on stage, dressed in a magician’s outfit. The ponies were not pleased to see him and were suspicious of him. Discord took off his hat, placed it on the floor and tabbed it with his wand, the hat shook, and Tirek emerged from it and decloaked himself. The crowd gasped and tried to leave, but Tirek started to absorb their magic. As Discord applauded, Tirek grew bigger as his muscles bulked up and his colours became boulder.

“How could he do this?!” Twilight exclaimed, “I thought our friendship meant something to him! I thought he had changed.”

“Tirek has stolen enough magic that he now has the strength to steal flight as well,” Celestia told Twilight, “Without Pegasi to control the weather, there will be no rain in Equestria. There is word he has gone after Earth ponies as well. Without their strength, they will not be able to tend the land.”

The Wonderbolts had tried to stop Tirek, but Discord held them still, and Tirek absorbed their ability to fly. Then Discord lassoed the Earth Ponies and Tirek absorbed their strength. Discord was pleased to be having fun, as Tirek grew larger and larger.

“Ponies will no longer be in control of their world,” Luna stated gravely, “That power will belong solely to Tirek.”

“There is no doubt that Tirek is after Alicorn magic,” Celestia said, "With Discord by his side, we will not be able to stop him from taking it.”

“Once it is in his possession, his power will know no bounds, and all hope will be lost,” Luna sighed.

“But there is one solution. It is only by making this sacrifice that Equestria and the lands beyond it might be saved,” Celestia declared “We must rid ourselves of our magic before Tirek has the chance to steal it from us.”

Twilight, Sam, and Gwen all gasped.

“Princess, do you think this is wise?” Sam asked.

“Tirek is set on possessing Alicorn magic,” Luna replied, “When he comes for us, we cannot have what he is looking for.”

“I'm more than willing to do my part and give up my magic,” Twilight announced.

“You misunderstand. Our magic cannot just disappear into thin air,” Luna told her, “Somepony must keep it safe.”

“That somepony is you, Twilight,” Cadence stated.

“What?!” Shouted Sam.

“Why me?” Twilight asked.

“Can someone even handle that much power?” questioned Gwen.

“We do not believe that Tirek is aware that a fourth Alicorn princess exists in Equestria, nor do we believe he knows the existence of you humans,” Celestia said, “If we transfer our magic to you, Tirek will not know where it has gone.”

“Do you understand what we're asking of you?” Cadence asked.

“Yes. It's just... I'm only now learning how to control my own Alicorn magic,” Twilight replied, “To take on even more…”

“She could explode or worse!” Gwen exclaimed.

“I feel you don’t understand how alicorn magic works,” Luna remarked.

“We’re 10 year old kids that can become giant superheroes,” Sam responded, “I think you know even less about us.”

“Fair point,” Luna admitted.

“Twilight, you represent the element of magic,” Cadence told her sisterly, “If there is anypony who can do this, it's you.” Celestia and Luna nodded in agreement.

“Taking on this task will be one of the most difficult things I'll ever do, but with the help of my friends…” Twilight said, but Celestia cut her off.

“I'm sorry, Princess Twilight, but you must keep your new abilities a secret,” she declared, “I fear that your friends being aware of your new power could put them at great risk. Do you still think you can take on this responsibility?”

Twilight thought about it, and quickly replied, “This is the role I am meant to play as a princess of Equestria! I will not fail to do my duty!”

“Then we must begin at once,” Celestia stated Luna and Cadence circled Twilight.

“Children, advertise your eyes,” Luna told Sam and Gwen, “this could be very bright.”

Sam and Gwen shielded their eyes, as the princess prepared their magic for the transfer. Celestia, Luna and Cadence all charged their horns, as their eyes glowed pure white, they fired their magic, their beams absorbing into each other in a massive sphere of magic above Twilight. The Sphere grew larger and larger, as Twilight prepared for what was to come next, the sphere fired a beam straight down, and was absorbed into Twilight, causing the sphere to get smaller and smaller. While this was happening, Tirek was outside Canterlot, absorbing more pony magic, as Discord suddenly shivered.

“That can't be right,” he remarked to himself, Tirek overheard what he said.

“What can't be right?” he asked, his horns grew larger and longer and his voice sounding more deeper and less raspy.

“Nothing,” Discord assured him, “Carry on.”

Back in the castle, Luna, Cadence and Celestia where laying on the floor, ridden themselves of their magic left them very tired and exhausted. They all turned to Twilight, who was levitated in the middle of the room, her mane and tail flowing like Celestia and Luna’s did. Her body twitched due to having so much magic inside her. Sam and Gwen uncovered their eyes, and were shocked to see Twilight like this, even Sam felt concern for her, and started to feel less angry at her. And Twilight slowly levitated back to the ground, Celestia, Luna and Cadence stumbled toward her. Twilight clutched her head, as she returned to normal, she made a dash to Celestia, giving her a hug and letting a tear be shed. Sam and Gwen went over to hug Luna and Cadence and to check if they’re ok. They then noticed that their Cutie Marks were gone.

“It is done,” Celestia stated, she sounded out of breath.

That night in Manehattan, Coco had just arrived back at her apartment. Tirek and Discord had appeared not long ago in the centre of the city and had absorbed her strength. She had just enough to get herself back home, but she felt too tired to do anything. Using what strength she had left, she struggled to her bedroom, and laid on her bed. Suddenly, she saw a flash of light, followed by a rumbling sound.

“There must be a storm coming,” Coco thought out loud, just as the lights and power all went out, “and a blackout, just great.”

She felt a little cold and was about to get up and get herself a cup of tea, when something hit her. If Tirek had stolen the flight of Pegasi, then how could there be a storm coming. The Pegasi can’t fly, and even if they could, they would probably go right through the clouds. So how is it possible for a storm to manifest?

Another lightning bolt flashed, lighting up her hold apartment, followed by another rumble of thunder. But after the thunder, she heard something else. It sounded like the deep breathing of an animal, along with a deep rumbling sound that caused her apartment to shake. The shaking stopped, as another lightning flashed, but her apartment was obstructed by a large shadow. Coco was now a little scared, as she looked to her closed curtains.

She slowly trotted to her curtains and creeped them open. At first she could see anything, just the blackness of the outside, but then another lightning strike happened, and she saw it. A giant creature that resembled a dinosaur with large dorsal plates ran down its back, towered over her apartment complex. Its eyes glowed yellow as lightning crackled around the beast and struck its dorsal plates.

The Creature then started to make its way down the street and out of the city, leaving behind two things. The Image of it when the Lightning struck its dorsal plates, lightning up the sky revealing the creature's appearance, and the sound of its roar which echoed across the city.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyCKwuOOOZE

Chapter 40: Twilight's Kingdom Part 2 (Edited)

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The train journey home was quiet, no one said anything. Twilight had too much on her mind, not only did Twilight still have to make up with Sam, but she also now had the power of three princesses and her own magic at one. As a result of her absorbing the other princesses' magic, Twilight suffers from the occasional magical twitch. Sam was also in deep thought, he was considering to forgive Twilight, but he didn’t know when would be the best time to forgive her. He knew he had to, but she had too much responsibility to take care of. Gwen was actually asleep, laying her head on Twilight’s lap as her mother stroked her side.

Soon, Twilight, Sam, and Gwen returned to the Golden Oak Library in the middle of the night. With a sleeping Gwen on her back, Twilight and Sam tried to sneak past Spike, who was asleep in his bed. However, the floorboards creaked under Twilight’s and Sam’s weight, causing Spike to wake up.

“You weren't gone very long,” he remarked, rubbing his eyes, “Does that mean everything's okay?”

“Yep! Everything's fine!” Twilight replied, she chuckled nervously as her horn sparked and she levitated a couple of books across the room.

“In that case, I'm going back to bed,” Spike said as he turned over in his bed, “Sun's not up... and neither am I.”

“That's strange,” Twilight thought out loud, “The sun should be up by now...” She then gasped at the realisation as her horn sparked and flared, “ The sun should be up by now!” She ran to her window and looked out to the moon in the night sky, she took a deep breath and said, “You can do this.”

“Yes, you can,” Sam assured her, Twilight was a little shocked, she turned to look at Sam who was nervously standing next to her, but he gave her a thumbs up.

Twilight smiled, as her horn lit up and sparked, the moon started to shudder and shake as Twilight focused. She started to float, and her body sparked as her mane and tails started to flow in an invisible breeze like Celestia and Luna’s would. The moon shook some more, then it suddenly shot down behind the mountains before zipping back up and across the sky. The Sun zoomed by, turning the sky day for a brief second as it disappeared behind the horizon and was replaced by the moon. The moon dropped down again, and the sun zipped into the air and this time stayed.

Back in Canterlot, Shining Armour was standing on one of the bridges, watching the sun rise, very weirdly. Two unicorn solar guards were with him, when they started to levitate off the ground. Shining Armour didn’t know they were floating away, but he did notice his helmet disappear, just as Discord appeared in front of him wearing his helmet.

“Shining Armor, why, whatever are you doing here?” Discord asked cheerfully.

“Back off, traitor,” Shining snapped as he jumped back and pointed his horn at Discord.

“The only one Discord betrayed was himself,” came the deep voice of Tirek, as he drained one of the guard magic, Tirek was much bigger now, he voice was no longer husky and croaky, and the ground shock every step he took, “Abandoning his true nature to make friends with weak-minded equines who offer him nothing!”

Shining Armour fired a blast of magic at Tirek, but the demon centaur simply caught it and compressed it into a ball, in which he straight up ate it. After chewing and swallowing it, he grabbed Shining by the snout, and drained him of his magic as well. Shining Armour’s legs wobbled as he collapsed to the floor.

“How... could you... do this...?” Shining Armour muttered to Discord before passing out.

“Why don't you go and have a little fun?” Tirek said to Discord as he wrapped an arm around him, “I won't stand in your way.” As Tirek turned and walked away, Discord giggled to himself.

The Princesses lay weakly in the throne room, when they heard and felt the deep hoof-steps of Tirek. Celestia sat up as best she could, trying to make it seem like nothing had happened. Tirek burst the door open and apart as he stomped to the Princesses and levitated Celestia up to drain her magic. But nothing happened.

“What have you done?!” Tirek shouted, Celestia just gave him a weak smirk. Tirek tried to absorb Luna and Cadence’s magic, but he had the same result as Celestia, “Where is your magic?!”

Back in Ponyville, Twilight tried to open her door, but ended up completely blowing up.

“I have to gain better control,” Twilight said to herself, “I sure can't practise here.”

“Jeez Twi,” Sunset remarked, “what happened here?”

“Oh nothing,” Twilight chuckled nervously before she galloped off. Spike started to follow her, with Sunset, Gwen, and Sam on her trail.

“Uh, Twilight,” Spike painted, “where are we goin'?”

“Oh, uh, hi, Spike,” Twilight replied, not expecting him to be following her, “Uh, gotta go... somewhere... else.” Twilight opened her wings and shot off like a rocket into the sky.

“Waaaaah! Whoa!” Twilight cried, as she soar faster than she’d ever gone before, Sam donned his Ultrasuit and shot off after her.

Rainbow was standing on a cloud looking down at Ponyville, when suddenly Twilight zipped past her. Shortly after Twilight passed her, her slipstream blasted by as well, causing her to spin out of control.

“Whoa!” she cried as she watched Sam fly past her and after Twilight, “Twilight?”

Rainbow flew after Twilight, with the other girls noticing this and ran after Twilight as well. Twilight soon crashed, landed on the ground, and skidded to a stop, creating a trail on the ground. Sam then landed next to Twilight and retracted his Ultrasuit.

“Oh, my goodness, are you all right?” Fluttershy cried as she and the others arrived.

“Jumpin' junebugs, Twilight!” Applejack exclaimed, “When did you learn to fly that fast?” electricity crackled around Twilight as she had another magical twitch.

“I must have caught a particularly strong breeze... or something,” Twilight lied as she teleported behind Rarity, making everyone jump.

“Must have been "or something", because there wasn't any breeze up there,” Rainbow responded.

“I don't know what happened, but I don't really have time to figure it out right now,” Twilight told them as another magical twitch surged through her body.

“Another visit to the Castle of the Two Sisters, I presume?” Rarity questioned, “We'd be more than happy to accompany you!”

“Not today!” Twilight cried, as her body surged once again, “Tirek may still be a threat. I need you all to stay here and encourage everypony to remain inside.” Twilight was about to take off again, but she then remembered what had just happened, so she started to walk to the castle. Sam looked at everyone, and then decided to follow Twilight leaving the others behind with worried expressions.

Back in Canterlot, Tirek sat comfortably on Celestia’s throne as the three Princess sat on the floor staring crossly at him. “Getting rid of your magic so that I cannot take it from you? That was your plan?” Tirek questioned, “How does it feel, knowing that soon, every Pegasus, unicorn and Earth pony will bow to my will, and that there is nothing you can do to stop it?”

“You will not prevail, Tirek,” Celestia stated.

“Give my regards to Cerberus,” Tirek told them, as he created a window and in an act of revenge, banished the princesses to Tartarus.

“You meant our will, didn't you?” Discord called out as he was messing around with one of the stained glass windows.

“Of course. Here, I want you to have something,” Tirek said as he took off his medallion and tired it around Discord’s neck, “This was given to me by someone very close to me. I give it to you as a sign of my gratitude and loyalty.”

“Oh, my! I do love a good accessory,” Discord stated, “I suppose that's Rarity's influence.”

“Amusing,” Tirek laughed as he turned to see a stained glass window of him and Discord, he was holding a sword, and Discord was holding a sandwich while riding Tirek, “But we have no time for such things. With the princesses out of the way, we can now…” he stopped himself when he saw a stained glass window of Princess Twilight, “Is this meant to be humorous?!”

“Oh, no, I haven't touched that one yet,” Discord admitted.

“There's a fourth Princess? And you did not tell me this?!” Tirek shouted.

“I just needed some assurance that you truly considered this a team effort,” Discord replied, “And now I have it.”

“Then where can we find this fourth princess?” Tirek questioned as he grabbed Discord by the neck, “Where is her castle?”

“Castle?” Discord laughed, “No, Princess Twilight lives above a library in Ponyville.”

“Not for much longer,” Tirek remarked sinisterly, as he used his magic to melt the window.

Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, Twilight's friends had secured the other ponies' safeties. The whole town was quiet, all the houses were boarded up, even Trixie’s wagon was chained to the ground and the only ponies outside were Twilight’s friends, and Sam’s team, who were flying around making sure everything was properly secure.

“All right, y'all,” Applejack called to the others, “I think we've warned everypony to stay inside.”

“I'm sure Discord will catch Tirek, and this will all be over soon,” Fluttershy stated enthusiastically.

“I'll bet he takes his sweet time,” Rainbow remarked deadpanned.

“Or perhaps these things just take time,” came Discord’s voice, Fluttershy was overjoyed to see him.

“You're back!” she gasped as she jumped into his arms for an embrace, “Did you bring the cucumber sandwiches?”

“I did,” he replied, as he made a plate of cucumber sandwiches appear, “I imagine they'll be your last decent meal for quite some time.” His voice trailed to something a little more serious as he dropped the plate onto the floor. Suddenly, a cage appeared around Twilight’s friends, they all gasp in horror.

“Ta-da!” Discord cried.

“You've gathered up all of them?” Tirek questioned.

“And her little dragon, too,” Discord replied as he pointed a finger at Spike, who tried to bite Discord’s finger.

“Why are you doing this?” Fluttershy asked sadly, tears streaming from her eyes, as Applejack embraced her, “I thought we were friends!”

“Oh, we were,” Discord replied, “But Tirek offered me so much more than just tea parties. Surely you saw this coming.”

“I didn't,” Fluttershy cried some more, “I really didn't.”

Tirek used his magic to slowly levitate the cage, scared and confused, Twilight’s friends could do nothing as Tirek drained them of their magic. Discord turned away, he did feel bad for doing this to Fluttershy, she was the only close friend he had. Once Tirek was done, he dropped the cage on the ground with a thud, Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Sunset, Trixie and Spike all were laying on the floor of the cage, feeling really weak. Tirek grew larger, breaking his metal wrist braces, and his hair and beard growing longer.

“You really think she'd do anything for them?” Tirek asked Discord.

“If Twilight has magic to give, it will be yours,” Discord replied, “Soon there won't be a Pegasus, Earth pony or unicorn who will be able to stand up against us.”

“Us? Who said anything about us?” Tirek smirked as he started to use his magic to levitate Discord.

“You did,” Discord replied, getting worried.

“You've helped me grow strong, you've provided the means by which I can obtain Princess Twilight's magic, and now you are no longer of any use to me,” Tirek stated, as he started to drain Discord of his colourful and chaotic magic. Once Discord was completely depleted, Tirek dropped him on the ground.

“But you said this was a sign of your gratitude and loyalty,” Discord weakly commented, “A gift from someone close to you.”

“My brother who betrayed me,” Tirek replied, as he turned away, “It is as worthless as he is.”

“Surely you saw this comin',” Applejack remarked.

“I didn't,” Discord weakly replied, “I truly didn't.”

All the commotion caught the attention of the Ultra Siblings, they all turned around and saw Tirek, with Discord and Twilight’s friends in a cage.

“Guys get into position!” cried Mary, as the others got into attack positions, the five of them flew down towards Tirek and readied their beam attacks, “Sister Destruction Beam!” she shouted.

“Emerium Beam!” Seven yelled.

“Cinerama Shot!” Jack screamed.

“Zeperion Beam!” Tiga bellowed.

“Wide Zero Shot!” Zero cried.

Tirek didn’t hear or knew they were there, the beams struck him in the back, severely burning his back. Tirek stumbled forward and cried in pain, he turned around and glared when saw the Ultra Siblings flying down towards him. Tirek used his magic to hold them still and brought them closer to himself. He seemed interested in them.

“My, my, what do we have here?” he quizzed.

“Ugh, I can’t move!” Mary grunted.

“Let go… of my… daughter!” Sunset shouted with what strength she had.

“Sure, I'll let them go,” Tirek replied, “after I’ve drained their power as well.” Tirek opened his mouth and started to absorb Mary and the other’s energy. The five of them groaned in pain as they were drained, their Colour Timers started to blink getting faster every second as their Specium Energy was taken. Once Tirek was done and he grew larger, he dropped them all on the ground around Discord.

“Hmm, that’s a new taste,” Tirek commented, “If there’s more of them, I will savour the flavour. Now to seek out Princess Twilight.” Tirek turned and stomped off to find Twilight.

Gwen and the others lay lifelessly on the ground, but that wasn’t the concerning part of it all. They weren’t breathing, and their Colour Timers were out. Their suits retracted back, revealing their drained bodies.

“Are… Are they…?” Rainbow questioned, she didn’t want to finish her sentence.

“Discord, can you check for us?” Sunset asked, her voice was sad and pleading.

Discord turned to face them, and then back to Gwen, Ace, Devon, Nick, and Chris. He crawled over to them, and placed two fingers on Gwen’s neck, he grew worried, he couldn’t feel a pulse. He tried the wrist, again no pulse. He pressed his head on her check, to hear her heartbeat, but there wasn’t one. He tried them all, he felt for a pulse, and heard for a heartbeat, but there was nothing from all of them. With a sorrowful expression, Discord turned back to Sunset and the others and shook his head.

That was enough to break Sunset and the others down, tears streamed from their eyes as they all huddled together. Discord also felt sad, and blamed himself for everything. If he hadn’t teamed up with Tirek and stopped him when he had the chance, Fluttershy and the others would still have their magic, and Gwen, and the others would still be alive. But there wasn’t anything he could do, he was powerless like everypony else, and Gwen, Ace, Devon, Nick, and Chris, were dead.

Sam and Twilight were sitting on a cliffside near the Castle of the Two Sisters, neither knew what Tirek had done. They both sat there in silence, until Sam decided it was time to forgive Twilight.

“Twili… mum?” he corrected himself, Twilight’s ears perked up. “I… I think it’s about time I forgive you.”

Twilight turned to face him, “you… you forgive me?” Twilight questioned.

“Yeah, I know this seems a little out of nowhere, but I now see that it wasn’t all completely your fault,” Sam said, “Mimic fooled you, into making you think it was me, so I can’t blame you for his acts. And I’m sorry for giving you so much grief.”

Twilight wrapped Sam in her arms, “thank you for forgiving me,” Twilight whispered, “I love you, sweetie.”

“I love you too mum,” Sam replied as he returned to hug. The mother and son hugged for a bit longer before Twilight broke it.

“Right, I need to practise with all this magic,” she said as she took a deep breath, “I can do this.”

“Yes you can,” Sam commented. Twilight smiled and concentrated on simply teleporting from one spot to another. She managed to do just that, teleporting from the cliffside, to a boulder down the mountain.

“See! Ha!” she smiled, “Perfectly controlled teleportation…” Suddenly her horn crackled, and she and Sam were teleported all around Equestria. From Canterlot, to a waterfall, from the waterfall, to riding a buffalo in Appaloosa, and from riding a buffalo, to being sandwiched by some rock. Twilight growls at her misfortune, but then they both hear a voice that makes them shiver.

“PRINCESS TWILIGHT!” bellowed Tirek.

“Tirek!” Twilight gasped.

“You have something that belongs to me!” Tirek shouted.

Suddenly, Twilight and Sam, now in his Ultrasuit burst off the rock and whizzed past Tirek. Twilight turned around and tried to land on the ground, but she skidded across the ground and stopped after pumping into Tirek’s oversized hoof. Ultraman also struggled to stop in time and pumped into Twilight, both looking up at the towering Tirek, as they both backed up to get a better look.

“You're going to give me what I want!” Tirek stated as she started to inhale.

Twilight used her magic to teleport herself and Ultraman back home, and on top of the library where Twilight looked out her telescope. Twilight saw Tirek turn in their direction and launch a blast of magic their way.

“Hit the deck!” Ultraman shouted, as he and Twilight teleported back inside, just as the blast of magic struck the library, destroying it in a massive explosion.

Luckily, Twilight, and Ultraman had grabbed Owlicious, Ray and Camillia, right as the Library exploded. The pair landed on the ground and looked back in horror to see their home destroyed and in ruins. Flaming books landed all around them, Ultraman stood back up as Ray and Camillia sat on his shoulders. Ultraman walked forward a bit and he stepped on something, he looked down and saw it was a photo of him and his family back on earth. Tears started to fall from his face as he gently placed a hand on the ruined photo. Twilight turned to Owlicious, the owl was fine, but was upset that his home was destroyed.

“Owlicious, take Ray and Camillia somewhere safe,” Twilight told him, the owl nodded and flapped over to Ultraman and allowed Ray and Camillia to jump on his back.

The two reptiles did so, but not before Camillia gave Ultraman a nuzzle of reassurance. Ultraman smiled and placed Camillia on Owlicious’ back. Twilight and Ultraman waved goodbye to Owlicious, Ray and Camillia, with faces of sorrow, but then their faces changed to anger, and anger changed to fury. Twilight’s horn lit up as she opened her wings and glared out. Ultraman’s body temperature was starting to climb as steam could be seen leaking out the suit, Ultraman was reaching his limit.

Twilight teleported them both back near Tirek, they appeared in the sky, Twilight fired a massive blast of magic, and Ultraman fired a blue and orange mixed Specium Beam down upon Tirek. The beams were growing in power and size, as they fused together, they were so strong that they managed to push Tirek back and created a giant explosion. Tirek had used his own magic to help block the magical blasts and had come out unscathed from the attack. Twilight and Ultraman landed in the trench they made with their attacks and stared at Tirek with fury in their eyes.

“Now I understand what your fellow princesses have done!” Tirek remarked.

Twilight’s horns lit up with magic, as Ultraman’s body temperature rose. With their strength’s climbing, Twilight and Ultraman shot up into the sky, Tirek charged and fired a beam of magic at them, it struck them but Twilight Teleported them both away, Twilight appeared standing in front of Tirek, and she fired a blast of magic in Tirek’s face. Annoyed, Tirek pushed the beam away and used his own Magic to levitate Twilight into the air and threw her into a mountain. Just As Tirek threw Twilight, Ultraman dashed towards him and with his Specium Blades deployed, slashed Tirek across the face. Tirek used his fist to punch Ultraman to the ground and went to step on him. But Ultraman teleported away in time.

Twilight had used her Magic to shield herself from being thrown at a mountain, she gasped when she heard Tirek roaring and saw him hurtling towards her. Tirek charged through the mountain, coming out the other side Twilight on his head. Twilight teleported upon Tirek and started to charge up a powerful blast of magic. Before she fired it though, Ultraman flew from underneath Tirek and fired a Specium Beam into his blast Tirek on the face, then he flew up and kneed Tirek in the jaw and punched him in the face. Ultraman flew on the way for Twilight to blast Tirek, the magical beam struck Tirek and slammed him into the ground. Twilight and Ultraman flew down towards Tirek and blasted him again with powerful beams of Magic and Specium Energy.

Ultraman and Twilight landed on the ground, just as Tirek's beam blasted out the ground and circled around them. Tirek then lifted the slab of earth with Twilight and Ultraman on and threw it, the slab of earth crashed on the ground. Twilight and Ultraman flew out from the dust cloud, as Tirek roared again and slammed his fists onto the ground, causing the earth in front of him to crack and pillars shot up from the ground. Twilight and Ultraman destroyed them with Magical blasts and slashing at them with Specium Blades.

Tirek, now getting really annoyed and frustrated, charged up and fired a powerful blast of magic, Twilight did the same, as well as Ultraman firing a powerful Burning Specium Beam. The blasts collided in a massive explosion that levelled the field with a giant scorch mark on the ground. When the dust cleared, Tirek was under some boulders, but he easily pushed them off himself. Twilight and Ultraman stood a good distance away from him, but both were now starting to get a little tired, evidenced by Ultraman’s blinking Colour Timer.

“It appears we are at an impasse. How about a trade, Princess Twilight?” Tirek remarked as he snapped his fingers, and Twilight’s friends, Discord, and the lifeless bodies of Sam’s friends appeared, trapped in bubbles, “Their release for all the Alicorn magic in Equestria and all your humanoid sidekick’s energy.” Twilight and Ultraman gasped as Twilight’s friends tried to protest this trade. “What's it going to be, Princess?” Tirek smirked evilly.

“Don't do it, Twilight!” cried Rainbow.

“We aren't worth it!” called out Fluttershy.

“Oh, but you are, Fluttershy,” Discord responded down casted, “You're the pony that taught me that friendship is magic. I had magic and friendship, and now I don't have either. And because of me, Gwen and the others wouldn’t be dead.”

“You did what?!” Shouted Ultraman.

“Tirek absorbed your team’s energy,” Discord replied, “and because you’ll have to live on your Specium Energy, they died after getting drained of energy.”

“Tirek! You bastard son of a bitch!” Ultraman yelled.

“Enough!” Tirek bellowed, “I want an answer, and I want it now!”

There was a long pause, Twilight looked at her friends trapped in the bubbles, their bubbles shone in the sun, as Twilight’s eyes shined with a rainbow hue, finally Twilight replied, “I will give you my magic, in exchange for my friends.” Everyone gasped at Twilight’s decisions.

“As you wish,” Tirek replied as he snapped his fingers and the bubbles fell to the ground and popped upon contact, freeing them all, the girls went around and safely gathered Sam’s team. Once Fluttershy landed on the ground, she looked around for Discord, but his bubble was still floating in the sky.

“All of my friends,” Twilight demanded.

“After the way he has betrayed you, you still call him a 'friend'?” Tirek questioned.

“Release him!” Twilight ordered.

“If that's what you want,” Tirek responded as he snapped his fingers and Discord’s bubble fell to the ground and popped, freeing him.

“Thank you, Twilight,” Discord thanked before turning to Fluttershy in a hush, “I'm sorry.”

“I know,” Fluttershy replied, looking away with tears in her eyes.

“Your turn,” Tirek stated as he turned back to Twilight and started to absorb her magic. Twilight cried in pain as her magic was drained from her horn. After absorbing it all, Twilight collapsed to the ground, feeling very weak. Tirek however felt stronger than ever, he grew to his biggest size yet, towering over the tallest trees and equalling the height of the mountains.

“YES!!!” he roared, before giving off an intimidating laugh and turning to Ultraman, “Now it’s your turn, and I’m going to enjoy the taste of your life energy!” Tirek started to inhale, and Ultraman could feel his Specium energy getting drained, but just before Tirek could swallow his energy, a powerful beam struck him in the back, causing Tirek to cry in pain as Ultraman’s Specium Energy returned to him. “Who dares?!” he bellowed but then gasped at who had attacked him.

The ponies, Discord, and Sam all looked to where Tirek was looking, and they all gasped too. Coming from behind the mountains was a monster, it stood roughly the same height as Tirek, its skin was charcoal black and in texture, it had dorsal plates running down its back, four toed talons and four digit claws. It also had a massive chest scar and across its right eye, it had sharp teeth, and fiery eyes glaring at Tirek. The monster let off a menacing roar that shocked the surrounding area, it then gently felt its chest scar. Twilight knew who this was, this was the monster that fought Tirek in the past, the King of the Monsters himself, Godzilla.

There was a long pause, Tirek and Godzilla stared each other down, before both ran at each other, and they both attacked each other. Godzilla scratched Tirek on the side of his torso while Tirek elbowed Godzilla in the side. Both slid to a stop before Tirek turned back around and ran towards Godzilla, the King of the Monsters braced for a punch, but he wasn’t prepared for Tirek to turn around and kick him with his back legs straight in Godzilla’s chest scar. This stammered Godzilla as Tirek spun back around and grabbed Godzilla by the claws, switched his arms and using his strength, lifted Godzilla up off the ground.

Godzilla roared in pain as his wristed were twisted, using his own body weight, Godzilla forced himself back on the ground, then pushed Tirek back, and tried to hit him with his tail. Tirek ducked the tail swipe but then was faced with a point blank blast of Godzilla’s Atomic Breath. Tirek was pushed back and fell to a knee, but he got back up right away, and fired a blast of his magic at Godzilla, striking him in his chest scar and causing him to roar in pain and stagger back, as he clutched his chest and fell to a knee. Godzilla stared at Tirek with a glare and a snarl as Tirek just crossed his arms and smirked.

During the fight, the ponies, Spike, Sam with Twilight on his back, and Discord managed to get to a safe distance and the two titans clashed.

“Ok I think we’re far enough away,” Sunset commented, as Sam carefully lowered the weak Twilight on the ground. Twilight struggled to get back to her feet.

“Yes there mum,” Sam remarked, concerned for his mother.

“Twilight, what were you thinking?!” Spike exclaimed.

“Tirek tricked me into believing that he could offer me something more valuable than friendship. But there is nothing worth more. I see that now,” Discord monologue to them, “He lied when he said that this medallion was given as a sign of gratitude and loyalty. But when I say that it is a sign of our true friendship, I am telling the truth.” He then places the medallion around Twilight’s neck, as a sign that he saw the error of his ways. A Rainbow shine reflected off the medallion and the same rainbow shine glowed in Twilight’s eyes. Then it clicked for Twilight.

“You think that might be the last one we need?” Applejack asked.

“We have to get to the chest,” Twilight told them, “Discord, help us carry Sam’s team.” Discord nodded and he grabbed Devon by the arms, and they all ran off to the Tree of Harmony.

Twilight, Sam, and their friends return to the chest, they all gently place Sam’s team on the ground, as Twilight reaches the medallion close to the last key hole. The Medallion transformed into a key resembling Twilight’s own cutie mark. Twilight smiled, but then there was a loud bang, outside, Tirek and slammed Godzilla through a mountain, destroying it and making Godzilla feel very weak.

“Together!” Twilight shouted, “I think we have to do this together!”

Before Tirek could kill Godzilla, the six friends turned the keys at the same time, the top of the chest opened, and released a rainbow-coloured blast of power that showered them in light. The chest also released blasts of light that rained down on Sunset, Trixie, Sam, and his team. The ponies are transformed and given rainbow-marked coats, manes, and tails, While Sam donned his Ultrasuit, and glowed golden and glittery. Not only that but the Light also revived Sam’s team and gave them the golden Glitter power.

Tirek had Godzilla defeated, he was holding the King of the monsters by the neck and was draining his atomic energy, making Godzilla weaker and weaker. Suddenly, Tirek saw something bright in the corner of his eye, he turned to look and saw the Ponies and Ultras rise from the gorge, surrounded by a sphere of magic near the Castle of the Two Sisters. Infuriated, Tirek charged up and fired a blast of magic mixed with some of Godzilla’s Atomic Energy at the sphere, but even with Godzilla’s power mixed in, it was not powerful enough.

“How is this possible?!” Tirek exclaimed, “You have no magic! And I drained you of your Life Energy!”

“You're wrong, Tirek! I may have given you my Alicorn magic, but I carry within me the most powerful magic of all!” The girls then fired beams of magic that struck Godzilla in the dorsal plates, first Twilight, then Sunset, then Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity and finally Applejack. Their Magical Rainbow Beam started to charge Godzilla back up, he grunted, then opened his eyes, and glared at Tirek with a snarl.

Godzilla released a shockwave that forced Tirek to release him, then destroyed the devil centaur's left horn with his atomic breath before he could fire a blast of magic. In pain, Tirek tried to fire another blast from his left hand at Godzilla, but Godzilla pulled the right arm in front of the beam, severing it at the elbow. Godzilla grabbed the agonised Tirek by his remaining arm, lifted him up over his shoulder and slammed him up and down before throwing Tirek into the air. Godzilla charged up and fired Rainbow Spiral Heat Ray at Tirek, pushing him into the sky. Twilight and her friends fired their rainbow beam again, this too struck him, Ultraman and his team fired their beams infused with Glitter power.

“Glitter Specium Beam!” Ultraman cried.

“Glitter Sister Destruction Beam!” Mary shouted.

“Glitter Wide Shot!” Seven yelled.

“Glitter Cinerama Shot!” Jack screamed.

“Glitter Zeperion Beam!” Tiga bellowed.

“Glitter Wide Zero Shot!” Zero cried.

Their Beam collided in front of them and grew in size the more Glitter Energy they fired, before they turned up and pointed their combined beam to Tirek.

“Superior Myth Flasher!” All six of them shouted, as a giant beam fired from the colliding beams, it shot up and also struck Tirek in the chest. Tirek was pushed all the way into outer space, where he thought he saw a large, green, serpent like dragon, with glowing yellow markings, just before the blasts of light stripped him of his power and banished him to Tartarus once more.

Tirek’s magical explosion in space sent shockwaves across the planet, returning Magic to every creature in Equestria. Twilight and her friends split up across Equestria, guiding the shockwave, Twilight and Rarity guided it to Shining Armour and other Unicorns in Canterlot City, Fluttershy and Rainbow guided it to the Wonderbolts and fallen Pegasi in the fields, Applejack and Pinkie guided it to the Earth Ponies in Appaloosa, and Sunset and Trixie guided it across the desert, returning the Magic to Trickywi and the others because Tirek somehow stole their magic. The chains around Celestia, Luna and Cadence disappeared and released them from the prison in Tartarus as their magic also returned, and they flew away from their imprisonment. Finally as Twilight and everyone returned to the now opened and empty chest, the Tree of Harmony launched the chest and its keys toward Ponyville, where it sank into the ground. And mere seconds later, a great crystal castle rose out of the ground from where the chest had landed.

Twilight, Sam, and their friends teleported and awed at the castle's majesty as their rainbow and glitter powers wore off. “Sweet Celestia!” Rarity gasped, “Are you all seeing what I'm seeing?”

“But... Whose is it?” Twilight asked.

“I believe it is yours, Princess Twilight,” came Princess Celestia’s voice from behind them. Twilight and everyone turned to see her, Luna and Cadence standing behind them with smiles on their faces. Discord also was there, as he poked his head out from behind them and waved. The Group then entered the castle to have a look around.

“You've been wondering what you are meant to do as a princess,” Celestia said to Twilight, as the group walked through the halls of Twilight’s new castle, “Do you know now?”

“As princess, I believe I have the power to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria, that is the role I am meant to have in our world! The role I choose to have!” Twilight answered as she teleported in between her friends and they gave her a hug, “But I didn't defeat Tirek on my own – it took all of us to unlock the chest!”

“Not to mention us turning all golden and teaming up with the King Of Monsters himself!” exclaimed Sam.

“Then it is unlikely you are meant to take on this task alone,” Celestia remarked as she used her magic to open a pair of large doors. Everyone gasped in awe at what they were seeing. It was a throne room with a throne for each of the girls with a cutie mark on each throne. There were even thrones for Sam and his team.

“You are now Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship,” Celestia announced as everyone sat on their thrones, “But what is the princess of friendship without her friends?”

Twilight saw Discord hiding behind the entrance to the throne room with a sad expression on his face. Twilight smiled and used her magic to levitate Discord over to them, showing that he was forgiven, and he was considered a friend as he gave them all a hug.

“Wait a minute, where's my throne?!” he complained.

“I don't think you're quite there yet,” Fluttershy told him.

“Yes, well, I suppose not,” Discord chuckled.

“Actually hold up!” Chris called out, as he counted the thrones for the Ultra Siblings, “there’s ten thrones for us.”

“Really?” Nick questioned, as he then counted them, “how come, there’s only six of us.”

“Feeling strange,” Sam remarked.

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Sunset chuckled, “This could mean something.”

“But what though,” Sam thought out loud, he really didn’t know what these extra thrones could mean. But we do, don’t we.

Suddenly, they all heard Godzilla roar from outside, Twilight and Sam dashed outside to see Godzilla looking down on them. His breathing was heavy and he was covered in fresh scars and blood wounds, but he seemed calm. Sam donned his Ultrasuit as he and Twilight flew up to Godzilla's face, they seemed like mere flies compared to Godzilla. Twilight reached out a hoof and Ultraman reached out a hand and they gently placed them on Godzilla's nose, Twilight looked up into Godzilla's fierce yet gentle eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered, Godzilla gently closed his eyes, nodded once, and then turned to walk back to Manehattan where he would dive into the ocean and swim back to his island. Twilight and Ultraman waved goodbye, as Godzilla let off one more roar of victory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyCKwuOOOZE

Later, as the ponies of Ponyville gathered outside the new castle, Twilight stepped out and invited them all inside as she and her friends started to sing an upbeat song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbk2z9O2qYs&list=PLfJpfTZK5SWAYkDYaPN3rW7q3RjZzlzl0&index=169

Each one of us has something special
That makes us different, that makes us rare

We have a light that shines within us
That we were always meant to share

And when we come together
Combine the light that shines within
There is nothing we can't do
There is no battle we can't win

When we come together
There'll be a star to guide the way
It's inside us every day

See it now! See it now!

Let the rainbow remind you
That together we will always shine
Let the rainbow remind you
That forever this will be our time

Through the magic of their friendship, a rainbow shoots up from the throne room floor and travels across Equestria, where it is witnessed by many ponies. It zipped by Coco Pommel in Manehattan, flew near the Wonderbolts in the sky, whizzed past Cheese Sandwich on his journey, shot by the Breezies, and sailed past Silver Shill. Tricky Sinder, Lily and Yuzu saw it circle their temple and smiled happily as it did, it even spiralled Godzilla as he was making his way back out into the ocean, and soon it returned to the castle where it spun around Discord. In the throne room, Discord is finally accepted by the ponies, and he gives Princess Celestia a bouquet of flowers as a sign of apology, much to her own surprise as he gives her a little wink.

Let the rainbow remind you
That together we will always shine

In the deep darkness of Tartarus, a weak Tirek sat, grumbling away, missing an arm and horn. Cerberus was standing guard and making sure that Tirek wouldn’t escape again.

“You don’t have to keep staring!” he shouted at the three headed dog, “It’s like I can go anywhere with only one arm.”

Suddenly, something banged the doors to Tartarus, Tirek and Cerberus turned to see the doors shudder, then another bang came, harder and louder than the previous. With one final bang, the doors swung open, letting in a smoke cloud. Two aliens stepped out of the smoke cloud, one was red and blue and the other was blue with a golden cape.

Cerberus got ready to defend but as he jumped and launched himself at the aliens a pair of red glowing eyes shone out from the middle of the smoke cloud, and a beam shot Cerberus in the chest, sending the three headed dog off the cliff and into the depths of Tartarus. Tirek and the other imprisoned monsters were shocked and slightly scared as a figure walked out of the dust cloud. The figure wore a suit similar to the Ultrasuit that Sam and the other wore, but it was black instead of silver, his colour timer was purple instead of blue, and he had sharp claws, glowing red eyes, and a physical mouth on the helmet, he also had a long red mantle that covered most of him. In one claw he carried a staff like weapon, a long handle with two pentagon based cylinders on each end.

The middle figure walked toward Tirek and destroyed his chains and cage housing him. Tirek was confused.

“You’re helping me?” he asked, “why?”

“Don’t you want to take revenge? Don’t you want unlimited power, and get all that you desire,” the figure spoke in an eerie voice as he offered a hand, “Then join me, and we can rule this world.”

“You had me at unlimited power,” Tirek replied as he took the figure’s hand and stood up.

“Hipporit! Temperor!” The figure shouted to his henchmen, “Open a portal back to HQ!”

“Yes boss,” Temperor replied as the two aliens used their powers to open a portal. The Figure worked with Tirek to the entrance of the portal.

“I’ve not seen you before,” Tirek remarked, “just who are you?”

“My real identity is classified,” the Figure replied, “but you I go by Belial.” And with that, Belial and Tirek walked through the portal, followed by Hipporit and Temperor. The portal closed behind them, and silence fell upon Tartarus.

Chapter 41: A New Threat Has Risen (Edited)

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No matter how long ago it was, Sam, Twilight, Spike and Sunset still remember what happened in the human world/Sunset’s former home. But they weren’t the only ones that witnessed what happened that night. Six moons ago to the present day, on the night of the Fall Formal, angry voices could be heard shouting from inside a café. Numerous café patrons were arguing among themselves, as they did, a strange green mist swirled around their feet and travelled to a corner booth at the back of the café. In that corner booth, three girls in hoodies were singing harmoniously and absorbing the green mist into the red gems on their necklaces.

“That was barely worth the effort, Adagio,” remarked one girl, as she took off her hoodie, the girl had pink skin and purple hair with tear streaks done up in two large ponytails, “I'm tired of fast food. I need a meal.”

“The energy in this world isn't the same as in Equestria, Aria,” the second pointed out as she pulled down her hood, this girl has yellow skin, and puffy orange hair with yellow streak, “We can only gain so much power here.”

“Ugh! I wish we'd never been banished to this awful place!” the girl known as Aria stated.

“Really? I love it here!” the girl known as Adagio said sarcastically.

“For realsies?” questioned the third girl, she had blue skin, with light blue hair with dark blue streaks done up in a ponytail, she was also a little on the dim sight, “Because I think this place is the worst.”

“I think you're the worst, Sonata,” scoffed Aria.

“Oh, yeah? Well, I think you're…” the girl known as Sonata tried to reply but Adagio cut her off.

“Ergh! I'll tell you one thing, being stuck here with you two isn't making this world any more… Bearable.” She said that last bit through gritted teeth.

Suddenly a loud roar echoed across the city, as Adagio looked out the window and saw rise up from the ground, a giant monster, and metal warrior. This was of course the fight between Zeppandon and Ultraman. Everyone in the café looked out the windows and watched the battle unfold. Adagio rushed outside just as the giant metal warrior destroyed the monster with a rainbow beam fired from his arms. A magical shockwave was sent across the city as the monster exploded and seemed to react to Adagio’s gem.

“Did you feel that?!” she gasped before grinning evilly, “Do you know what that is?”

“I 'unno,” the two backup singers replied.

“It's Equestrian magic!” Adagio snapped, getting into Aria’s face.

“But this world doesn't have Equestrian magic,” Aria replied, dryly.

“It does now,” Adagio said as she turned away, “And we're going to use it to make everyone in this pathetic little world adore us!”

In the Present day, everyone was excited for the upcoming event, the Musical Showcase. Students gathered in the Auditorium, all busy making banners for the Showcase. Mammott, Noggin and Kayna were painting musical notes, Freddy, Chica and Roxy were drawing bright Glamrock patterns, and the Crusaders were colouring their banner in their colours. As Scootaloo smiled at Sweetie Belle, someone took Sweetie’s paint brush, it was Sunset Shimmer.

“Want some help?” She asked kindly.

“Uh, no thanks,” Apple Bloom replied, “We're good.” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle both nodded their heads.

“Oh. Okay,” Sunset said, feeling defeated as she handed Sweetie Belle back her brush.

“Sunset Shimmer! Over here!” Pinkie’s voice cried out to her friend waving like mad. Sunset smiled, knowing that she had friends that care for her. But as she made her way to them, the students around her whispered to each other. They still didn’t trust Sunset all that much, even though the fall formal was like six months ago now.

“I had no idea the whole school would be here,” Sunset sighed, Fluttershy placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Quite the eye-catching advertisement, if I do say so myself,” Rarity remarked, as she and Pinkie pulled up their banner, wanting to change the subject.

“And it smells like cake!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“It does?” Fluttershy asked, giving it a sniff as Pinkie shoved it into her face.

“I used frosting instead of paste!” Pinkie replied, when she pulled back, Fluttershy had glitter on her face and frosting on her nose.

“Uh, Fluttershy, you've got a little somethin', uh...” Applejack stated jesting to her face. Fluttershy rubbed her cheek, and got some of the glitter off, but there was still a lot on her face.

“Did I get it?” Fluttershy asked.

“Heh, not exactly,” Applejack chuckled. Sunset pulled out a napkin and rubbed it on Fluttershy’s face, getting the frosting and glitter of her face. Just then Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna entered the Auditorium.

“Good afternoon, students. I just wanted to tell you all how pleased I am that so many of you are going to participate in the first ever Canterlot High School Musical Showcase!” She announced, the students all cheered, “This is a wonderful opportunity to raise money for all our after-school programs here at CHS. So keep working on those signs and posters. I think it's going to be one of the most exciting events we've had at CHS since the Fall Formal.” When Celestia mentioned the Fall Formal, the students all glared at Sunset again causing her to hide her face in humiliation before sliding down to the floor to make herself seem smaller, smaller than Fluttershy. Her friends felt sorry for her.

Later, in the school band room, Sunset laments on how she'll never live her past mistakes down. “Ugh! I am never gonna live that down.”

“You were pretty bad at the Fall Formal,” Fluttershy commented.

“First I turn myself into a demon, and then I turn myself into a kaiju,” Sunset moaned.

“And tried to turn everyone here into teenage zombies for your own personal army!” Pinkie chimed in.

“And tried to kill a ten year old in the process,” Rainbow remarked.

“Oh, darling, you have us, and we've forgiven you for your past... ahem... booboos,” Rarity spoke up.

“To be honest, I'd say the whole experience brought everyone at Canterlot High closer than ever before!” Applejack remarked as she turned her bass.

Now during the time in between the fall formal, two major events happened to each of the girls minus Sunset. One of them was that the five girls were a five part band, named the Rainbooms. Rainbow was on guitar, Pinkie on drums, Applejack on bass guitar, Rarity on keytar and Fluttershy on tambourine.

“One, two, three!” Pinkie cried as she tapped her drumstick together and they all started to sing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmsX-vow5po

There was a time we were apart
But that's behind us now
See how we've made a brand new start
And the future's lookin' up, ah-oh, ah-oh
And when you walk these halls
You feel it everywhere
Yeah, we're the Wondercolts forever, ah-oh, yeah!

We are all together
(Ah, ah, oh-oh-oh-oh)
Now it's better than ever
(Ah, ah, oh-oh-oh-oh)
You can feel it, we are back (You... can... feel... it...)
And I'm so glad that we're better
Better than ever
Whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Oh yeah, we're better than ever
Whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh

There was a time we couldn't see
Past the differences

That separated you and me
And it left us on our own

But now you walk these halls
And friends are everywhere

Yeah, we're the Wondercolts forever, ah-oh, yeah!

We are all together
(Ah, ah, oh-oh-oh-oh)
Now it's better than ever
(Ah, ah, oh-oh-oh-oh)
Now that we are back on track (Now... that... we... are...)
Yes, I'm so glad that we're better
Better than ever

Whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Oh yeah, we're better than ever
Whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Oh yeah, we're better than ever
Whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Oh yeah, we're better than ever!

As they played their song, something happened to them, they gained their pony ears, wings, and hair extensions. They don’t know exactly why this happens when they play music, but they weren’t complaining. As they finished, their ears, wings and hair extensions disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared. Sunset clapped at their performance.

“I still can't believe that happens when we play!” laughed Rarity, “Ooh! I've got to look into some new accessories! Something that looks good in a longer ponytail. Ooh! Maybe some clip-on earrings for when I get those adorable pony ears.”

“I just wonder why it happens,” Applejack queried, “Princess Twilight took her crown back to Equestria. Shouldn't that mean she took all the magic back with her?”

“Who cares why it happens?” Rainbow retorted, “It makes my band totally awesome!”

“Oh! Your band?” Rarity questioned in shock.

“Duh! It was my idea to start the Rainbooms so we could be in the showcase,” Rainbow answered, “Plus I'm the lead singer and guitarist.” Presently there was a knock at the door, the girls all turned to see Flash at the door of the music room.

“Uh, heard you outside,” he told them, “You guys are sounding really tight.”

“Uh, we're getting there. Rarity's still coming in a little late on the second verse, and Applejack's bass solo could use a little work,” Rainbow criticised them, “They'll get it together in time for the showcase.” Rarity and Applejack looked at each other with annoyed looks.

“Uh, I don't suppose any of our friends from, uh... out of town might come?” Flash asked, “Uh, it being a special charity event and all.”

“Sorry, Flash,” Applejack replied with a sombre look, “I don't think Twilight's gonna be back at Canterlot High any time soon.”

“Oh, yeah. Okay. I just, you know, thought I'd ask,” Flash nervously laughed, he seemed to make the atmosphere of the room feel uncomfortable, “Uh, k-keep on rockin' it.” He went to leave the room, but he backed up into the wall, blushing, he sidestepped and exited the room.

“Well, someone is quite the smitten kitten,” Rarity giggled before realising that Sunset was there, “Oh. Sorry. I always forget you and Flash used to be an item.”

“It's okay. Flash is a great guy and all, but I never really liked-him liked him,” Sunset assured her, “I was just using him to become more popular. Ugh! The old me really was just awful, wasn't she?”

“Mmm... horrid,” Rarity replied. Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie and Fluttershy all agreed with her.

“But the important thing is that you've turned yourself around,” Applejack assured her.

“Thanks, Applejack,” Sunset commented, “but I'm not sure everyone else at CHS feels the same way.”

Just then the PA system beeps, and Vice-Principal Luna’s voice came out, “Sunset Shimmer, please report to the main foyer,” she announced.

“Gotta run. I volunteered to show some new students around the school,” Sunset told them, “Thought it'd be good for them to get to know the new me before they heard all the stuff about the old me.” And with that she ran off.

“We've still got a few minutes before lunch starts,” Rainbow stated, “What do you say we do ‘Awesome As I Wanna Be’?”

“Um, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked, “I was wondering if we could maybe play the song I wrote?”

“We'll get to it,” Rainbow told her, just waving her off.

“Oh, Okay,” Fluttershy replied sadly, as Rainbow played her chords.

As Sunset walked to the entrance of the school, she hoped that she’ll make a good first impression to the new girls, she didn’t want them to find out about her old self too quickly. Sunset hoped the new girls would be friendly and cheerful like the other students.

“Hi,” she called out as she reached the entrance, “Are you the girls I'm supposed to show around?”

“We are,” said Adagio, revealing herself, Aria, and Sonata to Sunset.

“I’m Sunset Shimmer,” she greeted them with a smile as she reached out her hand, “it’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m Adagio Dazzle,” Adagio replied as she shook her hand confidently, “and those two are Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk.”

“Sup,” Aria spoke up.

“Heya,” Sonata waved cheerfully.

“Canterlot High is a great school,” Sunset told them, as she started to lead them, “You're really gonna love it.”

“Oh, yes, we really sense there's something... magical about this place,” Adagio remarked as she grinned to her bandmates.

Sunset started to show the three around the school, Sunset was completely oblivious to the three’s plan, but they played along as just normal teenagers. Adagio seemed to be interested, Sonata was just smiling, probably not understanding what a computer was, and Aria was just grumpy looking, she just wanted to get this over with so they could start their plan.

“That's the science lab. Computer lab is in there,” Sunset pointed out as they walked the halls when she saw a poster for their Musical Showcase, “Oh! We're having a big musical showcase this weekend! The whole school is pretty much rallying around it.”

“A musical showcase?” Adagio sarcastically questioned, giving a look to her bandmates.

“I'm sure since you're new, Principal Celestia would let you sign up if you're interested,” Sunset told them.

“We have been known to sing from time to time,” Aria remarked, pretending to not be interested.

“Hello? We sing, like, all the time!” Sonata blurted out, “It's how we get people to do what we want.” Shouting out what they’ve been doing like that caused Adagio to growl at Sonata and motioned her to shut it, “Wha-What did I say?” She was completely clueless at what she said.

“What you meant to say was that being in a musical showcase sounds like a great way to meet other students,” Adagio corrected, giving Sunset a confident smile, while Aria just stared at Sonata.

“Ohhhh, yeah,” Sonata responded as it finally clicked for her, “Th-What she said I meant to say. That's what I meant. To say.”

“And what you would have said if you weren't the worst,” Aria scoffed.

“You are!” Sonata yelled at her.

“You'll have to excuse them,” Adagio told Sunset, “They're idiots.”

There was a long, uncomfortable silence, as Sunset then spotted the girls’ pendants.

“Those are pretty,” she commented as she slowly reached out her hand out, “Where did you…” Suddenly, Adagio grabs her wrist in sudden offence. She realised what she did and let her go.

“Sorry,” she chuckled, “These pendants mean an awful lot to us. We'd just hate for anything to happen to them.” The three girls then walked off, leaving Sunset to ponder their strange behaviour.

Later in the cafeteria everyone was chatting excitedly about the Musical Showcase, Sunset entered with a puzzled look on her face. She sits next to Applejack who was eating her lunch.

“So how was the tour?” Applejack asked.

“I don't know,” Sunset replied, “I mean, these girls, they were... There was something off about them.”

“Like, off like this?” Pinkie shouted as she made her hair look like a beard on her face, “Or off like this?” then she stuck carrots in her mouth and lettuce on her eyebrows, “Or... Oh, oh! Like…”

“Maybe we should just let her tell us,” Rainbow said, as Pinkie smiled, and a carrot left out her mouth.

“That's just it. I can't put my finger on it. They just acted sort of... strange around me. Maybe someone already talked to them. Told them about what I did,” Sunset sighed, “So much for making a good first impression.”

“Uh-huh,” Fluttershy spoke up, but then panicked, thinking she might have said something wrong, “Oh, that's probably not it.”

Outside the cafeteria doors, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata were having a brief argument before they entered and started their plan.

“This is it, girls,” Adagio told them, “The moment we've been waiting for.”

“Lunch?!” Sonata exclaimed, making Adagio groan with frustration.

“The chance to get our true Equestrian magic back,” Adagio explained with a groan.

“Oh. Right,” Sonata replied.

“Our voices are just strong enough to make them want something so badly, they'll fight to get it,” Adagio told them.

“So we're just gonna do what we always do? Stir up some trouble and then feed off the negative energy?” Aria said dryly, before speaking sarcastically, “Some plan, Adagio.”

“It won't be the same as the times before!” Adagio snapped, “There is Equestrian magic here. Their negative energy will give us the power we need to get this entire world to do our bidding.”

“But we can get lunch after though, right?” Sonata asked, “It's Taco Tuesday!”

“Just follow my lead,” Adagio told her.

“Or my lead,” Aria remarked, thinking she had a better idea, before Adagio grabbed her by the shirt.

“My lead!” she growls, Aria felt a little worried as Adagio let her go. Seeing Aria getting nervous made Sonata chuckle. Adagio through opened the cafeteria door, causing everyone inside to go quiet as the three girls started to sing in harmony.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxq43fuvOI4&list=PLfJpfTZK5SWCk9IDeeNawZ8JYpTQR3rkp&index=13

Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh
Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh
Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh
Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh

We heard you want to get together
We heard you want to rock this school
We've thought of something that is better
Something that changes all the rules

Why pretend we're all the same
When some of us shine brighter?

Shine brighter

Here's a chance to find your flame
Are you a loser or a fighter?

Me and you, you and me
Why don't we see who is better?
We don't have to be one and the same thing
Oh, what's so wrong with a little competition?
Are you afraid of failing the audition?

You're a star and you should know it
Yeah, you rise above the rest
It doesn't matter who you hurt
If you're just proving you're the best

Ah, ahh-ahh-ahhh

Battle! You wanna win it
Let's have a battle, battle of the bands
Let's have a battle, we'll go all in it
Let's have a battle, battle, battle
Battle of the bands

Battle!

"I can beat you!" shouted Sparkler.

Battle!

"Ha! You wish!" Kayna scoffed.

Battle!

"I so want this!" Trixie cried.

Battle!

"Not if I get it first!" yelled Monty.

Me and you, you and me
Why don't we see who is better?
We don't have to be one and the same thing
Oh, what's so wrong with a little competition?

I'm going out and winning the audition

Battle! We wanna win it
Let's have a battle, battle of the bands
Let's have a battle, we'll go all in it
Let's have a battle, battle, battle
Battle of the bands!

As the girls were singing and getting the students to turn against each other, the green mist started to appear again, and was flown into their gems. Once they had finished, everyone was at each other’s throats. All expect Sunset and her friends.

“Ohhhh, They're that kind of ‘off’,” Pinkie remarked.

After lunch, the girls walked out and down the halls, they had some suspicions about the girls. Rainbow and Pinkie were ahead of them, as Pinkie was Skipping and Rainbow was kicking a football. “Those three are definitely in possession of some kind of dark magic,” Sunset said, “How else could you explain what happened back there?”

“Don't worry, y'all. We'll let Principal Celestia know all about this and those girls will be kicked to the curb in no time,” Applejack assured them, “Last thing she needs is another CHS event almost ruined by some power-crazed lunatic.” Applejack then realised that Sunset was walking right beside her, “Er, no offence.”

“None taken,” Sunset replied, with a frown. Soon the girls arrived at Celestia’s office and told her and Luna about what happened, and they believe the new girls have dark magic that caused it all. However Celestia

“Dark magic?” Celestia questioned as she peered out her blinds, “I find that very hard to believe. Those girls came into my office earlier and were absolutely delightful.”

“Ugh! Perhaps Sunset Shimmer is just eager to make someone else out to be a bad element, so that her actions at the Fall Formal will become old news,” Luna theorised.

“I could see why you might think that, but…” Sunset said but Rainbow butted in.

“That's not what's happening!” she shouted, “We saw all of this go down in the cafeteria too!”

“Yes, but isn't your band supposed to be part of the Musical Showcase?” Celestia asked.

“Yes,” Rainbow replied.

“Perhaps you're all just worried that the Dazzlings will steal your spotlight,” Vice-Principal Luna retorted.

“The ‘Dazzlings’?” Applejack questioned.

“It's the name of their musical group. That's why they came by my office earlier – to sign up for the Showcase,” Celestia told them, she made the girls feel a little worried, “Even sang a little song to Vice Principal Luna and I.”

“They did?” Applejack asked uneasily.

“Yes. And we think having a Battle of the Bands instead is a marvellous idea,” Celestia told them as her and Luna’s eyes glowed green, giving the girls the indication that they had also fallen under the Dazzlings' spell.

“I can't believe they got to Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna too,” Fluttershy remarked as the girls hung outside the school, in front of the statue.

“They've gotten to everybody,” Rainbow stated as she kicked her football around.

“Not everybody!” Pinkie cried, implying themselves.

“Pinkie Pie's right. We were there when the Dazzlings were singin’, and we weren't affected,” Applejack spoke up, “It was like we were protected somehow.”

“So let's take them down!” Rainbow declared, “It's not like we haven't tangled with dark magic before and totally whooped its sorry butt! Uh, no offence.”

“None taken. Again,” Sunset sighed again.

“But that was when Twilight and Sam were here. There may be some kind of magic inside us, but it only comes out when we play music,” Fluttershy commented, “I sure don't know how to use it to... whoop anybody's butt.”

“If only we could get a message to Twilight,” Rarity said as she painted her nails, “Maybe she could tell us how to break the spell the Dazzlings have cast on our friends.”

“Well, that's not gonna happen,” Rainbow stated, “The portal's closed.” She then threw her ball at the statue, Rarity ducked in time as the ball bounced off the surface of the statue. Rarity then gasped as she got nail paint all over her arm. “And I get the feeling they don't exactly have cell phones where she's from.”

Something then occurred to Sunset, she thought a little then she grinned. “I may have an idea how we can get in touch with Princess Twilight!” She told them as they entered the school and headed to Sunset’s locker, where Sunset pulled out a journal from the back of her locker, “When I was Princess Celestia's student back in Equestria, she gave me this,” she said as she showed them the book and brushing off the dust, “Even after I abandoned my studies, I held onto it. Deep down, I guess I knew I was making a big mistake, and I wanted to still have a way to reach out to her. Maybe it still works.”

“That's a book, darling,” Rarity bluntly stated, “What do you mean, ‘maybe still works’?”

“It used to be that if I wrote something here, it would appear in the pages of a book back in Princess Celestia's library,” Sunset explained, “I get a message to her, then she can get a message to Princess Twilight.”

“So what are you waiting for?” Rainbow exclaimed as she held out a pen to Sunset, “Get to writing!”

Sunset looked at the pen, then at her friends. She was feeling a little nervous, she hadn't spoken to Celestia in forever, but she knew that she would have to, so she could get a message to Twilight. She took the pen and took a deep breath. “Been a long time since I've written these words,” she remarked as she started to write, “‘Dear Princess Celestia...’"

Chapter 42: Welcome Back Princess (Edited)

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Meanwhile in Ponyville, ponies were going about their day, things had returned to normal after Tirek’s defeat, Twilight’s new castle stood tall and proud on the edge of Ponyville. In the Castle of Friendship, Twilight and her friends were lounging around in the throne room. Twilight was going over some notes, Spike was reading a comic, and Rarity was polishing her throne, Fluttershy and Applejack were moving a large crate, and Pinkie was blowing up balloons. Just then a stallion walked in with a cart stacked high with books.

“Excuse me, Princess,” he called out, “Where do you want all these books from Princess Celestia?”

“The library,” Twilight told him, “Third door on the left.”

“Even this one that's glowin' and vibratin'?” the Delivery Pony asked.

Twilight looked up from her notes and saw at the top of the stack was a book indeed glowing and vibrating. She used her magic to levitate it down to her. She flicked through the pages and was surprised at what she was seeing.

"What is it, Twilight?” Sunset asked, coming in from the other room followed by Sam and his team.

“It looks like a message to Princess Celestia from my friends at Canterlot High,” Twilight replied.

“How is that even possible?” Rarity asked.

“I have no idea,” Twilight answered, “but it... sounds like they need my help.”

After the Delivery Pony dropped off the books, the group went into the library, Twilight then looked around and pulled out a book from one of the shelves. “The way Sunset Shimmer described them, I think these new girls sound an awful lot like... the sirens,” Twilight told them, placing the book in front of the girls.

“Not the sirens!” cried Pinkie before she whispered loudly to Fluttershy, “I don't actually know what that is!”

“The sirens were three beautiful but dangerous creatures who had the power to charm ponies with their music. But to maintain this power, they had to feed on the negativity and distrust of others,” Twilight explained, “The more of this negative energy they consumed, the stronger their voices became, and the farther they could spread their dark magic.”

“I don't think I like this story very much,” Fluttershy remarked.

“If the sirens had their way, they would have divided and conquered all of Equestria,” Twilight continued, “But a certain Star Swirl the Bearded wasn't having it. Rumour has it he found a way to banish them to another world – one where he believed their magic power would be lost. That world must have been the one where my Canterlot High friends live.”

“But Star Swirl must have sent them there ages ago,” Applejack commented, “How come they're just surfacin' now?”

“I don't know,” Twilight answered, “But if my hunch is right and it is the sirens who have come to Canterlot High, this spell they've cast is just the beginning. My friends need me. I have to get back to them.”

“I hate to burst your bubble, Twilight,” Rainbow spoke up flying in front of her, “but the connection between their world and Equestria will still be totally cut off for a super long time.”

“Okay, first of all, if there was bubble-blowing going on, why wasn't I told about it?!” Pinkie shouted, as she zipped next to Twilight, “And secondly, if the connection is totally cut off, how was that Sunset Shimmer able to get a message to Twilight?”

“Pinkie, you're a genius!” Twilight gasped as she ran off.

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Pinkie remarked before grabbing Rainbow, “Now about those bubbles...”

Twilight trotted back levitating a bunch of stuff over to the portal that was now sitting in her library. She was modifying the portal, once she was done she started to explain her handiwork.

“...And the interval between the two points is defined as the square root of the sum of the squares of the separation between the points along three spatial dimensions,” she finished and turned to see what her friends thought. But everyone had absolutely no idea what she just said.

“Say what now?” Sam asked, scratching his head.

“Duh! She's gonna take the magic in here and put it in there. That'll make the portal open up so that whenever she wants to, she can go from here to there,” explained Pinkie as she started to pointing at the book and then the portal, “There to here. Here to there. Here there! Here there! Here…"

“We get the idea!” Applejack told her.

“Now to see if it actually works,” Twilight said as she levitated her book over to the top of the crystal mirror, where she placed it, and was successful in reopening the portal. The girls and Sam’s team were very impressed.

“Don't suppose we could join you this time around?” Applejack asked hopefully.

“Better not,” Twilight replied, “It could make things pretty confusing if Canterlot High all of a sudden had two of all of you.” The girls all agreed on that, “that includes you two Sunset. I know that’s your old home, but it would be confusing for both Sunset’s to be in the same place. Plus, if you make contact with that Sunset the universes could get implode or worse.”

“Understandable,” Sunset replied, “I’ll look after the castle for you.”

“But I still get to go, right?” Spike called out, “There isn't another one of me at Canterlot High. And you never know if you might need your trusty assistant.”

“I’m coming too,” Sam spoke up, “if negative energy is involved, then Minus Energy Monsters could appear. So I need to come in case that happens.”

“Very well,” Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled at her son.

“YES!” Sam cheered as he fist pumped the air.

“Can we come too please?” Asked Gwen, as she looked her mother in the eyes.

“Only if you listen to me and stay close to me or my friends,” Twilight told them, the Ultra Siblings all agreed to her and then high fived each other. Twilight then turned to her friends, “We won't be gone long.” They all hugged her and wished her luck and to be careful. Twilight turned back to the portal, “Ready Spike?”

“Ready,” Spike confirmed after doing a few stretches.

“Ready you lot?” Twilight turned to face Sam and his team.

“Ready,” Sam replied followed by replies from his team. Twilight, Spike, Sam, and his team got ready, and ran into the portal, disappearing into the crystal mirror.

Back at the school, the girls were still waiting for Twilight. Rarity was done with her nails and was now doing Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie sat on top of the statue playing cards, where Pinkie won with a full house of jokers. Sunset was looking through her journal and Rainbow was playing with her ball, but she was starting to lose hope that Twilight would be coming.

“I'm starting to think she's not coming,” Rainbow sighed, suddenly the portal started to glow, and Twilight, Spike, Sam, and his team shot out from the portal and landed on the floor with a thud. Twilight and Spike managed to land relatively ok, but the Ultra Siblings had all landed on top of each other.

“Twilight!” the all cried, as Twilight rubbed her head.

“Oof. I'm back,” she remarked, Sunset ran over to her and offered to help her up. Twilight hesitated at first, but she took her hand and Sunset helped her up off the ground. The other girls ran up and gave Twilight a group hug.

“If you guys are done hugging, can you help us?!” came Sam’s muffled voice from underneath his friends.

“Oh right Sorry honey,” Twilight responded as she and Rarity helped Sam and co get up.

“Woah, look at you guys,” Sam remarked, looking at his friends. Their clothes were more or less the same, but their skin and hair weren’t. Gwen had bright pink skin and pure blonde hair. Ace looked like his normal self, with ice blue skin and pure white hair. Nick had dark grey skin, and bright orange hair. Devon had green skin and yellow hair. And Chris has purple skin and blue hair with red streaks.

“Oh my, I look so cute in this colour,” Gwen commented.

“You looked cute before you turned pink,” Nick stated, getting a look from Sam.

“What was that?” Gwen asked.

“Oh Urm… nothing,” Nick replied, going red in the face. Sam was about to say something before he was wrapped in a gentle hug by the girls.

“We missed you Sam,” Pinkie remarked.

“So are you going to introduce us to your friends?” Applejack asked.

“Oh right,” Sam said, “girls, this is my team, Gwen, Nick, Ace, Devon, and Chris. Also known as, Marie, Seven, Tiga, Zero and Jack.”

“Nice to meet you,” Gwen responded.

“Sup,” Nick greeted.

“Hello,” Ace waved.

“Yo,” Devon said, giving them the peace sign.

“Greetings,” Chris bowed.

“Oh such a well-mannered lad,” Rarity commented.

“That scar looks so cool on you,” Rainbow stated.

“She’s so cute,” Fluttershy smiled, placing her hands on her heart.

“Looking cool there,” Applejack remarked.

“New friends!” Pinkie shouted as she ran up and gave them all a hug.

“It’s good to have you back Twilight,” Sunset told Twilight.

“It feels good to be back,” Twilight replied, “but I've got some bad news about those new girls.”

Later the group all went to Mr. and Mrs. Cake's Sweet Shoppe to catch up.

“Oh, I do hate that you had to return at a time of crisis,” Rarity commented, “There's so much catching up to do!”

“For starters, a certain blue-haired guitar player was just askin' about you,” Applejack told Twilight, sitting in her chair backwards.

“Flash Sentry was asking about me?!” Twilight exclaimed excitedly, as she blushed and twirled her hair, before noticing Rarity and Pinkie staring at her with cheeky smiles Twilight clears her throat, “Isn't that nice?” then takes a slip of her milkshake.

“Perhaps you would give us just the slightest bit of gossip from your world?” Rarity inquired as she took a slip of her tea.

“She's got an official title now,” Sam spoke up as he imitated a fanfare, “The Princess of Friendship!” Each of Sam’s friends were sitting with each of Twilight’s friends. Gwen, with Sunset, Chris with Rarity, Devon with Rainbow, Nick with Applejack and Ace with Pinkie.

“Wow, that's really impressive,” Sunset remarked, “Guess you really were Princess Celestia's prized pupil.”

“She's even got her own castle!” Spike said in a casual way as he sat on Fluttershy’s lap.

“A castle?! You have your own castle?!?” Rarity shrieked, shaking Twilight, and getting some of her milkshake on her chest. Before realised what she did, she cleared her throat and cleaned Twilight’s shirt, “Ooh, uh, lovely.”

“What's new here?” Twilight asked, “I mean, besides your school becoming the target of dangerous magical creatures from Equestria?”

“Yeah, so, that isn't exactly the only strange thing that's happened since you left,” Rainbow told her as she pulled out her phone and showed her a video of her getting her pony ears, wings, and hair extensions as she played guitar, “Pretty sweet, huh? It happens to all of us when we play.”

“Hmm. My crown was returned to Equestria, but some of its magic must have remained here at Canterlot High,” Twilight theorised, “Now that we're all back together, we can use that magic on the sirens. Just like when we were able to use it on Sunset Shimmer when she turned into that horrifyingly awful, winged monster! No offence.”

“None taken,” Sunset replied disgruntled, “Heh. I'm used to it.”

“They'll never even know what hit 'em!” Rainbow yelled as she performed some karate moves.

“Let me just say and we’ll be the ones fighting,” Sam remarked, “we are Ultras.”

“You’re also children, and the Sirens don’t know that you are Ultras,” Twilight retorted.

“Good point,” Sam agreed.

“We've got nothin' to worry about now that Twilight's back,” Applejack stated.

“Oh, I'm pretty sure I could find something to worry about,” Fluttershy responded, “But it won't be the sirens.”

“The sooner we do this, the better,” Twilight said, “Any idea where the Dazzlings might be?”

“There's a big party tonight for all the bands who signed up to be in the showcase!” Pinkie chimed in after drinking her milkshake in one go, “That would include the Dazzlings.”

“Looks like we've got a party to crash,” Twilight smiled as she wiped Pinkie’s face.

Later, the girls and kids were in the auditorium for the band meetup, but things were very awkward for them. They all were around the drinks and snacks, as the other bands glared at each other. Students were arguing, and no one band wanted to mix. Near the stage, Flash was staring down Snips and was getting so frustrated with him that he wanted to slap him.

“I'm gonna get more punch!” he declared as he grabbed his cup and walked to the table where the girls were. Neither Flash nor Twilight were looking where they were going, and they both crashed into each other. Instinctively, Flash reached out and caught Twilight, both of them were just as shocked to see each other. “Twilight?”

“Eh, bumped into, always, doing?” Twilight stuttered.

“What are you doing here?” Flash asked, “You came back for the big competition, right?”

“Something like that,” Twilight responded.

“Huh. Not that there's gonna be any real competition,” Flash remarked, “No one here wants this as bad as my band does!”

Just then, the Dazzlings walked into the hall, Rainbow noticed them and acted to get Twilight’s attention. She picked off a chocolate chip from one of Pinkie’s cookies and threw it at Twilight, the chip landed in her hair, she reached to get it out and looked behind her. Rainbow was motioning for her to look behind Flash, Twilight turned, and she too saw the Dazzlings.

“Can you excuse me for just a minute?” Twilight asked Flash as she joined her friends.

Flash shrugged as the girls and kids walked off to encounter the Dazzlings, Pinkie still eating the cookies, she grabbed a few and shoved them into her hair before catching up with them. By this point the students were all arguing louder, the Dazzlings looked around and smiled at the negative energy resonating off the other students. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were watching Trixie and Flash argue, even Roxy was being held back by Monty and Chica, so she didn’t accidently attack someone.

“Oh, no! No one's mingling! It's like there's some kind of underlying tension that could bubble to the surface at any minute!” Adagio remarked with mock surprise.

“It's the fruit punch, isn't it?” Sonata inquired, “I knew I used too much grape juice!”

“It's not the fruit punch!” Adagio groaned, “It's us!”

“But the punch is awful, too,” Aria remarked.

“What do you know about good fruit punch?” Sonata questioned pointing her cup at Aria.

“More than you!” Aria answered, pushing Sonata’s cup away.

“Do not!” Sonata yelled as she pushed Aria’s head back.

“Do too!” Aria shouted, flicking Sonata’s hair, and messing it up.

“This is just the kick-off party, girls,” Adagio told them, “Imagine what a tizzy they'll be by the time the Battle of the Bands starts.”

“There isn't going to be a Battle of the Bands!” Twilight shouted, “We're gonna make sure of that! Alright, girls, let's do this!” She and the girls all held hands and got ready, “Friendship is magic!”

An awkward silence fell, as everyone just stared. Sonata shrugged. Sunset shied away a little. Sam checked his watch. Someone sneezed. But nothing happened.

“Uh, weren't there rainbows and lasers and stuff last time?” Rainbow whispered to Twilight.

“I don't understand,” Twilight said to Applejack, “We're all together again. Why isn't this working?”

“You, uh... really need to go ahead and do that whole ‘magic of friendship’ thing now,” Sam told them, this silence is so awkward.”

“I'm trying, Sam,” Twilight responded, “I thought the six of us standing together against the sirens would bring out the magic we needed to defeat them. That's what happened before.”

“Talk about throwing down the gauntlet!” Adagio called out, she was stirring up the crowd of students to get them more negative to each other, “This group is obviously serious about winning! A little cocky though, aren't they? Claiming there won't really be a battle. Seems they think they've already got this thing all locked up.”

“Not if the Great and Powerful Trrrrrixie has anything to do with it!” Trixie shouted, declaring that she’ll win.

“Whatever, Trixie!” Flash yelled out, “We're the best band at CHS!”

“No! The Crusaders are gonna win!” Apple Bloom cried.

“You are all nothing compared to me!” Roxy bellowed.

Now all the students were arguing louder and more angry than before. Green mist started to flow around their feet and flow into the Dazzlings’ pendants, as the students snapped at each other. Adagio clutched her gem and looked at the worried and concerned Rainbooms, she didn’t pay attention to the Ultra Siblings, and she didn’t think of them as a problem, they were just kids to her.

“I think we may have found what we're looking for,” Adagio commented, “Or rather, it found us.” Aria got what she meant, but Sonata just shrugged her shoulders, clearly she didn’t understand. Aria smacked her face as Adagio resisted the snap at her bandmate. “Magic!! Don't you see?! Everyone else has fallen under our spell. But not these girls. These girls are special.” The girls and kids all swiftly exited the auditorium.

“What about those kids with them?” Aria questioned.

“They’re just kids, what can they do,” Adagio replied.

Twilight and the others then regrouped outside the school to try and figure out what went wrong. “It doesn't make any sense,” Twilight stated, “I should have been able to create the spark that would help us break their spell. That's how it worked before.”

“But to defeat me, you drew magic from the crown I was wearing, and you powered up Sam and he used his Rainbow Specium Beam energy on me,” Sunset said, “The sirens' magic comes from their music. So maybe you have to use the same kind of magic to defeat them. Or... maybe not.”

“No. I think you're onto something,” Twilight responded.

“Really?” Sunset questioned.

“It's when you play music that you transform now, right?” Twilight inquired.

“Yup. Ears, tails, the whole shebang,” Applejack answered.

“So maybe the way to use that magic to defeat the sirens is by playing a musical counter-spell!” Twilight declared.

“You mean like a song?” Fluttershy asked.

“Uh-huh,” replied Twilight, “And in order to free everyone who's been exposed to the sirens' spell, we'll need them all to hear it.”

“So basically fight fire with fire,” Nick remarked.

“More like fight music with music,” Chris joked.

“Exactly,” Twilight retorted.

“The band competition!” Rarity gasped, “That's the next time we can be certain everyone will be in the same place at the same time.”

“Guess the Rainbooms are the band to beat,” Applejack remarked.

“And I believe you, Twilight, just became the Rainbooms' newest member,” Rarity announced. The girls all cheered as the ran over to Twilight, but Sunset seemed a little upset.

“You ok Sunset?” Sam asked her.

“Yeah, It’s just I was hoping they would ask me to join their band,” Sunset replied.

“You're not part of their band?” Gwen questioned.

“No I’m not,” Sunset answered feeling a little down.

“So what do you wanna play?” Pinkie asked as she played out each instrument, “Triangle? Sousaphone? Theremin? Soooo magical.”

“I might take a little too long to learn how to play something with these,” Twilight said, “I'll just sing.”

“Like, as in, lead singer?” Rainbow inquired, “Cuz that's usually my gig. This being my band and all.”

“It's our band! And, of course, as lead singer,” Rainbow told her, “She's the one with the magical know-how to help us pull this thing off.”

“Okay, yeah, that's cool,” Rainbow begrudgingly agreed, “I'll just use this as a chance to hone my already insanely good lead guitar skills.”

“Boastful much?” Ace remarked under his breath.

“What was that?” Rainbow questioned turning her head to face him.

“Nothing!” Ace declared.

“It's only temporary,” Twilight assured them, “And we don't have to win the Battle of the Bands. We just have to perform during the first round of the competition.”

“Let's get to learning that musical counter-spell!” Rainbow shouted enthusiastically.

“Well, that's just it. I don't know any,” Twilight told them.

“Unless Sam knows any from his own home world,” Rarity said, they all looked at Sam.

“You think we have magic spells in my universe?” Sam questioned, “none of the songs I know are magical, plus I can’t sing.”

“That’s not true,” Spike spoke up, “you sing in the shower.”

“It’s true, he does,” Gwen chimed in.

“Both of you shut up,” Sam pointed at them crossly.

“But I'm sure I could figure out how to write one,” Twilight said.

“Totally! Twilight can write a spell like it's nobody's business,” Spike declared, “That's pretty much how she got to become a princess in Equestria.”

“Technically, I helped finish a spell,” Twilight corrected, “And there was a little more to it than that, Spike.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Spike smirked.

“I wouldn’t know, I was in a coma,” Sam casually remarked, getting stares from everyone, “what? I fell off a cliff to save Diamond Tiara’s life.”

“I’ve got this,” Twilight said, as she picked up Spike and started to head to the school, “C’mon!”

“Where're you goin'?” Applejack asked.

“Well, last time we were here, Spike, Sam and I spent the night in the library,” Twilight replied.

“And let me tell you, laying on hardcover books really does a number on your back,” Sam stated.

“Are you crazy?!” Pinkie shouted as she gave Twilight and Spike a squeeze, “We're besties now! Slumber party at my house!” Everyone was excited for that.

That evening, the girls and kids were having fun. Rainbow, Applejack, Nick, and Sam where playing video games, Pinkie was updating her Mystables page, Fluttershy, Rarity, Sunset, where taking selfies of each other, with Spike, Gwen, and Ace photo bombing them, and Devon and Christ trying to help Twilight with her counter spell.

“Status update: ‘Okie-dokie-lokie.’,” Pinkie cheerfully said.

Rainbow, Applejack, Sam, and Nick were playing hard, Applejack was winning, and Rainbow was losing. In a panic she slammed down her hand on the console, causing Applejack’s controller to get unplugged.

“Hey! I was about to beat you!” Applejack moaned.

“I doubt it,” Rainbow remarked.

“you’re such a sore loser Dash,” Nick stated.

“No I’m not!” Rainbow shouted, Nick just smirked at Sam, “So, Twilight, how is that counter-spell comin'?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, good. Great,” Twilight replied, sarcastically.

“It’s not,” Chris called out.

Twilight just gave him a look, “Thanks for letting me use your notebook, Fluttershy. I really like the song you wrote for the Rainbooms.”

“Thanks,” Fluttershy sighed, “Hopefully one day, we'll get a chance to play it.”

“HEY!” Applejack cried, as Rainbow held her controller away after for her. Sam and Nick just sighed and looked at each other.

“Twilight, I think I speak for all of us when I say I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't come back to help us,” Rarity stated, the rest of the girls all agreed. Suddenly the doorbell rang.

“Pizza's here!” Pinkie shouted as they all dashed off to the door.

“Dibs on the Hawaiian!” Sam yelled. With Twilight on her own, she sadly looked at her notes, if you could call them notes. She still couldn’t write properly.

“Don’t you want any Pizza?” Pinkie asked as she zipped back into the room with a pizza slice in her mouth. Twilight nodded as Pinkie went back to the living room. Twilight sighed as she opened the drawer and placed the notebook in it, before joining the others.

The rest of that night was the girls and kids goofing around and having fun. They played video games, kids vs girls, and watched horror movies with Fluttershy the only one not that scared of them. Later, after everyone went to sleep, Twilight woke up in the middle of the night, and slowly and quietly retrieved the notebook from the drawer. She then creeped downstairs and tried to work on the counter-spell in the kitchen. She tried to write some notes down with the pen in her mouth, but she couldn’t get it right.

“No. That's not gonna work,” she remarked as she spat out her pen.

“Hey, Twilight,” came a voice, Twilight turned to the doorway and saw Sunset standing there, “You're up late.”

“Just looking over the counter-spell,” Twilight told her, hiding her notes from Sunset’s view, “We only get one shot at this. It has to be perfect.”

“We really are lucky you're here,” Sunset responded, as she opened the fridge.

“That's what everyone keeps telling me,” Twilight said with a sad expression.

“Who could possibly need this much whipped cream?” Sunset questioned, staring at all the whipped cream cans in Pinkie’s fridge, “Must be nice to have everyone always looking to you for answers to their problems... instead of waiting for you to cause a problem.”

“Just because everyone expects something from you doesn't mean it's guaranteed to happen,” Twilight retorted.

“Well, that doesn't stop them from expecting it,” Sunset responded.

“Which only makes things harder because the last thing you want to do is...” Twilight said before she and Sunset spoke at the same time.

“...let everybody down,” they said. They both looked at each other surprised. They grinned at each other as Sunset closed the fridge down and yelped in surprise to see Pinkie’s sister Maud standing there.

“Waaah!” she yelled.

“Boulder was hungry,” Maud said in her dry tone as she opened a cupboard and got some cereal, before pouring it on her pet rock. Sunset backed up, as Maud turned and walked back to her room, sprinkling cereal on Boulder.

“I still can't get over the fact that she's related to Pinkie Pie,” Sunset whispered.

“You and me both!” Twilight muttered back.

“I better get some sleep,” Sunset yawned as she started to make her way back to Pinkie’s bedroom, “Good luck with the counter-spell. Not that you'll need it. This must be nothing compared with the stuff you're expected to deal with as a princess in Equestria.”

“Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight called to her, Sunset stopped and turned to face Twilight, she looked at her worried, but Twilight shot down what she was going to say, “...Never mind. It's not important.” Sunset just smiled as she turned and headed back, “No, I have to be able to do this. I have to.”

And with that, Twilight tried to work on her spell again. She worked on it as long as she could before she felt too tired to continue. She got up, and headed back to the bedroom, placed the notebook back in the drawer, and wiggled back into her sleeping bag next to Sam. She wrapped an arm around him and brought him closer. She thought that Sam was deep asleep, but Sam could sense that she was stressed and worried. It wasn’t just that, but he was also worried about the negative energy arising from the students. He could sense that something monstrous was going to come out of it. And he was right. Outside in the dead of night, a monster roar echoed across the city, as the faint illusion of a monster appeared before fading away.

Chapter 43: The Mane Event (Edited)

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The next day, the Rainbooms are practising their musical counterspell in the barn next to Applejack's house. Unfortunately, with Twilight still getting used to her human writing, and not being used to singing in a band, she was singing really out of tune. In fact no one was sounding great, Fluttershy was shaking her tambourine too much, and Pinkie didn’t play the drums at all, until Applejack and Rarity gave her a look. Sunset, Spike and Sam’s team were cringing and covering their ears at how bad they all sounded, Even Granny Smith had to shove apple cores in her ears to block out the sound.

“Eh, that sounded... way better than the last... five times you've played it. Heh, heh,” Spike chuckled nervously.

“Nnope,” Big Mac remarked as he walked past the window carrying a bucket of apples.

“I think it's pretty obvious what's going wrong with this counter-spell,” Rainbow stated.

“You're turnin' what should be the chorus into a five-minute guitar solo?” Applejack inquired, staring at Rainbow crossly.

“I have to pick up the slack somehow!” Rainbow shouted back, “Are you guys even trying?!”

“I'm trying,” Fluttershy spoke up.

“It's fine,” Twilight laughed nervously, “It'll be fine. One more time from the top!”

“Or, perhaps we could take a short break, try on some of the wardrobe choices I've put together?” Rarity called out as she quickly changed into a costume, “I'm particularly fond of this one. Eh, of course we could always go with something a bit more modern.”

“We're tryin' to save our school here,” Applejack told her, feeling annoyed, “Enough with the costumes!”

“Oh, you can never have enough costumes!” Rarity cried in a robotic voice, wearing a Daft Punk like costume.

“They have Daft Punk in this world?” Nick questioned.

“Apparently,” Devon replied.

“She just wants to make things fun! Isn't that what being in a band is supposed to be?” Pinkie cried as she played the rimshot angrily.

“You don't have time for any of this!” Sunset told them, “You're supposed to check in at the Battle of the Bands in fifteen minutes!”

“OH NO!” the girls gasped, as they started to pack up everything.

“What? But it's not ready!” Twilight panicked, “If we play our counter-spell in the first round and it doesn't work, the sirens will know what we're up to and make sure we don't get a chance to play it again!” Everyone screeched to a halt.

“Then we'll have to buy ourselves some time so you can keep workin' on it!” Applejack announced.

“But how do you propose we do that?” Rarity asked.

“We compete in the Battle of the Bands for real! I take over lead vocals again and we stay alive until the finals! We unleash the counter-spell then!” Rainbow explained, before turning to Twilight, “You'll have figured it out by finals, right?”

“Of course she will,” Gwen replied, “Mum’s never met a problem she couldn't solve. Right, mum?”

“Right,” Twilight answered, but she replied not so confidently.

“Then let's go win us a Battle of the Bands!” Rainbow shouted as she ran out the barn followed by the rest of the girls. Twilight waved to them, but her smile soon fell. She wasn’t sure at all if she’ll get the counterspell done in time, it was just her, Spike and Sam’s team in the barn. However, something came to her mind.

“Hey where’s Sam?” she asked, looking around, “I haven’t seen him all morning.”

“I don’t know where he went,” Gwen replied.

Sam had woken up and left that morning before anyone was up and was now starting on a rooftop in his Ultrasuit. Last night, he had heard the monster roar and was using his Ultra-Eyes to try and detect any signs of a Negative Energy monster. As Ultraman, Sam’s hearing and other senses were enhanced, so he could see, hear, etc much better than a normal human. Ultraman could see the Negative energy radiating off the students as they made their way to school and hear their negative remarks to their fellow students. Presently he heard the evil chuckles of three teens, he looked down and saw the Dazzlings making their way to the school. He started to follow them from the top of each building.

“Our Plan is coming along nicely, wouldn't you two say,” Adagio remarked.

“It’ll go much more smoothly and be done by now if I was in charge,” Aria stated, “You take your time with your plans, that’s why we got sent to this place.”

“Look, Sonata is too dumb to think before she speaks,” Adagio said, sounding fed up, “and if you were in charge we would have been sent to this world much earlier than we did.”

“Hey, I can think before I speak,” Sonata interjected but Adagio didn’t take notice of her.

“I’m clearly the brains of this trio, and our master entrusted me to lead you two,” Adagio responded, “that’s why our gems he gave us, mine is stronger than yours.”

“Their gems are part of them?” Ultraman said to himself.

“Don’t we have enough Negative energy to summon a monster?” Sonata asked.

“No, we don't, you idiot!” Aria shouted, “you saw what we tried to do last night. Hoe couldn’t spawn because he didn’t have enough.”

“I was just asking,” Sonata spoke softly.

“We can’t afford to unleash a Negative Energy Monster,” Adagio replied more civilly, “If we unleash Hoe or any other Negative monster, we lose all the progress we made. We need energy to feed us and to charge up these Fusion Risers and Monster Capsules we have.”

Hearing that almost made Ultraman miss his footing. “WOAH! The Dazzlings have Fusion Risers and Monster Capsule?!” he shouted under his breath, “that’s going to be difficult to beat.”

“Did you two hear something?” Sonata asked her bandmates, looking around, she thought she heard something.

“You’re probably hearing things again Sonata,” Aria remarked.

“I’m not!” Sonata exclaimed.

“Shut up you two, we’re nearly there,” Adagio told them as they turned a corner and headed into the school. Ultraman watched them as long as he could, once they were out of sight, he jumped off the building and took off his Ultrasuit.

“I need to warn mum and the others,” Sam remarked to himself as he started to run back to Pinkie’s house. But when he got there, the only one he was greeted by was Maud.

“Oh you’re back,” Maud greeted him with her blank voice and expression.

“Hi Maud,” Sam replied, “is Pinkie or the others still here?”

“Sorry, you just missed them,” Maud told him, “they went to Applejack’s home to practise their song.”

“Darn it,” Sam remarked.

“Would you like me to drive you there? I’m on my way to school anyway,” Maud offered.

“You can drive?” Sam questioned.

“You make it sound like a bad thing,” Maud remarked.

“No, no, I don’t mean it as a bad thing,” Sam responded, “I’m just surprised is all.”

“If my timing is right, they should have only fifteen minutes left before they need to sign in for the Battle of the Bands,” Maud said, “so even if we go to Applejack’s home they’ll be gone by now, so I best take you with me to the school.”

“Wow, you’re good,” Sam remarked.

“I get that a lot, now come on,” Maud said as she grabbed her things and walked to her car. Sam wasn’t really that surprised that it was a plain and Maud was. But he didn’t say anything in case he would have hurt her feelings, if she had any under her blank expression, it’s really hard to tell with her.

Later at CHS, the battle of the Bands was just about to get underway, Celestia and Luna were standing on stage speaking to the gathered students.

“Welcome to the first ever Canterlot High School Battle of the Bands. I believe I speak for everyone when I say it is by far the greatest thing we have ever done here at this school!” Celestia announced, The students all erupted in cheer, the only thing they seemed to agree on. “We are so glad our three newest students encouraged us to turn this event into something exciting!” She motioned to the Dazzlings sitting at the band of the auditorium.

“But, as this is now a competition, we can only choose one winner,” Luna continued, “Who is it going to be?”

The students all stared at each other before they started to argue again. The green mist faded in again, circling around their feet and flowing into the Dazzlings gems.

“You feel that, girls? Our true power is being restored,” Adagio responded, getting a chuckle out of Aria and Sonata, just then the Rainbooms walked into the hall. Adagio shushed her bandmates as the Rainbooms looked around the hall all nervously at all the students arguing, “And that's before we've tapped into the strongest magic here.”

“But the Rainblossoms, or whatever they're called, aren't under our spell,” Aria complained, “How exactly are we supposed to get to their magic?”

“The Rainbooms are just as capable of falling apart as anyone else,” Adagio told her, “They just need a little... push in the wrong direction. I have a feeling everyone here is going to be lining up to give them a shove.”

The First performance was Snips and Snails rapping, they seemed to try, but the Audience was just confused, and they sounded terrible. Luckily, Sam wasn’t there to see it, as he was in the car with Maud at the time. Once the two were done, they dropped the microphones like any rapper would do after they finished their track, the feedback hurt the Rainbooms’ ears.

“Please do not drop the microphones,” Celestia dryly responded, she and Luna didn’t seem to enjoy it that much.

“In your face, Rainbooms!” Snips remarked as he and Snails walked backstage and passed the girls.

“Least we know one group who won't stand in the way of us gettin' to the finals,” Applejack remarked.

“Yeah I know, that was terrible,” Ace agreed.

“Let's get ready to rock!” Rainbow yelled.

“Wait! Where's Rarity?” Pinkie questioned.

“Oh! Here! I'm here!” Rarity called out, panting as she stumbled to them in a hippie -inspired costume with metal fringes. This caused the Ultra Siblings to burst out laughing at her get up, while the girls just stared at her, “We will be performing in front of an audience. I'm not going to wear something fabulous. Hmph.” Applejack groaned as the girls made their way on stage to start singing.

“You got these girls!” cheered Gwen.

“Yeah, show them how the Rainbooms do it!” Nick cried. The Students all chatted to each other in their own little teams, as girls got ready.

“Remember, we have to be good enough to make it through but not so good we let the sirens see the magic within us,” Twilight told them with her hand over the microphone, “They could realise we plan to use it against them.”

“Got it! Be cool enough to win, but not so cool that we end up showing off the whole ears and tails and rainbows thing,” Rainbow repeated in her own way of saying it, “Sooo... about twenty percent less cool.”

“One! Two!” Pinkie cried as she tapped her drumsticks together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRi23JdboJ0

We've just got the day to get ready
And there's only so much time to lose
Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party
So let's think of something fun to do

We don't know (we don't know) what's gonna happen
We just know (we just know) it's gonna feel right
All our friends are here
And it's time to ignite the lights!

Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail

So what you didn't get it right the first time

Laugh it off, no one said it is a crime

Do your thing, you know you're an original

Your ideas are so funny that they're criminal

Ohhh-ahh!

We've just got the day to get ready
And there's only so much time to lose
Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party
So let's think of something fun to do

We don't know (we don't know) what's gonna happen
We just know (we just know) it's gonna feel right
All our friends are here
And it's time to ignite the lights!

Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail

Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail

Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight!

At the start, the girls were singing rather well, but up in the scaffolding, sabotage was afoot. Photo Finish and her Snapshots had magnets on string, they threw the magnets down, they caught Rarity on her metal fringes and manipulated her movements with them. Rarity could play her arms, but this didn’t go unnoticed by the Ultra Siblings, they looked up into the scaffolding and saw what Photo Finish was doing. They all climbed up and tried to stop her, Gwen went to grab the puppet strings from Photo Finish, but her bandmates, Violet Blurr and Pixel Pizzaz, grabbed her before she could reach for them, Ace and Devon tried to help get their friend free.

The struggle caused Rarity to move around without her control and she was made to flick Applejack’s hat off. Applejack was getting annoyed with Rarity, thinking she was doing this on purpose. Pinkie started to notice that the crusaders were getting bored, so she tried to make things better by letting off a confetti cannon drum. But in doing so, Twilight accidentally inhaled a piece of confetti and caused her to choke, Fluttershy noticed her friend in trouble and smacked Twilight’s back with her tambourine, Twilight looked in the crowd and noticed Flash and his team walk away ashamed.

Back in the scaffolding, Snips and Snails took advantage and exploited Fluttershy’s stage fright by beaming one of the spotlights on her. Fluttershy tried to run away from the light, but it kept falling on her. Gwen saw what Snips and Snails were doing so she called out to Nick and Chris who tried to stop them too. But in doing so they made the spotlight go everywhere. It was complete chaos, the only ones trying, where Applejack, and Rainbow, Pinkie were chiming in, and Twilight was singing more quietly.

Rarity managed to get free from the magnets, but she had to tear her costume’s arms off, this devastated her and caused her to burst into tears, and Fluttershy was now hiding from the spotlight behind Pinkie’s drum set though she was still playing. Sam and Maud had just arrived in the Auditorium, but it was too late, the girls had finished, Rainbow was sweating, she wasn’t confident that they made it through. Lots of things had gone wrong in just a few minutes. Only Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna were applauding as the girls collected themselves and exited the stage. Photo Finish, Snips and Snails came down from the scaffolding and snickered to themselves at their handywork.

“Ruined! Absolutely ruined!” Rarity cried. Sunset held Spike in her arms as the girls came off stage.

“Rarity, were you tryin' to make us lose out there?!” Applejack exclaimed in anger.

“Wh- Oh! This was not my fault!” Rarity shouted back, “This was an act of sabotage!”

“She’s right,” Gwen remarked as she and the others came back down from the scaffolding, “Photo Finish used magnets to manipulate Rarity’s movements.”

“Yeah, well, Photo Finish couldn't have done this if you didn't insist on dressin' like... like... this!” Applejack yelled, “We need to sound good! Is there some reason that concept seems to escape you?”

“And what was with the confetti, Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow questioned, “How am I supposed to shred if there's paper stuck in my frets?!”

“It was pretty distracting...”Fluttershy softly remarked.

“Ugh! Says the girl who was running from a light the whole time! A light!” Retorted Pinkie.

“You still sounded much better than most other bands. I'm sure you'll make it to the next round,” Sunset spoke up trying to cheer everyone up, “But it won't matter if you don't have that counter-spell ready. You all find a place to practise where the sirens can't hear you. I'll keep an eye on things around here.” Just as Derpy took the stage with her bandmates and started to play the saw, Sam appeared.

“Sam!” Gwen shouted as she ran to him, “we could have used some help back there.”

“Sorry guys,” Sam replied.

“Where’d you go anyway?” Rainbow asked.

“I left early, because I heard something last night,” Sam replied, “I also followed the Dazzlings and found something out about them.”

The group left the auditorium as Sam explained what he heard the Dazzlings say, the group were shocked, and knew they had to stop them more than ever. Now they were trying to find a place to practise.

“I don't think we should use a classroom,” Twilight stated, she wasn’t looking where she was and bumped into Flash, Twilight gave a nervous chuckle, but Flash didn’t seem happy to see her, “We really need to stop bumping into each other like this.”

“Uh, you guys hear something?” Flash asked his bandmates, Brawly Beats and Ringo.

“Uhh-uhh,” Brawly replied.

“Uh, nope,” Ringo answered.

Twilight was confused, so she tried again, “I said, we have to stop…”

“There it is again,” Flash remarked, “So annoying.”

“Why are you acting like this?” Twilight asked, in concern confusion, “I thought we were friends.”

“Yeah, and then you decide to come back here just so you can beat me in the Battle of the Bands,” Flash snapped at her, “I want this, Twilight, and you're trying to take it from me! Some friend.”

“That's not why…” Twilight was shocked and saddened by what Flash had said, she wanted to say more but Applejack stopped her.

“Come on, Twilight,” she told her before leading her away and giving Flash an angry expression, “We've got things to do.”

“You really think you're gonna help them?!” Flash shouted at her, “Ha! I bet you have no idea what you're even doing!”

As the girls walked away with Twilight in tears and Sam being held back by Nicholas and Devon, the Dazzlings had seen what had just occurred. Adagio grinned and turned to her bandmates.

“Tears already?” she remarked, “This is only the first round.” Aria and Sonata both chuckled. Suddenly Celestia’s voice came over the PA system.

“The next band to take the stage will be Trixie and the Illusions,” She announced.

“Better head back,” Adagio stated, “We're supposed to go on after Trixie.” The trio turned and headed back to the auditorium. But as they turned the corner, Adagio stopped causing the other two to stop as well. Standing at the entrance to the auditorium was Sunset Shimmer, arms crossed and staring at them.

“You're never gonna get away with this,” she told them.

“Why? Because you didn't?” Adagio mocked, causing Sunset to feel uneasy, but she tried not to show it, “Oh, we know all about you, Sunset Shimmer. You've got quite the reputation at Canterlot High.”

“I've changed! I'm in a much better place now!” Sunset shouted, not wanting their words to get to her.

“Waiting in the wings while your friends have all the fun?” Aria questioned as they circled poor Sunset.

“Oh, yes, you girls are so tight,” Adagio spoke, Sunset started to feel nervous but still kept a strong face, they were playing with her emotions, “And yet... they didn't ask you to be in the band.”

“Probably afraid no one would want to see them play if she was in the group,” Aria retorted.

“Too bad! So sad!” Sonata chimed in, a little childish.

“If it's any consolation, no one is going to remember you at all by the time we're done,” Adagio gave a final remark as she bumped Sunset out the way.

“Remember, girls. We want to save the good stuff for when our full power has been restored,” Adagio told her bandmates as they made their way onto the stage. As soon as the spotlight came on, they started to sing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw3vWWu2_CM

Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
You didn't know that you fell
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh

Now that you're under our spell

Blindsided by the beat
Clapping your hands, stomping your feet
You didn't know that you fell

Oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh

Now you've fallen under our spell

Oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh

We've got the music, makes you move it
Got the song that makes you lose it
We say "jump", you say "how high?"
Put your hands up to the sky

Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
You didn't know that you fell
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Now that you're under our spell

Listen to the sound of my voice

Oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh

Soon you'll find you don't have a choice

Oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh

Captured in the web of my song

Oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh

Soon you'll all be singing along

Oh, whoa, oh

We've got the music, makes you move it
Got the song that makes you lose it
We say "jump", you say "how high?"
Put your hands up to the sky

Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
You didn't know that you fell
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Now that you're under our spell

Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
You didn't know that you fell
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Now that you're under our

Spell

The Dazzlings singing was very hypnotic to hear, as Celestia and Luna were very charmed by their harmonised vocals and even the other students were moving their heads in time with the rhythm. As the Battle of the Bands processed, competing bands were knocked out one by one. Bulk Biceps on Violin over-powered Snips and Snails’ rap, Flash and his band knocked out Captain Planet as his bands, the Rainbooms were able to surpass Octivia on Cello, Trixie and the Illusions beat Lyra and Bon-Bon on piano, even the Crusaders had a chance to perform, however, Freddy and the Glamrocks where too much from them.

And all the while Twilight is panicking trying to still perfect the counter-spell as the other girls bickered with each other on how to handle the band. Sunset, and the Ultra Siblings were getting worried about their friends, if they kept fighting like this, something was going to go horribly wrong. Soon even the competitors that eliminated and stayed in were arguing with each other on who was winning this as the green mist returned and swirled around their legs and into the Dazzlings gems. As the trio finished, Adagio let off a menacing laugh.

Soon, it was coming to an end, the Dazzlings had won again, and had beaten Flash, he was so angry that he stormed off to go and release it, as he passed the Glamrocks trying to hold Roxanne back from attacking Lyra, Bon-Bon and Derpy.

“YOU ARE NOTHING!” She shrieked as she tried to squirm out of Monty’s grip, “You think you’re better than me?! I’m the best!”

“Ok Roxy that’s enough. Calm down girl,” Monty replied, and he started to pull her back.

“Let me eat them!” Roxy shouted, swiping her claws in the girls’ direction.

“Absolutely not,” Freddy told her, “remember the last time you nearly attacked someone?”

“Yeah, you almost gave Sparkler a glass eye,” Chica spoke up.

Meanwhile backstage, Sunset is talking to help pump up the Rainbooms.

“This is it! Last round and you're in the finals!” she declared as she turned to look at Twilight, “Unless you think the counter-spell is ready to be played now.” Twilight was really unsure about it.

“Don't worry, Twilight. Finals aren't until tonight,” Applejack told her, “We'll get in a little more practice before we're supposed to hit the stage. We won't let you down!” The others all agreed.

“You won't let me down...” Twilight muttered to herself, she may have murmured it, but Sunset was close enough to hear what she said.

“Um, I was just wondering,” Fluttershy spoke to Rainbow, “We haven't played any of my songs yet, and...”

“It's the semifinals,” Rainbow cut her off, “We gotta do ‘Awesome As I Wanna Be’.”

“Don't know why I even asked...” Fluttershy complained to herself.

Trixie was just finishing up her song, ‘Tricks up my sleeves’. When she did finish with the spotlights shining brightly behind her, she threw her guitar pic, which landed on Celestia and Luna’s desk.

“Fantastic!” Celestia laughed as she and her sister applauded. Trixie finished bowing and walked off backstage, as she passed the Rainbooms with Rainbow having a very cocky expression.

“Hmph. You're never gonna top that performance, ‘Rain-goons’,” she taunted, “You shouldn't be allowed to when you have such a big advantage over the rest of us.”

“My superior guitar playing and off-the-charts awesome singing voice?” Rainbow inquired in her usual cocky manner.

“Oh, don't be ridiculous. I mean her!” Trixie stated pointing at Twilight, “If you were really all that, Rainbow Dash, you wouldn't have needed to bring in some magical ringer, and a band of children to have half a chance. Everyone's talking about it.”

“Hey, I saved you last time I was here!” Sam shouted.

“Ha! Puh-leeze!” Rainbow retorted, “I could win this thing as a solo act, and everybody knows it!” This made the others stare at her with glares.

“Sure you could,” Trixie scoffed as she threw a smoke bomb down, the Rainbooms and Ultra-Siblings all coughed as the smoke cleared to see that Trixie was gone.

“She's gone!” Pinkie cried, clutching her hair.

“No, wait. There she is,” Gwen pointed out, Trixie was just hiding behind the drum, after being spotted she darted for the exit.

“Next up, the Rainbooms,” Celestia announced, Rainbow walked on all confident while the others were more annoyed and worried with her.

“Knock 'em dead, Rainbooms!” cried Spike.

“I'll be here... just... watching,” Sunset sighed.

“Don’t worry, we’re here with you,” Sam said, placing a hand on Sunset’s, this only made smile.

“Well it could be worse,” Sunset remarked, patting his head.

“Please don’t say things like that,” Chris stated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6H6TgZodPI

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Awesome as I wanna be

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Awesome as I wanna be

First you see me riding on a sonic boom
Got my guitar shreddin' up my latest tune
There is nothin' you can do to beat me
I'm so good that you can't defeat me

Yeah, I'm awesome, take caution
Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be
(Yeah!) I'm awesome, take caution
Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Rainbow was being peak Rainbow Dash, she was showing off even more than she would, more or less presenting this as a solo. All of the girls were now completely fed up with her, they had been tolerating her all day, and now they have just given up. Rainbow was too stubborn to listen to reason. All of them started to slow down in performing as Rainbow just took it over, this was making Sunset get nervous and worried.

Soon even the spotlights turned to shine down on just Rainbow, the girls were all really frustrated by this and her showing off. As Rainbow played a guitar solo, it happened. Sunset saw light flashing from her head, her pony ears were appearing. Sunset could do the only thing that came to her head, she jumped and pushed Rainbow to the ground. This caused them to shove Twilight and Rarity, who knocked her keytar out her hands, but as the strap was still around Rarity’s neck, she was forced to the ground as well, kicking Applejack’s bass out her hands and landing in one of Pinkie’s drums, and to top it off, all the spotlights shone down on Fluttershy causing her to go shy and disappear behind the curtain as the main lights were switched on.

Rainbow’s pony ears disappeared as she glared at Sunset for ‘ruining’ her performance. The Ultra-Siblings ran over to help their guardians up off the floor as Celestia and Luna wrote down notes on the performance.

“Now that's the bad girl we love to hate!” Flash cried out from the crowd with a smirk on his face.

“I knew she was still trouble!” Octaivia shouted.

“The real Sunset Shimmer is back!” yelled Monty.

“No. It isn't like that,” Sunset spoke softly to them as she turned and walked off-stage, The Dazzling grinning at each other, knowing what their plan was working and knowing what to do next.

“Shut it all of you!” Sam shouted back to the crowd, but they weren’t listening.

“What was that?!” Rainbow exclaimed crossly at Sunset.

“You were showing them your magic,” Sunset tried to explain, “I-I didn't know what else to do.”

“Ugh. Close the curtains? Unplug her amp? Give us a chance to deal with the situation?” Rarity answered, listing her some reasons.

“I'm sorry, I just wanted to help,” Sunset spoke sadly.

“Yeah, well, you didn't,” Rainbow remarked harshly.

“Shut it you Rainbow haired bitch!” Sam shouted, his body temperature was starting to rise, as steam was physically coming off him.

“Why are you defending her?!” Rainbow yelled.

“She’s been through enough! And I saved you last time I was here!” Sam snapped back.

“From a fireball she created!” Rainbow cried.

“None of this would've happened if you weren't tryin' to show off – as usual,” Applejack shouted at Rainbow.

“Good show, ‘Rain-brooms’,” Trixie spoke up as she walked back to them, “I especially liked the part where Sunset Shimmer, in a fit of jealous rage, knocked out Rainbow Dash mid-guitar solo!”

“It wasn't a fit of jealous rage!” Sunset shouted in her face, turned red on her own, she looked back at the girls after her out-burst and as the others didn’t want to say anything.

“If you say so,” Trixie said, as she turned and saw Luna and Celestia on the other side of the stage chatting about who was going in the finals, “Ooh! Looks like they've already decided who'll be moving on to the finals! I'm guessing it wasn't too difficult a decision.”

“God you nothing like our Trixie,” Sam gritted his teeth, the steam becoming more thicker.

“Don’t go do anything stupid,” Chris told him as he held him back, “you don’t want to pull your cords again.” The doors opened behind Celestia and Luna as the Dazzlings walked out and started to harmonise and put them under their spell again.

“Huh?” Sunset remarked as this.

“What can we do?” Rarity questioned, “There isn't gonna be another opportunity for us to play. And I had the most gorgeous outfit for the finals!”

“Yup, 'cause that's the real tragedy here, Rarity – that you won't get to play dress-up!” Applejack shouted at her.

“You know perfectly well that is not what I meant!” Rarity yelled as the two got into each other’s faces.

“You guys wanna keep it down?” Rainbow demanded them, pushing them back, “They're about to announce who's moving on.”

“Who are you kidding?” Fluttershy questioned, as Celestia and Luna walked on stage, “You know it isn't gonna be us.”

“The band that will be joining the Dazzlings in tonight's finals...” Celestia paused for dramatic effect, “The Rainbooms!”

“WHAT?!” Trixie shouted.

“Huh?” the girls exclaimed.

“Did they just say, ‘the Rainbooms’?!” Pinkie Pie yelled.

“This isn't over!” Trixie declared as she stormed off in irritation.

“Congratulations, girls,” Celestia told them as they walked back on stage, “You deserve it.”

“Seriously?!” Pinkie questioned, she still didn’t get it, “We didn't even finish our…!” She was then cut off by Rainbow elbowing her in the side.

“See you at tonight's big show, Rainbooms,” Adagio said to them, “We are really looking forward to it.”

“Yeah, well... not as much as we are!” Rainbow cried, but then the crowd started to jeer at them.

“Zis never should haf been you, Rainbooms!” Photo Finish shouted in her Austrian accent. The crowd continued to jeer, as the Rainbooms walked off stage and through the crowd of angry students, their heads low.

“This is a travesty! A travesty!” Trixie shouted dramatically.

“It really is!” Adagio empathised, “The Rainbooms don't deserve to be in the finals. Not when your band was so much better in the semis.”

“And wanted it so much more,” Aria added.

“Alas, this is the way it's going to be,” Adagio responded, “Dazzlings vs. Rainbooms.”

“Unless, of course, the Rainbooms don't manage to make it to their set or hold up for some reason,” Sonata put in.

This made Trixie smile and let off a sinister chuckle, she had a plan. A plan to ensure that the Rainbooms weren’t able to make it to the finals. But I shan't say no more, others I'll spoiler what's to come next.

Chapter 44: Welcome to the Show (Edited)

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Later that day, the Rainbooms and Ultra Siblings were at the amphitheatre and on stage setting up their gear. As the girls checked their instruments, Rainbow walked up to the microphone and spoke into it.

“Check, one, two. Testing, testing...” she called out. Hearing nothing, Rainbow tapped the microphone head and confirmed there was no power. Sunset noticed this and turned to the soundboard and adjusted the fader controls, “Testing…!” she shouted, her voice echoed off the speakers and hurt their ears, Sunset then quickly turned the volume down and gave a sheepish grin.

“This doesn't make any sense. We were awful,” She mentioned to the others, “Doesn't anybody else think it's strange that we're the ones that made it to the finals?”

"Very strange,” said an annoyed voice, the seven turned to see Trixie, very crossly staring at them, with her two bandmates behind her.

"What are you doing here, Trixie?" Rainbow asked smugly, pointing to the seats, "Pretty sure the losers are supposed to be up there in the cheap seats."

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is the most talented girl at Canterlot High,” she yelled at them, “It is I who deserve to be in the finals, and I will not be denied!"

Before anyone could react, Trixie snapped her fingers and the stage trap door opened. The seven of them fell through and landed hard on the floor below. They looked back up to see Trixie cackling like a mad woman.

“See you never!” Trixie guffawed as she brushed her hands and walked away.

The Dazzlings were walking from behind the curtain backstage. “Told you someone would give them a shove,” chuckled Adagio.

“But she didn’t shove them,” said Sonata, “she pulled a lever.”

“Go back to sleep Sonata,” groaned Aria.

Little did Trixie know, Spike had seen what she had done. Spike was playing with a dog toy, when he saw Trixie pull the lever. He ran back behind the amphitheatre and barked at the Ultra Siblings, who were kicking Rainbow’s football around.

“Guys! Guys! We have a problem!” he yelled.

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked.

“Trixie pulled a dirty trick and trapped the girls under the stage!” Spike barked.

“What?!” the kids cried.

“Oh I’m going to give her a piece of my mind,” Nick growled as she cracked his knuckles.

“Hold your horses there tough guy,” Chris called out as he grabbed a hold of him.

“First we get the girls out, then you can give Trixie a beat down,” Sam said as they then ran around the side of the amphitheatre.

Suddenly they stopped and hid behind the building. Sam, Gwen, and Spike slowly peaked around the corner, as Trixie locked the door that led to under the stage. Smirking, she pocketed the key and walked off. Once she was gone, the group ran over to the door and called out to the girls inside.

“Mum?! Sunset?!” Sam called through the door.

“Sam?!” came a muffled reply from Twilight, “Is that you?”

“Yes! The rest of us are here too!” Sam responded.

“Are you all ok?!” Gwen asked.

“Mostly!” Twilight replied, “Applejack fell flat on her face, and Pinkie’s drum landed on her head. Other than that we’re mostly fine!”

“Can you open the door?!” Rainbow questioned.

“Trixie locked you all in there!” Ace stated, “we can’t do much without the key!”

“Can’t you burst the door down with your Ultraman powers?!” Applejack called, rubbing her face.

“And risk causing all of this to fall on top of you?!” Sam questioned, “I don’t think so.”

“Well you need to go get that key!” Twilight called out. “Trixie is probably going to perform instead of us, while she’s performing, go backstage and steal it back from her.”

“That sounds like a plan!” Devon remarked.

“But what are you going to do?” Gwen asked.

“We just have to see if we can break the door down from this side!” Twilight replied.

“Right! We'll see what we can do,” Sam responded.

“Venom Shot!” cried a voice, Sam the others turned just in time to see energy scales come flying towards them, and stinging them in the arms.

“AH!” they all cried as they fell to the ground one by one.

“S-Spike…” Sam called to his adopted brother, “R-Run! G-Get… Help!” before the two fell unconscious.

Spike panicked and did what he said, and ran away, luckily, he didn’t get hit.

“Hello?! Sam?! Spike?! Anyone?!” Twilight called out, but there was no reply, until a voice called to them, that made them all get nervous, angry, and worried.

“Don’t worry,” came Adagio’s voice, “We’ll take great care of your child and his friends.”

“If you dare hurt one hair on his head!” Twilight shouted.

“Twilight calm down!” Sunset told her, “What do you want from him?!”

“Oh nothing much,” Adagio replied, “We just want to have a little chat. Once he wakes up.” And with that Adagio turned on her heel and she, along with Aria and Sonata, grabbed Sam and his team and dragged them away. Leaving Twilight scared, cross and worried for her kids and friends.

“Rise… Shine…”

“Are… Listening…”

“Hey wake Up!” cried Aria’s voice in annoyance.

“Huh… Wha…?” Sam gasped, his consciousness slowly coming back.

“Oh good, we thought we put a bit too much venom in those darts,” came Adagio’s voice as she walked around in front of them, “Don’t worry the venom isn’t going to kill you, it just makes you feel sick.”

Sam still felt a bit woozy, but he looked around to see that he was tied together with his teammates, with their wrists and ankles secured with rope. He thought he could just break the ropes with his Specium Blades, but something about this method of escape seemed too easy. Did the Dazzlings figure out he was Ultraman? He decided to play along with their plan.

“Where… Am I?” he asked, he couldn’t see very well, due to the fact that the only source of light was a single bulb above them all.

“Oh don’t worry about that,” Adagio told him, “Let’s just say, you’ll in detention.”

“In other words, you’re all in Vice-Principal Luna’s office!” Sonata said cheerfully, getting a growl of frustration from Aria.

“Really? But I didn’t do anything bad,” Sam remarked.

“I can’t tell if that was the effects of the Venom or sarcasm,” Aria commented.

“It doesn’t matter, we just need you all to remain out of the picture for the time being,” Adagio responded.

“Ahh my head. What happened?” Came Ace’s voice from Sam’s right.

“Oh dear, are you ok?” Sonata questioned, coming over to him, “are the ropes too tight around your wrist?”

Ace looked up and his eyes widened, he never got a good enough look at Sonata, and now with her looking at him in the face, he felt like he was in heaven. “Sam, I think I’ve died, because I’m looking in the face of an angel,” he remarked, with hearts in his eyes, his comment made Sonata blush.

“Oh, hehe, no one has ever said that about me before,” Sonata giggled.

“Oh good grief,” Sam and Aria stated.

“Sonata, stop flirting with the kid,” Aria told her off, “that would never work, he’s a kid about 11 and you’re a teenager. That’s considered to be perverted.”

‘Ha if only they knew they were thousands of years old,’ Sam thought.

“Oh, sorry,” Sonata replied, with her head lowered and walking away from Ace.

“Come to think of it,” Adagio thought out loud, “why aren’t you more scared? You’ve literally been kidnapped.”

“Oh this isn’t the first time I've been held captured,” Sam replied.

“It’s true, I was there,” Came Chris’s voice from behind Sam.

“I was so defenceless, I couldn’t do anything,” Sam lied, “I had to wait until my mums rescued me.”

“Well that wasn’t completely true,” Chris softly stated.

“Shh,” Sam hushed him.

“Well, they won’t be able to save you,” Adagio remarked, “soon, they, their friends and everyone else will be under our spell, including you all.”

“Oh no, whatever shall we do!” Sam cried.

“We can’t help our guardians!” Ace howled.

“This is so terrible!” Chris moaned.

“Can you guys keep it down, my head’s ringing,” Nick called out on Chris’s right.

“We best be going now, Adagio,” Aria told her, “Trixie’s going to perform soon so we need to get ready.”

“Oh right, see you later, dearies,” Adagio called as she, Aria and Sonata walked to the door.

“See ya dweebs,” Aria mocked.

“Goodbye you guys, and Ace, I’m sorry!” cried Sonata, before getting pulled by Aria, shutting, and locking the door behind them.

“I think I’m in love,” Ace commented.

“Oh grow up,” Nick remarked, “she’s too old for you.”

“Well, I’m actually…” Ace tried to say but was cut off by Sam.

“Guys focus, we need to get out of here,” Sam told them, “Ultrasuit On!” With that, he donned his Ultrasuit and deployed his Specium Blades cutting right through the ropes that held Ace and Gwen’s wrist to his own. Then cut the ropes on his ankles, freeing himself from them. “Right hold still, I don’t want to accidentally slice off your limbs.”

“Hmm, I wonder where Vice-Principal Luna is?” Chris asked as he was freed from Devon and Nick.

“Probably at the amphitheatre will the whole school,” Ultraman answered.

Meanwhile, Spike was running through the sea of students that were finishing up with classes and making their way out of the school to the amphitheatre. He was pleading like mad but due to them still under the Dazzlings’s spell they didn’t care.

“Help! Twilight and the Girls are trapped under the Stage!” he cried, but no one took any notice. Spike then saw Flash, I hoped he could help, “Flash! I need your help!”

Flash turned around and looked down, but wasn’t happy to see him, “What do you want?” he snapped.

“I need your help freeing Twilight and the girls!” Spike barked.

“Ha, like I’ll help them after she betrayed me,” Flash scoffed.

“She didn’t betray you Flash, you betrayed her, you broke her heart,” Spike snapped back, “why am I bothering. You’re just like the rest of this school, blinded from the truth.”

Spike then ran off, leaving Flash who thought about what he had said. Spike kept running around, before he ran right into Freddy’s legs.

“Please you got to help me!” Spike begged, pawing at Freddy’s legs.

“I would like to little buddy, but I can't. I need to help keep Roxy from hurting someone,” Freddy replied.

“You think you’re better than me!” Roxy yelled from down the hall. Freddy patted Spike on the head and ran off to stop her from attacking someone.

Spike sighed and continued to look around, but by now most of the students had left. Worry was starting to take over, worry for what could happen to Twilight, worry for what had come upon Sam, he didn’t know what he could do. He just sat on the floor and lowered his head.

“Hey, aren’t you Twilight’s pet?” said a voice, Spike looked up to see a familiar looking girl, he recognised those classes anyway, It was Vinyl Scratch, AKA DJ PON3. Hope sparked in Spike’s heart once more.

“Yes, that's me! I need your help!” he told her.

“What’s the matter?” Vinyl asked, kneeling down to his height.

“Wait, you’re not under the Dazzlings’s spell?” Spike questioned.

“I didn’t even know they were magical,” Vinyl replied, “though that would explain my Tavi wasn’t being her normal self.”

“Oh thank Celestia,” Spike breathed a sigh of relief, happy that he found someone that wasn’t under their spell, “come on quick, I’ll explain it on the way.”

So Vinyl followed Spike as he started to explain what had happened. Just as they were passing Vice-Principal Luna’s office, the door burst off its hinges and crashed on the lockers on the other side of the hall. Spike and Vinyl were shocked by this, so shocked that Vinyl’s classes nearly fell off her face.

“You think that was too much?” questioned Ultraman.

“Maybe a little,” Nick responded, holding the still unconscious Gwen in his arms.

“Sam! Guys!” Spike cried.

“Spike!” Ultraman shouted as he retracted his suit, and Spike hopped into his arms.

“I managed to get someone that wasn’t under the Dazzlings’s spell,” Spike said.

“Sup,” Vinyl waved.

“How do you know she is?” Chris asked.

“She doesn’t take her headphones off, so she didn’t hear them cast their spell,” Spike replied.

“I guess that makes sense,” Devon replied, he had just woken up a moment ago.

“Come on, we need to free Twilight and the girls,” Spike said as he jumped out of Sam’s arms, and they ran out of the school to the amphitheatre.

That night, Trixie and the Illusions performed in the finals following the Rainbooms' supposed forfeit. Down below, under the stage, there’s the Rainbooms, tired, bored, and feeling defeated. Rainbow was still trying to open the locked door, but by now even Applejack was getting tired of this.

“Give it up, Rainbow Dash,” Applejack told her, annoyed, “You've been tryin' at this for hours. It's not gonna open.”

“Maybe it doesn't even matter that we're trapped down here,” Twilight remarked defeated, “I don't think the counter-spell would have worked anyway.”

“Of course it would have worked, Twilight,” Applejack tried to reassure her, “Assumin' a certain band member didn't try to hog the spotlight the whole time we were tryin' to play it!” Motioning to Rainbow.

“Hey! If you wanna tell Twilight she's getting a little too caught up trying to be the new leader of this band, you don't have to be all cryptic about it,” Rainbow responded, clearly not getting what Applejack was implying, and making Twilight more upset than she was already.

“She was talking about you, Rainbow Dash!” shouted Rarity, pointing at her.

“Me?!” she exclaimed, “I'm just trying to make sure my band rocks as hard as it needs to!”

“OUR BAND!!” Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Applejack all yelled at Rainbow.

“But why wasn't it working? I should know what to do. How could I not know what to do? How could I have failed like this?” Twilight muttered to herself, she had retreated to the corner trying to think of how to fix all of this. From the side, Sunset was growing concerned and worried, her friends were falling apart.

“It might've been your idea to start a band,” Applejack told Rainbow, “but it's not just your band, Rainbow Dash!”

“I'm the one who writes all the songs!” Rainbow shouted back.

“I write songs! You just never let us play any of them!” Fluttershy spoke up, just as cross at the others.

“I had the most perfect outfits for us to wear!” Rarity moaned.

“Again with the costumes!” Applejack cried, “No one cares what we're wearin'!”

“I care, Applejack!” Rarity snapped back, “So sorry if I enjoy trying to make a creative contribution to the band!”

“Hey! Anybody here remember fun?!” Pinkie chimed in, “I'll give you a hint: It's the exact opposite of being in the Rainbooms!”

“I wish I never asked any of you to be in my band!” Rainbow yelled.

“I wish I'd never agreed to be in it!!!!” Rarity shouted back louder.

“Me neither!” Agreed Fluttershy and Applejack.

And with that, the wall crumbled. A five-way argument broke out between the girls, causing the green mist to resonate off them. Sunset started to worry as she saw her friends at each other’s throats, she looked up to see the mist flowing up through the boards above them.

On top of the Stage, Trixie was just finishing up her performance, wrapping it up with pyrotechnics. The crowd cheered, they seemingly enjoyed her performance, as Trixie and her bandmates went backstage.

“Try to top that!” Trixie remarked as she pasted the Dazzlings, waiting for their turn.

“Oh, gosh! I don't know if we can!” Adagio sarcastically remarked as the three girls burst into laughter.

The mist rising through the floorboards gave the illusion of a fog machine, the Dazzlings grinned to each other. As the crowd chatted to each other, The Dazzlings performance started. They strolled on stage, appearing from the mist, with their gems glowing brighter than ever. They started to sing in harmony, as they flouted up a bit and the gems absorbed the hatred the Rainbooms had for each other.

Below the stage, Sunset stared up in horror, she had to stop them from arguing.

“Stop! You have to stop!” Sunset shouted, jumping in front of them all to get their attention, “This is what they've been after all along! They're feeding off of the magic inside you!”

“How can they be using our magic?” Applejack asked, “It's the magic of friendship.”

“Ever since you started this band, you've been letting little things get to you,” Sunset explained, before opening how she had been feeling, “I never said anything 'cause I didn't feel like it was my place. Not when I was so new to this whole "friendship" thing. I still have a lot to learn. But I do know that if you don't work out even the smallest problems right at the start, the magic of friendship can be turned into something else.”

“I can't believe all this tension was happening right under my nose and I didn't realise it,” Twilight joined in, as she stood up and stood next to Sunset, “I'm supposed to be the one with all the answers. And all I've done since I got here is let you down.”

“I don't think anyone is supposed to have all the answers,” Sunset assured her before motioning to the others, “But you can count on your friends to help you find them.”

I think you already have,” Twilight smiled, confidently, “C'mon! We need to get out of here!”

All the girls then charged at the door and tried to push it open, but they failed, and all fell back on the ground apart from Fluttershy. Suddenly, a muffled voice came from the other side, and a familiar looking sword sliced the lock off the door, before it swung open inwards, revealing Sam, Spike, and the others.

“Spike! Sam! Gwen!” Twilight shouted as the three ran into her arms and gave her a hug.

“Sorry it took us so long,” Sam told them, “Adagio and the other two kidnapped us.”

“And I had to find somebody who wasn't under the sirens' spell to help me get you out,” Spike replied.

“Even though I sliced through the lock with my Sword,” Nick remarked as he retracted his Seven Suit, and Vinyl poked her head around the door.

“Why isn't she under their spell?” Twilight questioned.

“Never take off her headphones,” Spike replied, Vinyl gave them all a thumbs up.

“Come on, y'all!” Applejack cried, “Time to prove we've still got the magic of friendship inside us!”

“And there's only one way to do it!” Twilight commented.

“We're getting the band back together?” Pinkie asked.

“We're getting our band back together!” Rainbow answered.

“Whee!” Pinkie squealed.

“Ooh, which version of the counterspell are we going to play?” Rarity asked Twilight.

“I don't think it matters what song we play, as long as we play it together as friends,” Twilight answered.

“I know just the song,” Rainbow announced, getting some worried looks for the others before she walked over to Fluttershy, “Fluttershy's written a really great one.” Her remark caused the shy girl to squeal with excitement.

“We're about to save the world here. Personally, I think we should do it in style. Rarity?” Applejack questioned as she turned to look at her.

“I thought you'd never ask!” Rarity stated, “sadly, I don’t have anything for you guys.”

“It doesn’t matter, we’ll probably just be in our Ultrasuit ready in case,” Sam replied.

Back on stage the Dazzlings were charming the crowd with their singing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoxB5tx_pio

Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah

Welcome to the show

Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah

We're here to let you know

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah

Our time is now

Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah

Your time is running out

Ah, ah, ah

Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah...

As the three girls sang, the Rainbooms, dressed in outfits made by Rarity, stood atop a hill behind the amphitheatre. Confident at first but then realising something.

“How are we supposed to play over them from up here?” Rainbow questioned, her question was answered by a toot, as Vinyl rolled up with further assistance: a car that converts into a DJ station. The Rainbooms were amazed by this.

“I swear if that had a robot mode, it’ll look like Soundwave or Blaster,” Sam remarked to Nick, who nodded in response.

Feel the wave of sound
As it crashes down
You can't turn away
We'll make you wanna sta-a-a-ay

We will be adored
Tell us that you want us
We won't be ignored
It's time for our reward

Now you need us
Come and heed us
Nothing can stop us now

As the Dazzlings continued and locked the crowd under their spell, something started to happen to them. It was either from taking in the Rainbooms magic, or from their own dark magic, but however it was, the Dazzlings grew, wings tails and ears, but not normal pony wings, but translucent, aquatic, fin-like wings akin to their true Siren forms. Just as they revealed their new forms, they heard singing coming from the hill behind the amphitheatre. Aria pointed and they saw the Rainbooms singing.

Oh-oh, oh-whoa-oh

I've got the music in me

Oh-oh, oh-whoa-oh

Don't need to hear a crowd
Cheering out my name
I didn't come here seeking
Infamy or fame

The one and only thing
That I am here to bring
Is music, is the music
Is the music in my soul

Gonna break out (Out!)
Set myself free, yeah
Let it all go (Go!)
Just let it be, yeah

Find the music in your heart
Let the music make you start
To set yourself apart

Twilight’s singing, and the Rainbooms playing, managed to get the attention of the crowd, they turned and started to cheer for them. As the girls sung, they too transformed into the half pony forms, with their ears, wings, and tails, with the added extra of multi-coloured streaks in their heads. Even Sam, and co, transformed into their Ultra forms and flew above them for support. This made Adagio, cross, and annoyed that she didn’t realise sooner than Sam was indeed Ultraman. But she soon chuckled, causing Aria and Sonata to do the same.

“So the Rainbooms want to turn this into a real Battle of the Bands? Then let's battle!” Adagio stated as the three girls pulled out three fusion risers each.

What we have in store (ah-ah)
All we want and more (ah-ah)
We will break on through (ah-ah)
Now it's time to finish you!

Adagio, Aria and Sonata managed to get the crowd to focus back on them as they pulled out two Monster capsules each, placed them into their Loading Knuckles, slid their Fusion risers across them, and they transformed into three fusion monsters.

“Fusion Rise: Gomora! Red King! Ultraman Belial: Skull Gomora!”

“Fusion Rise: Ace Killer! Eleking! Ultraman Belial: Thunder Killer!”

“Fusion Rise: Zetton! King Joe! Ultraman Belial: Pedanium Zetton!”

Three dark tornados surrounded the girls and rose high in the sky, as they were replaced with giant fusion monsters. Adagio was in control of Pedanium Zetton, Aria in Thunder Killer and Sonata in Skull Gomora.

Ultraman and his team grew to match their sizes, and got ready to fight.

“Seven and Zero, you take on Aria, Mary and Tiga you take Sonata, me and Jack will take Adagio,” Ultraman ordered.

“Right,” they all replied, as they charged to fight the monsters.

“Let’s help with what we can do,” Twilight told the girls, they all nodded and watched the fights take place.

Tiga and Mary jumped and landed in front of Skull Gomora, Tiga tried to grapple with its head, but that didn’t phase it as it lifted its head and swung it into Tiga sending him back into Mary and causing the two to crash on the ground. They struggle to their feet as Tiga and Mary charged at the monster and grabbed it by the waist and tried to push it back. Skull Gomora was too strong and pushed them back, before trying to punch them, Tiga dodged it, but Mary wasn’t quick enough and got hit in the face and fell into a nearby lake.

Skull Gomora stomped over to her, Mary got up and grabbed its face to hold it back as Tiga ran behind and pulled on Skull Gomora’s tail. Mary managed to push Skull Gomora back, and stood up to kick it in the side before pushing its arms away and jump kicked Skull Gomora in the chest. As Mary fell back into the water, Skull Gomora lifted its foot to stomp down on Mary, but Tiga tugged on the monster’s tail causing the Skull Gomora to stumble and Mary to roll out of the way. Mary kicks Skull Gomora in the chest, before Skull Gomora swung its tail with Tiga still holding on and struck Mary down.

Seven and Zero landed near Thunder Killer and struck fighting poses, before both running straight towards Thunder Killer, and clashing with it in the shoulders, but even with both of their strengths, they were just evenly matched compared to Thunder Killer. The Fusion monster tried to claw them with its smaller talons, Zero stopped it and smacked it away as Seven pulled out his sword and slashed at Thunder Killer’s armour. Zero jumped and tried to hit Thunder Killer on the head, but the armour was really strong and hurt his hands when trying. Thunder Killer seemed to laugh as it struck him in the chest with its larger claws and sending electrical shocks through the claws on contact. Then Thunder Killer grabbed Seven by the head, tossed him around for a bit before slashing and shocking him with the larger talon and with Seven stunted, Thunder Killer backhanded Seven in the face. Seven stood back needing to step out for a little to get his bearings.

Zero took over for the time being, he sent his Zero Sluggers flying towards Thunder Killer, but the sluggers merely bounced off the monster’s armour. Zero caught them and they turned into giant blades, he ran forward and started to slash them across Thunder Killer’s exposed body. When Thunder Killer appeared to not get any damage from that, Zero placed them back on his head, and charged up and fired an Emerium Slash, striking Thunder Killer in the chest, but instead of hurting it, Thunder Killer absorbed it and fired it back twice as strong causing Zero to go flying into Seven and fall to the ground.

Ultraman and Jack stood firm in front of Pedanium Zetton seemed to chuckle as it charged up and a beam and fired it, Ultraman and Jack dodged out of the way, Jack started to fire his railgun at Pedanium Zetton as he ran around the monster. Ultraman threw Specium Slashes at Pedanium Zetton but both attacks seemed to not hurt it. Ultraman summoned a rather large Specium Slash and tossed it at Pedanium Zetton, but the monster caught it and threw it towards Jack, striking Jack and knocking him down.

Ultraman, cross at what Pedanium Zetton did to his friend, deployed his Specium Blades and tried to fight up close. Ultraman landed punch after punch, slashing Pedanium Zetton in the chest with his blades, but the monster didn’t flinch, as Ultraman went for another punch, Pedanium Zetton grabbed his fist with its claws. Ultraman tried again with his other fist, and again Pedanium Zetton caught it. Adagio then laughed out loud as she controlled the monster to start spinning around with Ultraman in its grasp and threw him into Jack who was standing back up.

Everyone was struggling, Skull Gomora was stomping on Tiga and Marie, Thunder Killer was sending electrical shocked through its tail which was coiled around Zero, and through its large talon, which was holding Seven, and Pedanium Zetton was firing Plasma Fireballs at Ultraman and Jack. All their colour timers started to blink showing they were nearly out of strength. Adagio was just about to command Pedanium Zetton to fire another plasma fireball, when She heard music playing behind her. She turned and saw the Rainbooms performing, and sending musical attacks at them.

Pinkie banged on her drums, sending shockwaves that pushed the fusion monsters off the Ultras, who flew back behind the hill the girls were standing on to catch their breaths. Rarity sent out a diamond storm, striking Thunder Killer in the exposed parts of its body. Fluttershy sent a stream of Butterflies to confuse and disorientate Skull Gomora. And Twilight vocalised and sent a pulse of stars to attack Pedanium Zetton, however Adagio wasn’t having any of it, she used her own powered up voice to push back against Twilight’s attack, her voice was strong enough to push Twilight back.

Twilight gritted her teeth as she glared up at the Siren controlled monsters. Thunder Killer and Skull Gomora stood next to Pedanium Zetton and Aria and Sonata joined Adagio in vocalising against the Rainbooms. If Adagio was strong enough to push Twilight back, all three Sirens were strong enough to force all the girls to the ground and even the Ultras back. As Twilight fell, the microphone in her hand went flying and landed by Sunset’s boot. Sunset reached down and picked it up, she didn’t know what to do, as the Sirens grinned evilly inside the fusion monsters.

“Sunset Shimmer, we need you!” Twilight called to her friend.

Sunset wasn’t sure, she was afraid, but she knew she had to help. She swallowed her fear, walked in front of the girls and with a determined look on her face, took off her jacket as the wind blew against her. Vinyl turned up the volume and gave Sunset a beat to help her.

You're never gonna bring me down
You're never gonna break this part of me
My friends are here to bring me 'round
Not singing just for popularity

We're here to let you know
That we won't let it go

Our music is a bomb and it's about to blow

And you can try to fight
But we have got the light of

Friendship on our side!

Got the music in our hearts
We're here to blow this thing apart
And together, we will never
Be afraid of the dark

Here to sing our song out loud
Get you dancing with the crowd
As the music of our friendship
Survives, survives!

Got the music in our hearts
We're here to blow this thing apart
And together, we will never
Be afraid of the dark

Here to sing our song out loud
Get you dancing with the crowd
As the music of our friendship
Survives, survives, survives!

The girls harmonised together and sent out a rainbow shockwave that separated the Sirens from their monsters, and freed the crowd from the Siren’s spell. The Siren were now worried, they were losing their power, the shockwave also seemed to reenergize the Ultras giving them Rainbow Specium Energy.

The magic of friendship that was building up inside Sunset, granting her a half-pony form of her own. All the students then join in with the Rainbooms, and as the Dazzlings look on in shock and horror, the magic coalescing in the sky takes the form of a giant Alicorn. The Ultras surrounded the horn, and fired their signature beams in a Rainbow helix at the tip of the horn, the giant Alicorn then fired a Rainbow Specium Powered beam down upon them, which completely destroyed their fusion monsters and their gem pendants. The Sirens had lost.

Adagio, Aria and Sonata clutched their heads and chest, their voices and headaches and were shocked to see their gems shattered. With their power sources destroyed, they tried one last attempt to get the crowd under their control. But when they started to sing, their voices were really broken and off key with each other. The enraged students boo, jeer, and pelt them with fruits and vegetables, forcing them to flee in shame and disgrace.

Once the Sirens were gone, Sunset, Twilight, the Rainbooms, Spike and the Ultra Siblings stood on the stage and bowed to the crowd. Sunset reached down and picked up a piece of their broken gems.

“Guess that explains why these were so special to them,” Sunset smirked.

“Without those pendants and the magic you brought here from Equestria, they're just three harmless teenage girls,” Twilight told them.

“Rainbooms rule!” Cried Flash’s voice as he came running on the stage and wrapping his arms around Twilight, “That was amazing!”

Twilight blushed causing the other girls to giggle, Twilight and Flash stared into each other’s eyes, and smiled nervously. Sam just stared at Flash, he still didn’t like him that much. Just then Trixie suddenly appeared in between Twilight and Flash.

“You may have vanquished the Dazzlings, but you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” She shouted, as she threw a smoke bomb down, causing all of them to cough. Once the smoke cleared, Trixie had vanished.

“She's gone!” Pinkie cried.

“No, wait. There she is,” Gwen pointed out, as Trixie tried to sneak away but fell off the cheap seats and hit the ground with a thud.

“Trixie's okay!” she called out.

“You know, Twilight is going back to Equestria soon,” Rainbow said to Sunset, “The Rainbooms could really use someone to help Fluttershy on backup vocals.”

Sunset looked at a guitar leaning against a speaker, she picked it up and absolutely shredded some riffs on it. “I also play guitar,” she said innocently. Getting surprised and shocked looks from the others, as they all looked at Rainbow, who was equally just as shocked.

“We'll see,” Rainbow smiled, as the girls and kids all hugged Sunset.

That morning, it was time for Twilight, Spike, and the Ultra Siblings to head home.

“You two look after my human counterpart,” Sunset said to Sam and Gwen.

“More like she looks after us,” Gwen joked.

“Yeah, We’ll tell her you said hello,” Sam replied.

“Good luck out there bud,” Rainbow fist bumped Nick.

“Thanks mother from another world,” Nick responded.

“Take care sweetie,” Fluttershy told Ace.

“I will,” Ace answered.

“I hope I get to see you again soon,” Rarity stated to Devon.

“I hope so too,” Devon retorted.

“Goodbye Friend! I’ll miss you!” Pinkie cried as she hugged Chris tightly.

“Yeah, me too,” Chris breathed, “but can you loosen your grip, I can’t breathe.

“Sure wish you could stay longer,” Applejack said to Twilight, feeling a little sad that she was leaving.

“Me too. But I have responsibilities in Equestria that I have to get back to. Its citizens need me. But now I can go through the portal whenever I need to. This isn't goodbye. It's just goodbye 'till next time,” Twilight told her, as she turned to face the portal, “You guys already?”

“Ready!” Spike replied.

“Ready!” the Ultra Siblings answered. Twilight was just about to step into the portal.

“Wait!” Suddenly a voice cried out. Twilight stopped, and they all turned around to see who called out to them. They were all shocked when they saw the Dazzlings run up to them. They were back in casual clothes, but they didn’t look so great, they looked like they hadn’t eaten in a long time.

“What do you want?” Rainbow asked, readying her fists.

“Please, take us with you,” Adagio pleaded.

“Huh?” The girls were all confused.

“Why?” Sam questioned.

“Let us explain,” Adagio told them, “you see, we weren’t always Sirens.”

“What?!” the girls shouted in surprise.

“You see, we were just normal ponies once,” Aria continued, “I was a Pegasus, Dagi was a Unicorn and Sonata was an earth pony.

“We were given our gems by a shady, mysterious, but creepy figure,” Sonata resumed, “which then turned us into sirens.”

“Ever since then we were corrupted more and more by the gems to spread hatred and lies around the ponies to feed us, until we were banished from Equestria by Star Swirl,” Adagio finished, “so please, let us come home, we are not the sirens you fought.”

Twilight thought about it, these girls looked the same as the girls they fought just last night, but they didn’t seem to act like the sirens. But another worry Twilight had was that Star Swirl banished them over a thousand years ago, and Equestria had changed a lot since then. But Twilight wasn’t heartless, she wanted to help them. Twilight walked over and held a hand out to Adagio.

“Come on,” she said with a warm smile, “let’s go home.”

Adagio, Aria and Sonata were shocked, but they smiled and took Twilight’s hand. She led them to the portal, and with one last goodbye from the others, entered the portal with the reformed Dazzlings following her. One by one, Spike and the Ultra Siblings walked through the portal with Sam giving Sunset one last hug before disappearing into the portal.

Later, the girls all met up at the amphitheatre again, ready to play a song. The girls were tuning up their instruments, Vinyl was there as well, and Sunset was busy right Twilight a letter. Here is what she said:

Dear Princess Twilight,

Missing you already, and I hope you'll be back soon. Things are definitely looking up for me here at Canterlot High. But I know I still have a lot to learn about friendship. Hope you don't mind if I write to you for advice when I need it. I hope you can help the Dazzlings fit back into their old home, and handle those children of yours Sam and Gwen.

Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.

“You ready or what?” called Rainbow.

“Ready!” Sunset replied as she came over to them with her guitar.

“One! Two! Three! Four!” Pinkie cried, as she tapped her drumsticks together and they started to sing the last song of this saga.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEm4kUJW_fs

Once upon a time
You came into my world and made the stars align

Now I can see the signs
You pick me up when I get down so I can shine

Shine like rainbows
Shine like rainbows

Friends, you are in my life
And you can count on me to be there by your side

And when the music comes alive
We sing our songs to lift us up so we can shine

And the sound that we hear in our hearts
Makes a crescendo
And the light that ignites in the dark
It makes us all glow

And shine like rainbows
We shine like rainbows

Together we stand
As the rain begins to fall
And holdin' our heads up high
As the sun shines through it all

And the sound that we hear in our hearts
Makes a crescendo
And the light that ignites in the dark
It makes us all glow

And shine like rainbows
We shine like rainbows
Shine like rainbows
We shine like rainbows

We shine like rainbows

Meanwhile, in a garage behind a large dark purple house, a lavender hand tears some paper with readings written on it and pinned it to a board documenting strange events that all connect to Canterlot High. The girl that hand belonged to turned out to be the human world’s version of Twilight Sparkle.

“No doubt about it, Spike,” she confides to her pet dog, which was the human world’s version of Spike, just a normal dog, “There's definitely something strange going on at that school.” Puppy Spike barks at his owner as Twilight walks off to a corner of the room, where a large test tube covered by a cloth stood, housing something inside it. “Thanks to the DNA samples from that night plus my own DNA samples, Project Geed is fully underway, and will be done in the next few months. And once it’s done, I can study it and learn what’s going on at that school.”

Spike then pawed at Twilight’s leg, with his lead in his mouth.

“Oh do you want to go for a walk?” she asked, Spike wagged his tail and barked at Twilight in response. Twilight took off her lab coat and goggles, then clipped the lead on Spike’s collar, walked out the garage and shut the door behind her. But Twilight didn’t realise that she shut the door hard enough that the cloth over the testing tube fell off, revealing a boy that looked a lot like… Sam?

Chapter 45: The Cutie Map Part 1 (Edited)

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Sunset, and the rest waited for Twilight, Spike, Sam, and his team to return. Right now they were waiting around the mirror portal, playing a game of uno, and Rainbow had one card left. She was smirking at the fact that she was going to win. But Sunset, who was sitting next to her, also had one card left and was worried about what Rainbow might have.

‘She can’t win five times in a row right?’ she thought to herself.

“I’m gonna win again,” Rainbow remarked in a cocky manner.

“Oh, are you Sugarcube?” Applejack smirked, as she placed down a plus 4.

“What?!” Rainbow shouted, she couldn’t believe it.

“Sunset, what colour do you want?” Applejack asked as Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy burst into laughter.

“Red please,” Sunset replied politely.

“No!” Rainbow declared, “Don’t be like that!”

“The pile is red now Dash, pick up four cards,” Applejack grinned. Rainbow huffed as she reached over to pick up four cards, and Sunset placed down her last card and won the game.

“That’s not fair!” Rainbow shouted thinking they did that on purpose.

“Hey, you’ve won every other match, at least let someone else win,” Rarity spoke up as she wiped away a tear.

“Yeah, but come on, you didn’t have to just give her the win,” Rainbow remarked.

“After getting plus 2 by everyone I think I deserved to win,” Sunset responded.

Rainbow just pouted, suddenly, the portal started to glow, signalling that it was Twilight, Spike, Sam, and his team’s return. They all jumped up and ran to the portal to welcome them back. But to their surprise, it was the Dazzlings that came out the portal first and landed on the floor with a thud.

“Wow what a ride,” Aria remarked as the trio looked up at the ponies looking down on them.

“What have you done with Twilight?” Rainbow growled as she grabbed Aria.

“Ok, now take it easy,” she pleaded.

“Rainbow let go of her!” came Twilight’s voice as she stepped out of the portal.

“Twi!” The girls cried as Rainbow dropped Aria and went over to her.

“Why in all of Equestria did you bring the Sirens here?” Rarity asked.

“They’re no longer evil,” Twilight told them, “their gems were the things corrupting them.”

“Oooohhhh!” the girls all said, as they went over to help them off the floor.

“I still don’t trust them," Rainbow remarked.

“Just cool yourself there Rainbow,” Applejack told her to give them a chance to explain themselves. Presently Spike, Gwen, Ace, Nick, Chris, Devon, and Sam all came through the portal.

“Hello Equestria!” Sam shouted, “your heroes have returned!”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Gwen remarked.

“I hope our home hasn’t changed much,” Sonata stated.

“Don’t worry,” Adagio replied, “we were only gone for a few months.”

“Wait, Adagio, what do you mean, only a few months?” Twilight asked.

“Well, Starswirl banished us to that human world for a few months, right?” Adagio asked.

“Adagio you’ve been gone for at least a few decades, many even centuries,” Sunset replied.

“What?!” the Dazzlings shouted.

“That… That can’t be…” Aria stated.

“Y…You must be playing a joke… Right?” Sonata questioned hopefully.

“We’re sorry, but it’s true,” Twilight replied, “Star Swirl has been missing for centuries, so who knows how long ago he banished you before he disappeared.”

“So… that means… we don’t really have a home to go back to…?” Adagio asked.

“I’m afraid so,” Twilight replied.

Adagio had to sit down to take this all in, Sonata felt like crying as she hugged Aria tightly. Everything they know, their homes, families, friends, all gone. Lost to time. The girls all felt sorry for them, and tried to comfort them. To make them feel better, the Ultra Siblings decided to take them around Equestria to show them how much Equestria had changed since their days. Sam and Devon took Adagio to Manehattan, Gwen and Nick took Aria to Los Pegasus, and Ace and Chris took Sonata to the not-as-impressive Appaloosa. But during their trip, a monster appeared, two in fact, a Gudon and a Twin Tail. Ace and Chris fought hard, but Ace wasn’t strong enough to stop them, and left Chris at the mercy of the monsters, but he was able to defeat and destroy them. Ace would continue to have this losing streak for weeks to come, but that’ll get touched on later.

Weeks past, and the Dazzlings have calmed down and settled back into pony life. Trixie had offered them to stay in her wagon as she had her own house now, until they could find themselves their own homes. Each of them even got jobs they like. Aria helped Rainbow out with sorting out the weather, Adagio became Rarity’s assistant in making clothing, and Sonata enjoyed helping out Mr and Mrs Cake at Sugarcube Corner, and they enjoyed her help in making cakes as she wasn’t as bonkers as Pinkie, and she wasn’t a unicorn or Pegasus that could run them out of a job. They even had their cutie Marks carved into three more crystal thrones, courtesy of the Crystal Empire. This was a suggestion by Sam, as he felt like they should be part of his pony family he had. But in doing so, a reaction happened when all the thrones were activated. Here is what happened.

It was another beautiful morning in Ponyville, ponies were going about their day, and the ever-expanding Elements of Harmony entered the throne room and started to sit on their thrones, Spike was already there, sleeping on his own little throne. Twilight was wondering why the castle appeared after Tirek’s defeat.

“Let's go through this one more time,” she said, getting a groan from Rainbow.

“We've been over it like a million times, Twilight!” she complained, “We found all six keys, defeated Tirek, and got this sweet castle! End of story!”

“Yes, but why?” Twilight pondered.

“I dunno, Sugarcube,” Applejack remarked, “Maybe it's just your new house and there ain't nothin' more to it than that.”

“I must say, speaking strictly on aesthetics, there really doesn't need to be more to it,” Rarity chimed in, “It's all simply divine!”

“I agree with Twilight. And Rarity. And Applejack. And Rainbow Dash. And Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy commented, “Oh, and probably Spike.” Spike’s only response was a louder snore.

“As princess, I've been chosen to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria. So why would the Tree of Harmony want us to sit in a castle in Ponyville? It doesn't make any sense,” Twilight told them, as she sat on her own throne.

None of the ponies realised that when they sat down, their cutie marks on their throne started to glow, and with each of them taking a seat, their cutie marks glowed brighter. Once Twilight sat down, all their cutie marks started to glow as well. As they glowed brighter than ever, the girls finally noticed beams of light from their thrones to shine upon the star-shaped platform in the centre of the room. The castle suddenly comes alive to construct an elaborate holographic map of Equestria. A bright flash caused Spike to awaken from his slumber, and he was just as shocked at the others.

“Is that new?” he commented, “I like it.” Just then The Ultra siblings were there as well, discussing their Team name.

“I’m just saying, Ultra Siblings don’t have that good sounding name,” Nick stated.

“Well we can’t call ourselves the Neo Ultra Brothers,” Sam remarked, “Because Gwen’s the only girl in the group.”

“How about The Ultra Rangers?” Chris questioned.

“That sounds better,” Devon replied.

They then noticed the Crystal table in the middle of the room.

“Woah, when did that get there,” Gwen commented.

“This is incredible!” Spike stated as he climbed onto the holographic map and walked across it, “It's got all of Equestria!”

“Hi, Mom and Dad!” Pinkie said as she looked down at the little holographic image of her old rock farm. Spike stomped down his foot onto the holographic rock farm, causing Pinkie to gasp and start building up tears.

As if things couldn’t get any stranger, the girls’ cutie marks started to flash as floating images of their cutie marks floated in the air and hovered over a point towards a location far off from Ponyville.

“But if this is Ponyville, why are our cutie marks over there?” Sonata asked, as Twilight levitated Spike off the map.

“I don't know. But it seems like the map wants us to find out,” Twilight replied, “The Tree, the chest, this castle, and now the map. How can we not follow it?”

“Y'know what? There's a ton of room for dangerous adventure along that route,” Rainbow stated as she looked over the route of how to get to their destination, “Count me in!”

“Aw, shoot, I reckon you're right,” Applejack agreed.

“Well, I was planning on organising my baking sheets, but okay!” Pinkie chimed in.

“Very well,” Rarity sighed, with a smile.

“We’re coming too,” Adagio called out.

“We want to have a taste of the fun and action!” Aria shouted.

“I’m in too!” cried Sonata.

“I’m not gonna let you have all the fun,” Sunset joked as she gave Twilight a nudge on her shoulder.

“Count the Ultra Rangers in!” Sam yelled.

“Maybe that doesn’t work after all,” Ace remarked.

Everyone turned to look at Fluttershy for what she was going to say. “Um, maybe I'll just stay here with Spike,” Fluttershy spoke softly.

“Awesome!” Spike exclaimed, wearing a soda hat on his head and foam finger on his claw, “Me and Big Mac have a huge weekend ahead of us talkin' hoofball, and... and trading hoofball cards, and arguing about hoofball stats...”

O-o-on second thought, m-m-maybe I'd better go with them,” Fluttershy retorted, “In case they need me.”

“Looks like it's time for a road trip,” Twilight announced as the girls and kids started to walk out the castle.

“Well, suit yourself,” Spike remarked, “But he's got a Hock Fetlock rookie card I plan to sweet-talk right into these hot little claws.”

“So why do you want to change your team name?” Sunset asked Sam.

“Well the others think it doesn't sound as good,” Sam told her.

“Ace, I’ve noticed that you’ve been more quiet than normal,” Devon stated, “are you ok?”

“Yeah, it’s nothing you need to worry about,” Ace replied.

“You’ve also been thinking about Sonata a lot as well,” Nick commented, “do you know how wrong that is. She’s way too old for you.”

“Well actually I’m…” Ace tried to say but Nick cut him off.

“I mean I can understand a close friendship, but a relationship is out of the equation,” he replied. They all continued to talk with each other as they walked out the castle, leaving behind the echoes of their conversations.

The train ride was almost as long as the train itself, it covered over desert lands, travelled on a bridge over a gorge, and in a tunnel in a mountain. The train soon came to the end of the line, out in the middle of nowhere. There wasn’t even a station, just buffers. The Girls and kids got off the train, and the train started to reverse away.

They continued on foot, following a map Twilight had drawn out. They walked over an old rope bridge, with Fluttershy holding Sam in her arms because he was scared of heights.

“Couldn’t you just turn into your Ultra form and fly?” Rainbow brought up, “Plus didn’t you have to jump off a cliff to save Diamond Tiara?”

“Not when I’m in a fit of panic,” Sam replied, “and I was only thinking about saving Diamond Tiara. You can’t overcome a fear like that.”

Soon they came over a hill and saw a little village in the middle of nowhere, where all of the houses—with the exception of one—are arranged in two parallel rows.

“That's it! That's the place on the map!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Right. Let's get down there and find the spa,” Rarity remarked as she brushed dust out her mane.

“A nice soak in warm soapy water is just what I need,” Adagio stated.

“Wait,” Sunset told them, teleporting in front of them, “We don't know why the map sent us here. We shouldn't just walk right in.

“Sunset’s right,” Twilight agreed, “It could be dangerous.”

“Yes!” Rainbow cried, she felt pumped for some action.

“Stay behind me, everypony! I'm on it!” Pinkie remarked.

“Careful, Pinkie!” Sonata called to her, as Pinkie rolled down the hill and hid behind a rock. She motioned everyone to come down. Then she dashed under some rocks and motioned to everyone that it was clear, before getting crushed by a rather large rock. But she was able to move with it on top of her.

“Since when did Pinkie become a ninja?” Nick asked.

“It’s Pinkie, don't question it,” Devon replied.

Pinkie shifted the rock closer to get a closer look, Twilight, Sunset, Rarity, Adagio, Applejack and Sonata poked up over the rock, Sam, Gwen, Nick, Ace, Devon, and Chris poked out from the sides, and Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Aria hovered above them.

“This is where the map sent us?” Rainbow questioned, “It looks like the most boring place in Equestria.”

“It's just an ordinary village full of ordinary pony folk,” Applejack remarked, she was right. From what they could see, there were Ponies going about their day.

“It could certainly use a few more architectural flourishes,” Rarity commented.

“Or any architectural flourishes,” Adagio agreed.

“You’re right there,” Chris agreed.

“It looks like everyone is stuck in Victorian times,” Sam remarked.

“I think it's lovely,” Fluttershy said.

“You think everything is lovely,” Nick spoke up.

“I just don’t want to hurt their feelings,” Fluttershy admitted.

“I don't like it. I don't like it one bit,” Pinkie declared, “I know smiles. And those smiles? They're just not right.” The Ponies seemed to have forced smiles on their faces.

“That’s really unsettling,” Ace commented.

“You reckon their cheeks hurt from smiling too much?” Sonata questioned.

“Forget the smiles. Look at the cutie marks,” Sunset pointed out.

“Okay, that's weird,” Aria remarked.

“An entire village with the same cutie mark? How can that be?” Twilight questioned.

“I bet there's some sort of horrific monster behind it,” Rainbow suggested.

“I doubt it,” Devon remarked, “they’re no alien or kaiju that can do something like this. Something close to doing that would be Neronga but he would just cause your magic to go all funny.”

“What makes you think it’s a monster?” Sunset asked.

“'Cause fighting a horrific monster would be super-awesome!” Rainbow shouted.

“Leave the monster fighting business to us,” Gwen spoke up.

“I reckon we just ought to head into town and talk to some locals, find out what's goin' on,” Applejack suggested.

“Great idea, AJ. Let's go!” Rainbow shouted, as they all started to make their way down the hill.

“Those smiles are bad news,” Pinkie remarked.

The girls and kids all walked into town, and almost immediately, the townsfolk turned and looked into the direction of them.

“Welcome!” An earth pony stallion named Sunny Song spoke up.

“Welcome!” called out a Pegasus mare.

“Welcome!” spoke a unicorn stallion.

“Welcome!” said a pony named Bacon Braids.

“Welcome!” greeted another unicorn stallion.

“Welcome!” an earth pony named Offbeat addressed.

“Welcome!” called out a group of fillies that were walking with Offbeat.

“This must be the most pleasant place in Equestria!” Fluttershy commented.

“Welcome!” A Pegasus pony named Night Glider greeted Fluttershy, causing her to giggle.

“This is giving me the creeps,” Ace remarked.

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” Sonata remarked, placing an arm around Ace’s shoulder. This caused Ace to smile up at her.

“Ugh. Thanks a lot, map,” Rainbow groaned.

“Welcome!” greeted a blue unicorn, with an old scarf around his neck, “Pardon my forwardness, but are you an Alicorn?”

“That there's the Princess of Friendship!” Applejack answered for Twilight.

“And here are her sweet, adorable kids!” Sonata cried motioning to Sam and Gwen.

“Well, you've certainly come to the right place for friendship,” the unicorn replied.

“What brings you to town?” asked a snow white earth pony.

“We're not entirely sure,” Twilight replied.

“I see. Well, all are welcome here in our little village,” the white pony told them, “My name is Double Diamond, and this is Party Favour.”

“Howdy, Double Diamond,” Applejack greeted before taking a deep breath, “I'm Applejack, and this here's Pinkie Pie, Ace, Fluttershy, Devon Rarity, Gwen, Rainbow Dash, Nick, Sunset Shimmer, Chris Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, Sonata Dusk, Sam and Twilight Sparkle.”

“And you all have your own unique cutie marks,” Double Diamond commented.

“If you don't mind, has there been any sort of... trouble here, lately?” Twilight asked.

“Trouble? Why, I don't think we've ever had trouble in our little village,” Double Diamond replied.

“It's true. You'll see. Hm,” Party Favour agreed.

“Perhaps you'd care to speak to our founder Starlight Glimmer,” Double Diamond told them, as he and Party Favour started to lead the ponies and kids.

“I wish everypony in Equestria was as friendly as these ponies are,” Fluttershy remarked.

“I've got my eye on them,” Pinkie stated, as she looked back to see the whole village following them, “Something's rotten in... whatever the name of this village is that we're in right now!”

Party Favour and Double Diamond both knocked on the door of the house that was at the end facing down the street, the door opened, and they walked in.

“Starlight, we have some new visitors,” Double Diamond called out, the ponies entered the house followed by Sam and his team. They all stood in the middle of a room, with a door and stairs leading to other rooms of the house.

“Be ready to fight,” Rainbow remarked to Applejack and Aria, “We don't know what's gonna come through that door.” The door opened slowly, and out from the darkness stepped a unicorn with lilac fur, purple mane and tail with pale aquamarine streaks and Persian eyes.

“Welcome!” she greeted politely, “I'm so pleased to have you here.”

Rainbow groaned that it wasn’t anything monstrous. “This is Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Sunset Shimmer, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, Sonata Dusk, Twilight Sparkle, Sam, Gwen, Ace, Devon Chris and Nick,” Double Diamond introduced them.

Starlight seemed interested in Twilight and had a closer look at her. “Forgive my bluntness, but I'm assuming it's Princess Twilight Sparkle?” She said, “We don't get many Alicorns around here.”

“Yes, but "Twilight" is fine,” Twilight replied.

“And I’m assuming that these two and you’re adorable children,” Starlight asked, looking down at Sam and Gwen.

“Yes, but how did you know?” Twilight asked.

“Oh the news gets everywhere in Equestria,” Starlight replied.

“We’re not that famous,” Gwen said to her brother.

“Better question, does she know who we are?” Sam questioned.

“So! How did you hear of our little village?” Starlight asked Twilight.

“It's kind of a long story,” Twilight replied, “Let's just say we found it on a map.”

“Technically, it's a Tree-chest-castle-map!” Pinkie chimed in happily, before turning back to a scowl.

“Well, however you found us, we're happy to have you!” Starlight told them, “We're happy to have anypony who wants to experience true friendship for the first time.”

“Say what?” Applejack questioned.

“Oh, indeed. That's what's so unique about our village, you see,” Starlight answered, “Around here, we don't flaunt our special talents because we don't have any special talents to flaunt.”

“Is that why you all have those cutie marks?” Sunset asked.

“I thought it was because you’ll good at equalling,” Sam remarked.

“Perhaps it would be easier to understand if I gave you a tour of the village!” Starlight said as she stepped outside, “Heads high, ponies! Marching proud! All together now! Every one of you! No pony left behind!”

“Oh no, don’t tell me they’re about to sing,” Sam remarked, “I’ve heard enough singing back into the human world.” And indeed she did start singing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrQ50P-Ffqk

Life is so grand in Our Town
We're always filled with cheer
We never have to look around
To know that we're all here

In Our Town, in Our Town
We don't have to wait
To find out that our destiny
Is just to emulate

Let's see those big, happy smiles!

Life is a smile in Our Town
Our cutie mark's the same
Because we do not separate
Ourselves by more than name

In Our Town, in Our Town
We dare not compete
Winning only breeds the worst
Ego-filled conceit

You see? Now everypony wins!

Life is a joy in Our Town
We're all equal here
No one is superior
And no one shakes in fear

In Our Town, in Our Town
We work as a team
You can't have a nightmare
If you never dream

Other ponies argue
Do you ever wonder why?
When you think your talent's special
You don't see eye-to-eye

There's just too many differences
That lead to disarray
But when you learn to act as one
It's like a holiday

In Our Town, in Our Town
We don't complicate
When you learn to simplify
Life is oh, so great

Join in our utopia
Come out of the dark
Banded by equality
By our cutie mark!

Once the song was over and Sam uncovered his ears, Rainbow Dash burst into laughter, “You're kidding, right? Give up our cutie marks? No way!” she responded.

“Rainbow Dash don't be so rude,” Fluttershy told her, “I don't think we should judge them. They all seem perfectly happy with their choice.”

“Don't believe their smiles, Fluttershy,” Pinkie told her.

“I'm sorry, I guess we're just a little confused by all of this,” Twilight replied.

“We have no judgments here in our village,” Starlight told her, “Each of us was confused once as well, blinded by the false promise of our cutie marks.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Is she for real?” Rainbow questioned before getting a glare from Sunset.

“When we were sent to this village, we assumed it was to help in some way,” Twilight said, “But, well, it doesn't seem like you need any help.”

“Have you considered perhaps that you might have been sent here so we could help you? After all, nopony has ever come to our village and wanted to leave,” Starlight responded, “Why should you be any different? But that is entirely your choice. Please enjoy our little corner of Equestria. We're all quite fond of it. No doubt you will be as well. Double Diamond, please help our guests with whatever they might need.”

“Of course,” Double Diamond replied, Starlight nodded and turned away.

“Well, this will certainly provide a boost to our little community,” Starlight remarked as she walked away, talking to herself, “When the rest of Equestria sees that a princess gave up her cutie mark to join us, they'll finally understand what we're trying to accomplish.”

As the ten friends and six kids continue to take in what the village has to offer, and the townsfolk continue to greet them, Twilight was starting to find it inconceivable that a pony's cutie mark can be simply taken away.

“A cutie mark is a representation of a pony's unique talents and skills,” Twilight remarked, “How is it possible to…”

“What in the name of Equestria is that?!” Rarity gasped, cutting twilight off, and pointing at some old cloaks on display.

“Welcome! Care to sample some local fashion?” the pony named Burlap called out, “We've got cloaks this month!”

“Wha… Ooh, er, perhaps another time, good sir, thank you,” Rarity said kindly, before trotting to a table the girls had sat down at and whispering to Applejack, “No wonder nopony's wearing anything!”

“Really, girls!” Fluttershy spoke down to them, “They may do things a bit differently than we're used to, but that's no reason to be rude.”

“No, the reason to be rude is that they all keep staring at us!” Rainbow stated, she was right, the townsfolk were just staring at them and not letting their gazes go to anything else.

“Need something?” called Double Diamond from across the street.

“Uh, no! We're good!” Sunset called back before speaking in a hush voice, “Fluttershy's right. If we're going to get to the bottom of why the map sent us here, we'll need the help of these ponies.”

“I think we ran off to the end of Equestria before we even knew what that map was!” Applejack remarked, as a pony from the bakery behind stepped out to greet them. She tried to speak up, but the girls weren’t letting her.

“If we were at the end of Equestria, we'd be sitting on a big 'A'!” Pinkie giggled at her own joke, “Get it?”

“That was a good one,” Sonata replied, as she let out a laugh.

“Oh, please, Miss Pie! This is hardly the time for jokes!” Rarity told her, “We've come all this way and for what?”

“Maybe you're right,” Adagio chimed in, “But we're here now, and it sure feels like something's wrong.”

“That and two bits'll get you a cup of cider,” Applejack stated.

“Is this a bad time?” the baker pony questioned.

“We shouldn't be bickering like this in front of our new friends,” Fluttershy said, “Really, Applejack, you're almost as bad as Rainbow Dash and Aria Blaze!”

“Don't drag me into this!” Rainbow snapped.

“What did I do?!” Aria retorted. Ponies hearing what they were talking about covered the ears of their foals.

“Is your friendship ending?” asked the baker pony.

“Are you crazy?!” Pinkie exclaimed, “We'd never let a disagreement get in the way of food!”

“O-kay, well, my name is Sugar Belle,” the unicorn mare told them, “What can I bring you? We have: muffins..." There was a long pause after she said that. The others waited to hear if she had anything else, but she didn’t.

“Then I guess we'll take sixteen muffins!” Twilight replied.

“Make that twenty two!” cried Sonata and Pinkie together, “What? I'm hungry!” Sugar Belle wandered off as the girls continued to discuss.

“Come on, girls. We've got to stick together,” Twilight told them, “It doesn't matter what happened before, we're here now.”

“I guess you're right,” Aria responded, “And the sooner we figure out why, the sooner we can go home.”

“Forgive me for overhearing,” Sugar Belle came back with a tray of steaming muffins, “but just a moment ago you were disagreeing, and now it sounds like you're... agreeing.”

“Uh-huh...” Applejack nodded, sounding a little unsure what Sugar Belle was getting at.

“Well, you had such differing opinions… and cutie marks,” Sugar Belle commented.

“We have differing opinions all the time, dear,” Adagio told her.

“But you look like you're friends,” Sugar Belle stated.

“We are friends,” Twilight said, “A simple disagreement wouldn't change that.”

“I'm sorry, I'm just having a hard time understanding,” Sugar Belle answered, she looked worryingly behind her to see that Double Diamond was overhearing.

“What’s so hard to understand?” Sam asked in return.

“Well, Different talents lead to different opinions, which lead to bitterness and misery,” Sugar Belle replied, “So... why aren't you bitter and...?”

“Blech!” Pinkie gagged, choking on one of the muffins, before realising she was gagging in full view of Sugar Belle, “Mmmm... good...”

“It's all right. I know I'm not a very good baker. At least, I know I'm not any better than anypony else in the village,” Sugar Belle could see Double Diamond getting from his seat with a stern expression on his face, “Well, I... hope you enjoy our little village!” Pinkie started to clean her tongue from the horrid taste of the muffin, before Sugar Belle spoke again in a hush voice,“ Come inside before you go! Meet me downstairs!” Before giving a big grin to Double Diamond as disappearing into her bakery. Satisfied, Double Diamond went back to reading his newspaper.

“Okay, that was weird too,” Rainbow remarked.

“Let's all sit here and eat these muffins and act normal,” Twilight said as she levitated over a muffin, “I think we're being watched.” They all look around to see all the townsfolk staring at them.

“You think?” retorted Rainbow, sarcastically.

“No, not like that!” Twilight replied, “I mean somepony here doesn't want us talking to Sugar Belle.” She motioned her head towards Double Diamond, who took a bite of his muffin.

“I got an idea,” Applejack said, “But you gotta eat all of them muffins, Pinkie and Sonata.”

“Me?! Why me?!” Pinkie cried.

“And why do I have to eat them as well?!” exclaimed Sonata.

“You two have got stronger stomachs than any of us, and that filly in there might be our best chance at findin' out what the hay is goin' on round here,” Applejack replied, “Plus I’m being nice and letting you Pinkie not eat all of them by yourself.”

“Oh you are so Nice AJ,” frowned Sonata.

Pinkie and Sonata looked dreadfully at the pile of muffins. Soon enough, they both had eaten them all, but Pinkie and Sonata were green in the face, and felt very sick.

“I can't believe you ate all our muffins, Pinkie Pie and Sonata!” Applejack acted, “We'd best go inside and get some more!”

“Nice work, you two,” Twilight remarked, as they all entered the bakery and went downstairs into the basement. Pinkie and Sonata more or less tumbled down the stairs, because they felt so full and sick. The Basement was rather dark with only a single lightbulb in the centre of the room as the only source of light.

“I don’t feel so good,” Sonata groaned.

“I've accidentally eaten cardboard tastier than that...” Pinkie moaned.

“Hello? Sugar Belle?” Twilight called out.

“Thank you for coming!” came Sugar Belle’s voice, as she stepped out from the darkness, grinning widely.

“Why did you want us to come down here?” Twilight asked her.

“So nopony could see what's about to happen,” Sugar Belle responded, sounding menacing.

Suddenly, out of the shadows, Party Favour and Night Glider approached them, grinning as they did. Feeling scared and defensive, Twilight readied her horn to fire. And then…

“Are you really the Princess of Friendship?” Party Favour asked Twilight.

“Do you know Princess Celestia?” Night Glider inquired.

“I love your cutie mark!” Sugar Belle remarked, grabbing Pinkie’s rear.

“How can you be friends with different cutie marks?” Night Glider asked Rarity and Fluttershy, “Don't you end up hating each other?”

“Is it true you two are Twilight and Sunset’s children,” Party Favour questioned Sam and Gwen.

“Oh, look at this one! This one's great too!” Sugar Belle exclaimed touching Fluttershy’s rump, “I'd love to have my special talent back even just for a day! Make something besides those disgusting muffins...”

“So what's stopping you?” Nick questioned, “Go get your cutie marks back.”

“Daydreaming is one thing, but you mean actually having it put back on. That seems extreme,” Party Favour commented.

“I'm not sure Starlight would like that,” Sugar Belle responded, “She wants us all to be happy in our sameness.”

“Is ‘sameness’ even a word?” Chris asked Sam.

“It must be if it’s not getting spell checked,” Sam answered.

“How do you take somepony's cutie mark anyway?” Sunset asked.

“Cutie unmarking is a beautiful experience!” Night Glider declared, “Starlight uses the Staff of Sameness to magically take them away and replace them with these.”

“O-o-o-kay that’s a stretch,” Laughed Nick, “Staff of Sameness.”

“But nopony should keep you from your cutie mark,” Sunset responded, “It represents such an essential part of who you are.”

“Oh, we're not kept from them. They're in the vault up in the caves,” Night Glider told them, “We can visit them any time we like to remind us of the heartache of a life with special talents.”

“Can we visit this cave?” Twilight asked.

Later that day, Starlight Glimmer was leading the Mane Ten plus Ultra Siblings outside the village and to the Cutie Mark Vault, pleased by their interest in it.

“I'm delighted you're interested in our cutie mark vault. We hope someday every pony in Equestria will make a pilgrimage here to our little village to have theirs removed too,” she remarked before continuing under her breath, “and our message of perfectly equal friendship can finally spread across the land.”

This must be the reason we're here,” Twilight whispered to her friends.

“‘Pilgrimaging’?” Pinkie questioned, thinking that was the reason they were here.

“No, helping those ponies get their cutie marks back,” Twilight replied.

“Oh, are you sure, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, “Maybe they miss them a little, but even they didn't seem all that unhappy.”

“Then why did they want to meet us in secret? And why did they ask us not to tell Starlight who told us about the vault? Something's not right,” Twilight remarked.

“Just through here!” Starlight called out, as she entered a cave, “Behold! Our cutie mark vault!” The Mane Ten and Ultra Siblings all gasped at what they were seeing. It was like a giant cage holding all the townsfolk’s cutie marks.

“I've never seen anything like it!” Twilight remarked.

“It looks like a giant iPhone,” commented Sam.

“And here is the Staff of Sameness. It was one of the great Mage Meadowbrook's nine enchanted items,” Starlight told them, walking over to a table with the Staff placed on it, when she mentioned Mage Meadowbrook, Twilight pondered on that claim, “We are incredibly fortunate to have it here. This is the tool that allows us to free ourselves from our marks!” Starlight then realised something, “I'm curious… How did the subject of the vault come up?”

“Oh, some ponies were telling us how much they missed their cutie marks, and…” Sonata accidentally said aloud.

“Sonata!” Adagio and Aria snapped at her.

“Oops…” Sonata squeaked, covering her muzzle, and backing up.

“Were they?” Starlight gasped, her friendly demeanour disappearing, “Well, it seems you inspire all sorts of free thinking, don't you?”

“Well,” Rarity let off a nervous laugh, “w-we certainly didn't intend to cause any disruptions to your charming little…”

“Good. Let's just make sure of that, shall we?” Starlight remarked, getting close to Rarity, she backed up only to be blocked by Double Diamond.

Suddenly, ponies started to surround the group of friends. “It’s a Trap!” Twilight, unintentionally quoting Star Wars.

She teleported into the air and started to charge up her magic. But Starlight was faster, and she fired a beam from the staff at Twilight, striking her with magic. Twilight cried in pain as she felt her cutie Mark get pulled off her flank. It floated to Starlight, who threw it into a spare space in the vault. Twilight’s colour became muted as in the place of her cutie mark was the equal sign, the same as the others.

Twilight fell to the ground with a thud, she felt weak without her cutie mark. Her friends were all shocked, then Starlight hit them with the same blast of magic, and forcefully pulled their cutie marks off as well. Sam and his team got ready to fight, when the same magic struck them.

“Don’t think I forgot about you,” Starlight remarked, using her magic to lift them up in the air.

“Your magic is useless!” Sam called out, “we don’t have cutie marks!”

“No but you do have something else,” Starlight replied with an evil grin. Sam wondered what she meant, but then found it out when he felt his chest starting to hurt. “You see, I already knew the existence of Ultraman in Equestria. And so the moment I saw you and your little friends, I knew who you really were.”

He looked down and saw his Colour timer getting pulled from his chest. Him and his team all cried in pain, Starlight even grunted, taking their colour timers was a lot harder than taking cutie marks. Tears of pain were forming in their eyes, and then… the sounds of something tearing echoed around the cave. Starlight had pulled their Colour Timers off their bodies.

Their bodies felt limp, as she dropped them on the ground in front of Twilight and everyone. Twilight cried as she ran over to her fallen child.

“SAM!” she shouted. Sam was pale and looked more or less dead, she pulled down his t-shirt to reveal the torn skin on his chest where his Colour timer was. He was breathing quite slowly, “Speak to me!”

“You Monster!” Sunset shouted, “they’re just children!”

“Aw. I don't blame you for what you tried to do here today,” Starlight commented, seemingly not caring about Sam and his team, “You've spent your whole lives thinking those marks are a good thing.”

“Give them back!” Twilight shouted in a mother’s fury.

“Well, now you can spend the rest of your lives here with us!” Starlight responded, “And we'll teach you just how much better life can be without your cutie marks!”

The Girls were worried and angry at Starlight, as they stared at her, Sam’s breathing grew slowly.

Chapter 46: The Cutie Map Part 2 (Edited)

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The Ponies and kids were moved to an empty house that was sort of like a prison. Two Ponies stood outside and guarded the door, as on a loudspeaker, Starlight’s voice spoke out.

“In sameness, there is peace. Exceptionalism is a lie. Free yourself from your cutie mark. Choose equality as your special talent. Difference is frustration. To excel is to fail. Be your best by never being your best.”

The message she had set on repeat was to manipulate the girls into agreeing with her plans, but so far it just made them all get annoyed. Rainbow was struggling to get the door opened, but due to no longer having her Cutie Mark or her special talent, her strength had been halved.

“Hey, this is pretty good!” Pinkie said as she was looking through a book. I say looking because all the pages had the mark as them and the other ponies.

“Ugh, we've gotta find a way out of here!” Twilight remarked, “I can't take much more of that voice!”

“Oh, this is horrible!” Rarity cried.

“There, there, Rarity...” Fluttershy comforted her, “It's not so bad...”

“Yes, it is! Look at those drapes!” Rarity replied pointing at some drapes that looked worn as heck, “I have no idea if they're tacky or not!”

“Well, I think they're nice,” Fluttershy responded.

“So do I!” Rarity shouted as she burst into tears, her mark pulsing as she said that. Due to having her special talent taken away, Rarity had lost her sense of fashion. Fluttershy backed up and heard a twitter at an open window, she turned and saw a bird land on the windowsill.

“Oh, thank goodness!” she stated, “Can you help us, little birdie?”

The bird tweeted at Fluttershy, but because Fluttershy’s had her Cutie mark and special talent stolen, she couldn’t understand animals anymore.

“Go on, now! Fly away and get us help!” She told the bird. The bird also didn’t understand what Fluttershy was saying as it tilted its head in confusion and flew away. “Oh, even tweets don't make sense anymore!”

Applejack tried to kick the door down, as she ran up to the door and kicked it, but she too had lost most of her strength, as she toppled over after kicking it. Luckily Rainbow had leaped out of the way before Applejack kicked the door.

“This door's shut tighter than a... summer of...” Applejack tried to say, but she had also lost her country-style mannerisms, “...uh, piglets in... shoot! I can't even make countryisms no more!”

“I don't know! Maybe it'll be super fun to be all the same!” Pinkie remarked, as her mark also pulsed, she was now less cheerful as a result of her losing her special talent, “Sort of. More pleasant than fun, I guess...”

“Something odd about that staff,” Twilight remarked, “I haven't studied Eastern unicorns as much as I should have, but I'm pretty sure Meadowbrook only had eight magical items, not nine. And I don't remember any of them being a staff.”

“When I was back in the human world, I studied a bit of that world’s Eastern History, and it would seem that it’s rather similar to this worlds history,” Sunset chimed in, “I knew one of Meadowbrook’s was a plague doctor-like mask, but I but the others I guess aren’t staff.”

“Well, it looks like you'll have plenty of time to try to think about it,” Adagio remarked.

A Long time seemed to pass by, as the girls started to slowly lose hope. Twilight continued to think of a plan while Sunset and Sonata looked over the kids, who all still seemed to be out cold. The night soon came around, the ponies slept as Twilight continued to think. And all the while, Starlight’s voice came through the loudspeaker, and recited her words of manipulation, Twilight was now getting a headache at listening to it. The next morning soon came, and Twilight hadn’t gotten any sleep, she was still thinking, when…

“I’ve got it!” she announced waking everyone up, “I know how we can get out!”

“Forget it, Twilight,” Rainbow sighed, “This door's not opening.”

“And I'm afraid the windows are much too small for escape,” Rarity responded.

“Oh I got it, let’s get Sam to blast a hole in the wall so we can escape!” Aria remarked, “Oh wait, we can’t, because Starlight killed them!”

“I’m… Not… Dead… yet…” came a wheezing voice. Everyone looked behind them, to see Sam slowly getting back to his trembling feet. He didn’t look great at all, his skin was sickly pale and his muscles felt too weak for him to even walk. He tried to take a step, but he tripped and fell. Twilight dashed over to him and caught him before hit the floor.

“Don’t push yourself sweetie,” Twilight spoke motherly.

“How?! Rainbow shouted, “How are you alive?!”

“Ultraman… Separated… Me…” Sam huffed, even talking was exhausting, “He was… like a… life support… for me… I fear that… I might be… slowly dying.”

“Don’t say that!” Sunset shouted, “we’ll get your colour timer back.”

“I also have… no Specium Energy… Running through me…” Sam commented, “I won’t be… much help to you’ll…”

“Well there goes the idea to blast a hole in the wall,” Aria remarked before getting smacked by Adagio.

“Anyway, you were saying Twilight?” Adagio asked.

“Oh right, there is another way to get out of here,” Twilight replied.

“Of course! Eventually the wind and the weather will wear down the walls until they start to crumble! Then all we have to do is wait for a big enough hole to form and we can just walk out! It's the perfect plan!” Pinkie explained, before her chipper mood dropped again, “I guess.”

“We don't actually have to escape,” Twilight told them, “They'll just let us out when they think we've accepted their philosophy!”

“But they're never gonna believe we switched over in just one night,” Applejack retorted.

“There's one of us they might believe,” Twilight said, turning to look at Fluttershy.

“Oh! Me?!” Fluttershy exclaimed as everyone stared at her.

“You've been saying how great this place is since we got here!” Rainbow shouted.

“But that's because everypony's so nice and their village is so pretty, and, and...” Fluttershy started to speak, but then realised what they meant, “Oh, you're right. They probably would believe me. I hate to lie to them. They've been so welcoming and friendly... aside from locking us in here and trying to brainwash us into abandoning the things that make us special... Okay. I'll do it.”

“Woo-hoo!” Pinkie cried before calming down again, “I mean, cool.”

“But what do I do once I'm out?” Fluttershy asked.

“You've gotta find a way to get our cutie marks back,” Twilight told her, Fluttershy gulped.

Suddenly the loudspeaker came on, and Starlight’s voice spoke out.

“Oh, good morning!” came her voice, as the door opened and Starlight walked in, “I trust you had a pleasant night? And how’s our little heroes doing?”

“Stay away from them!” Sunset snarled, hugging Sam close to her. Starlight looked at Sam as he stared back at her crossly.

“I see he’s recovering well. This way, please. There are some friends who'd like to see you,” Starlight remarked as she led the girls outside, “Gather round, friends, gather round! We've come to ask if any of you are ready to join us! There are so many friends to be made once you realise you don't need your cutie marks or the talents that come with them.” Twilight and the girls all scowl at Starlight.

“We have a welcome ceremony for new friends!” Double Diamond called out, “The whole village joins together to build you your own cottage…”

“Not interested!” shouted Rainbow Dash, “You may have them now, but we're going to get our cutie marks back!”

“Y'all don't understand, do ya?” Applejack spoke up, “You can't force nopony to be friends! It doesn't work like that!”

“Please, join us!” cried Sunny Song.

“We love new friends!” called out Rosemary.

“It's all right, everypony. This is a perfectly normal part of the equalisation process for those who haven't...” Starlight paused as she looked back at the girls, “quite seen the light yet. We'll try again tomorrow once you've had a bit more time to consider our philosophy!”

Twilight and the girls were led back inside the cottage, but just as Twilight was about to enter, she realised that Fluttershy didn’t speak out. She gave a slight kick in her arm. Fluttershy knew that was the que for her to act.

“I'd like to join!” she cried out before covering her mouth. The townsfolk all cheered that they had a new friend, while Starlight smirked.

“Fluttershy? How could you?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“If giving up my cutie mark means I get to stay in this lovely village with these lovely ponies, then I'll do it,” Fluttershy replied, giving Starlight a nervous smile. Twilight smirked back at Fluttershy as she went back into the cottage and Starlight closed the door behind her.

“We have a new friend, everypony!” Starlight announced as the ponies all chattered as they surrounded Fluttershy, “Now, there's one more order of business. It seems some in our midst might be... dissatisfied with the village life!” All the ponies gasped in shock.

“Unfortunately, it's all too true, my friends!” Starlight Continued as she turned to Fluttershy, “Will you kindly tell us the names of those friends who so desperately miss their cutie marks that they would sneak around in the shadows talking to strangers about it? Just so we can be sure your intentions are indeed pure.” At the back of the crowd, Party Favour, Night Glider, and Sugar Belle looked at each other nervously.

Fluttershy gulped in worry. “Um, I don't know who they were,” she said, sweating in fear, “Um, I'm sorry. I don't know your names and faces yet.”

“Nonsense! Obviously these ponies must have asked you directly. Kindly point them out!” Starlight told her. Sugar Belle, Night Glider, and Party Favour were getting more worried and nervous. Feeling more worried about his friends than himself, Party Favour knew what he had to do.

“It was me!” he shouted, everyone turned to look at him, “It was only me! But I only wanted it back for a little while!”

“And you're quite certain it was only you?” Starlight asked, holding his head up with her hoof.

“I just wanted to remember what it was like,” Party Favour sadly replied.

“And no thought to the pain you'd cause your friends. Such selfishness,” Starlight retorted, as she pointed to the cottage.

“I'm sorry, everypony! I never wanted to leave the village!” Party Favour called out as he limped into the cottage, “I love all of…” He never got to finish what he was saying as the door slammed shut in his face. Sugar Belle and Night Glider felt sorry and bad for Party Favour, they would have rather gone with him than to watch him go himself.

“What was I thinking?!” Party Favour yelled as he slammed his horn into the door, “I can't believe I even considered asking for my cutie mark back.”

“Don't worry. Fluttershy will have us out of here in no time!” Rainbow tried to reassure him.

“Didn't you see what just happened out there?!” Party Favour exclaimed, “Your friend has accepted our way! You will all accept our way! It's only a matter of time!”

“This guy's a barrel of laughs,” Aria remarked.

“Laughs don't come in barrels. They come from inside you as your body's response to delight,” Pinkie replied flatly, everyone all turned to look at her with shock.

“That might have been the flattest reaction I’ve seen from her,” Sam commented.

“So what are we gonna do while Fluttershy's out there lookin' for our cutie marks?” Applejack asked.

“We have to stay as positive as we can,” Twilight replied, “If Party Favour sees how much we really do like each other, even though we're all different, maybe we can use him to spread our message to the rest of the village.”

Suddenly the loudspeaker came on again, and Starlight’s message started to repeat. “To excel is to fail.”

“Let's hope they don't convert any of us first,” Rarity stated.

“If I had my powers I would blast the loudspeaker to shut it up,” Sam remarked.

Starlight was leading Fluttershy down the street, as the townsfolk greeted her. “Gosh, you really are the nicest ponies I've ever met,” Fluttershy remarked.

“Come. All new friends stay with me until their cottage is completed,” Starlight told her as she led her to her cottage, “Let's get you settled, and then you can enjoy all that our little village has to offer.” Fluttershy turned to look back at the village, Sugar Belle and Night Glider watched with worried smiles on their faces. Fluttershy entered the cottage, as Starlight gave an evil smirk behind her back and followed her inside before closing the door.

Once night falls, Fluttershy sneaks out through the chimney to retrieve the cutie marks from the vault. She coughed and sputtered as she shook herself clean of soot. “Get the cutie marks back. That's all you've gotta do, Fluttershy,” She tried to encourage herself, “Just sneak through the dark up to that spooky old cave with the scary magical staff and get the cutie marks back.” She fluttered out the chimney and started to walk.

In the cold still night, it felt like hours before Fluttershy spoke again, “Okay, you're doing great. The cave's gotta be closed now...” She remarked, but it turned out that she had only walked a couple of steps on the roof of the cottage.

“Excellent work, Double Diamond,” came Starlight’s voice, Fluttershy looked over the edge of the roof to see Double Diamond standing outside the door, with a crate of jars and talking to Starlight.

“Of course, but I don't understand why you wanted me to bring them here,” he said as Starlight levitated the crate with her magic, “Fluttershy is one of us now. Surely she can be trusted.”

“This one belongs to a princess, and this one belongs to that son of her,” Starlight said as she pulled out a jar with Twilight’s cutie mark inside and one with Sam’s Colour Timer, Fluttershy peaked through the window and watched being careful not to get spotted herself, “they could be very important to our cause.”

“But if Twilight Sparkle and her son become our friends, then why do we care about this old cutie mark and flashy thing?” Double Diamond asked.

“I just want to keep them close until everything is... settled. Maybe I could use my magic to rework one of their chest devices to work on my and help us spread out messages,” Starlight replied, “You may go, Double Diamond.”

Fluttershy zipped behind the cottage to hide as Double Diamond left. “Oh, dear. How am I ever going to get the cutie marks back now?” Fluttershy questioned herself, she then heard Starlight cry out, she flew up to spy on her, and saw that she had tripped over a bucket of water, getting herself soaked with water.

“Ugh! Starlight, you clumsy foal!” she remarked as she placed the jars down and levitated a towel over to dry herself off. But as she dried herself up, Fluttershy discovers something shocking about Starlight, Her equal sign cutie mark is fake! Her real cutie mark was a glimmering star. Fluttershy watched Starlight as she hid her cutie mark with makeup and painted the fake cutie mark back on.

Fluttershy gasped in shock, alerting Starlight. Fluttershy dipped away as Starlight looked at the window with a frown. Not seeing anyone, Starlight went to her bed and turned off the light. Fluttershy was now more nervous than ever. “Oh no,” she remarked as she fluttered back to her room.

The next morning, Starlight had gathered the townsfolk up again, to see if any of the girls had converted yet. By this point, Gwen, Ace, and Chris had also woken up. Devon and Nicholas were still out cold. In Devon’s case, as his is Ultraman Zero, removing his colour timer legibly put him in a coma, and Nick didn’t even have a colour timer, his beam lamp was on his forehead, and it’s rather unclear if he'll wake up because of this.

“I've got a good feeling about today!” Starlight announced, as the girls all stepped outside, Sam, Gwen, Ace, and Chris all sat of Twilight, Sunset, Pinkie, and Rarity’s backs respectively, and not one of them had gotten a wink of sleep, “So, do any of you have anything you'd like to say?” no one replied, they all just looked away. “Aw, pity. Well, let's try this again tomorrow, shall we? No new friends today, I'm afraid!”

“Wait! I'd like to lock them in,” Fluttershy said to Starlight.

“Marvellous, Fluttershy! That's the spirit!” Starlight cheered, “Party Favour, will you join us, please?”

Just as Applejack was about to enter the cottage, Party Favour darted out, and hugged Starlight’s arm. “I'm sorry, Starlight! I'm sorry, everypony! I've seen the error of my ways! I never want to look at my cutie mark again!” Party Favour cried.

“It seems there's cause for celebration after all!” Starlight announced, the townsfolk all cheered.

“They tried to break me!” Party Favour replied, “They wouldn't stop talking about how different they are, and that somehow makes their friendship stronger!”

“Such backwards thinking,” Starlight retorted.

“But I didn't listen!” Party Favour rose to his hooves, with an extremely derpy face, “I knew what they were up to, and I didn't listen!”

“Well done, Party Favour!” Starlight responded, “We welcome you back with open hooves!”

“Um, Starlight? I think we might have one more friend joining us today,” Fluttershy said, as Twilight stepped out the door. The crowd of ponies all gasped.

“Is this true?” Starlight questioned, shoving Party Favour aside.

“I-I think so,” Twilight answered, “But I just want to be sure. If I agree to leave my cutie mark in the vault, will I really be happier?”

“Just look around! Equality has given us more happiness than you've ever known!” Starlight told her.

“And you wouldn't let me just live here in the village with my old cutie mark?” Twilight asked.

“Out of the question,” Starlight replied, “A pony with a different cutie mark in our midst would destroy our entire philosophy. We are all equal here!”

“Then how do you explain this?!” shouted Fluttershy, as she chucked a bucket of water down on Starlight. The Unicorn jumped out of the way before she could get soaked in water, and reveal her secret to everyone.

“I knew you couldn't be trusted!” Starlight snarled at Fluttershy. Party Favour noticed that a bit of water had splashed onto Starlight’s flank and trickled down her cutie mark, removing the makeup. He got his clothes and whipped it clean, “No! Get away!” Starlight shouted but it was too late, her true cutie mark was on full display. The townsfolk couldn’t believe it as they muttered to each other. Starlight tried to hide her cutie mark using her tail as she turned to face the crowd. “Wha... What are you looking at?! They're the problem, not me!”

The Mane 10 all stood behind her with smirks on their faces, and feeling proud of Fluttershy. “How could you?” Party Favour questioned, as tears formed in his eyes, feeling heartbroken.

“You said cutie marks were evil! You said special talents led to pain and heartache!” Double Diamond chimed in.

“They do! Don't you see?! Look at them!” Starlight shouted, pointing at the group behind her.

“Then why?” questioned Sugar Belle, “Why did you take ours and not give up your own?”

“I... I had to, you fools!” Starlight snapped, her kind demeanour replaced with anger, “How could I collect your cutie marks without my magic?!”

“But the staff has all the magic we need!” Night Glider responded.

“The staff is a piece of wood I found in the desert!” Starlight retorted, “It's my magic that makes all this possible! You'd all still be living your miserable lives thinking you're better than everypony else if it weren't for my magical abilities! I brought you friendship! I brought you equality! I created harmony!”

“I bet she didn’t pay for their internet,” Sam whispered to his team, “that’s if they had any.”

“You lied to us!” shouted Double Diamond.

“So what? E-Everything else I said is true! The only way to be happy is if we're all equal!” Starlight stated.

“Except for you,” Party Favour retorted. Starlight snapped around and snarled at them, lighting her horn up with magic and making a sound similar to that of Springtrap’s jumpscare sound.

“Everypony has unique talents and gifts,” Twilight started to speak up, “and when we share them with each other, that's how rea…”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!” Starlight roared, she was so furious that a vein was visible on her neck. Everyone jumped back in shock.

“Watch your profanity,” Sam finally spoke up quietly. Starlight just about heard what Sam said, and in her fury, forcefully levitated him over to her.

“I’m going to kill you with the very thing I stole from you!” Starlight growled, but before she could do anything, the townsfolk started to surround her.

“Let him go, Starlight,” Twilight stated sternly.

“You can't have a cutie mark, Starlight!” Sugar Belle spoke up, “Either we're all equal, or none of us are!” the ponies all closed in on Starlight. She started to panic, she used her magic to push them away, and galloped back to her cottage.

“Come on! Let's get our cutie marks back!” Double Diamond shouted. The townsfolk all cried out as well as they all galloped to the cave housing the Cutie Mark Vault.

“Come on! Let's go get our cutie marks!” Rainbow Dash yelled before Fluttershy stopped her.

“Our cutie marks aren't in the vault! They're in there with her!” She replied pointing to Starlight’s cottage.

The townsfolk all tried to break the vault and retrieve their cutie marks, but they weren’t strong enough to break it open. That’s when Double Diamond had an idea. “Stand back, everypony!” he shouted, with the hunk of wood Starlight had said was a staff, in his mouth, as he galloped forward. He then threw the piece of wood at the vault, causing it to crake, once it struck it. The vault began to crack more, until it shattered, causing the cutie marks inside zipped all over the place and landed back on their respective owners.

Double Diamond’s cutie mark, a trio of blue snowflakes, reattached itself to him, he then began to float into the air, as he started to glow, when the glow vanished, Double Diamond had his original mane and tail style, and his colours were bold once more. The other townsfolk undergo the same change, when they got their cutie marks back as well, including Sugar Belle, Night Glider, and Party Favour. They all exited the cave, as cutie marks zipped outside and returned to the ponies.

“Even without my cutie mark, I can tell this is beautiful!” Rarity remarked. From inside her cottage, Starlight witnessed the ponies get their cutie marks back.

“They think they can come to my village and disrupt my life?” she remarked, “Let's see how they like spending the rest of their lives without their precious cutie marks!” She used her magic to levitate her bed away and reveal a secret staircase out her house.

Back outside, Applejack tried to kick down the door, but she wasn’t strong enough due to her losing her strength. Rarity tried to help but it kinda seemed like she wasn’t trying at all. The girls then heard a whistle, they looked up to see Double Diamond, Party Favour, Sugar Belle, and Night Glider.

“Stand back, everypony!” Night Glider called out and flew up and charged at the door, breaking it down. The ponies all ran in and started to look around for their cutie marks and the kids’ colour timers. Fluttershy opened Starlight’s door, expecting to see them there.

“They're gone! They were right over there!” She stated. They all looked around the room and saw that Starlight had flipped her bed and escaped through a secret exit. They all went down the stairs and ended up outside her house. They all looked around a little more, and Rainbow spotted her.

“Look!” Rainbow shouted, pointing at Starlight as she ran away.

Party Favour couldn’t see her very well, so he pulled out a balloon and made a pair of balloon binoculars. “She's headed for the pass!” Party Favour shouted, “If she makes it into those mountains, we'll never find her!”

“These are amazing!” Sonata remarked as she took the balloon binoculars and looked around with them.

“There's a whole network of caves up there!” Sugar Belle stated, “Your cutie marks will be gone forever!”

“Then let's get moving, y'all!” Applejack announced.

The group of ponies then started to run after Starlight, as Rainbow tried to fly ahead, she was overtaken by Night Glider in the sky, and Sugar Belle, Party Favour, and Double Diamond on the ground. She looked back and saw her friends, trotting as fast as they could, which wasn’t very fast at all.

“Oh, come on!” She shouted in anger.

Starlight ran as fast as she could to get to the mountains, pulling a wagon with the girls cutie marks and the kids’ colour timers. Night Glider was quickly catching up to her.

“Are you all so willing to give up everything because of these strangers?!” Starlight shouted as she blasted some snow with magic, causing it to fall down and crush Night Glider under it. Luckily she was ok.

“We gave up everything for you,” cried Sugar Belle, “because we thought you were our friend!”

Meanwhile, far behind, the mane 10 and Ultra Siblings were trotting along as fast as they could to catch up with Starlight.

“I can't believe we have to count on these other ponies to save our cutie marks!” Rainbow remarked.

“If we hadn't come here to help them, they'd still be living under her rules!” Twilight told her, “Now it's their turn to help us!”

“And I know they can do it!” Fluttershy commented.

“I just want my powers back,” Sam remarked, “I feel so tired and drained without my Specium Energy.”

Starlight was just crossing a bridge, as Double Diamond, Party Favour and Sugar Belle were catching up to her. Sugar Belle got an idea, as she looked at her cutie mark, she levitated over some snow and shaped it into a pie.

“My newest recipe – snow pie!” She shouted as she threw the snow pie at Starlight.

The snow pie smashed down and severed the wooden rods in between Starlight and her cart, sending the jars flying over the edge. Starlight used her magic to catch the jars before they could shatter on the ground. She started to run on again, but not before destroying the bridge, so the ponies couldn’t follow her. Double Diamond nearly fell off but luckily Sugar Belle caught him. It was time for Party Favour to do his thing, Starlight seemed to have forgotten what he could do with Balloons. He pulled out some balloons and quickly made a balloon bridge. Night Glider helped connect it to the other side, and the quartet continued after Starlight. The Mane 10 were just rounding a corner when they saw this.

“She's gonna get away!” yelled Aria.

As they chased after Starlight, Double Diamond skidded to a halt when he saw his old skis. “Whoa! These are my old skis!” he remarked, “This is where I first met Starlight!”

“Maybe you can reminisce another time!” Night Glider called to him, “She's almost to the caves!”

“Feel like an air drop?” Double Diamond asked.

Starlight was almost at the cave entrance, when Night Glider flew over her, holding Double Diamond, all kitted out in his snowboarding gear. Night Glider dropped Double Diamond on the side of the mountain, and he slid down on his skis, causing the snow under him to shift and catch Starlight just before she could enter the cave. Starlight was covered in snow, and so, let go of the jars, which shattered on the ground, and sent the Cutie marks and colour timers flying back to the mane 10 and Ultra siblings. The moment the colour timers reattached to the kids, they immediately turned into their ultra forms.

“Yee-haw! Finally, I can buck like a five-bit snake herder in an Appaloosa ranch house again!” Applejack announced.

“And you got your countryisms back, too!” Fluttershy remarked.

“Oh it feels so great to have the Specium Energy running through my body again,” Ultraman stated.

“Nick?” Mary asked as she turned to Ultraseven, who was starting to wake up.

“Oh my head is banging,” he commented, “What did I miss?” He didn’t get a reply, save from Mary launching at him and giving him a hug. After Mary let go, the group all ran as fast as they could to help their new friends.

As Double Diamond joined back up with his friends, Starlight crawled out of the snow, she scowled at the four ponies that stopped her. She climbed out the snow, charged up her horn and fired a powerful blast of magic at them. But just before the attack could hit them Twilight and Ultraman landed in front of them and protected their new friends. Starlight soon stopped firing once she saw what Twilight had done.

“Wh… I studied that spell for years!” she declared, “How can you…”

“I studied magic for years too! But what I didn't know then was that studying could only take me so far,” Twilight replied, “Each of my friends has taught me something different about myself! It was their unique gifts and passions and personalities that helped bring out the magic inside of me! I never would have learned that I represent the element of magic without these nine! And I certainly wouldn't be here to stop you now!”

“Spare me your sentimental nonsense!” Starlight yelled, rolling her eyes, “I gave these ponies real friendships they never could've had otherwise!”

“How do you know that?!” shouted Double Diamond, “You never even gave us a chance!”

Scowling, Starlight lit up her horn, and caused a bright flash of light, when the light died down, Starlight was gone. She had disappeared into the cave.

“She's getting away!” Rainbow cried.

“We'll never find her in there!” Double Diamond responded.

“I give Sinder a call later and see if she can be able to track her down,” Ultraman stated.

“Can she do that?” Tiga asked.

“She’s a hellhound so I would guess so,” Ultraman answered.

“We just have to hope that when she's had a chance to think it over, she realises that you all have taught her something,” Twilight replied.

“It's you who have taught us something,” Party Favour said, “We all came to this village because we were searching for something missing from our lives. We thought Starlight had given it to us, but now... now it seems it was in front of us all along. It's us!”

“Does that mean you'll stay in the village?” Twilight asked.

“It's our home,” Night Glider replied, “I'm not going anywhere.”

“This is a chance for all of us to get to know each other again for the very first time!” Double Diamond responded.

“And I finally have a chance to bake something besides terrible muffins!” Sugar Belle stated, giving everyone a good laugh.

As the group started to make their way back to the village, the Ultras all returned back to normal, and looked normal as well. But something didn’t feel right.

“I feel different,” Chris remarked.

“Me too,” Nick agreed.

Sam looked down and noticed that he still didn’t have his Colour timer, but his chest was completely fine. No scar, no wound, nothing. Then he felt something in his pocket, he reached in and saw he had a small capsule.

“Guys, I don’t have my Colour timer, but I do have this thing,” Sam told them, he also somehow knew what it was called, “I think it’s called a Beta Capsule.”

“I’m the same,” Ace replied, “but my thing is called a Sparklence.”

“I’ve got something called a Flash Prism,” Chris called out.

“I’ve got my Zero Eye,” Devon replied.

“I have an Ultra Eye,” Nick said.

“And I have this beautiful ring called the Sister Ring,” Gwen responded.

“Why has this happened?” Sunset asked.

“I don’t know,” Sam replied.

“Maybe it’s foreshadowing something,” Nick guessed.

“Or maybe it’s the sense that we’re levelled up or something like that,” Chris theorised.

“Who knows,” Ace said.

“and who cares,” Gwen responded, “I just love this ring.” The team just rolled their eyes and chuckled.

Once the group got back to the village, they all celebrated the return of their cutie marks and their true selves, as they gave real smiles instead of their fake ones. Everyone was enjoying themselves, chatting and laughing amongst themselves, Sugar Belle made tons of tasty treats, and even one pony in the back made a Wilhelm scream. The Mane 10 and Ultra Siblings looked upon them all having fun.

“Now those are real smiles,” Pinkie commented. Suddenly they all feel their cutie marks pulsate, they all look down to see them flashing.

“I'll never get used to that,” Applejack remarked.

“I think it's divine,” Rarity commented.

“Does that mean that the map is calling us somewhere else?” Fluttershy asked.

“I have a feeling it means our work here is done,” Twilight replied.

“Looks like you were right, Twilight,” Applejack stated, “The map did have a reason for sendin' us here. We brought real friendship to these ponies. Guess that's why you're the Princess of Friendship.”

“But the map didn't send me,” Twilight told her, “It sent us. You're a part of me, all of you. And there's no doubt you're a part of my mission to spread friendship too.” Everyone squealed as they all came in for a group hug.

“This feels like an ending! It doesn't have to be an ending yet, right? 'Cause that Sugar Belle can bake!” Pinkie remarked.

“Maybe we can stay a little while longer. Come on!” Twilight said, and so the girls and kids stay from the rest of the party.

Meanwhile, in the cave, Starlight was now lost. She could remember where she had come from, and was getting a little scared that she might run into a monster. But she was still furious with Twilight and her friends.

“They have ruined my life!” she growled to herself, “this is the second time my life’s gone wrong. Oh, but don’t worry Twilight, I’ll get my revenge. On you, your friends, and your son.”

“Don’t you want to take revenge? Don’t you want unlimited power, and get all that you desire.” A voice echoed in Starlight’s head. Starlight jumped as she looked around to see where the voice came from. Suddenly a portal opened behind her, she turned around and saw a figure step out.

“Who are you, and what do you want with me?” Starlight snarled at him, ready to hit him with a blast of her magic.

“Don’t you want revenge on those that have wronged you?” he spoked, “I can help you with that. In exchange, you help me conquer Equestria.”

“Ugh, fine,” Starlight begrudgingly agreed, “but I’m only helping because I want revenge on Twilight.”

“You’ve made the right choice,” the figure said, as he led Starlight through the portal as it shut behind her.

Chapter 47: The Storm of Orochi (Edited)

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The girls and kids soon returned to Ponyville, still laughing, and chatting about the time they had at Our Town, but Sam was still concerned about Starlight, and what might happen with her on the run. Twilight assured him not to be too concerned about her and try to relax for the time being. Over the next few days, Sam and his team got used to using their new Ultra Items for turning into their Ultra forms.

For the Ponies, Twilight had started to help her friends out a bit too much, the reason why was because she was avoiding her new castle, due to the feeling of it being too cold, big, and empty to be her home. Her friends decided to help their friend make it feel like a home to her while Sam, Gwen, and Spike treat her to a relaxing day at the spa. When Twilight came home, she was moved to tears when she discovered that the girls had made a chandelier made out of the roots of the library.

Autumn was coming to an end, and the girls were helping the townsfolk getting ready for Winter. The girls were in the park and were just finishing up sweeping the fallen leaves into piles ready to be bagged and put away.

“Few, that’s the last of them,” Twilight responded, whipping her forehead with her hoof.

“Good, I was starting to get a cramp in my wings,” Rainbow remarked, as she flexed her wings.

“This could have been done a while ago if somepony would have put more effort into the job,” Applejack stated as she turned to look at Rarity.

“Hey I gave it my all,” Rarity retorted.

“You wouldn’t sweep any leaves until you got a clean rake,” Applejack said.

“Hey calm down you two, the job is done,” Sunset told them, “jeez you two argue like an old married couple.”

“Hey we do not!” Rarity shouted before blushing a bit.

“But she is right, the job’s done,” Applejack agreed, “why don’t we all head back to Sweet Apple Acres for some refreshing Apple Cider after we bagged these leaves up.”

The girls all agreed to that, and were just about to bag up the leaves when Sonata noticed something, it looked like leaves getting thrown about a good distance away from them.

“Urm, girls?” she called out, “Is that the wind doing that or something else?”

“There’s a breeze, but it’s not strong enough to toss leaves like that,” Twilight replied, the girls looked at each other, before running off to see what was happening. As they got closer they could hear voices.

What was happening was Sam, his team and friends were all playing in the piles of leaves. They were cheering and laughing, tossing bundles of leaves into the air, and jumping into piles on the ground. They were having a great fun, until the girls came running up, with stern expressions.

“Can you stop doing that please?” Twilight asked with an annoyed expression.

“We spent all day sorting those piles out!” Aria shouted.

“Now, now Aria, calm down,” Adagio told her.

“Right, we would really appreciate it if you’d be so kind as to help us sweep these leaves back up again?” Fluttershy asked them politely. The kids didn’t know what to say.

“Now!” Sunset ordered, like a firm motherly.

“Yes mum,” Sam replied, quietly.

“All right,” Nick spoke up.

“We’ll help,” Diamond Tiara said.

“Sorry sis,” Apple Bloom responded.

The group all set to work. The CMC started to sort the leaves into a pile, Scootaloo helped a bit with blowing the leaves into a pile using her wings. Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom were being creative and used their tails to brush the leaves into a pile. While the Ultra Siblings were being a bit reckless and just grabbed a bunch of leaves and threw them over each other’s shoulders, sometimes landing on a pile and sometimes striking the others in the back.

Sam grabbed a bunch of leaves and was just about to throw them at Nick, but Twilight stabbed her hoof on the ground, making Sam drop the leaves and act innocent. During all this, Silver Spoon and Scootaloo noticed that Sweetie Belle had gone missing.

“No, no, no, you’re making even more of a mess,” Spike cried as he ran up and jumped onto a pile of Leaves, “let’s have the next pile over there.” Suddenly the pile started to shake, and Sweetie Belle burst out of it startling Spike and causing Scootaloo and Silver Spoon to burst into laughter.

“As they'll be making piles over there, I’ll start over here,” Chris said as he moved away from the group to start a new pile. Soon the group had finished with piling all the leaves into a few piles.

“Well done, all of you,” Twilight congratulated them all, “just give us a minute to get the sacks and we’ll bag these leaves up.”

Just then, dark clouds started rolling in, “Oh great, it’s raining,” Rarity complained.

“That’s strange, I don’t recall any rain clouds were scheduled for today,” Rainbow remarked.

“Maybe you missed a memo,” Aria retorted.

“These aren’t no ordinary rain clouds!” cried a voice, everyone looked over to see Granny Smith running faster than they have ever seen before.

“Granny? What are you talking about?” Applejack asked as Granny Smith stopped in front of them.

“This isn’t any normal rain!” Granny Smith shouted, “this is the beginning of something destructive! This is The Storm of Orochi!”

“The storm of what?” Rainbow questioned.

“The Storm of Orochi!” Granny Smith exclaimed, “It comes to Equestria every 100 years and rains destruction as it passes! Lightning Beams strike everywhere, from everywhere, and hurricane winds blow even the strongest structure to the ground!”

“I get the storm half, but why Orochi?” Sunset asked.

“Because some ponies say that something is in the centre of the storm,” Granny Smith replied, “some ponies say it’s the Mythical Incarnation of Evil itself, Yamata No Orochi. Some say the clap of thunder is the beast flapping its wings, while others say it’s the roar of the beast that’s the thunder.”

“I think I’ve heard of the Storm of Orochi,” Twilight said, “but I only read about it once.”

“What about you three?” Sunset asked the Dazzlings.

“We have also heard about it, but we never saw it,” Adagio replied.

“This is all very interesting Granny Smith, but I’m getting wet so I’m heading home,” Rarity said, “come along Sweetie Belle.”

“Ok Rarity,” Sweetie replied, following her sister.

“As you all are outside your homes I suggest you get inside too!” Rarity called back to her friends, “Goodnight Darlings!”

“She’s right,” Twilight said as she levitated Sam onto her back, “We can’t bag the leaves now, and it is getting late.”

“Alright goodnight everypony,” Sunset called to everyone.

The Girls and kids all bid their goodbyes and goodnights and they all went off to their separate homes. Sunset Levitated Gwen on her back and Spike ran after Twilight.

“Don’t forget what I said!” Granny Smith called out, “Make sure you’ll stay safe!”

“Come on Granny,” Applejack said, “I think it’s time for you to lay down.”

Soon enough, the rain got worse as the girls made it back to their homes, the winds started to pick up as well, blowing away all the piles of leaves and their hard work. Fluttershy quickly made sure each of her animal friends were inside safe and sound. Applejack and Big Mac had to barricade the windows and doors at Granny Smith’s orders. Rarity went to have a shower to warm herself up after walking home in the rain. Rainbow was making sure her house was secure on the ground. If Granny Smith was right about the storm, she needed to make sure her house would survive. The Dazzlings anchored Trixie’s wagon to the ground, in hopes that with help. And Pinkie was playing outside in the rain.

Once Twilight, Sunset and the others reached their castle, the rain and wind were picking up in power, Twilight instructed the kids to go and have showers to warm themselves up. Gwen had the first shower, as Sam just stared out the window watching the rain pour down outside. Soon the Lightning and thunder arrived, Twilight and Sunset were in the castle Library, Sunset was watching the storm out the window, as Twilight was trying to find out more about the Storm of Orochi.

“Geez, this is bad,” Sunset retorted, “all that work sweeping the leaves only for a storm to go and ruin it. You found anything yet.”

“I think I have,” Twilight replied, as a powerful flash of lightning lit up the room followed by the rumble of thunder a few seconds later, “It seems Star Swirl came across Yamata no Orochi on his travels, and it says here that Yamata no Orochi, is an eight-headed dragon that has been around for 10,000 years ago. It acts as a neutral destroyer, and keeps itself hidden in a giant storm. It destroy anything and everything with its Crimson Lightning that disrupt the natural world.”

“Well damn,” Sunset remarked.

“It also says that it's near impossible for somepony to see it, as it is hidden within the eye of the storm,” Twilight told her, “those that have seen it, either go insane from the sight, or never live to tell the tale. Yamata no Orochi is a God to all earth monsters.”

“I thought Godzilla was the one that was superior to all monsters,” Sunset responded.

“He is, but Godzilla is the King of the Monsters,” Twilight stated, “Orochi, is the God of all Monsters.”

“So he out ranks Godzilla?!” Sunset exclaimed, Twilight simply nodded, “What does it say about its appearance?”

“It says that Yamata no Orochi has a draconic appearance with a bulky body and stubby legs. It is red with multiple yellow horns on its heads and small spikes sticking out from the sides of a single large tail. It also says that it had giant wings that makes the sound of thunder clapping.”

Another flash of lightning lit up the room, “Woah that was a big one,” Sunset remarked, “one, two, three, four…” then came the rumble of thunder, “Four. That means it’s one mile away. Or is it four miles away. A quarter of a mile?”

“Doesn’t matter, it's getting closer,” Twilight stated.

Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the castle, causing the building to shake. Everyone inside slipped and fell, books fell from the shelves, the crystal chairs toppled over, even the lights turned off. Outside the castle everything was worse than it seemed, benches got blown over, the swings and turntable in the park were spinning and getting blown back and forth, even a stray lightning bolt struck the Ponyville Statue.

“Woah what happened?!” Sunset shouted, she couldn’t see a thing.

“I don’t know,” Twilight replied, lighting her horn up and illuminating the room.

“Was that an earthquake?” Sunset asked.

“I’m not sure,” Twilight replied, “maybe a stray lightning bolt struck the castle. It is a tall structure.”

“Twilight! Sunset!” Spike shouted as he came running in.

“Spike? What’s wrong?” Twilight questioned.

“It’s Gwen, she's fallen over and can’t get up!” Spike shouted. Twilight and Sunset gasped, as Spike led them to the bathroom. Spike showed them what had happened to Gwen.

“Sweetheart, what happened?” Twilight asked as she came closer to Gwen.

“I was just about to come out of the shower, when the castle shook, and I slipped in the tub and might have broken my arm and twisted my ankle,” Gwen explained. Gently Twilight used her magic to lift Gwen out of the bathtub and wrap a towel around her.

“It’s ok sweetie, I’m here now,” Twilight said motherly, “Let’s get you dried, and I’ll lay you down in my room.”

“Thanks mum,” Gwen replied, Twilight smiled down at her child.

Sunset too smiled, but then realised something, “Wait where’s Sam?” She questioned.

Sam was standing on the balcony staring up at the storm above him, he was soaked to the core, but he didn’t care. He had seen it all, it wasn’t a stray lightning bolt but a deliberate shot from the storm. He stared up at the black mass of clouds in the sky. Another lightning strike lit up the sky, and for a split second he swore he saw a shape hidden in the clouds.

He pulled out his Beta Capsule and donned his Ultrasuit, with his helmet’s vision, Sam could see through the storm, and could make out the shape a bit more clearly. It was draconic in shape, two massive wings, two long tails, and three heads on long necks. As another lightning struck, Sam could hear the three-headed dragon’s cry, it sounded mad, like it wanted to destroy everything.

As it fired its Lightning beams from its three mouths, the right head noticed Sam, and alerted its other heads. Sam saw the heads turned to look at him and the dragon starting to slowly lower itself down to the ground. As it touched down, the earth rumbled and soon Sam was face to faces with the three-headed dragon. The golden three-headed dragon.

“Holy Celestia,” Sam muttered.

“You don’t belong here human,” came a voice, Sam looked around, but he couldn’t see anyone else.

“Humans haven’t been seen for many millennia,” a second voice spoke up.

“He looks cool,” came a third, the voices sounded like they were echoing everywhere.

“Who’s there?!” Sam shouted, spinning around.

“In front of you human,” Sam spun back around to face the three-headed dragon.

“What?” Sam was shocked, “How are you…?”

“We are able to speak with you via telepathy,” the first voice replied.

“What are you?” Sam questioned.

“We are the Thousand-Year-Old Dragon!” the left head yelled.

“We are the God of the Sky!” the right head shouted.

“We. Are. Ghidorah!” the middle head cried, as the three heads let out a roar so loud, it shook the heavens.”

“Why are you here? What is it that you want?!” Sam shouted.

“We are here to do our job, to correct the natural balance of this planet,” the left head spoke.

“And you have upset this balance!” the right head snapped.

“What?!” Sam shouted back, “Ever since I came here I’ve been protecting this world from monsters and other creatures. Something you could clearly do yourself since you’re so powerful.”

“And that’s why we have come to warn you of a great darkness,” the middle head replied.

“I know, all the other omnipotent beings have told me already,” Sam remarked.

“But they haven’t told you that the Darkness is growing,” the middle head replied.

“The Darkness is building an army of evil followers,” the left head told him.

“Mostly evil aliens, but also enemies from this world,” the right head said, “he broke Tirek out of Tartarus, and recruited that Glimmer unicorn. And even some insect-like horse thing.”

“What?!” exclaimed Sam, “how do I stop the darkness if it keeps getting stronger allies?”

“That is something you need to figure out on your own, human,” the middle head replied, “we are leaving the fate of this world… no, the fate of this universe in your hands. A powerful warrior will arise and help you train for the final battle.”

“Time is running out,” the right head said, as Ghidorah opened his wings, “you must be prepared for the final fight.”

From behind Sam, Twilight and Sunset were trying to call for him to come back inside.

“SAM!” Twilight yelled, but Sam couldn’t hear her over the sound of the storm.

“Wait, who is this powerful warrior?” Sam called to Ghidorah.

“You will find out in due time!” the middle head cried back as Ghidorah took flight and flew back into the storm.

Once Ghidorah was gone, Sam retracted his Ultrasuit, and almost got blown away by the wind. Sam turned around and could barely see Twilight standing in the doorway of the balcony. She called out to Sam to come in before he got blown away. Holding on the bannister, quickly as he could, he walked to Twilight and out of the storm. As soon as he was inside, Twilight and Sunset quickly closed the balcony doors shut.

“Sweet Celestia Sam, don’t scare us like that,” Twilight told him.

“I thought you would have expected me to do stupid things by now,” Sam remarked.

“We still worry about you though,” Twilight told him, “you’re soaked to the bone, you’re going to get another cold.”

“I guess you’re right,” Sam replied, “I do hate getting wet.”

“Come on then,” Sunset said, levitating him onto her back, “let’s get you warm and dry.”

As Sunset trotted off with Sam on her back, Twilight looked out a window, “I hope the others are alright,” she remarked.

The others weren’t anything better, Fluttershy was cuddling Angel while she herself was getting cuddled by Harry the bear, all the while hiding under her bed. Rarity was making sure Sweetie Belle wouldn’t get scared by the storm as she held her little sister tight to her body. Pinkie had forgotten to close her window, and rain and wind were filling her room with leaves as well as leaving Pinkie completely wet. Even Sweet Apple Acres wasn’t doing so well, trees were getting blown down, apples getting gusted off the branches and splatting on the wet ground. Applejack dreaded what will be the sight of her farm in the morning once this storm passes.

As Sunset and Sam pass Twilight’s room, the radio Gwen was listening to had interrupted her music with a news flash.

“We interrupt your music to bring you a news flash,” the new reporter stated, “in the wake of this storm, a fish-like monster has risen from the ocean in Manehattan and has started to go on a rampage.”

“What?!” Sam exclaimed, “Sunset, I need to go!”

“But you’re soaked!” Sunset replied, “and the storm is still going on!”

“I don’t care!” Sam told her, “I need to go and stop that monster!” Before Sunset could say anything else, Sam donned his Ultrasuit again and flew out of the balcony window, and headed towards Manehattan.

As Ultraman flew through the storm, dodging lightning bolts, it seemed like he wasn’t the only one that had jumped out to stop this monster. As he arrived at Manehattan he witnessed the fish-like monster rampaging in the storm. The monster in question seemed to resemble a salmon, due to it having elements from male salmonids, like the long jaw and hooked kype. This was the Giant-Fish monster, Zoa Muruchi.

Zoa Muruchi roared out loud as it stomped around, and fired its energy beam from its jaw. Just then Ultraman Tiga appeared ready to fight the monster.

“So you’re not the only one that heard the news,” came a voice, Ultraman turned to his right and saw that Zero had appeared from behind him.

“Let's see how Ace does on his own,” Ultraman remarked.

Zoa Muruchi and Tiga stared each other down, before the two started to charge forward. Zoa Muruchi charged up and fired its energy beam at Tiga, it was a direct hit, striking Tiga in the chest and causing great pain for Ace inside. Tiga stumbled back and fell to the ground backwards.

“Maybe we should give him a hand,” Zero commented.

“Agreed,” Ultraman responded, as the two Ultras jumped off the building and grew to kaiju height. The two landed on opposite sides of Tiga, as Ultraman helped him up Zero pulled a fighting pose.

“Thank you my friends,” Tiga spoke.

“Don’t mention it,” Ultraman replied as he and Tiga struck fighting poses as well.

Ultraman and Zero ran up and grabbed Zoa Muruchi’s arms, but the monster just tossed them away like nothing before stomping forward and smacking Tiga in the face. Tiga staggered back as Zoa Muruchi smacked him again and beat down on poor Tiga’s back, as Ultraman and Zero grabbed Zoa Muruchi and pulled it back, but Zoa Muruchi then kicked Tiga in the stomach. Zoa Muruchi then threw Zero and Ultraman off it and back-slapped Zero in the face. The Fish monster seemed to be more interested in Tiga than Ultraman and Zero, as it tried to attack the poor Ultra while he was beaten, Ultraman jumped back in and grabbed Zoa Muruchi by the head, but the monster just lifted him up and threw him behind itself.

Zero kicked Zoa Muruchi in the stomach causing the monster to stagger a bit before it delivered a stinging back-slap to Zero’s face again. Tiga tried to stand back up but fell to his knees as Zoa Muruchi kicked him in the face. Ultraman grabbed Zoa Muruchi by the tail, and caused it to trip and fall onto a build that was studied enough to not crumble under Zoa Muruchi’s weight. Zero and Ultraman grabbed Zoa Muruchi but it just simply just headbutted Zero away and struck Ultraman with a slash of its claws. With Zoa Muruchi distracted with Ultraman, Zero came running up and kicked it in the back.

Tiga struggled to get up again, as Zero ran over to check on him, Ultraman grabbed Zoa Muruchi and flipped it over himself in a wrestling fashion. Zoa Muruchi got back up as Zero ran towards it and grabbed it, but the monster simply threw him off, but it wasn't enough to see the roundhouse kick Zero delivered to its face. Zoa Muruchi roared in pain, as Ultraman ran up and grappled with the monster, while Zero checked on Tiga again.

Zoa Muruchi managed to get the upper hand (or flipper in its case) and smacked Ultraman in the chest so hard that his colour timer started to blink, and caused Ultraman to collapse to the ground. Zero ran up to Zoa Muruchi to grapple with it as well, but the monster simply grabbed him and threw him to the side. With Both Ultras down, Zoa Muruchi stomped over to Tiga and smacked its flippers down on his head hard. Zoa Muruchi then brought Tiga to his feet and smacked him around the face causing the third Ultra to stumble forwards.

Ultraman got to his feet and ran to stop Zoa Muruchi from hurting his friend more, he tried to pull the monster away, but his strength had weakened a bit, and he could put Zoa Muruchi off Tiga as the monster kicked Tiga in the back. Zero was now struggling to his feet, as Ultraman finally got Zoa Muruchi off Tiga and tossed it aside. As Zoa Muruchi turned back around to face the trio, it started to charge up its energy beam, but Ultraman kneed it in the chest before it could fire it.

Zoa Muruchi tossed Ultraman aside as Zero struggled to his feet, but before Ultra could attack Zoa Muruchi, the monster kicked him in the stomach, causing him to stumble back and fall to the ground. As Zoa Muruchi slammed its foot down on Zero’s chest, Tiga chopped at its head, getting its attention. Zoa Muruchi got off Zero and slammed its head into Tiga’s chest, this caused Tiga to stagger back again, as the fish monster grabbed him from behind and threw him luckily, an empty building, causing it to crumble into pieces and Tiga groaned in pain.

Tiga slowly got back to his feet, having finally had enough of this monster, as Ultraman and Zero tried to hold Zoa Muruchi steady, Tiga summoned a spear made of pure energy from his arm gauntlet and ran forward before stabbing Zoa Muruchi in the chest. The monster cried out in pain as Ultraman and Zero jumped back and both summoned their Spacium Blades and Zero Lance respectively, before they two ran towards Zoa Muruchi and slashed it with their weapons. Zoa Muruchi staggered weekly, roaring in pain as the three Ultras stood side by side, charged up their attacks and fired their beam attacks, destroying Zoa Muruchi in one blast.

Once Zoa Muruchi was gone, the three Ultras turned to each other and gave themselves a group high five, before the three of them collapsed from exhaustion and retracted their suits as they shrunk back to normal size.

The Storm raged on all night, as Ghidorah destroyed the country, but soon it started to calm down and as Celestia’s sun started to rise over the mountains, the storm had completely passed. Twilight opened the doors to her castle, and saw all the destruction in front of her. Trees and branches had toppled over onto the ground, leaves scattered the floor, ponies houses had their roofs torn off, everywhere was a complete mess.

“Sweet Celestia,” Twilight remarked as she stepped out her castle, everywhere she looked, buildings were wrecked, and trees snapped and destroyed. Before things could get more depressing, Twilight heard a familiar voice.

“Twilight!” the alicorn turned to her left to see Pinkie running up to her, her mane and tail flattened from the rain.

“Pinkie! Good morning!” Twilight called back as Pinkie stopped a few feet from her, “What happened to you last night?”

“Huh?” Pinkie questioned as she looked at herself, “Oh hang on.” She took a deep breath, and blew on her hoof, suddenly her mane and tail sprung back to life and returned to its normally puffiness, “There we go. That storm was so loud and so strong last night.”

“You can say that again,” Twilight agreed.

“How did Sam and Gwen deal with the storm?” Pinkie asked.

“Well when a lightning bolt struck the castle, Gwen slipped in the bathroom and sprained her ankle and arm,” Twilight explained.

“Oh no, poor Gwen,” Pinkie responded, “I should throw her a ‘get better soon’ party.”

“I think she’ll like that,” Twilight said.

“What about Sam?” Pinkie asked.

“I think he was fine in the end,” Twilight replied, “but he did come face to face with Yamata no Orochi.”

“You mean the creature the Storm was named after?” Pinkie questioned.

“Yes, well I think it was Yamata no Orochi,” Twilight retorted, “I read in a book written by Star Swirl, that Yamata no Orochi, is a red, eight-headed draconic monster, but this one was a golden, three-headed draconic monster.”

“Maybe it was his son or something,” Pinkie replied.

“Maybe,” Twilight agreed with her, “How’s everypony else?”

“No idea,” Pinkie replied as the two started to walk off together, “I was about to go and see them. I do hope they’re alright. Where’s Sam now?”

“Oh not long after his encounter with Orochi, he had to fly off to Manehattan to stop a monster rampaging,” Twilight told her, “he fought it with Devon and Ace, but the fight left them exhausted, and so they stayed the night with Coco Pommel.”

The two friends chatted a bit more, until Twilight stepped on something. “What’s this? A Daring Do book?” Twilight questioned, then a shock of horror went through her body, “this is Rainbow’s signed copy from Daring Do herself?”

“You don’t think…” Pinkie dreaded finishing her sentence as she looked at Twilight, worry on her face.

The two galloped off in the direction of Rainbow’s house, until they soon came across a group of Ponies, the two squeezed past them and gasped.

“Oh no!” Pinkie cried.

“No my…” Twilight inhaled, as they looked upon the destroyed remains of Rainbow’s house, “What happened?!”

“The Storm destroyed her home,” came Nick’s voice, Twilight and Pinkie turned to see him limping forward. He looked battered and brushed, blood ran out his nose, and his hair was a mess. Pinkie ran up to him and held him still.

“Nick, where’s Rainbow?” Twilight asked, worry was plastered on her face.

“I…I don’t know,” Nick replied, “when the house was breaking apart, she threw me out the house to save me from it hurting me or worse.”

“Twi!” cried another voice, Pinkie and Twilight looked up to see Adagio running up to them.

“Adagio, have you seen Rainbow?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, Aria and Sonata are trying to get her out from under some rubble,” Adagio replied, she then lead Twilight over to a pile of debris, where Twilight saw, Trixie, Aria, Sonata, and Chris in his Ultraman Jack suit, working together, to free Rainbow from the rubble.

As Jack lifted up a bit of rubble, everyone heard a groan. “I see her hoof!” Trixie called out, motioning to Rainbow’s exposed hoof.

Together, Trixie and Jack lifted the rubble pining Rainbow down. Once the wreckage was off, Aria and Sonata grabbed Rainbow and pulled her to safety.

“Rainbow!” Pinkie cried.

“Not… So… Loud…” Rainbow groaned weakly. She did not look great, she looked like she would fall into unconsciousness any moment. One of her wings looked busted, she was covered in cuts and scratches, she was bleeding from the head, and she had a deep scar over one of her eyes.

“Aria, you, Sonata and Chris take Rainbow and Nick to the hospital,” Twilight told them.

“Right, come on guys,” Aria nodded, as Adagio levitated Nick onto her back, Jack held Rainbow in his arms, and the group ran off to the hospital.

“Pinkie, Trixie, Adagio, we’ll go tell the rest of our friends what’s happened,” Twilight instructed them.

“I’ll go tell Applejack,” Pinkie said, as she sprinted as fast as she could.

“I’ll tell Rarity,” Adagio replied, as she ran off to Carousel Boutique.

“Then that leaves Fluttershy for me,” Trixie responded as she galloped towards her cottage.

Twilight watched them go, before turning on her heel and running back to her castle to tell Sunset, Spike and Gwen. As she ran, he couldn’t help but think of why Rainbow’s house was destroyed. Was the Storm of Orochi a sign for something important, possibly foreshadowing something, or was it an act of Faust punishing them for letting monsters run rampant or allowing humans to exist in Equestria once again.

Chapter 48: The Altas Tiger (Edited)

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Rainbow slowly started to come around, as she opened her eyes, she noticed that she was in a hospital room. Her head hurt and could only see out one eye, she couldn’t remember what happened.

“Wha… Where am I?” she questioned, “what happened?” Her questions were soon going to be answered, as a Doctor walked into the room.

“Oh good to see you awake, miss Dash,” he remarked, “You’ve been out for quite a while.”

“How long was I out?” Rainbow asked.

“About a day and a half,” the doctor replied.

“What!” Rainbow shouted.

“Place calm down Miss Dash,” the doctor told her, “this is a hospital.”

“Sorry Doc,” Rainbow replied.

“Right, do you remember what happened to you?” he asked.

“No, I can’t remember,” Rainbow replied.

“Well, a powerful storm struck Ponyville, your friends were saying it was called the Storm of Orochi or something,” the doctor explained, “and your house was unfortunately destroyed in the carnage the storm brought. You threw your adoptive son out the window before the house collapsed on top of you.”

“Sweet Celestia,” Rainbow remarked, “is Nick ok?”

“Oh he’s fine, somehow,” the doctor replied, “a bit battered and bruised, but he’s fine. The worst he suffered is a twisted ankle.”

“Oh, that’s a relief,” Rainbow sighed.

“Now, I have some good news and some bad news, about your condition,” The doctor said, “the good news is that despite having a house collapsed on top of you, you have minimal injuries.”

“The pro to having a house made out of clouds,” Rainbow smirked.

“Unfortunately, the bad news is that despite these minimal injuries, your left wing was terribly busted,” the doctor said, his face falling.

Rainbow looked at her wing, and saw it sticking out of the bed and being supported by a sling. It didn’t look great.

“Your wing was crushed by rubble, and is beyond healable,” the doctor replied, “I’m afraid, you won’t be able to fly ever again.

Rainbow’s world crumbled around her, she could no longer fly. Her dreams of being part of the Wonderbolts were shattered. Her expressionless face said it all.

“But there is a way you can be able to fly again,” the doctor said, Rainbow perked up immediately, “you can go into surgery, and get your wing replaced with a prosthetic. But it is very expensive.”

Rainbow didn’t know what to do, it was to go through an expensive surgery to get a prosthetic wing, or not be able to fly again. Does she stick to her dreams or deal with reality? The Doctor knew she was thinking about this.

“I understand, it’s a hard decision to make,” the doctor said, “I’ll give you some time to think it over.”

“Thank you doc,” Rainbow responded, the doctor smiled and left the room. Although the Doctor had left, Rainbow wasn’t alone. A stallion was also in the room, laying in the bed next to Rainbow. The stallion was a very dark grey colour Pegasus, with a bright orange mane and tail, and red eyes.

“Hey, I’m sorry for listening to your conversation,” he called out to Rainbow, “but did that really happen to you?”

“Yeah, I remember it all now,” Rainbow replied as she turned to look at the stallion, “I threw my adoptive son out the house so that he wouldn’t get hurt, but in doing so, my house collapsed on top of me.”

“Dam girl, you're lucky that you’ve survived,” the stallion remarked, his responses made Rainbow chuckle a little.

“So what are you in for?” Rainbow asked.

“I got distracted by something and wasn’t looking where I was going and tripped down a well,” the stallion replied, “bashed my head on the wall, and sprained my leg.”

“Oh, so nothing as worse as a completely broken wing,” Rainbow retorted.

“Sadly no,” the stallion said, feeling bad for Rainbow, “so what are you gonna do about it?”

“I don’t know,” Rainbow sighed, “do I go in for the surgery and still chase after my goals, or face the facts and give up on my dreams.”

“Don’t think so negatively,” the stallion told her, “If you give up on your dreams, you’ll be unhappy for the rest of your life. I will gladly donate some bits so you can go in for surgery and chase after your dreams. Don’t give up.”

“Hah, thanks dude,” Rainbow said, “by the way, what’s your name? I’m Rainbow Dash.”

“My name is Sierra,” he replied, “nice to meet you, Rainbow Dash.”

“Nice to meet you too, Sierra,” Rainbow replied.

Rainbow stayed in the hospital for a few days, recovering as much as she could. While she was there, her friends came to visit her, reassuring her with words of encouragement to go in for the surgery. Even the Princesses visited her and told her that they would pay for the surgery themselves if they had to. While Rainbow was recovering, Nicholas stayed with Sam and Gwen in the Castle of Friendship. And on this particular night, Sam, Gwen, Nick, and Elena are having their Movie Night, in the castle’s movie cinema.

“Movie Night!” cried Sam as Gwen emptied their box of VHS tapes.

“Let's see what we've got,” Gwen said as she grabbed a tape, “Hey! Singing in the Rain.”

“Eegh! A romantic comedy? VETOED!” Sam remarked as he snatched the tape from Gwen’s hand and tossed it away.

“Oooh, what about this one?” Elena said while holding up a tape titled ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’, “It looks creepy!”

“Nightmare on Elm Street?” Sam questioned, “Nah, no scary stuff, Gwen can't handle it.”

“What?!” Gwen exclaimed.

“Remember the time we saw Tremors?” Sam stated, “You wouldn't eat gummy worms for a week!”

“Shut up!” Gwen snapped.

“Oh no! The piece of candy is gonna get me!” Sam mocked, as himself, Nick and Elena all laughed.

“You're the piece of candy,” Gwen huffed.

“Don't you guys have anything to do with adventure?” Elena asked.

“Uhhh, let's see,” Sam replied as he looked through the tapes.

“Forget movies! We should go on a REAL adventure!” Nick stated.

“Huh?” the three questioned him.

“Yeah! To the old, abandoned zoo!” Nick told them.

“Come on, guys it's movie night!” Sam remarked, “We should stay inside, and veg out on these cinema seats.”

“Hm, hm. Sam is just afraid we will run into Izac,” Nick retorted.

“Izac?” the two girls questioned.

“You guys have never heard of Izac?” Nick asked.

“No,” Elena replied.

“Well, gather around!” Nick told them as Sam gave off a heavy grunt, “The tale of Izac, is a tale that's as old as fifteen to twenty years ago. He was a rare species of tiger known as an Atlas Tiger that lived in the zoo, who was evil to the core! One day, he was mutated into a monster, and he attacked and killed his trainer! The zoo was forced to close down. But Izac wouldn't leave, so he still roams the old, abandoned zoo, getting more evil over the years, only to be able to survive by breaking into pony's homes, eating all of their food, and then eating THEM!”

“Whoa!” the two girls responded.

“Pfft. Lame. Izac is a dumb old urban legend. Come on, Storytime is over. Let's get this movie started. Right? Yeah,” Sam remarked, as he picked up a bowl of popcorn from one of the seats next to him, and sniffs it while sitting down in one of the seats, “Mm, semi-burnt popcorn! Saved you a seat right here, Elena.” Sam patted the seat next to him.

“Yeah, see, I told you!” Nick said, “Scared of Izac!”

“What?! Izac isn't even REAL!” Sam tried to rebut, “You know I'm not scared, right Elena?”

“Sam, it's alright,” Elena assured him, “If you don't want to go, I mean, it does sound pretty scary.”

“What?! No! It's just that it is supposed to be movie night,” Sam replied, “and come on, you guys know I don’t like sudden changes.”

“Excuses, excuses dude!” Nick spoke up, “Look, if you are not scared of Izac, then I dare you to take a picture inside Izac's cage!”

“Ooooooooh!” Elena and Gwen went.

“No dude, that's just dumb,” Sam retorted.

“Come on! It will be an exciting adventure!” Elena said.

“Yeah, and all desolate, and spooky,” Gwen chimed in.

“Gwen, we are trying to make him NOT scared,” Elena joked.

“I'M NOT SCARED!” shouted Sam, Nick, Elena, and Gwen then all start to murmur to each other, Sam lets out a deep sigh, “Okay, fine. We'll go to the abandoned zoo and take a picture in a dumb tiger cage.”

“Yeah, alright!” cheered Elena.

“This is going to be fun!” Gwen praised. “I'll get the camera!” Gwen then ran out the home cinema to find a camera.

“We'll watch a movie another night, I promise,” Elena told Sam sweetly.

“We better,” Sam remarked.

“Such a pouter!” Elena giggled while punching Sam in the shoulder.

“Found it!” Gwen called out as entered the home cinema holding a camera.

“Yes, Izac! Here we come!” Nick cried out.

The four of them were soon walking through the dead of night, through the forest under the mountain Canterlot stood on, until they came to an opening where there stood the entrance to the old, abandoned zoo.

“There it is,” Nick pointed out.

“Neat!” Gwen said as she put her head into the mouth of a lion statue, “Check it out! I'm a lion tamer! Ahhhhh!”

Sam and Nick just stared at her in confusion as Elena tried to get the gate open.

“Eugh! The gate's locked,” she told them.

“Aww man,” Gwen cried.

“No way,” Nick said as he ran over.

“Oh well, I guess it wasn't meant to be,” Sam remarked, “But we still have enough time for movie night, know what I'm saying? Let's go back to…”

“Hey! I found a way in!” called Nick, having found a hole in the gate.

“Cool,” Elena said.

“Way to go, Nick,” stated Gwen.

“Wait! But…” Sam called out.

“You coming, Sam?” Elena called back to him.

“Yeah, Sam, you coming?” Nick said, imitating Elena.

“Ehhh, you are enjoying this, aren't you?” Sam stated deadpanned.

“Hm, hm!” Nick replied with a smirk, as the two followed the girls into the zoo, they looked around at all the abandoned cages, “Cool!”

“It is so weird without any animals,” Gwen remarked.

“Yeah, it's like the end of the world, or something!” Elena stated.

“You're not afraid, are you?” Sam smirked.

“Ha! Yeah right, you're the big chicken here!” Elena responded.

“Hey!” Sam smiled. Soon the gang came to a stop in front of a reptile house.

“Aw yeah, reptile building!” Gwen cheered, “Think you can handle going in there? Mum told me how scared you looked when you were near that lizard friend of yours.”

“Pffft! Step aside!” Sam said, “and Chloe didn’t scare me, she just startled me. You try staring a Komodo Dragon in the face.”

“Sure,” Gwen smirked, as the gang entered the reptile house, “Do you think Izac is real?”

“Heck yeah he's real!” Nick replied, “He's probably waiting for us on the other side of this building!”

“No he's not, dude, there's no one here,” Sam stated when suddenly, a squirrel jumped out of a broken reptile tank, scaring Sam so much that he fell to the ground as Nick laughed hysterically.

“Aww, how cute!” Gwen stated.

“Maybe I should take the lead,” Nick joked, “there might be more SQUIRRELS up ahead!”

Nick and Gwen ran off, leaving Sam and Elena by themselves. Elena walked over to Sam.

“You okay?” she asked, reaching out a paw.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sam replied as he stood up and rubbed his butt.

“Are you sure you can handle Izac?” Elena asked as the two exited the reptile house, “That squirrel was pretty scary back there.”

“I wasn't scared, I was just surprised,” Sam replied, “There's a difference, you know.”

“Oh yeah, sure. You looked pretty scared to me,” Elena grinned, “Boo!”

“Ha, ha!” Sam responded sarcastically, rolling his eyes at her, “No seriously though, don’t you remember going so to the zoo on our school trip?”

“Oh yeah,” Elena remarked, “I remember, my favourite animals there were the giraffes and red pandas.”

“The only thing I didn’t like was the tigers,” Sam remarked.

“So you ARE scared of Izac?” Elena laughed.

“Well, yeah, when I was little. It was just a regular tiger though,” Sam stated, he then saw something that caught his attention. That something, was a little ride-along train that was abandoned along with the rest of the zoo. “Oh, no way! They had this here too! This was my FAVOURITE part about coming to the zoo! I loved riding the train at that zoo. The conductor would yell ‘All aboard!’, and I would race to get the first seat I could!”

Sam ran towards a train carriage, and sat in it. Sam then let out a breath of relaxation. Elena walked over to the train carriage and sat with Sam.

“Yeah, I remember you were so excited whenever the train arrived,” she stated, “this is kind of small, don’t you think.”

“This was made for foals and fillies,” Sam remarked, “I can get out...”

“No, I don't mind,” Elena assured him, “It's cosy. Plus, I like snuggling up next to you.”

“Oh. Yeah. Heh,” Sam said nervously, blushing a little.

“So, where do you think we’re going?” Elena asked.

“Hmmm, Sam thought, then pretended to talk like a man with his wife from the 1920's, “Conductor! Take us somewhere exotic please, and mind the bumps, my lady does not like getting sick! Thank you!”

Sam and Elena laughed at Sam’s impression until the point where it started to get a little awkward. Elena had a huge smile on her face as stared at Sam. Then out of nowhere, Nick comes and breaks the tension by yelling out a window of an abandoned complex in the zoo.

“Hey guys, over here!” he called out to them, “We found some more train tracks!”

Nick leads them to a set of abandoned train tracks, as they walk down them they eventually come across a metal tunnel.

“Oh, rad!” Gwen remarked, “Everybody, scream through the tunnel!”

Gwen and Nick run through the tunnel while screaming, “After you,” Sam said to Elena.

“Oh, what a gentlemen,” Elena replied, as she ran through screaming as well, then started to laugh with Eileen once she came out the other side. But she then realised that Sam wasn’t coming through “Wait, where's Sam?” Elena turned around and shouted up the tunnel, her voice echoing, “Sam? Hello? Sa…?”

“Elena!” shouted Sam as he suddenly appeared on her right. Elena screamed in fright as Sam burst into laughter.

“Ugh, what are you doing?!” She snapped.

“I went around!” Sam told her.

“Ugh, don't do that,” Elena said, annoyed as she shoves Sam and storms off.

“What?” Sam queried, “it’s funny!”

The gang followed the train tracks a little further until they came to a dead end where the tracks had been torn up and bent back.

“Aw what?” Nick huffed.

“Now which way?” Elena asked.

Nick and Gwen looked around, until Gwen found something on the ground.

“Whoa, check it out guys!” she pointed out, It turned out to be a footprint from something large. Elena walked over to see it, even putting her fox paw in it to compare the size of the footprint to her own.

“That’s a massive footprint,” she remarked.

“Nah, it can't be,” Sam remarked as he and Nick came over, “It's just a hole in the dirt.”

“No man, it's Izac! This way!” Nick told them.

The gang walked over to a tiger cage that has a huge hole in the bars, the same size as the hole in the gate earlier on.

“Uhh, I think we found it,” Gwen pointed out.

“Yeah, that's definitely it!” Nick exclaimed with excitement. The gang walked through the hole and into the tiger cage.

“Okay, well, we're here,” Sam said, “Let's take the picture and go.”

“Oh, no! This is just the entrance,” Nick said, “Anybody can take a picture in here. We are going to the real cage, down through there!” He then pointed to a small door at the back of the cage, which was open.

“What?!” the girls exclaimed.

“No way, dude,” Sam said, “We're not going down there!”

“Why not?” Nick said, “I thought you weren't scared!” He then opened the door a little more and stepped inside, letting off a sinister laugh.

“Nick! Agh!” groaned Sam.

“well?” Gwen questioned the other two.

“You coming?” Elena asked Sam. The three went through the door one by one, until they were in a room that led to a seemingly endless aisle of empty tiger cages.

“Nick?!” Sam called out.

“Whoa, awesome!” Nick remarked as he ran down the aisle of cages.

“Agh, Nick!” Sam called out, “Where are you?!”

“Hurry up!” Nick cried, his voice echoing.

Elena looked inside a cage as they passed by, she saw that it held within it stray bones. This creeped her out a bit.

“Feels like we shouldn't be in here,” she remarked.

“Nick, come on!” Gwen called out to him.

“I'm not stopping 'till I find Izac!” came Nick’s reply.

“Dude, quit messing around!” Sam yelled, they heard Nick laughing a long-distance away, “Dude, forget it! We're going back. Come on, guys.”

Sam, Elena, and Gwen were just about to turn around and walk back out, only to then hear Nick screaming from back up the aisle.

“Nick?!” They all cried in worry as they turned and ran back up the aisle in hopes to save Nick from whatever he was screaming at.

“Nick! Nick!!!” Sam yelled out, as they came to the end of the aisle. Just as they came to the end, Nicholas jumped out right in front of the gang jumpscaring them. He scared them so much that Sam and Elena held each other, and all three of them fell down onto the ground. In spite of all of this, Nick burst out laughing hysterically.

“Dude?! What the heck?!” Sam snapped.

“Oh, man! You should have seen your faces!” Nick laughed, “You really, you really believed!” he couldn’t stop laughing.

“Dude! You almost gave us heart attacks,” Gwen frowned.

“We thought Izac got you!” Elena retorted, still holding Sam.

“Izac’s not real! It's just a myth! You guys totally fell for it!” Nick’s sides were hurt from all the laughter.

“Whatever. Can we go back to the castle now?” Sam asked.

Sure, sure,” Nick replied through gasps of breath, “But let's take the picture first.” Nick sets up the camera on a rock and sets a timer. The gang lined up for the picture, “Okay, get ready.”

“Hey, what's this door for?” Gwen questioned, she was referring to a large metal door that was behind them.

“I don't know, I'm not a zookeeper,” Nick answered, the camera captured the moment, took the picture, and printed out the photo. “Sweet! Ha, ha! Man, I got you guys good, you gotta admit it!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sam replied annoyed, he and Elena walk off, leaving Nick and Gwen in front of the metal door.

“Well, you got ME good, Nick,” Gwen told him.

“Yeah, like Izac's really gonna be living down here,” Nick chuckled, “Uh, hello? Izac? You home?!” he knocked on the metal door.

“Yeah, uhhh,” Gwen chuckled as she too knocked on the door, “the pizzas you ordered are here!”

“You were holding me pretty tight for someone who is not scared!” Elena joked.

“What? No! You were totally holding onto ME! Sam said as the two of them let out a small laugh.

“Aw, man! These things take forever to show up,” Nick remarked as he shook the photo to try and make it appear.

“Actually, you're not supposed to shake it,” Gwen told him.

“Oh, hey, do you know what this piece does?” Nick asked as he pointed to the lens of the camera.

“Yeah, you see, you just turn it, like this,” as Gwen turned the lens on the camera, the metal door behind them started to open, very slowly and very eerily.

“So, you still wish you were just watching a movie?” Elena asked Sam.

“No, this was pretty fun, I mean, I got to hang out with you, so, that's all that matters,” Sam replied.

Elena lets off a small laugh, as Sam leaned over, hoping to kiss her.

“Uh, Sam?” Elena questioned.

“Yeahhhhhh?” Sam replied. Elena pulled his head over to her lips, hoping to kiss Sam but then, she noticed something behind him.

“What is that?!” she asked in a panicked tone.

“Huh?!” Sam gasped when he turned around to see what she was meaning.

From the shadows of the room behind the metal door, stepped out a bipedal tiger monster. It turns out that Izac, the Atlas Tiger Monster did indeed exist. Izac made his presence known (at the worst possible time), creeping through the door, disgruntled, as Nick described him back at the house.

Nick and Gwen let out whimpers, as Izac lets out a huge roar, knocking off Nick's orange beanie hat. They both stepped back towards Elena and Sam, as Izac let out another roar, scaring the daylights out of the four of them. The gang turned tail and ran out hoping to lose the beast.

“OH MY CELESTIA! IZAC'S REAL!!!” shouted Nick.

“Oh man, I'm gonna kill you for this, Nick!” yelled Sam.

“I think Izac's going to take care of that!” cried Gwen.

“Quit it! Don't say that!” screamed Elena.

The gang, still in hot pursuit by Izac, ran through the hole in the cage. Izac fitted through perfectly, and continued to hunt them down. They keep running, through the forest, back to Ponyville and back up to the castle. The gang runs through the door, and Sam slams the door shut, trying to block Izac from coming in. That was unsuccessful, as Izac charged at the door and nearly burst it open. Sam then transformed into Ultraman and charged back at the door and managed to knock Izac back and away from the door as the fight took to the streets of Ponyville.

“Gwen, send a message to Princess Luna and ask for her nightguards,” Nick told her. Gwen nodded as she quickly grabbed some paper and wrote a note.

Ultraman and Izac squared up with each other, before Izac roared and suddenly dashed towards Ultraman and clotheslined him, tripping him up and falling to the ground. Izac tried to go in for a swipe, but Ultraman blocked it, as he tried to kick the monster, but Izac simply jumped back and dodged it. Ultraman tried to do a jumping kick to Izac’s face, but the monster swiftly dodged it, so Ultraman tried again, and again, and each time Izac avoided it.

Ultraman tried to grab Izac by the head, but the monster somehow knew martial arts, and suplexed Ultraman to the ground. Ultraman told backup and tried to perform a sliding kick, but Izac just jumped over the attack, and as Ultraman got back up Izac slashed his claws across Ultraman’s face. Izac continued to brutally attack Ultraman, and not letting the Ultra land a hit, when Ultraman managed to push Izac to the ground, the monster simply shoved the Ultra off and let him roll over him.

Ultraman got up and channelled his energy, then he ran forward and managed to land a kick to Izac’s shoulder, causing the monster to fall to the ground. Then he tried to jump on to Izac, but the tiger monster just kicked him off. Izac seemed to be more skilled than Ultraman, kicking and scratching him, throwing him to the floor, But Ultraman wasn’t out yet. When Izac ran towards him, Ultraman grabbed him and suplexed the monster over himself, somehow the two even clotheslined each other. As both Ultra and monster got up from the ground, they both performed some extraordinary jumping skills, striking each other and coming crashing to the ground.

Both staggered to their feet, Ultraman was getting tired, but Izac still had strength in him. Ultraman channelled his energy again, to give him more strength, then the two ran towards each other, and grappled with one another, until Ultraman managed to lift Izac up and over his shoulder. But suddenly, Izac crawled to Ultraman’s feet at high speeds, and grabbed and pulled his legs causing the Ultra to fall backwards, before climbing onto Ultraman. The two began to tussle and roll around on the ground. Once the two got back to their feet, the fight seemed to go from Izac over powering Ultraman, to the two becoming evenly matched.

Izac threw Ultraman to the ground, Ultraman kicked Izac over himself. Izac tossed Ultraman around and to the floor, Ultraman chucked and spun Izac to the earth. Izac would dodge an attack from Ultraman, the Ultra would respond by tripping the tiger to the terrain. The fight continued until Luna’s Lunar Guards arrived.

“It’s Izac! Take him down!” cried the General.

The Lunar Guards fired tranquilliser darts from their horns at Izac, most made contact with the monster, while others missed. One dart shot right passed Izac, and towards Ultraman, the Ultra swiftly deflected it but then it struck Nick in the arm.

“Whattttt thhhhe heck, mannnnnnnn?!” Nick exclaimed, his voice sounding like it was in slow motion.

“Sorry!” retorted Ultraman.

Izac wasn’t finished, using his tail, he swiped the guards way, and charged forward towards Ultraman. Izac roared as Ultraman powered up his Specium Beam, and just as the monster was about to strike, Ultraman fired the beam striking Izac in the chest. The monster cried out in pain, as Ultraman stopped firing, Izac’s body stumbled forward, and collapsed to the ground. The beam had hurt and weakened Izac enough that the tranquilliser in his system took effect and knocked him out. Ultraman painted and returned to Sam as Gwen and Elena ran over to see if he was ok.

The next morning, the gang were outside, watching the Lunar Guards, airlifted the unconscious Izac to an animal sanctuary, where hopefully, he would get treated and returned back to a normal tiger.

“Poor Izac,” Gwen remarked, feeling sorry for the beast.

“Don't worry about him. He'll be fine,” Sam assured her, “those animal sanctuaries are like five-star hotels.”

“Hey, thanks for saving all of our lives,” Elena said to Sam, “that was really brave of you.”

“To be honest, I was pretty scared,” Sam replied, “I was scared if I didn’t defeat him, I would lose you.”

“Yeah, but that's what made you brave,” Elena remarked, as she gave Sam a hug.

“You weren't exactly brave, Nick, but you are pretty cool,” Gwen told him.

“Thannnnks, you tooooooo!” Nick replied slowly, due to the dart still in his arm.

“Hey, so how did that picture turn out?” Elena asked.

Nick took out the picture to show them all, but the picture showed that it had taken a picture of their feet.

“Aw, what?” complained Sam.

“Nick!” all three shouted.

“And just where did you take that photo?” came a stern voice. The four nervously turned around to see Twilight and Sunset, with grim expressions on their muzzles.

“Oh we are so busted,” Sam replied, as he facepalmed.

“You so are Mr,” Twilight said as she used her magic to drag Sam by the collar of his jacket and dragged him inside, where he and the others would receive one of the biggest scoldings of their lives.

Chapter 49: Race for the Sparky Plush (Edited)

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After telling Twilight and the others what they had done, Sam and co were grounded for two weeks, only really allowed out if a monster attacks. Nick was sent to the hospital to get the dart removed and if he had sustained any other injuries. Elena was sent back to Fluttershy’s cottage where she received one of Fluttershy’s talents, the Stare. Sam and Gwen were locked in their rooms for the whole two weeks of being grounded, only getting food by Twilight, Spike or Sunset.

Rainbow, meanwhile, had raised enough money by the end of the first week to go in for her surgery; she was out cold for a while, but woke up a few hours later, with a cybernetic limb actuator. She returned home the next day and showed it off to her friends, Rainbow decided to test it out, and although she could still fly pretty fast, her new cybernetic wing limited how fast she could go. But thanks to the chat she had with Sierra, she wouldn’t give up on her dreams, she would train until she could go as fast as she could to join the Wonderbolts. She had grown a little close to Sierra after their first encounter, and they would continue to meet up and hang out, Sierra even help Rainbow train in getting back up to speed.

Towards the end of the second week, the girls minus Fluttershy all gathered together in the throne room, with Aria and Sonata coming in last.

“Ugh, finally!” retorted Rainbow impatiently.

“Could you close the door, please?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, close the door,” Sonata remarked to Aria.

“Just sit down!” Aria shouted, shoving Sonata in the backside, and closing the door before taking a seat herself.

“Right, as you girls may or may not know, it's Fluttershy's birthday tomorrow,” Twilight told them, as she flipped the page on easel, “I was planning on getting her something nice from the arts and crafts fair last Saturday, but, nothing really stood out. Has anybody gotten her anything yet?” The whole room went quiet for a solid few seconds.

“No,” responded Trixie.

“Why am I not surprised?” Twilight sighed as she pulled the cap off her marker, “Ideas? Anybody?”

“How about a gym membership?” Rainbow suggested.

“That's actually not a bad idea,” Twilight commented, “but Fluttershy has been making sure not to over-exhaust herself. Doctor's orders. What else?”

“How about we get her some new gardening tools?” Applejack put forward.

“Well, maybe,” Twilight said, “It's just, she gets new gardening tools all the time.”

“What about some knitting lessons?” Pinkie proposed.

“Please tell me you're joking,” Twilight stated.

“Well, no,” Pinkie replied, “Isn't she into that?”

“Don't you remember?” Twilight said, “That's the exact same gift we got her last year.”

“Psht,” Rainbow scoffed.

“Don't ‘psht’ me,” Pinkie said, “I don't hear you coming up with anything.”

“Yeah, but at least I didn't say the same thing that we got her last year,” Rainbow remarked.

Suddenly, there came a knock from the door followed by a voice, “Hello?” it was Fluttershy, “May I please enter?”

“Just a second!” Twilight called back as she used her magic to teleport the easel away, “Okay. You can come in now.”

“Oh! What's everypony doing in here?” Fluttershy asked as she entered the room.

“Oh, hey Fluttershy,” Twilight greeted her, “We were just, uh... chatting.”

“No!” Aria spoke up before turning to Fluttershy, “We were talking about how no one knows what to get you for your birthday.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy commented.

“Aria, what are you doing?!” Twilight shouted.

“I'm saying what's on my mind, dude,” Aria replied as she leaned back in her throne, “I'm just real like that.”

“You want to know what to get me for my birthday? Well, that's quite simple,” Fluttershy stated.

“What is it, Fluttershy?” Sunset asked.

“The rare Sparky the Dog Plush from Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza in Manehattan,” Fluttershy told them.

“Sparky the Dog Plush?” Rainbow questioned.

“From Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza?” quizzed Rarity.

“Yes! The Plushies are just so cute and soft! You might know this about me, but I am a bit of a collector when it comes to the Freddy Fazbear plushies,” Fluttershy replied, before her face fell, “But sadly, the only way to get them is to win a million tickets. I'm afraid I'm not very good at throwing Skeeze Ballz.” With that sad note, Fluttershy turned and walked away.

“Well, Sparky Plush it is,” Twilight declared.

“Yeah, but I'm not going to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza,” Rainbow stated.

“Yeah, me neither,” Applejack agreed, “I can't stand that place. All those nasty kids...”

“Yeah, and talk about sub-standard pizza,” Rarity chimed in.

“And what about that creepy animatronic band?” Pinkie stated, everyone agreed with her on that matter.

“Alright, alright. Look, I don't like Freddy Fazbear’s any more than you do,” Twilight said, “But if Fluttershy wants Sparky Plush, then we're going to get her that Sparky Plush!”

As so it was arranged, Twilight, Spike, Sunset, Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity headed to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza in Manehattan, while Adagio, Sonata, Aria and Trixie stayed home and looked after the kids. Upon arriving, Twilight told Spike to wait outside, and as they entered the pizzeria the girls looked around the musky, greasy restaurant. They saw the pizza, the colts and fillies laughing and playing arcade machines, two colts slapping a filly with pizza while atop a go-cart statue, and two other colts were passed out on top of an ice cream stand.

Then there’s the animatronics themselves. Up on stage, there was Freddy Fazbear, a brown bear wearing a black top hat and a bowtie, he was the lead singer of the band. Standing next to him was Bonnie the Bunny, a purple rabbit wearing a red bowtie, he was playing guitar. On the other side of Freddy, there was Chica the chicken, a yellow chicken, with a bib that said, ‘Let’s Eat!!!’ She was the backup singer, and held a cupcake animatronic. On a different smaller stage, there was Foxy the Pirate Fox, a red fox, with a hook on his right arm, an eyepatch and orange shorts; he also seemed to be a bit torn up.

Accompanying Foxy in his ‘pirate’s cove’ was a coyote animatronic named Cody, who wore a red bandana on his head, and had a pegleg on his right. In a room called the ‘arts and crafts room’, was a lamb named Lillie, who wore an apron saying, ‘Let’s Paint!’ And in another room, was an owl animatronic named Owen the Owl, who held a book, and would read stories to the kids.

“Let's get this over with,” Twilight groaned as the group entered inside. But before they could even get into the main party room, they were stopped by a female employee named Golden Hazel at the entrance.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Excuse me!” Golden Hazel cried, “Where do you think you're going?”

“We're just here to get a rare plush,” Sunset told her.

“I'm sorry, but you must accompany at least one child to enter,” Golden Hazel responded.

“Aw, come on!” Sunset complained, “We'll just buy the dice and leave.”

“Oh, I can't bend the rules for you, ma’am,” Golden Hazel told them, “Because it just wouldn't be ‘Fazbear’s Pizza’ without Fazbear’s rules.” Annoyed, the girls walked back outside.

“Man, how are we supposed to get this stupid plush now?” Rainbow grumbled.

“I think I have an idea,” Applejack told them as she turned and smirked at Spike.

After a little while, the girls tried to get in again, but Golden Hazel tried to stop them again.

“Hey, I already told you that you need a kid to get in!” she retorted, the girls stepped aside to reveal Spike dressed in a backward-facing hat, sweatshirt, pouch, and trainers. There is silence for a few seconds, before Twilight kicks Spike in the back.

“What's up, ma’am?” Spike responded, as he repeatedly zipped and unzipped his pouch, while saying "LOL!" in sync with the zipping.

Golden Hazel was suspicious at first, but then perked up again, “Okay! Go on in, folks!” she said as she unhooked the velvet rope, “Have a great time!”

As they walked in the girls got a better look around the place, and in a matter of seconds or entering the main party room, Rarity stepped on a slice of pizza.

“EW!” she squealed as a couple of colts ran passed and shoved her, “Hey!”

“Let's just find the dice and get out of here,” Applejack told her, as the girls made their way to the prize corner, ran by, to everyone’s shock, Maud, Pinkie’s sister.

“Maud!” Pinkie exclaimed, running up and leaning over the counter to hug her sister.

“Hey Pinkie, she replied in her monotone voice.

“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked.

“I work here on weekends,” Maud replied.

“Oh,” Twilight remarked.

“You really sound like you’re enjoying yourself here,” Rainbow joked.

“Trust me I’m not,” Maud stated, her face barely changed, “Anyway, May I help you?”

“Yeah, actually,” Twilight said, “We'd like that super rare Sparky the Dog Plush, please.”

“That'll be one million tickets,” Maud replied.

Twilight let out a sarcastic laugh, “No,” she said as she pulled out her purse, “We're actually going to be paying with bits. How much is that going to be? Ten, fifteen bits?”

“One million tickets, your Highness,” Maud said, “If you like, all of our price listings for our items are on the wall.” Twilight blushed a bit at Maud calling her ‘your Highness’.

“Well, can we just buy the tickets?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Tickets are a penny each,” Maud answered. A chorus of groans flowed over the girls.

“Nice, what's that, like, ten bucks?” Spike asked.

“Spike, it's not ten bucks,” Sunset replied, “It's ten thousand dollars.”

“Wow, really?” Spike quired, sounding shocked.

“Alright, bad news, everybody,” Twilight announced as she turned around to face the girls, “We're going to have to win some tickets if we're going to get that plush.”

“Uh, yeah, we were right here the whole time.” Applejack remarked.

“It's go time!” Rainbow shouted, as they all high-hooved each other.

What follows next is a montage of the girls playing the games. First, Spike played air hockey. He beat three colts: one furred, one green furred, and another in braces, the last of which cried when he lost as Spike danced while the tickets came out the slot. Next, Sunset and Rarity are playing Skeeze Ballz. Both unicorns were using all four lanes as they used their magic to bowl the balls and get the highest scores. Then, we see Applejack playing a Wack-a-Bon-Bon. Applejack smashed the Bon-Bon with a mallet every time one came up, eventually having to use two mallets to smash not only Bon-Bon but a pink version named Bonnet that was worth more points. Then, we see Twilight and Pinkie play Dance, Dance Revolution. When the game started, the two ponies danced, they played through many different songs to earn the most tickets. As the girls played the games and earned the tickets, the animatronics on stage sang their songs and played their instruments, but none of the girls noticed that they were being watched from afar. After the montage, the girls sat at one of the tables and counted the tickets, so far, they had earned 980,000 tickets.

“Alright, girls, I got some bad news,” Twilight told them, “We're 20,000 tickets short of that super rare plushie. And what's worse, is that we only have one token left. But I've noticed one game that gives out more tickets than all the others.” Twilight led the girls to the game in question. “Skeeze Ballz. This will have to be a team effort. The faster we go, the more chances to throw the balls we get. So I want everypony to line up, and when the balls drop…" Rainbow, Pinkie and Spike couldn’t help but laugh at the sexual innuendo. Twilight sighs and facepalms and their childish behaviour. “Ugh... when the game starts, you throw, and get back in line. Now let's roll!”

Twilight inserted the final token, the balls dropped, the timer started, and the game began. She threw the ball up the ramp, followed by Spike, Sunset, and Rainbow, who scored 3,000, 5,000 and 5,000, respectively, but poor Spike had missed. Applejack then throws her ball, followed by Pinkie and Rarity, who all scored higher scores of 10,000 and 15,000. Five seconds left on the timer, as Spike stood holding the bowl.

“Hurry!” Twilight cried sweat running down her head. Spike took his next go, but he missed again, and the ball bounced away. There's three seconds left on the timer, and 990,000 points have been scored.

“Come on, Sunset, sink it!” Twilight cried.

Sunset rolled the ball up the ramp with two seconds left on the clock. The ball dangled on a 10,000 hole as the others gasped. The ball then fell in the 10,000 hole, totalling their score up to one million, with no time to spare. The ponies and Spike all celebrated as the tickets started printing. Twenty minutes later, the tickets were still printing as the girls looked on, bored, Rainbow and Spike were so bored that they fell asleep, even the energic Pinkie was bored. When the tickets stopped printing, everyone in the pizzeria had gone, Twilight, Sunset, and Rarity levitated them all to the prize corner. Even Maud showed a little shock when she saw them all.

“One Million Tickets!” Twilight announced as she dumped the tickets on the counter.

“What would you like?” Maud asked.

“We'll take the Sparky the Dog Plush,” Twilight said, the girls all cheered as Maud grabbed a pole with a hook, “For Fluttershy.” Maud removed the lid with the hook, and grabbed the plush. Then, handed it to Twilight, “Yeah! We did it! Now, we can give these to Fluttershy.”

Suddenly, robotic arms reached out and grabbed the plushie from Twilight’s magical hold.

“I’m terribly sorry, but you’re not giving these to anyone,” said a voice. The animatronic it belonged to was Owen the Owl, and he was accompanied by Lillie the Lamb and Cody the Coyote.

The girls were shocked to see the animatronics acting on their own free will. Suddenly, Owen pulled out a remote, extended the antenna and pressed a button, causing three go-karts to burst out from under the stage.

“Aw, what?!” Sunset questioned, as the animatronics got into the karts, and drove through the wall of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, “Let's get them!”

Girls ran back inside, and seconds later drove out the pizzeria and into the street, with their own double go-karts they had found. As they drove off, Maud stepped out and looked at the hole in the wall.

“I don’t get paid enough for this,” she remarked.

Sunset drove a red one with a M on the front called the Red Fire with Twilight holding on behind, Rarity drove a pink one with a small heart on the grill called the Heart Coach with Applejack hanging on behind her, Pinkie drove green one with a dinosaur head on the front called Turbo Dino with Rainbow holding on to the bars on the back, she would of flew but she didn’t want to risk it with her new cybernetic wing. Even Spike was driving a kart, he drove a blue one with a mushroom on the front called a Toad Kart.

The animatronics continue to drive on, cutting in front of ponies in carts and running red lights. Owen looked over his shoulder, to see the girls driving go-karts and catching up with them. The chase continues onto a bridge as Cody looks back at the karts chasing them, then picks up a red turtle shell from somewhere and throws it backwards at the girls. They all dodge it as the shell hits a light pole and explodes.

“Give us back the plush!” Sunset cried as she rammed the side of her kart into Owen's kart twice.

“Give us...the...Plush!” Rainbow cried as she jumped off the back of the kart, and grabbed onto Owen's kart. Owen punched Rainbow Dash in the jaw, to get her off him. Weakly, Rainbow tried to reach for the plush, but then Lillie rammed her kart into the side of Owen’s.

“Back off, horse!” Lillie shouted, Owen lifted up his arm, Rainbow was holding on to, leaving her dangling inches above the road. She cried for help as a stallion galloping at high speed approached the racing vehicles. Just as she was about to hit him, Twilight used her magic to yank her off Owen’s arm and back onto Pinkie’s kart, letting the stallion pass between the animatronics’ karts and the girls karts, as the girls swerved left to avoid the stallion, they ended up on the sidewalk and nearly crashed into a light pole and each other. Back in the animatronic karts, Owen laughed looking at the plush to his side, as they headed to the docks.

“They're getting away!” Twilight called out, Sunset shifts gears and floors the execrator. Followed by the others, they resume chasing the animatronics.

“Through there!” Spike cried from the back of the pack, as the four karts drove down to the private docks.

On the dock, the animatronics continued their getaway. But as they drove down the road, all their brakes suddenly stopped working.

“Owen, my breaks are busted!” cried Cody.

“Same for me!” Lillie shouted.

“My as well!” Owen yelled.

Looking ahead, Owen saw a pile of barrels in the way. The animatronics avoided the pile, Owen rammed into a light pole, followed by Lillie who bumped into the back of Owen and Cody who jerked into the back of Lillie. To make matters worse, all three karts burst into flames. They fell unconscious for a moment, when they came to, Cody had his right eye missing. Owen grabbed the plush as the animatronics got out their karts.

“Go, go, go!” cried Owen, as the three of them waddled away from the burning kart, but seconds later, they exploded. The girls saw the explosion, and raced over to it.

“What was that?” Pinkie cried, as they continued to drive down to the docks. When they saw the animatronics, they drove in front of them, and all jumped out of their karts.

“Give us back our plush!” Sunset shouted, “We won them fair and square!”

“There's no way you're getting this plush,” Owen told them, as he pointed away, “Now get out of the way before somebody gets hurt!”

“What could you possibly want with a super rare plush?” Twilight questioned.

“Well, ten years ago, we knocked over Big City Jewellers, and made off with millions worth of uncut diamonds,” Cody replied, “Those diamonds are in that plush.”

“Shut up, Cody!” Owen shouted as he slapped the coyote.

“I remember reading about that!” Twilight said, “That was you?”

“Yeah, that's right,” Owen said, “You see, we were high level thugs that robbed a jewellery store in Manehattan, but then one night, we were found out by the Royal Guard, and they shot us for our crimes. Our bodies might have died, but our souls were transferred to these animatronic bodies. We lay low in these suits and every year on our death day, we awake and try to escape from that pizzeria. Our souls were meant to move on once we escaped with these diamonds.”

“Mm-hmm,” Lillie confirmed, “Until you clowns came along and ruined everything!”

“Can't we just have the plush without the diamonds?” Pinkie asked.

“It's too late,” Owen replied, “And you know too much.”

Determined, Rainbow leaped for the plush and yanked it out of Owen's hands.

“Hey, give that back!” Owen growled as Rainbow threw the plush to Applejack, who threw it past the animatronics, and to Spike, who ran to catch them. Once he did, Owen stomped over to him, “Alright! No more games!” he said as he reached for his book and opened it.

“No, don't!” Spike shouted, when suddenly a light shone down onto Owen. Unicorns, Pegasus, and earth pony Royal Guards appeared from all directions.

“This is the Royal Guard. You're surrounded!” cried a unicorn Guardspony, “Get on the ground, now!”

“ Targets are considered hostile, repeat, targets are considered hostile,” radioed a Pegasus to a unicorn who was aiming his horn at them.

“Copy that, Red Leader,” he reported.

“Uh, what do we do, Owen?” Cody asked.

“We do what we were made to do: show these folks a fun time,” Owen replied.

“Hm. Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing,” Lillie stated.

“Well then, I guess it's showtime!” Owen cried as he pulled out a gun from his book.

“Gun!” cried the unicorn Guardspony, shooting Owen twice before he fell to the ground. Spike ran to the safety of his friends while being chased by the bullets of Lillie’s gun.

“Eat lead, sucker!” she cried, the Guardsponys shot Lillie in the chest multiple times, causing her to fall off the dock and into a boat. As Cody tries to fire at the Guard Ponies, not one bullet manages to hit him. Until a unicorn launches a rocket into Cody, the coyote animatronic looks down to see the rocket in his chest.

“Oh shi…” he said before he exploded, cutting off his statement, and leaving a smoking crater in the ground.

As the smoke cleared, an earth pony guard noticed a pole on the ground, as Owen, who had survived getting shot, picked up the pole and let out a war cry as the girls watched in horror. The Unicorns opened fire upon Owen, but he wasn’t giving up. Owen was covered in bullet holes as he stomped forward with the pile in hand. Then a bulkier unicorn appeared and started to rapid fire upon the owl animatronic, this did the trick as the magical bullets finally knocked Owen into a boat. His head knocked the boat in gear, which caused the boat to start up and drive out into the ocean, the searchlight from a Pegasus followed the boat out to sea.

“Smoke ‘em,” the Pegasus radioed an earth pony with a rocket launcher.

The earth pony aimed and fired the rocket at the boat, which destroyed it in one hit. The girls were in shock, then jumped into the air and high-hooved each other in victory.

And so, Twilight and the girls got the super rare Sparky the Dog Plush after the Royal Guard had retrieved the uncut diamonds from it. The whereabouts of the ‘Cameo Crew’ are currently unknown. Though there have been sightings reported all across the lower region of Equestria. Maud quit her job at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza 3 1/2 weeks later and returned to her the rock farm her parents live at, and went into the mining business. Fluttershy received the Sparky plush for her birthday and loved it and added it to her collection of Fazbear Plushies. Sam, Gwen, Nick, and Elena’s punishment lifted that day, and they went all out with drink and food until they vomit from too much. Ace also had some news, but that will have to wait until next time.

Chapter 50: An Ace Farewell (Edited)

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When Fazbear Entertainment heard about what happened, they immediately discontinued the line of Cody, Owen, and Lillie Animatronics. All Cody, Owen, Lillie animatronics from multiple restaurants were either put in storage to be used as spare parts, or scrapped, just in case the souls of those three could transfer it to new suits. As for the gang, they had their own little adventures.

Rainbow tried to prevent her pet tortoise Tank from going into hibernation by stopping winter from coming to Ponyville. The Cutie Mark Crusaders tried to bring the infamous outlaw Trouble Shoes to justice in hopes of earning their cutie marks. Discord learned that Fluttershy is taking her new friend Tree Hugger to the Grand Galloping Gala instead of him and he goes to extreme lengths to prove that he wasn't jealous. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were called to Griffonstone by the Cutie Map, but they had conflicting ideas on how to fix the problem, where Rainbow also reunited with her old friend Gilda. And while the Mane 11 were busy battling a bugbear, and the Ultra Siblings took care of a kaiju problem, the citizens of Ponyville tried to get to Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda’s wedding on time.

But while the gang were having those adventures, lurking in the shadows, evil was being planned. Somewhere deep in the Everfree Forest, a large secret base was standing, hidden from view by trees and a cloaking shield. Inside this base, aliens stood in line, prepared for the arrival of their leader. In one of the many rooms in the base, was surprisingly a well maintained conference room, with a large wooden table in the middle of the room and chairs lining along all the sides, and one large throne like chair at one of the ends.

Sitting at the end of the table, sat three figures. One was Tirek, sitting on the end facing the throne at the other end. Since his battle with Godzilla, the Ultra Siblings and the Elements of Harmony, Tirek had a cybernetic arm in place of his former arm that got blown off, and he could now properly channel and fire blasts of magic from that arm. To his right, was Starlight, leaning back with her back hooves resting on the table. To his left, was an eerie creature, with black carbonite skin, sickly green mane and tail, translucent insectoid wings, and a crown on her head. This was Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings, and she sat there with an annoyed and tired expression. The three had been sitting there for the past half hour, having been instructed to wait there for the conference meeting to start. Wanting to make a bit of small talk, Tirek turned to Starlight.

“So how did you get roped in with him?” he asked.

Starlight turned to stare at Tirek, looking unamused. “If you must know, I was roped in after Twilight Sparkle and her friends ruined my plans to bring equality to Equestria,” she replied.

“Oh so they got to you too?” Tirek remarked.

“Yes, and I want revenge for that,” Starlight responded, “what about you queenie? Why are you here?”

Chrysalis perked up when she got addressed, “Like I’ll tell to the likes of you,” she retorted.

“You might as well, since we still have time before the meeting starts,” Tirek told her.

“Fine,” Chrysalis gave in, “As you know, us changelings need to feed on love to survive, so when I found out that a royal wedding was happening at Canterlot, I knew this would be a good opportunity to gather love. So I disguised myself as Princess Cadence and took her place. But then her husband’s little sister got in the way and ruined my plans. The power of Cadence and Shining Armour’s love was too much for us and blasted us back to our hive.”

“Hmm, it seems we all have something in common,” Tirek said, “we’ve all had a run in with the same group of ponies that have put a stop to our plan for taking over Equestria.”

“It would appear that way,” Chrysalis commented.

“Yeah but unlike us Queenie, you haven’t come in contact with a group of human children,” Starlight stated.

“Ha! Human’s haven’t existed in Equestria in centuries,” Chrysalis scoffed.

“Well these children have somehow avoided extinction and have fought us,” Starlight told her, “they seemed to be close to these girls.”

“Yes it seems those girls are the kids' guardians,” Tirek thought out loud.

“And you say these are children?” Chrysalis asked in a joking tone.

“They had those robotic suits so don’t you think we got beaten by some powerless children,” Starlight stared at the Queen sitting opposite her.

“I suggest,” Tirek spoke up, “that we form a little alliance. We’ve all had an encounter with these girls and kids, well mostly. And we all want revenge on those same groups of ponies and children. The enemy of my enemy is my friend after all.”

“I guess you have a point,” Starlight agreed, “Alright, I’m in.”

“What about you Queenie?” Tirek asked.

“Fine I’m in,” Chrysalis sighed, “and stop calling my Queenie.”

They all shook hooves with each other, just as the door to the room opened and in walked a bunch of aliens who all took a seat around the table. Last to enter was the one that had brought them all together, draped in a red robe, over his Ultrasuit, Belial took a seat in his throne.

“Welcome Gentleman and ladies,” he spoke in an eerie voice, “sorry to have kept you all waiting for my return, I had to recruit a new member. You three down at the end should have heard of him before.”

As Belial finished he smirked and black smoke entered the room from the cracks in the door. The smoke swirled around the room before taking the form of a black stallion with a smoking flowing mane and tail, red horn, and green eyes with purple mist seeping out.

“Gentlemen, ladies, I like to introduce you to King Sombra,” Belial stated.

“Sombra?!” Starlight, Chrysalis and Tirek exclaimed.

“Hmm, didn’t know he recruited you two,” Sombra commented looking at Chrysalis and Tirek.

“But how are you alive?!” Tirek asked, “You were blown up by the pureness of the Crystal Heart.

“I was killed, but thanks to Belial's dark powers I was revived,” he replied, looking towards Belial.

“Now, if you may take Sombra, we can get down to business,” Belial said, as Sombra took a seat next to Chrysalis, “So, what’s the news on their experiments?”

“Well as you are aware of, Project Mimic succeeded in framing Ultraman, and placing distrust in him amongst the ponies close to him,” a white alien with red spots named Nackle pointed out, “but unfortunately failed when Ultraman flew him into the sun.”

“How’s the process coming along for his successor?” Belial asked.

“We have three ready for testing,” Nackle replied, “One male and two female. The male is dubbed Subject DG-01 and the two females are dubbed Subject DG-02 and Subject GI-01 respectively. We are also in the process of giving them real names.”

“Excellent,” Belial smirked, “how’s Project Tantabus coming along?”

“We’ve managed to created enough of our artificial Tantabus to fully corrupt two individual,” a brown alien with a silver head named Zarab replied, “we’re still in the testing phase to check how it functions to the original Tantabus sample we collected from the Castle of the Two Sisters.”

“That’s great,” Belial sneered, “how is the process of my monster army?”

“We are at 68 Kaiju, Lord Belial,” an egghead bird-like alien named Guts spoke up, holding a chart showing how many monsters they had, “wait scratch that, we have 69 kaiju. Seems like they just destroyed a Gromite.”

“Heh, 69,” snickered a few male aliens.

“Lord Belial, I’m getting tired of waiting to kill these Ultras,” Alien Hipporit said, “I think it’s time I show them what I am capable of.”

“Hipporit enough with your boasting!” shouted a pink fish head female alien named Pitt.

“It’s getting annoying,” cried her sister, who was also an alien Pitt but had an orange head rather than pink.

“No, I shall let you have your fun with them,” Belial stated.

“I won’t let you be disappointed Lord Belial,” Hipporit said as he teleported away.

“Was it wise to let him go?” asked Nackle.

“Oh I know he can get over his head, but with what he’s capable of, I’d let him enjoy himself,” Belial assured his alien followers. They continued their meeting, discussing how their project was coming along and how to kill the Ultra Siblings.

Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, Sam and his team were all busy having some relaxing time. Sam was hanging out with Elena again, Gwen was with Nicholas, and Chris and Devon were busy training with each other. But poor Ace was on his own, he hadn’t been feeling like himself. Sam and Elena noticed this about him and stopped training to check if he was ok.

“Hey Ace, you ok buddy?” Elena asked.

“Hmm, yeah, I’m fine,” Ace replied, with his head lowered.

“You don’t sound fine,” Sam remarked as he and Elena helped Ace to his feet, “Come on tell us what really is wrong.”

“Fine,” Ace said, “I feel like I’m not needed on this team.”

“Why in Equestria do you think that?!” exclaimed Sam.

“Because I’ve not been able to defeat a monster without assistance,” Ace replied, “I haven’t been able to defeat a monster on my own, everything, it’s one of you guys that takes it out, most of the time it’s you who defeats them.”

“Come on, you’ve defeated monsters surely,” Sam said, “You stopped your corrupted mother from taking over Equestria.”

“I did most of the fighting, and you were the one that cured her,” Ace replied.

“What about when you fought Mimic,” Elena brought up, “you went toe to toe with him.”

“Yeah, but he nearly killed me, and you were the one to finish him off,” Ace answered.

“Well, didn’t you defeat a monster on your own before you met me?” Sam questioned.

“I was encased in ice, with the help of another Ultra,” Ace replied.

“Oh, wait really?!” Sam shouted, “there’s another Ultra in Equestria?!”

“I mean maybe,” Ace remarked, “I haven’t heard anything from him since I met him.”

“Well in any case, don’t feel down about yourself,” Elena assured him, “you might not be able to defeat a monster now, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to at all.”

“Yeah, you’re an important member of this team,” Sam told him, placing a hand on his shoulder, “you’re the first member to join, and that makes you special.”

“Thanks guys for the reassurance,” Ace said with a meek smile.

“Hey, tell you want,” Sam told him, “when a new monster appears, I’ll let you have the honours to defeat it yourself.”

“Thanks mate,” Ace responded.

As if on cue, Alien Hipporit appeared to stand over Ponyville, where he was spotted by everyone.

“Citizens of Ponyville, I am Alien Hipporit!” He called out, “and I am here to cause destruction to your puny town!”

Then he let loose a stream of fire from his mouth destroying a nearby building. Luckily, it was empty, but ponies screamed and ran in fear. The Ultra Siblings all gather to witness all, the mane 11 soon came out and joined them to check on them.

“Is everyone ok?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, we are,” Sam replied.

“Come on out Ultraman!” cried Hipporit, “I’ll show you all how I’ll kill Ultraman!”

“Well Ace, here’s your chance to defeat him on your own,” Sam told him.

“Right,” Ace nodded as he pulled out his Spark Lens and transformed into his Ultrasuit.

Tiga landed in front of Hipporit and tried to land a flying kick, but he travelled right through Hipporit. “What?!” he questioned.

Hipporit laughed as he fired some fire bombs from his mouth. Tiga dodged some of them, but he did get hit by a couple as well. Down on the ground, the others were confused with what happened.

“Ace just went right through him!” Pinkie shouted.

“It must be an illusion,” Twilight responded.

Tiga figured this wasn’t a fake and set off to find the real Alien Hipporit. The Alien taunted Tiga to come back, but Tiga continued to fly away, until he found the real Hipporit in a case near the canyon. Tiga landed and fired his Multi-Specium Beam at the case, destroying it, this caused the illusion to disappear.

“What happened?” Fluttershy questions.

“Tiga must've found the real alien,” Rainbow remarked.

“Come on,” Twilight said to everyone, “let’s go and check on him.”

“I think he was heading to the canyon,” Adagio said, so the girls and kids all ran off to the canyon.

Tiga was now engaged with Hipporit in a proper fight. Tiga ran forward and grappled with Hipporit before the alien grabbed Tiga by the leg and tripped him up. Hipporit tried to fall onto Tiga, but he kicked him off and away with his legs before getting to his feet again. Hipporit rolled on the ground before jumping to his feet and grappled with Tiga before getting thrown to the floor. As Hipporit stood back up, he fired a white smoke from his mouth, Tiga ran forward, with the smoke causing explosions around him, Tiga had to roll on the ground to get out of the exploding smoke cloud. Hipporit chuckled as he ran forward towards Tiga, but the Ultra jumped out the way, somersaulted in the air, and kicked the back of Alien Hipporit’s head causing the alien to topple over and fall to the ground.

With Alien Hipporit in the floor, Tiga changed to his Power Type form.

Then he ran up and jumped on top of the alien, grabbed him by the antenna and repeatedly slammed his head on the ground before beating him in the face. Hipporit managed to kick Tiga off him, as he stood up he fired a spike missile from his hands at Tiga. The Ultra managed to dodge it in time before it struck the ground upon it exploded. Hipporit roared in anger, as he stomped forward, Tiga jumped into the air again, spun around and landed on a nearby hill, Hipporit turned around, just as Tiga leaped off the hill and kicked him in the face.

Hipporit rolled on the ground before Tiga ran over and the two began to tussle again, with Tiga bashing Hipporit on the head, and Hipporit smacking Tiga away. Hipporit chased after Tiga as the Ultra got back to his feet, grabbed the alien by the shoulders and threw him to the ground. Tiga prepared himself as Hipporit stood up with a boulder in hand, the alien threw it and Tiga, but he caught it and threw back at Hipporit, striking him on the head and causing him to fall back to the ground.

As Hipporit got back to his feet, Tiga changed from his Power Type form to his Sky Type form.

Tiga then fired his Runboldt Beam Shell, launching multiple energy arrows at Hipporit. The Alien staggered back before teleporting away. Tiga was surprised and looked around to see where Hipporit disappeared to, suddenly two half cylinders appeared and started to close around Tiga. The Ultra tried to push them away, but he wasn’t strong enough and the cylinders trapped him.

Hipporit reappeared and laughed menacingly. “What a shame, Tiga,” he responded, “you won’t be able to witness your own demise. But I’ll be enjoying your death as slowly as I can!”

The capsule started to secrete a green liquid that seemed to burn Tiga as he desperately tried to get out.

“Suffer! Suffer!” Hipporit shouted, “Suffer a painful death!”

Tiga felt himself grow weaker by the second, as his arms went limp, and he dropped his head. Hipporit laughed as Tiga fired a beam from his colour timer into the air before his eyes dimmed.

“Fool! You’ve sent an Ultra Sign?” Hipporit yelled, as the chamber emitted a green gas which filled up the capsule rapidly. The Capsule disappeared, to reveal that Tiga had been turned into a Bronze statue, “Next with be the five Ultra Siblings’ deaths!” Tiga’s Ultra Sign flashed in the sky, which Sam and co witnessed.

“Ace!” Sam shouted, “Ace is in trouble!”

“You all go on ahead!” Twilight told them we’ll be right behind you.

Sam nodded as he and his team donned their Ultrasuit and flew to where Tiga was. First Ultraseven landed, followed by Zero, Ultraman, Mary and finally Jack. Once they saw Tiga turned to bronze, they bolted to him.

“Ace!” Ultraman shouted.

“Is he…Ok?” Mary asked.

Seven walked closer and fell around Tiga’s bronze body, he lowered his head and shook it, “He’s dead.” Was his only response.

Ultraman cried out as he pumped his arms out in anger. “This is my fault,” Ultraman shouted, “if I didn’t give him this chance he wouldn’t be turned into a bronze statue.”

“You can’t blame yourself brother,” Mary told him, “any of us would have fallen into this trap.”

“And fallen you have!” cried Hipporit’s voice as a laugh followed it, the Ultras tensed up and looked around. Hipporit appeared in front of them as the Ultra Siblings prepared to fight. Hipporit suddenly summoned three capsules and dropped them onto Ultraman Mary and Zero. Seven and Jack managed to get out of the way in time, but Ultraman, Mary and Zero were all trapped in the capsules.

Ultraseven jumped at Hipporit and started to wrestle around his head and knee him in the face. When Hipporit tried to get Seven to the ground, the Ultra grabbed Hipporit from underneath and threw him to the ground. Back with Jack, he tried to get his siblings out by lifting the capsules, but they were two heavy, even for his more bulkier suit. Jack stood back and charged up his Railgun, but another capsule enclosed around him, trapping him as well, and leaving Ultraseven on his own. The glass capsules started to secrete it’s Hipporit Tar burning the Ultras inside, they felt the strength vanishing every second.

Seven tried his best to defeat Hipporit on his own, but the Alien was much stronger than him. Hipporit grabbed Seven and held him tightly, as Seven chopped at the back of the neck to get him to let go. Ultraseven the cartwheel kicked Hipporit in the face causing him to get knocked to the ground. Seven then jumped onto Alien Hipporit’s back and started pounding his head, and slamming his face into the ground, before Hipporit knocked Seven off. Hipporit increased his physical attacks by lighting his fist on fire and punching Seven with his flaming chop.

Seven groaned in pain as Hipporit chopped him in the stomach, then grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground. Seven struggled to get up when suddenly Hipporit fired lightning-likes from his eyes and struck Ultraseven in the chest. Seven groaned in pain as he could no longer keep fighting, Hipporit was just too strong for him. Hipporit laughed as he summoned another glass capsule and dropped in on top of Ultraseven, trapping him as well.

Hipporit continued to laugh as the Ultras all cried in pain, feeling their strength disappear. All the colour timers started to blink as they all slowed down and gas started filling the capsules. Soon the five capsules faded away, revealing the bronzed statues of the Ultra Siblings. They were all no more. Hipporit continued to laugh as he slowly teleported away, just as the girls arrived at the canyon. They were horrified and saddened at the site.

“Oh my…” Rarity commented, covering her mouth with her hoof.

“This can’t be! This has to be a bad dream!” Fluttershy sobbed, she couldn’t believe it as she and Pinkie embraced each other for comfort.

“It must be a nightmare!” Pinkie shouted, as she cried into Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t a dream. It’s the cruel reality,” Applejack remarked, lowering her head. Rainbow had tears building up and she had to look away.

“Dagi…? Are they…?” Sonata stuttered, she didn’t want to finish her sentence as she was embraced by Adagio and Aria.

“Twilight?” Trixie asked her friend, “Are you ok?”

Twilight herself was trying to hold back tears. Though she was upset, she had been through similar scenarios before, and she instead had a stern look on her face.

“Twilight? Aren’t you scared for your children?” Trixie questioned.

“I am,” Twilight replied dryly, “but I know Sam and the others are fine.”

“How is that fine?!” Rainbow shouted.

“I’m not seeing them as dead,” Twilight replied, “they’re just in suspended animation.”

“We can’t lose faith in them,” Sunset said, “We need to figure out a way to save them, and stop Hipporit.”

“Sunset’s right,” Adagio chimed in, “If we defeat Hipporit, maybe then the effect will lift.”

The girls slowly gathered themselves and nodded confidently. As the sun started to set over the mountains, shimmering on the bronzed statues of the Ultra Siblings, the girls headed back to Ponyville to rest up for the night. But as they headed home, Twilight thought she saw something, she turned around, and looked around but she couldn’t find anything.

“Hey Twi, you ok?” Sunset called to her.

“Hmm? Oh yeah,” she replied, “I just thought I saw something.”

“Well I don’t see anything so maybe you didn’t,” Sunset stated.

“Maybe,” Twilight responded as she followed the rest.

But little did see know, she did see something. It was hard to make out due to it being far away from, but it seemed to be a figure that was watching the Ultras, before turning away and heading in a different direction.

That night, none of the girls could sleep, they couldn’t get the thought of the Ultra Siblings being beaten so quickly and easily by Alien Hipporit. As the morning sun rose over the mountains, Twilight hadn’t gotten any sleep, she was busy all night to possibly find a spell that could de-bronzed the Ultra Siblings. But she had come up with nothing and she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer.

“Twilight!” Cried Sunset when she saw her friend, “have you been awake all night?”

“I’ve been trying to find a counter-spell to free Sam and the others,” Twilight told her, “but I’ve found nothing.”

“Don’t give up hope Twilight,” Sunset responded, “We’ll figure out a way to save them.”

“We better,” Twilight replied, “I don’t think my heart can handle something like this again.”

Just then, the illusion of Alien Hipporit appeared over Ponyville again, but not just the town, but all around Equestria, being witnessed by ponies alike in Canterlot, the Crystal Empire, Manehattan, Los Pegasus and more. Celestia and Luna came out onto their balconies and stared up at the illusion in Canterlot.

“Ponies of Equestria! I have single handedly killed the Ultra Siblings!” Hipporit announced as he showed an illusion of the bronzed Ultra Siblings, “Surrender Equestria to the Dark Kings now, or else I’ll turn your major cities into hell! Ponies will become our Slaves! Rulers of Equestria, I await your answer!”

“We refuse!” Shouted Celestia, “We cannot accept your request! Equestria belongs to the us! We will project Equestria until we die! We’ve done it long before the Ultra’s came to this planet, and we’ll continue to do so!”

“How foolish!” Hipporit chuckled, “Think it over, I await a better answer.” And with that the illusions disappeared.

Later, Celestia and Luna had called the girls to Canterlot together to discuss what they could do, and Twilight was sent to one of the guestrooms for some rest. The ponies all gathered in the Throne room and continued their meeting until late in the afternoon. No one had come up with a plan that could work, until Celestia brought out a book containing a power spell. A spell that would blast a power beam of energy.

“So run me by that again,” Rainbow stated.

“Alien Hipporit is bound to appear again,” Celestia said, “the illusions of him are likely to appear again and cause destruction. So the plan is, while you all distract the illusions in different cities, with his guard down, I’ll head to the canyon, and perform this power spell. That should get his focus off the cities and onto me.”

“Don’t think you are going to perform that spell on your own sister,” Luna commented, “this spell is hard enough for one pony to perform on their own. You’ll need my help.”

“Thank you sister,” Celestia smiled, “now, here’s what we’re going to do. You'll split up into teams. Rarity, you, Applejack and Fluttershy will stay here. Sunset, you Rainbow and Pinkie head to Cloudsdale. Adagio, you, Aria, Sonata, and Trixie head back to Ponyville. When the illusions disappear, teleport to me and Luna, and we’ll take him down for good.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Sunset remarked, just as the doors to the throne room opened to reveal Twilight.

“Twilight? You should be resting,” Applejack said.

“I am not going to be waiting on the sidelines while my friends risk their lives,” Twilight announced, “I’m coming too.”

“Are you sure you’re up for it?” Celestia asked, Twilight nodded, “very well. Ponies, let's do this.”

And so the plan was set into motion, the teams all dispatched to the different cities and waited for Hipporit to appear. Twilight was assigned with Rarity and her team to protect Canterlot. Sunset and Pinkie were given the ability to walk on clouds, to help Rainbow in projecting Cloudsdale. Adagio and her team headed back to Ponyville to prepare for Hipporit’s arrival, and the Princesses flew from their castle to the canyon where they saw the bronze statues of the Ultra Siblings.

Sure enough, illusions appeared around Equestria, and the ponies set to work distracting the illusions. Cadence had been told by Celestia about their plan, and she helped by annoying the illusion in the Crystal Empire. As the illusions breathed its explosive mist on a building, the Rainbow, Fluttershy and Aria flew around the faces to get their attention. As they flew around the faces, Twilight, Rarity, Sunset, Adagio and Trixie fired blasts of magic up at the illusion to confuse them even more despite the fact that their blasts went straight through the illusions. While Applejack, Pinkie and Sonata ran around getting ponies to safety.

“Ponies just stop your useless attack!” Hipporit called out, “just submit to the Dark Kings already!”

With the illusions distracted, Celestia and Luna trek through the valley and discover where the real Hipporit was. He was contained in one of his Hipporit capsules.

“I see now,” Celestia remarked, “the alien used the smoke in the valley and made projections of himself. Luna, let's put an end to this.”

“Yes Sister,” Luna nodded.

The two sisters crossed horns and started to charge up the magical energy beam, they aimed their horns towards the alien, and unleashed a powerful blast of magic that exploded the chamber upon contact. The illusions around Equestria all disappeared, signalling that Celestia and Luna did it.

“The illusion’s disappeared,” Applejack pointed out.

“Celestia and Luna must have done it,” Twilight told them, “quick girls to me and I’ll teleport us to them.”

So Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy stood next to Twilight, as she used her magic to teleport them to Celestia and Luna. They were soon joined by Sunset’s and Adagio’s groups as well.

Meanwhile, Alien Hipporit, annoyed, found Celestia and Luna and tried to incinerate them with his flames. Celestia and Luna had used most of the strength on the energy blast, and now were weaker than before. They tried to hide while firing magical blasts at the Alien.

“You figured me out!” Hipporit shouted as he grabbed a massive boulder and lifted over his head. Just as the ponies teleported to the scene.

“The Princesses are in danger!” Twilight shouted, “girls aim your horns at the alien and attack!”

Twilight, Sunset, Trixie, Adagio and Rarity all aimed their horns at the alien and fired, this disrupted Hipporit and caused him to drop the boulder on the ground and land on his foot. Hipporit roared in pain as he growled at the ponies.

“I’ll tell you what, your plan was pretty genius. Distracting my illusions while you’re Princesses took care of me while my guard was down,” he responded, “however, you don’t have the power to defeat me! Tiny ponies like yourselves are too weak to even hurt me! Now I’ll show you the Strongest power of an Alien Hipporit!”

Hipporit then fired his Wind Hell at the group as the girls united with the Princesses. They coughed and gagged as Hipporit then fired his Flame Hell and trapped the group inside a ring of fire. The girls all started to panic, and Applejack got PTSD from this.

“Burn! Burn!” Hipporit laughed, “These flames will burn the Ponies! First the Six Ultra Siblings and now the Elements of Harmony and the Princesses are at their wits end too!”

Standing on the edge of the valley, a figure watched the whole scene go down. Before grabbing his cloak and throwing it off, and revealing to be another human. He wore a yellow jacket with red sleeves, green trousers, black boots, and a yellow streak in his hair. The kid crossed his arms, then reached to the sky, before getting engulfed in a bright light before the light moved towards Hipporit.

“What is that?!” Rarity shouted. Everyone looked and watched the light land in front of Hipporit and exploded causing the alien to topple over to the ground. As the light faded, in its place was another Ultra.

“What?! Zoffy?!” Hipporit exclaimed as he struggled to get back to his feet.

Zoffy crossed his arms and charged up his energy before firing a powerful beam of electricity at Hipporit stunning him. With Hipporit temporarily stunned, Zoffy turned to face the ponies in the ring of fire, and emitted a stream of freezing mist that was so cold it extinguished the flames. The girls quickly made sure that each other was okay, as Zoffy turned to face Tiga and emitted the same freezing mist from his palms to de-bronze Tiga. And it worked, Tiga was no longer a bronze statue, but his colour timer wasn’t blinking.

Hipporit roared in fury, Zoffy turned to see Hipporit charging towards him. Zoffy got ready to fight as he grabbed Hipporit by the head, to stop him from running, then Zoffy chopped at his neck. Hipporit went to smack Zoffy, but the Ultra stopped his arm and grabbed his head antenna before throwing him to the ground. As Hipporit stood back up, Zoffy channelled his energy and launched a Zoffy Slash at Hipporit striking it in the head and causing the alien to fall backwards.

Zoffy ran forward and grabbed Hipporit by the head again, before lifting him and flipping him over his shoulder, Hipporit rolled on the ground and back onto his feet. Zoffy ran towards him and kicked the alien in the face, causing the alien to fall and roll on the ground once again. Zoffy fired another Z-Beam to stun the alien, the attack struck Hipporit and weakened him, but the alien wasn’t done. He lifted his head and emitted blinding sparks from his antennas and eyes, this stunned Zoffy as Hipporit stood back up and fired a laser from the red orb on his chest, striking Zoffy in the chest, and making him fall to the ground.

With Zoffy on the ground, Hipporit took the opportunity and started to beat down on Zoffy’s back, before lifting him up and tossing him to the ground again. Zoffy’s colour timer started to blink as Hipporit roared, he waddled over to Zoffy as he staggered to his feet, then the alien smacked him in the face causing Zoffy to stumble to his feet. Due to Hipporit’s Breast Crusher beam, Zoffy was severely injured and was struggling to battle Hipporit. Low on energy, Zoffy suddenly grabbed his colour timer, tore it off and threw it at Tiga. The energy from his colour timer dispensed into Tiga’s reviving him, but at the cost of his own, as Zoffy dropped to the ground and his eye dimmed.

“Tiga’s came back to life!” Sonata shouted.

With Zoffy’s energy running through his body, Tiga turned to face Hipporit. Tiga then channelled the energy and unlocked a new form, Tiga’s suit turned gold and glimmered in the light of the sun. Tiga had become Glitter Tiga.

Tiga jumped, spun in the air, and kicked Hipporit square in the face. Hipporit struggled to get to his feet, but before he could even stand up, Tiga kicked him in the back and knocked him to the ground again. Tiga picked up Hipporit and started to kick and punch him in the chest before grabbing him and flipping the alien over himself. Once again as Hipporit got to his feet, Tiga grabbed the alien, and tossed him to the ground, then Tiga placed his arms on his shoulders, then quickly thrusted them forward in an energy wave that struck Hipporit in the chest.

Hipporit stumbled from the attack, as Tiga ran forward to try and kick him, but the alien side stepped, causing Tiga to miss. Hipporit then grabbed Tiga and tossed him aside, before chasing after him, Tiga got back to his feet, and flipped Alien Hipporit over his back. Tiga jumped at Hipporit before grabbing him by the head, and slamming it into the ground multiple times before getting him up off the floor and throwing him to the ground again. As Hipporit stumbled to his feet again, Tiga jumped into the air and kicked him in the back of the head, sending the alien falling to the floor.

Tiga grabbed Hipporit and pulled him up and back on his feet, Hipporit tried and struggled to get free from Tiga’s grasp. Down on the ground, Celestia, Luna and the other unicorns had their horns pointed at Hipporit.

“Shoot at the alien’s head!” Celestia ordered as the ‘corns all fired magical blasts at Hipporit. Tiga jumped out of the way as the magical bullets struck Hipporit in the face.

Tiga grabbed Hipporit once they had stopped firing and threw him into a nearby hill, Hipporit stumbled to his feet as Tiga charged up his beam attack.

“NO! You can’t kill me!” Hipporit cried, “I’m more powerful than any of you combined!”

“Then I guess I was just stronger. Glitter Zeperion Beam!” Tiga shouted as he fired the beam at the alien causing Alien Hipporit to explode into a million pieces, leaving behind a flaming, smoking crater.

“Tiga won!” Pinkie cried.

“But, his siblings are still…” Rainbow spoke, “poor Tiga.”

“Wait, look!” yelled Trixie. The ponies all looked and saw the bronzed Ultras turn back to normal.

Tiga changed back to his Multi type form and restored Zoffy’s colour timer, which he then used to restore energy for the other Ultras. One by one, the Ultra Siblings came back to life.

“Oh my head,” groaned Ultraseven.

“That was something,” Zero remarked.

“Are you ok, Gwen?” Ultraman asked.

“I’ve been better,” Mary replied.

“Guys look, Ace’s saved us,” Jack commented. The five of them went to check if their brother-in-arms was ok.

“Well Ace, you’ve finally defeated your first monster on your own,” Ultraman remarked.

“Well I did have a little help,” Tiga replied.

“Yeah but you defeated him on your own,” Mary pointed out.

“‘Defeated’ is a way to put it,” Nick remarked, as he picked up a chunk of Hipporit’s face.

“Well I wouldn’t be able to if… he… didn’t free me,” Tiga lowered his head as he turned to face Zoffy, who laid on the ground motionless.

The six Siblings walked over to the fallen Ultra, they all lowered their heads in respect, as Tiga got on his knees and clutched Zoffy’s hand. Tiga placed Zoffy’s depleted colour timer back on his chest and lifted his arms onto his chest in a cross, as the others gathered around and gently picked Zoffy up. Ultraman, Tiga and Mary holding his left and Jack, Seven and Zero holding his right. Using their powers to revert back to normal, they caused Zoffy’s Colour timer to change him back as well.

Back with the ponies, a couple of them had shed some tears at the sight. Twilight looked forward and she could see the outline of figures walking towards them. It was Sam and his team carrying their fallen ally.

“Sam!” she cried as she ran towards them, followed by the others, “are you hurt? Are you ok?”

“Yeah, we'll be fine now,” Sam replied, “but our friend here…”

The six of them lowered the kid gently onto the ground, as Celestia came up to look him over. “We need to get him to a hospital,” she told them, as she and Luna used their magic to teleport them all to Canterlot Hospital.

Back in the secret base, hidden in the Everfree forest, Belial was sitting in his throne room, clutching his Giga Battlenizer, when Alien Guts came into the room with news.

“Lord Belial, Hipporit has failed,” Guts reported.

“I know,” Belial replied, “his soul has entered my Giga Battlenizer.”

“Shall we continue on without him?” Guts asked.

“Yes, progress may be slowed, but he didn’t really do much, and just bragged all the time,” Belial answered, “how’s Subjects DG-01, DG-02 and GI-01 coming along?”

“They’re coming along just nicely,” Guts told him, “we are about to test their skill against monsters.”

“Excellent,” Belial remarked as he stood up and gave Alien Guts his Giga Battlenizer, “pit them against Golza, Telesdon and Sadora.”

“As you wish my Lord,” Guts bowed and left the room leaving Belial in the dark room.

“Beware, Ultraman. Your days are numbered,” he spoke, followed by an evil chuckle.

The following day, the Ultra Siblings and the Elements of Harmony were all having a picnic together, Rainbow, Aria and Pinkie played in the lake near the picnic spot, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity were getting the food ready, and Sam and the gang were resting on a nearby hill.

“So I heard your friend is in a stable condition,” Gwen told Ace.

“That’s good to hear,” Ace remarked.

“Who is he anyway?” Sam asked.

“He’s a friend that I met before I met you,” Ace replied, “his name’s Yellow, and he helped me in sealing a monster away.”

“He must have been pretty strong,” Jack stated.

“He was,” Ace responded. The group fell quiet for a little while, just listening to the ponies playing and chatting. Eventually Ace spoke up again. “Guys. I have something to say that I’ve been thinking about for a while.”

“What’s on your mind?” Sam questioned.

“I’ve… I’ve been thinking about leaving the team,” Ace answered.

“WHAT?!” the other five all shouted.

“Why?!” Asked Gwen.

“Well I’ve been thinking, and I don’t think being an Ultra is really cut out for me,” Ace stated, “I’m not a fighter, I’m just a kid with ice powers.”

“You know what, I respect your decision Ace,” Sam remarked, sitting up, “you were my first teammate, and our alliance is still holding strong.”

“We’re going to miss you,” Gwen stated.

“You were a great teammate,” Devon expressed.

“You sure Ace, it wouldn’t be the same without you,” Nick commented.

“Thanks guys, I’m sure this is what I want to do,” Ace replied, “it’s also a little bit for the best, because I’m not the same age as you all.”

“What do you mean by that?” Chris asked.

“I’m 34 years old,” Ace replied.

“YOU’RE WHAT?!?!” The five kids shouted, so loud that the girls heard them.

“Hey, what ya yelling about?!” Applejack called to them.

“Ace says he is 34 years old!” cried Sam. Everypony was shocked and gathered around them. Ace explained to them that Frostlings like himself age faster than normal beings. Due to him living in this warming climate, slowed his growth, so he was stuck in a child body.

“Wow, I guess that makes sense,” Twilight remarked.

“Wait, he’s 34 years old,” Sonata retorted, “that’s the same age as me.”

“Oh Sonata, I really wish I could have told you sooner,” Ace said as he came closer to her and held her hooves, “when I’m around you, my heart just yearns to you how I feel. I fell in love with you the moment our eyes met in Principal Luna’s Office back in the human world.”

“It’s a long story,” Sam remarked when Twilight and Sunset turned to face him.

“Sonata Dusk,” Ace said, getting on one knee, “please, would you become my girlfriend?”

Sonata and everyone was at a loss for words, they didn’t expect this. “I… I… I…” Sonata stuttered, “I’d love too!”

Ace cheered and he kissed Sonata on the lips, taking most of the guard, Sonata included, but she accepted it and kissed him back. Later, as the sun started to set behind the mountains, everyone gathered at the train station to see goodbye to Ace. He had packed his stuff and was waiting for the train that would take him to the Crystal empire, where then he would meet his mother and they’ll head back to the Ice Kingdom.

“Are you nervous Ace?” Sam asked.

“A little yeah,” Ace replied, “Sam, Gwen, everypony, I’ve had such a great time living with you.”

“It’s been fun having you around Ace,” Twilight responded.

“And mostly to you Sam, thank you for being a true friend,” Ace stated.

“Hey, A true, true friend helps a friend in need,” Sam replied.

“A friend will be there to help them see,” Gwen chimed in.

“A true, true friend helps a friend in need,” Chris continued.

“To see the light that shines from a true, true friend,” Ace finished making everyone laugh, “oh and before I forget… here, I think you should hold onto this.”

“Your Spark Lens?” Sam questioned.

“I won’t be needing it anymore,” Ace remarked.

“I’ll make sure it’s given to someone worthy,” Sam told him.

Just then the Train came into view and stopped at the station.

“Ponies wanting to go to the Crystal Empire, please board,” called the train conductor.

“Well this is it,” Ace remarked, as Adagio and Rarity helped get his things onboard.

“I guess so,” Sam responded as he and the others all embraced Ace in one last hug. After that, Ace ran to catch the train before it could leave without him.

As the train started to pull out the platform, Ace stuck his head out the window and waved goodbye to his friends. Everyone waved goodbye until he was out of sight, then one by one, they left the station, with Sam, Gwen, Twilight, and Sunset last.

“Sayonara Ace,” Gwen called out before she turned around to follow Twilight and Sunset home.

“Farewell Ace,” Sam declaimed softly.

“Farewell.”