Strong body, broken mind

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As a tired, frustrated, and magic-less Opaline travels through the forest, she couldn’t help but complain about how Twilight and her friends had stopped her plan from reaching its full potential. On one hand, she was glad they were trapped and that magic had left Equestria but on the other, she knew there was a chance that they could come back so she had to find a way to bring her own magic back. Nowadays though, that was pretty much impossible. She was magic-less and alone… and for once… being alone didn’t feel good… especially since she’s been alone for almost a century. She may be evil but it would still be nice to at least have one pony around.

She’s broken out of her thoughts when she hears something. It sounds like… crying? Not just any crying, it was the sound of a little filly. Curious, she follows the sound and of course, it was a filly. She was so small… and she was alone. Opaline frowns a bit then slowly walks closer, causing the filly to look up at her and scream while starting to try and run away but Opaline quickly tries her best to reassure the poor girl.

“No no no, it’s alright. I won’t hurt you, I promise.” Opaline says and after a few seconds, the filly seems to calm down a bit and Opaline smiles as she slowly comes out of the shadows made by the surrounding trees. Opaline slowly crouches down so the filly won’t have to look up at her so much and so she won’t look so scary. “Where are your parents?” Opaline asks and the little filly doesn’t say anything but she does start shaking and she slowly looks at something and Opaline follows her gaze to see… bloody paw prints and claw marks… but no body… Either there was an attack and the filly's parents left her there… or they were both killed and dragged off by whatever attacked them.

Regardless, Opaline had to make a choice and go. Either leave the filly or take her in. Opaline's selfish nature had almost instantly made the decision to leave the poor girl but… something else in Opaline couldn’t bring itself to do such a thing, considering all that the poor girl had probably been through… she hasn’t even said a single word yet and she’s so young. She couldn’t possibly leave her out here to die… besides, who knows? Taking her in might benefit Opaline in some ways. Making her decision, Opaline goes to pick the filly up, causing her to flinch away but Opaline did manage to touch her and feel how much she was shaking… she was really terrified.

Opaline decides to take the more gentle and slowly puts a hand on the filly's shoulder and one on her other arm, causing her to almost look at her before continuing to cry for a second… then slowly going into Opaline's embrace. Opaline looks around as she picks her up and then starts to walk off until she hears something. Just as she turns to see what it was, she’s tackled and bitten by a bear covered in blood. She ends up dropping the filly who tumbles forward, receiving a few scratches. Opaline growls in annoyance and anger. How dare this filthy beast attack her and cause that poor filly more pain than it already has?!

She frees her shoulder from the bear's mouth then manages to elbow it in the face, knocking it off herself. It growls in pain then roars at her when she gets up. Her strength was severely depleted due to her lack of magic as well but she could still do some pretty good damage to this beast… and Opaline Arcana was never one to truly run from a fight. The bear roars again and she yells in return before blocking and grabbing one of it’s huge paws, then swinging it around and slamming it. She then kicks it away, only to receive a slash from it when it recovers. She looks at the wound on her arm and feels her blood boil. She then charges forward and so does the bear but she ends up flipping onto the bear's back and starting to choke it out while it tries to shake her off violently.

At this point, the little filly is just now waking up to see the battle and she screams when she sees the same bear that attacked her and her parents but chased them after she was tossed into a bush. The bear doesn’t seem to notice her and it slams Opaline down and pins her and tries biting her face off, so she uses both her arms to try and keep it back but she’s struggling as it gets closer and closer. The filly, not wanting this bear to hurt her anymore, grabs a sharp rock off the ground then struggles to get to her legs since she only learned to walk then run a few months ago and she runs at the bear with the rock and jumps at it and stabs it in the jaw.

It recoils in pain and tries pawing the rock out of its jaw before it gives up and runs after her before pinning her and trying to eat her but it ends up biting Opaline who threw her arm in the way to protect the filly. She screams in pain as she feels the force behind the bite crack something in her arm. Misty hears this and gets mad so she reaches for the rock and pulls it out of the bear’s jaw then stabs it in the eye, making it roar in pain and recoil, letting go of Opaline's arm. It glares at them with it's one good eye then charges at them but Opaline swings a log at it, knocking it aside then jumping on it and beating it down before getting both her arms around its neck.

She uses all her built up rage and aggression to snap the bear's neck with a scream. She slowly stands up, victorious and tired. She’s about to turn and leave until she sees the filly run towards the bear and kick it's body repeatedly, obvious anger and hatred put into those kicks. She’s a bit amused by this but that amusement immediately turns to concern once the filly keeps kicking the bear then punching it and she goes to grab her and stop her.

“Alright alright, you got him. Ok? …He’s dead. He can’t hurt you anymore.” Opaline says and the little filly looks at her for a bit before looking down and then jumping into her arms for a hug. She looks shocked but then slowly hugs her back and smiles. She then picks her up and looks at the bear's body for a bit then starts walking, taking the filly someplace else, someplace better. “What’s your name little one?” She asks but instead of answering, the filly just moves back to look at Opaline, shaking her head.

“No name? Well that certainly won’t do. Hmmm…” Opaline hums as she tries to think of a name for the beautiful young filly in her arms. A butterfly with slightly glowing, blue wings flutters past them and the glow from its wings makes the filly’s teary, misty-eyed face light up with wonder and amazement. Wait… Idea! “Hmmm… that’s what I’ll call you… Misty. Do you like that?” Opaline asks and Misty turns to her and smiles, clapping and nodding but doesn’t say anything.

“Not much of a talker yet, hm? Well not to worry Misty dear. I’ll take care of you and help you learn everything you need to know. The only thing you need to know right now?” Opaline says before she sees an abandoned castle that she recognized and smirks. She then looks down at Misty with a mix of a loving smile and a devious smirk. “We’re going to do great things together.”

Things started off pretty well. Misty had gotten accustomed to being in the castle and having Opaline as a mother figure and Opaline had started getting used to feeling like a mom. But, the whole time, she was also still trying to figure out how to get her magic back and the more she failed, the more frustrated she got and the more she wanted power… Misty had comforted her a few times and she had comforted Misty about a few things… but the more Opaline wanted power, the less love and care she gave to Misty… the more cold and distant she got.

Until she finally got the idea to start training Misty to be skilled, dangerous, and merciless. It started when Misty's favorite toy had been replaced with a beautiful blade with a blue handle. That blade could turn into a bladed whip with detachable blades that could be launched as projectiles. The blade was also infused with magic and Misty had spent countless days and nights practicing to use it wisely and with precision. Eventually it became second nature to her and then she was trained to be agile to pull off next level maneuvers with the blade in its dagger form and its whip form alike.

Then came the hand to hand combat training and the endurance building. First it started with a wooden pole that Misty was forced to punch until she couldn’t do it anymore. Opaline would heal her little fragile fists afterwards and then give Misty a valuable lesson… the most constant and important one was repeated to Misty the most, almost every day.

“Misty… what doesn’t kill you… only makes you stronger. So learn to harness and use the pain that you feel. The anger that you felt towards that bear? Use that to your advantage, focus that anger… make it a part of you and you will be stronger than you thought. Strong enough so that no bear can hurt you again. So that nothing can hurt you again.” She remembers Opaline saying to her one specific time before she walks into the usual training area and looks at the spot that she had usually punched. She could see the point where the wood had started to break more the stronger she got. She could also see dried blood from some of the times the skin on her knuckles had broken.

She closes her eyes and does what Opaline told her, focusing her rage and channeling it into her attack when she punches the wood and she immediately realizes that… she didn’t even feel it. She smiles then gets in her stance, getting ready to do it again. She breathes in and out, focuses her rage… and throws an even harder punch.

Three years later

As Misty landed a good strong punch on one of the stone walls in her room, she couldn’t help but feel proud of herself when she realizes she cracked the wall a bit but didn’t even feel it. “Ha! Take that stone wall! Not getting me this time!” Misty says before she keeps punching until the wall cracked more and more and was close to collapsing and not a single drop of blood was on it. Misty's knuckles were pretty bruised up though but that was nothing. She did good and Opaline would think so too… after she scolded Misty and told her to fix the wall.

After that, Misty moved up to punching metal. She did this so much that her fists didn’t even get bruised nearly as much as they used to just from punching stone. She was truly at her strongest now… or at least she thought so. But Opaline and the three new ponies she recruited didn’t seem to think so quite yet. Misty had then been forced to train against the three ponies, who used to work for somepony named “Midnight.” Misty didn’t know who that was but if she was as scary and bad as they had described, Misty had doubts that Opaline could deal with somepony of that much cruelty and power. She also knew that these three ponies always held back against her and they still won.

Apparently before this “Midnight” pony had gotten trapped, she made clones of herself and spread them out all over the world. Years after Opaline's spell was stopped by the Mane six, one of the clones had found these three ponies and turned them evil and put a anti-aging spell on them before it was destroyed by a alicorn named Artemis and a pegasus named Thunderbird. So despite them being half a century old, they still looked just like beautiful, scary young adult mares. One was a very muscular 8 ft tall Earth pony with a big hammer, one was a beautiful silent but deadly unicorn with a mask always covering her mouth and a bunch of even deadlier weapons and spells at her disposal, and the last one was a pegasus with lightning speed, a half scarred/burnt face and a blind eye, a black and purple razorang and a bad attitude towards Misty or anyone else she deemed weak or not fit to lead.

The Earth pony was Titania, the unicorn was Nightshade, and the Pegasus was Stormcutter. These three mares were probably the most dangerous mares in Midnight's army, even without their magic and they were in charge of teaching Misty everything when it came to hand to hand combat, accuracy, strategy, endurance, stealth, infiltration and everything that would make her into a one mare army. Everyday Misty was changing, learning, becoming hardened and more dangerous with every day that went by, every year that passed and Opaline could see it. It was clear when Misty had beaten the three mares at the same time while they were going all out that she was almost ready… but there was just one flaw in Misty that would cost them everything if allowed to go on for too long… Misty's kindness.

Present Day

As Misty stood before Opaline today in her new armor, Opaline narrows her eyes, considering brainwashing Misty and making her into a mindless, bloodthirsty assassin… but that would be too much, at least according to a part of her that still viewed Misty as a daughter and not just as a pawn. Opaline sighs then stands up, walking to Misty.

“Misty, I’m truly proud of how far you’ve come and I think you’re almost ready to go on your first real mission… but… there’s just one problem. I can still sense hesitation in you when it comes to having to hurt ponies. So… I’m going to cast a spell on you. It will… allow a darker side of you to temporarily take over in combat situations when you want it to. It will make you stronger, faster, and more aggressive… but it could also cause some… psychological issues. So I ask you Misty… do you truly want to become one of us and prove you’re worthy of getting your cutie mark?” Opaline asks and Misty hesitates but then nods and Opaline smiles a bit.

“Then as of today… you. Are. Ready.” Opaline says before she walks to the makeshift magic mirror pool in the middle of the throne room and pours a few drops of different things in there and the liquid starts rippling then swirling around, purple mist coming out of it and suddenly two glowing purple eyes appear and disappear just as fast. The mist clears and Opaline gathers some of the liquid in a decorative bottle and swishes it around a bit before giving it to Misty. “Drink slowly and carefully.” Opaline warns her before backing up a bit.

Misty looks nervous but then grows a determined look and drinks it slowly and carefully like Opaline had told her to. After a few seconds with her eyes closed, they both suddenly shoot open as she drops the bottle, revealing that her irises are glowing purple. She starts twitching as her body struggles to keep up with the changes taking place in her mind and body and she screams uncontrollably as it gets worse and worse the longer it goes on. More and more she screams… until she falls to her knees with her head hanging low. Opaline slowly walks closer, cautiously looking her up and down until Misty looks up at her then slowly stands up. Opaline is about to say something until Misty walks closer to her… then bows and what her next words say manage to pull one of the most devious smirks in history onto her face.

“What is your first order, my Queen?”

New dangers, same fears

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“No… get out of my head! Just leave me alone!” Sunny yelled as she ran through the abandoned streets of Maretime Bay which was currently covered in fog. If it weren’t for all the lights being on, Sunny would have no idea where she was going since it was also nighttime. Besides, having grown up in Maretime Bay, she knew every inch of it pretty well now. As she runs in fear, she could hear the sound of an evil laugh that she hoped she’d never hear again. That’s when the fog suddenly turns purple as a giant shadow seems to move through the fog effortlessly. After seeing this, Sunny only picks up the pace, running as fast as her legs could take her.

“You’re never truly alone Sunny…. We’re a part of you now. You are the key to bringing us back and returning us to power. After all, you are the one who destroyed me and you’re bonded to the unity crystals.” The familiar voice says as it seems to echo across Maretime Bay and Sunny shakes her head in denial. No way that monster was actually a part of her forever and no way would she let her use her again like some puppet. Wait… who did she mean by “we” and “us”? She obviously meant herself too but… who else was she talking about. Before she can contemplate this she notices everything turning red and looks up at the moon only to see a blood moon. That’s what was turning the fog and everything else completely red, giving Maretime Bay a sinister look.

Sunny, at this point, isn’t just unsettled. She’s completely terrified. The trauma she suffered from everything that had happened had haunted her for years and a lot of it took the form of nightmares that got her waking up kicking and screaming, fighting for her life and sweating furiously. Her friends had suggested that Sunny talk to Twilight or one of the other princesses after they found out. They’d done this multiple times but Sunny had gotten them to lay off by telling them that she’d think about it once she got some sort of idea about why this was really happening to her. What she went through was traumatic but it shouldn’t be giving her nightmares for two whole years and three months. Especially when it’s now been six years since the pony talking to her was killed… by her.

Was Sunny feeling… guilty? No. No no no, she was nice but not that nice. She would never feel sorry for a monster like her, who enjoys bringing pain and suffering to others. If that were the case, she might as well have been just as bad as her… except she was at one point. Not by choice but still. The experience, even though short lived, had left her feeling so much guilt about the horrible things she did.

“What does me being bonded to the crystals have to do with anything?!” Sunny asks, hoping to get some answers. “And who is “we” or “us”?! I’m only seeing you!” Sunny shouts and gets no reply for a bit before she’s suddenly tackled and slammed by none other than Midnight herself.

“Oh, so you suddenly have amnesia. Well allow me to remind you!” Midnight says before she reaches behind herself and holds up Izzy by the neck in one hand and holds up her dad in the other. Her horn starts glowing and Solaris is held up above her. Sunny sees this but before she can even get up, Midnight snaps Izzy’s neck, decapitates Argyle, and causes Solaris to explode.

“NOOOO!!!” Sunny screams as her vision starts to flicker between her surroundings and pitch black. She feels so much… rage… and hatred. It goes against who she is but at this point, she doesn’t care… so she gives in. After a few seconds, she finds herself on top of a broken, bloodied Midnight with blood all over her. She looks at Midnight’s horn and wings and realizes that… they had been ripped off. …Did… Did she do this? Midnight chuckles a bit as she coughs, smiling up at Sunny, revealing that she also had missing teeth.

“That’s the spirit… you’re almost ready. Look to your left… take a look at the new you.” Midnight says, laughing and coughing more as she gets a confused, angry and worried look from Sunny. Sunny slowly looks to her left and sees her reflection… but it’s how she looked when she was evil: black and purple armor, purple horn and wings, purple eyes and black and purple strands of hair in her mane instead of the red, yellow, and blue one that was apparently just there permanently now. Suddenly her reflection smirks at her then starts laughing along with Midnight and Sunny just holds her head, trying to keep her sanity.

Out of the corner of her eye she sees… ripped up, corrupted, undead versions of her friends and her parents. She stands up to try and run away but her hair is suddenly pulled and she’s forced onto her back as they all suddenly lunge at her and start trying to tear her apart. All Sunny could do was scream as it seemed her alicorn strength didn’t want to work.

She's stuck fighting and screaming for her life, even as she hears her name being called and she sees a light starting to shine in from between the crowd of undead ponies. The voice sounds muffled but gets louder the more it calls her.

“Sunny…”

“Sunny…!”

“SUNNY!”

Sunny suddenly jumps awake, screaming and swinging her first and it lands on her nightstand, completely demolishing it and almost sending it down through the floor. After staring down at her now destroyed nightstand for a few seconds while panting, she looks around frantically only to see Solaris, who had just narrowly managed to avoid getting hit. Even though Sunny didn’t use her full strength, she wasn’t sure how soon she could recover from a punch like that if she was being honest. Solaris gave Sunny a concerned look as she got a bit closer to her.

“Another nightmare, huh?” She asks and Sunny sighs and slowly sits up before putting her face in her hands. That’s all the answer she needed. “Now will you please talk to Twilight? Maybe she can help you.” Solaris suggests once again and Sunny, having had enough, slams her fist down on her bed and gives Solaris her most serious stare yet, causing the now teenage alicorn to jump back a bit.

“Look! I get that you and the others are just looking out for me and I appreciate it, I really do, but I will go to Twilight on my own time! Not yours, not Izzy’s, not Hitch's, not anypony's! So stop. Bringing. It up!” Sunny lashes out, causing Solaris to gain a shocked and hurt look on her face and Sunny instantly feels terrible. “I’m sorry… it’s just… Twilight’s still trying to forget about Midnight and everything she took from her and her friends. I don’t wanna upset her by telling her that Midnight, despite being dead, had been tormenting me for two years and three months… and this time was different.”

“Well… I won’t pry and I won’t keep pressuring you to go see her… You’re going through enough, but I understand. I have nightmares about her sometimes too. Terrible ones. I also have some about… an old friend of mine… Faust knows where she is now…” Solaris says as she looks out of one of the windows distantly, obviously thinking about this friend. Sunny gently puts a hand on her shoulder, causing her to smile and put her own hand on Sunny's. “Anyway, this isn’t about me. Me and the others… we just want you to be safe Sunny… You’re THE alicorn of Maretime Bay, the princess of harmony and a ruler of Equestria. But most importantly… you’re our friend and the glue that keeps us together.”

Hearing this, Sunny can’t help but smile. She needed to hear that… there was a lot bothering her, not just involving her nightmares, but also involving being an alicorn and a world famous hero. The main problem? She was always the center of attention and there were certain decisions that she was left in charge of making that made her more than a little uneasy. It didn’t help that she was a bit indecisive at the worst of times. Then she remembered she had friends to help, so she wasn’t alone in this.

“Thanks Solaris…” Sunny says with a soft smile on her face and Solaris returns the smile and gives Sunny a comforting hug, causing her to hug back.

“Anytime… Also, I heard you and the others have a special mission in Askari's hometown coming up. So if you want breakfast before you have to go, ya better hurry before the rest of us eat it all!” Solaris says playfully before teleporting downstairs and Sunny chuckles, takes a quick shower, brushes her teeth, puts on jeans and a orange and purple hoodie then rushes downstairs to get breakfast.

“Morning Sunny!” Everypony says and Sunny smiles and greets them as she walks over to the table, receiving a peck on the cheek from Izzy and returning one before starting to fix herself a plate of eggs, pancakes, and toast.

“You were asleep for so long, we thought we might have to pour cold water on your head just to wake you up? Ready for our big mission today?” Pipp asks, shuffling her wings a bit excitedly and Sunny thinks about it but then nods until she notices that there are two individuals missing.

“Hey, where are Hitch and Sparky? Shouldn’t they be here?” Sunny asks, getting a response from Zipp who finishes eating before speaking.

“Since Hitch still sleeps at the station and we’ll be going on a mission soon, I think he decided to drop Sparky off at his Grandma Figgy's house so he wouldn’t be by himself, ya know since Solaris has to go to school. He would’ve asked Artemis and Thunderbird to watch him but those two have enough on their plate which is why they’re not going on this mission instead.” The pegasus explains and Sunny nods in understanding but just as she was about to go back to eating, she hears the doors to the Brighthouse open and looks to see Hitch walking in, panting hard like he had run all the way to Grandma Figgy's then here.

“Oh hi Hitch! Breakfast?” Izzy offers and after catching his breath, he smiles and nods before walking over.

“Thanks Izzy. Sorry about that girls… was having engine trouble on the way back soooo I had to run so I wouldn’t be late.” Hitch explains but the mares all explain that they figured. “So, how are we getting to Askari's hometown again?” He asks and everyone looks at Sunny who notices Zipp and Izzy smirking and Izzy whispers to her and she looks shocked before smirking as well.

“You’ll see.” Sunny says… and Hitch was already regretting agreeing to this.

A hour later

After dropping Solaris off at school and Solaris wishing her good luck, Sunny flys back to the Brighthouse as a small advanced jet can be seen flying in and landing in front of it. Sunny lands as all her friends walk out of the Brighthouse with their bags or suitcases ready and Sunny gets her own and sees the door on the side of the jet starting to open, revealing Artemis and Thunderbird. They both walk out and receive hugs from the group of friends.

“It’s good to see you all too. I’m sorry we can’t accompany you on this mission but I’m sure a few terrorists and mob bosses are nothing you can’t handle. So in exchange for us not being there, you all get to keep this magnificent jet.” Artemis says and they all instantly look shocked then cheer. Artemis chuckles before warning them. “Just be careful with it. If you lose it, it’ll be a while before you get another one.” Artemis says and they all nod and immediately climb aboard. Artemis and Thunderbird both wish them luck and wave goodbye as they watch the jet activate before slowly lifting off then flying into the distance, quickly making its way out of Maretime Bay.

“We are never gonna see that jet again, are we?” Thunderbird asks, gaining a playful sigh from Artemis, who shakes her head and he chuckles. “Welp, it’s theirs now. So whatever happens isn’t on us.” He says before he raises a fist into the air, causing lightning to strike down on the two, teleporting them back to where their own mission was. Unknown to them, somepony was there lurking, waiting for them to leave the whole time. Once they do, this pony walks closer to the Brighthouse then walks in, taking off their hood and revealing themselves to be Misty, who’s eyes are still glowing purple.

She reaches a hand up to her right ear and presses a button on the comm inside of her ear and speaks when it turns on.

“I’m in. Time to find something that can restore Opaline’s magic.”

In Askari's hometown / Another hour later

As the Mane 5 all finished getting dressed into the outfits that Izzy had unicycled for them, they couldn’t help but notice how stunning they all looked. They were a mix between fancy and everypony's personality and colors. Sunny was the last to finish as hers was made specifically just for her which meant a lot more effort was put into it. Everyone’s clothes either had gold or silver accessories that were on their shoulders, arms, legs, chests, or heads.

The reason for the major change in wardrobe was due to the info they had gotten, saying that the terrorists and mob bosses were going to meet at a big party with all pony kinds and other creatures invited. It would be happening in the middle of the village, now made into an entire city. Askari's aunt, being the well-supported government of the city, had declared that a party like this could happen once every year in celebration of a new era for Equestria. Since Sunny and her friends were pretty much heroes, of course they were invited, which made their job a lot easier.

When they get to the party, security immediately recognizes them and even asks for a picture and Pipp happily gives them what they ask for and they even say her signature catchphrase with her when she says goodbye to them. They all walk in and are instantly met with music, lights, and a lot of commotion coming from a crowd below. They all walk to the railing and look down to see a large crowd of ponies dancing, some mingling, and the group immediately recognizes their targets. Some were batponies or unicorns and some were pegasi or gryphons.

“Ok. Soooo since we can’t do much without setting them off and ensuing chaos and casualties, some of us have to try and get the attention of the crowd. One or more of us needs to try and get close to those guys.” Zipp says and everyone nods… except Sunny. Something was wrong. She really didn’t wanna split up with the others, she felt safer with them around. After discussing the plan and who would do what, the others start splitting up, with Zipp and Pipp going down the stairs on the right but Izzy and Hitch moving down the stairs on the left.

Izzy notices Sunny's behavior as she sees her close her eyes and seem to breathe in and out. She didn’t have enough time to question it as Hitch starts rushing her. After a few minutes, the crowd starts breaking up and paying more attention to them but it’s not enough.

“Damnit. This isn’t working. We need a new plan. Sunny’s a princess, most of the crowd will pay attention to her.” Everyone hears Zipp say through the comms and it makes sense. They look around until they see Sunny still at the top of the stairs.

Just as everyone starts protesting against her behavior, Sunny puts her head in her hands, leaning against the railing and speaks into the comm. “I can’t. I can’t do this. I ju… I just…” Sunny says, her breathing speeding up uncontrollably for some reason.

“Sunny, look at me.” Izzy says and Sunny slowly listens and looks down at her with a frown. Izzy gives her a determined look and a smile. “You can do this. You’re Sunny Starscout, the strongest mare I know. The bravest one I’ve ever seen. We tell you a lot how much we believe in you but Sunny… it’s time for you to start believing in yourself. Now come on down and let’s get this done.” Izzy says and after a few seconds, Sunny opens her eyes and slowly stands up straight then adjusts her look a bit to make sure nothing’s out of order.

She then walks down the stairs on the right and once someone points her out, the crowd instantly starts turning its attention to her. So many ponies and other creatures try getting her attention but she continues walking, trying her best to keep up the act of confidence. Zipp and Hitch see a opening at the same time and both go for it. Just as they’re about to make contact with the targets, an announcement comes on as the music starts to change and it pretty much just says that it’s the time of day where everyone gets to go to the dance floor and show off their moves. The crowd separates a bit but some pairs keep getting in Zipp and Hitch's way, preventing them from making the arrests, unaware of what’s really going on.

Sunny gets lost in the crowd of ponies and other creatures dancing. She’s looking for her friends until she sees a hand held out to her and looks to see it belongs to Izzy, who’s giving her a comforting smile and her eyes say everything they need to.

“Wanna dance?” Izzy asks and Sunny smiles and takes her hand before getting gently pulled towards her and into a gentle embrace. Before long, their movements start matching the rhythm of the music and they start to lose themselves in the moment as all that matters to them is each other. Before they can get too lost in it yet, they hear Pipp’s voice over the comm.

“Guys, are you there? Hitch and Zipp are having trouble. If something doesn’t distract this crowd soon, these guys are gonna get away. What do we do?” Pipp says, not yelling but the urgency is there. Sunny and Izzy both try to think until Sunny comes up with an idea.

“Pipp, I need you to get on that stage and start singing. Leave the rest to me and Izzy.” Sunny says with a hint of nervousness in her voice. Pipp instantly knows where this is going and she quickly goes to the stage, asking for a few things and then getting the crowd’s attention. Once all eyes are on her, she introduces herself, not that she needs to, then starts singing one of her most famous songs as the music changes to fit the theme of the song.

“Ready to blow some minds?” Izzy asks and Sunny nods, despite her nervousness. Suddenly, she and Izzy start getting wilder and more active in their dancing. This draws the attention of most of the audience and even Hitch and Zipp are amazed at the moves that the two mares are showing off. They were perfectly in sync, losing themselves in the moment once again. Zipp and Hitch quickly focus and get closer to the two groups but one pair of dancers bumps into Hitch and his badge slips out of his pocket and slides into the foot of one of the unicorns. They look down then look at Hitch and he smiles sheepishly, giving a nervous chuckle as Zipp facepalms.

“It’s a setup.” One of the batponies says calmly before both groups immediately take out weapons and one unicorn tries attacking Hitch but Zipp kicks his knee in before punching him, knocking him out and Hitch picks up an empty tray and throws it at a gryphon behind Zipp, knocking her out. They both smile at each other before they hear a shot and see a pegasus struggling against a gryphon, causing the shots to hit the roof. The first shot scares everyone, causing ponies to start running outside or taking cover. Hitch makes an Ursa claw on his right arm and delivers a powerful slash to both creatures, sending them flying into a wall. Zipp uses her speed to disarm all of them and knock them out before they even knew what hit them.

More members of both groups show up but before they can do much, a sonic scream from Pipp sends them all flying back. Some of them are knocked out from the impact but the ones that aren’t take out weapons that are immediately frozen and rendered useless by Izzy. Sunny quickly sends a wave of golden alicorn magic at them, sending them into the wall once again and knocking them out. The boss of the bat pony/pegasus group wakes up and throws down a smoke grenade and quickly makes a break for it. Sunny is the first one to see him escaping and killing security guards so she goes after him, landing behind him and trying to blast him but he dodges.

He smirks and looks her up and down before scoffing.

“So YOU are the new princess of Equestria? You fight worse than your old man.” He says and that causes Sunny to freeze up with shock, confusion… and rage. Her eyes and arms glow as her alicorn magic starts to come out without her really wanting it to.

“Don’t you ever talk about my father! You don’t know anything about him!” Sunny shouts and she goes to attack the bat pony again, but he moves to the side and something bursts through the wall behind him and it’s a armored truck. It hits her and sends her flying through the railing and back down to the dance floor, crashing through a table and tumbling into the stage. The truck then backs out of the hole it made and he walks outside and gets in. Zipp and Pipp both clear the smoke and they all immediately rush over to Sunny to make sure she’s ok. They hear the tires of multiple trucks screeching and Zipp immediately gives chase with her speed, flying after them and avoiding gunfire. Pipp immediately flys out to help her sister and uses her sonic scream to crash one of the trucks.

“Izzy, come on. They might need our help.” Hitch says and Izzy looks between him and Sunny before focusing on him.

“What about Sunny?!” She asks and Hitch hesitates before sighing, grabbing Izzy and running out to make it to the jet.

“She’ll catch up! Let’s go!” He urges and Izzy sighs and proceeds to keep up with Hitch. He was right. Sunny was strong, it would take more than that to keep her down. Meanwhile, Zipp just used her electricity to stop another one of the trucks by frying the engine before she and Pipp proceeded to chase the rest for about a full two minutes. They hear something and look behind themselves, seeing the jet in the distance. They both smile before they see a golden ball of light fly into the sky then stop before flying towards them and they immediately cheer, knowing it’s Sunny.

They turn and notice the same bat pony she confronted coming through an opening on top of one of the trucks. They also notice that he has… a rocket launcher. They both move as he fires a rocket but didn’t realize that it would set the rocket on a straight path towards the jet. Izzy and Hitch, both surprised by this, try turning and they manage to but the rocket hits the left wing of the jet, causing it to start to go down.

“NO!” Zipp and Pipp both yell before flying back to try and help their friends. The bat pony laughs before he notices Sunny approaching fast. He gets ready until she strangely goes past his truck, confusing him. At least it confuses him until she goes for the truck in front of his, slamming down onto the front of it, causing it to flip over and go flying. She catches it with her magic then throws it towards his truck which stops it and the ones behind it. The bat pony crawls out of the truck he was in when it stops tumbling forward violently and he sees a weapon, starting to go for it until someone steps on his wrist and he looks to see Sunny smirking down at him with her hands on her hips and her wings flared, earning a glare from him.

She sees Zipp and Pipp carrying Hitch and Izzy towards her before they land and they all smile at her and she smiles back, glad everyone’s safe. “Mission accomplished… with some difficulty.” Sunny says before she steps away from the bat pony, allowing Zipp and Hitch to make the arrests and after a while, the resident cops in the city arrive at the scene and after explaining everything, the Mane 5 depart to check on the jet.

Before they can fully survey the damage, Pipp gets an alert on her phone, checks it and gasps in shock and horror before showing it to the others. Canterlogic was attacked by a mysterious masked unicorn with armor and a bladed whip, five workers dead and nine workers and civilians critically injured. There was even a video showing the horrible events that took place during the attack. It was recorded half an hour ago and was already viral. They all start panicking and feeling guilty for leaving Maretime Bay unprotected. Now ponies have lost their lives and so many innocents got hurt. They all wished that they hadn’t left and that the jet hadn’t been destroyed so they could get back.

Once they all have the same thoughts, suddenly a multicolored beam of magic shoots up into the sky out of where they had settled in and it redirects itself at the jet, causing it to glow more and more until the Mane five are forced to cover their eyes. Once it stops, they all look to see the now repaired jet but… it’s different, upgraded even. It was now silver with a few rainbow lights trailing around it in some areas, making a pattern. The wings on it looked a little more like actual wings, the windshield was now in the shape of a heart with a rainbow light tracing the outline of it. There were also now five- no, six seats in the cockpit of the jet which confused the group of friends. Regardless, they had no time to really discuss it. Sunny and Izzy teleport everyone’s bags and suitcases onto the jet and they all get on and Sunny notices something in her bag glowing.

She hesitates but slowly opens it and sees… the lantern that her dad had made for her when she was a filly. It was repaired and improved but… how is that possible. She sees something attached to it and it’s a tag that reads “To: Sunny, From: Izzy. I love you Sunny.”

Sunny can’t help but smile and start to tear up before putting the lantern back in her bag then sitting with her friends and focusing on the task at hand: getting back to Maretime Bay… and figuring out who would be crazy or evil enough to do such a thing. Little did they know… the plan… the REAL plan… was already in motion.

A new evil

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As the Mane 5 surveyed the damage left at Canterlogic, they couldn’t help but be shocked, horrified, and angry. A big part of the building was missing as a result of a gas explosion due to a misfire that ended up causing a gas leak and when the gas came in contact with some sort of fire magic, it exploded. So many sentries and mech suits were destroyed along with years of research and development. A bit of the staff was either dead or injured along with visiting civilians. And last but not least, Canterlogic was on the verge of being shut down. How could one pony cause so much damage? Why would they? So many questions and not enough answers.

Zipp notices something in the side of one of the sentry droid heads. She gets a closer look and sees its a blade. She puts on a glove before grabbing it and gently pulling it out. She looks it over and sees that it must’ve belonged to the unicorn who did all this. She sees a marking at the bottom of the blade and it’s… an alicorn marking… but not like Midnight's. She looks around again and just now notices signs of panicked firing patterns. The sentries and guards were firing wildly. She then remembers how dark it was in the video and also remembers that some of the injured workers and civilians had been shot instead of stabbed. Hm… not only was this new threat evil, they were smart. They must’ve hit the lights before attacking… they wanted to strike fear into the hearts of their victims but also wanted to make sure it would be hard to make out important details about them.

Meanwhile, Sunny and Hitch were questioning Phyllis about what was happening before this unicorn struck and about whatever it could have been that they were looking for. Phyllis explains that, per Sunny’s request, they had gathered up any remaining magic that belonged to Midnight after she was killed and locked it up for safe keeping. This comes as a shock to Hitch who gives Sunny a look but she ignores it, not willing to argue about it. Sunny is just about to ask Phyllis to take them to where it was locked up so they could make sure it was still there but then they hear a bit of commotion outside and walk out to see Twilight walking towards the building through a crowd of ponies, most likely reporters.

“Twilight! It’s so good to see you.” Sunny says and Twilight smiles before stopping in front of the three ponies and nodding down at Sunny.

“It’s good to see you too. Though I wish it was under better circumstances.” Twilight says, her smile being replaced with a frown. Sunny frowns too and they all walk in the building and they show Twilight what they’ve found so far before going to where Midnight's magic was locked up. They see a blade lodged into the scanner next to the door and see that the door is open. When they see that the container that was holding Midnight's magic is gone, Sunny instantly starts to panic and look around for it frantically.

“No no no! Damnit! We have to find it! NOW!” Sunny says, desperately still looking, just in case it was still there… even though she knew it wasn’t.

“Sunny. Sunny, calm down-“ Hitch tries to say but Sunny slams her fist into the wall, turning to him with a scary look in her, now golden, eyes.

“Don’t tell me to calm down! Do you not get how bad this is?! I had them contain Midnight's magic to keep it from falling into the wrong hands!” Sunny snaps before gesturing around the trashed room. “It’s in the wrong hands now! If they manage to harness Midnight’s magic, or worse, use it to bring her back, then whatever happens next will be my. Fault!” She says before slamming both her fists down on the platform the magic was supposed to be on and lowers her head, about to lose her mind.

“Can I talk to Sunny alone for a minute?” Twilight requests and Hitch hesitates before nodding and he and Phyllis both walk off and Twilight walks further into the room and stands on the other side of the table, across from Sunny. “Sunny… we need to talk… not just about this but… about something else.” Twilight says and Sunny goes wide-eyed as she wonders if Twilight knew about her nightmares. She slowly stands up straight and looks at Twilight, trying and failing not to look nervous.

“Solaris and Izzy both informed me earlier that you have been having nightmares… for two years and soon to be three. They also told me that a while ago, you said you’d think about it. So… care to explain?” Twilight asks and Sunny sighs and shakes her head before nervously trying to form a explanation for her behavior.

“I… I’m so sorry Twilight. I just… I didn’t wanna trouble you. You have a lot of your own problems to deal with so… I didn’t want you to worry and try to help me with mine… especially when they involve something or… someone you definitely wouldn’t wanna talk about.” Sunny says and Twilight frowns but nods in understanding.

“I see… your nightmares are about Midnight… aren’t they?” Twilight asks and Sunny frowns and nods. Twilight sighs, closing her eyes before opening them and once again looking at Sunny. “I still have nightmares about her too. At first I though they would just go away and for the most part, they have. I don’t get them as much but I still get some pretty awful ones. The best way to handle it is to remember that Midnight is gone and even if she did come back, we would defeat her again. You killed her once, you can do it again.” Twilight says and Sunny smiles before that smile slowly turns into a look of sadness and fear, gaining a confused look from Twilight.

“But that’s one thing I’m afraid of… killing again. I don’t want to kill anyone because… I’m afraid that I’ll turn into… her. She was a monster who enjoyed killing… what if I become just like her?” Sunny wonders, starting to shake in fear and Twilight frowns more when she sees this.

“Oh Sunny…” Twilight says softly before going around to her and pulling her into a soft hug and Sunny returns the hug, starting to shake less but Twilight could feel that she was still scared.

“I know it’s silly of me but… what if I actually do and I become something else outside of who and what my friends know and love… What if my friends… what if Izzy wouldn’t love me anymore…? What if my parents wouldn’t…?” Sunny asks and Twilight gently puts a hand under Sunny’s chin and lifts her head up to look at her.

“Sunny… there is nothing you could ever do or ever be that would make them stop loving you… nothing. You give them the strength they need to keep moving forward… and they’ll do the same for you. That’s what friends are really for… to teach us… to guide us… to support us… and we have to do the same for them… no matter what.” Twilight says and Sunny goes wide-eyed when she hears that and Twilight smiles. “So when you feel like your friends won’t be there for you if you go down that path, which you won’t, just remember… Friendship is Eternal.” She says and Sunny slowly nods and smiles, starting to feel reassured.

Twilight was right. She couldn’t let anything, not even something as big as this discourage her and she wouldn’t. She was going to fix this, but she was going to do it with the help of her friends. And, if needed, they would call on any other friends and allies that they would need in the adventure ahead of them. One way or another, they were going to stop this pony and whatever they were planning… no matter the cost.

As Izzy and Hitch were handling damage control and looking for any clues that the unicorn might have left behind, even though the whole looking for clues was really Zipp's thing, Izzy got so into it that she wasn’t looking where she was going so she ends up bumping into somepony, giving them both a painful tumble. They both groan in pain as they slowly get up and look at each other, apologizing for the incident. Izzy gasps when she sees it’s a new unicorn that she’s never seen before in Bridlewood OR Maretime Bay.

“Hi new friend! My name's Izzy!” Izzy says excitedly as she quickly straightens up. The new unicorn, who was wearing a teal blue hoodie, dark blue and light green shoes, and jeans, looks a bit nervous but that’s ok, Izzy understands. “What’s your name? Where are you from? Ah, who am I kidding? You’re from Bridlewood! All unicorns are, well maybe not all, but I’ve never seen you before so you must be new. Anyway, welcome to Maretime Bay new friend!” Izzy shouts all in one big ramble, causing the unicorn to become a bit startled… well… more startled than she most likely already was but still.

The unicorn takes two steps back, just staring at her with a confused and shocked look on her face before she slowly starts to loosen up and become much less tense. Wait… that was weird. She was so tense as if she was prepared to run off at the first sign of trouble but her hand had also been… reaching towards her back pocket or something…? Hm… Ah, it was probably nothing to worry about. Izzy watches as the unicorn lowers her hand and relaxes her muscles a bit before smiling at her nervously.

“Misty… my name’s Misty.”

As Solaris exited the school, she stretches her arms and legs, happy to finally be done for the day. She yawns tiredly as she continues stretching before relaxing her muscles and securing her backpack. She says goodbye to her friends then slowly starts to walk towards the Brighthouse and when she makes it halfway, she hears something and it sounds like… thunder? She looks over towards the path leading to Bridlewood and sees a few flashes coming from a distance away.

Now… she knows she should probably tell Sunny about it but… something about those flashes seems… familiar and she doesn’t know why. Making up her mind and letting curiosity get the better of her, she sighs and flys towards where the flashes are taking place. “What am I doing…?” She asks herself as she continues flying. She could just teleport but she didn’t really wanna rush there, just in case it was something bad. If it was something bad when she got there, then she’d teleport to wherever Sunny was and tell her about what she saw. That was a good plan, right…?

She gets to the spot where the flashes were going off and it seems like they’ve lessened and all she sees is a spark of lightning appearing every few seconds as the wind seems to pick up around the area. “Whoa… what is this?” Solaris asks, amazed and confused. Once the lightning starts appearing faster and more violent than ever, she starts backing up until it opens a portal with a black middle but a rainbow outline. Solaris gains a fearful look as she recognizes where this portal leads to. She senses something… or someONE coming out of it and quickly moves out of the way as a black streak rushes out of it with a trail of multicolored lightning and fire being left in its path as it crashes through trees and dirt.

The portal closes soon after and Solaris slowly walks towards whatever came out of it, readying her magic just in case. She continues walking until she sees a… a pegasus the same size and age as her on the ground… and this was a Pegasus she recognized.

“S… Sky Blazer…?”

New friend, old foe

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As the girls of the Mane 5 sat in the living room of the Brighthouse, waiting for Hitch to return with Sparky, they couldn’t help but be a bit confused by Izzy’s new friend, Misty. Zipp was suspicious of the unicorn, Pipp was a bit skeptical as well at first but quickly warmed up to her, and Sunny was happy that Izzy had made a new unicorn friend outside of Bridlewood. However, something didn’t feel right. Her alicorn empathy felt like it was trying to go off but it wasn’t for some reason. It was like instead of sensing immediate danger, she was sensing something or… someONE potentially dangerous. Like her alicorn empathy was trying to warn her to be careful. She would tell her friends later, but right now she is getting to know a new friend.

“So… Misty. You’re from Bridlewood? How come we didn’t see you whenever we went there?” Sunny asks and Misty seems hesitant to answer at first until Izzy reassured her that it’s ok for her not to answer. She still chooses to though, probably to avoid being rude.

“Uhhh I lived in another part of Bridlewood for a long time. Eventually I left and… uh… found another place to settle. I won’t say where, just know that I kinda got fed up with living in both places so… I’m giving Maretime Bay a try?” Misty explains, sounding… unsure. Zipp raises an eyebrow then looks at Sunny to see if she had the same feeling she did. Sunny looks at her but just gives a shrug, much to Zipp’s annoyance.

“Hm… well why’d you pick here?” Zipp asks, leaning forward in her seat a bit while eyeing Misty. “Especially at a time like this?” She continues and Misty answers this one quick, almost like she was expecting that question.

“To be honest I only moved here like an hour before that attack happened at that one place. Honestly, it was just terrible to witness something like that.” Misty says, and Zipp is about to ask if she was there or not but before she can, they all hear the doors to the Brighthouse burst open and they look to see a very tired looking Solaris walking in while carrying somepony else. Everyone instantly goes over to check on her while Misty stayed where she was, retracting her hand from behind her where it had immediately gone and started to reach for her blade.

“Solaris, are you ok? Where have you been… and who’s this?” Pipp asks with a worried and confused tone. Solaris, after catching her breath, looks up at them and starts to explain.

“I’m fine. This is Sky Blazer, a… an old friend of mine turned bad.” She says and the others look confused until Solaris speaks with a urgency to her voice. “Sunny, we don’t have much time, she’s dying! She needs Unity Magic and not the stuff that Midnight ran off of.” She says, gaining shocked looks from the girls.

Sunny gently picks up Sky Blazer and moves her somewhere more comfortable, allowing Solaris to sit down and Zipp takes the chance to ask Solaris an important question.

“Wait wait wait. She has some of Midnight's magic inside of her?” She asks and Solaris nods and explains how.

“Yeah, she wasn’t born, she was MADE from Midnight’s magic, some of Twilight and Rainbow Dash’s dna and their magic. Lightning dust got Rainbow's dna and Midnight managed to get some of Twilight's before she was defeated and Ragnar used them to-“ She explains but before she can finish, she notices Zipp tense up at the mention of Ragnar and she can pretty much feel her blood boiling. She forgot how much Zipp hated him for what he did, how happy she was when he was sent off to his death sentence. “Sorry… that monster used them to make… Sky… at first she was a alicorn but somehow she was able to shift.” She finishes explaining and after calming down, Zipp nods in understanding.

“So she was made to be like you? Well… more or less?” She asks and Solaris nods and Zipp just shakes her head in shock and confusion as she sits down next to her. After a few seconds, Zipp looks at Solaris then at Sky Blazer. “If she was made from Midnight's magic, how do we know Unity Magic won’t destroy her?”

“What other choice do we have? It’s either we take a risk to save her or she dies anyway.” Solaris says before she looks at Sunny with a pleading look on her face. “She’s done bad things and might have been fully conscious of her actions but you saved me and gave me a chance… can you do the same for her…? Please…” Solaris pleads and Sunny sighs and nods before summoning her magic and going into her alicorn form and Misty looks amazed.

She’d seen Sunny do this a few times from the mirror pool in the lair but to actually see it in person was something else entirely. She could practically feel the change it brought to the atmosphere, the power behind her transformation from earth pony to alicorn. It was… amazing. Her eyes light up in wonder and amazement as she watches Sunny crouch down next to where she set Sky Blazer down and start using her magic on the small teenage pegasus filly. She expected to see gold magic… but not rainbow magic included with it. She tilts her head.

“Hmmm… Opaline will wanna know about this…” Misty thinks to herself before she goes back to watching Sunny work her magic (No pun intended). After a few seconds of using her magic, Sky Blazer starts radiating with electricity and all the lights start flickering as she groans in pain and squirms a bit. Sunny winces a bit and everyone starts saying whatever they can to support her and Misty notices that their cutie marks start glowing and streams of magic start traveling upstairs to the room at the top of the Brighthouse and Sunny's magic starts to glow brighter and soon Sky Blazer stops groaning and squirming and relaxes completely. Solaris gets a good look at her and notices that she has a new look.

Her mane is longer and more radiant, she has dark blue fur instead of black now, and she now has a horn on her head. Her cutie mark was a multicolored lightning bolt with colorful flames around it. She opens her eyes and they flash a bright blue for a moment before they stop and turn normal and she slowly sits up and looks around. She focuses her gaze on the purple alicorn in the room and gains a shocked look on her face.

“Solaris…? Is it…? Are you…?” Sky tries to ask before she starts trying to get her bearings and she slowly stands up, her legs shaking as if they’re just being used for the first time in her life. Sunny and the others stand ready to catch her if she falls. Sky looks around at all of them then looks at herself. “How am I… What happened?” She asks and Solaris steps closer to her, angry but also relieved.

“Let’s just say… you’ve missed quite a lot. But the most important thing you need to know… is that Midnight is finally gone… for good. Equestria has changed for the better and it has a new alicorn to protect it.” Solaris says, gesturing to Sunny and Sky Blazer looks between her and Sunny before focusing on the older mare. Sunny smiles down at her and crouches a bit to the point where they’re a little more at eye level with each other.

“Hello Sky Blazer, I’m Sunny Starscout and these are my friends… well most of them.” Sunny says, introducing herself and her friends and explaining Hitch's current situation. “It’s good to finally meet you. Solaris has told us quite a bit about you. I hope we can find a real way to help you feel welcome.” She says and Sky Blazer nervously smiles at her and nods before thanking her for saving her life.

“It means a lot to me… but how did you do it? How did you save me… and how did you manage to kill Midnight without killing Solaris?” She asks nervously, hoping to not cross the line that she had a feeling she was already so close to. Instead of seeming mad or upset, Sunny seemed… lost for a second as soon as she mentioned Midnight. She then scratched the back of her head and looked at Solaris then at Sky Blazer and says that it’s a long story. Meanwhile, Misty had stepped outside to “catch her breath”.

She takes out the alicorn mirror that Opaline had given to her and goes to the side of the Brighthouse before opening it and she almost instantly sees Opaline on the other side of the mirror.

“Opaline, you’re not gonna believe this…” Misty says before she starts explaining everything that just happened, including Sky Blazer being brought in, Sunny’s new magic colors and the magic from everyone's cutie marks. All the while, Opaline had listened with incredible interest and the more she learned, the more determined she was to begin the plan.

“Hmmm… new plan Misty… convince them to travel to Canterlot, but sabotage their jet first. Then they’ll have to take the train. Nightshade and Stormcutter will intercept them at one of the bridges. Meanwhile, you and Titania will be going to Zephyr Heights. There’s something or someONE there that could be of use to us. Find him and bring him back here. With the remainder of Midnight's magic that you brought me, I can restore him to his full potential.” Opaline says and Misty nods and is about to go get started until she remembers one more thing.

“Oh and Opaline, before I forget, Sunny mentioned her friend Hitch and some baby dragon he found and took in. Apparently this baby dragon is different than other dragons somehow… his name is Sparky and his dragon fire has magic.” Misty explains and Opaline looks intrigued by this information.

“Hmmm… finish what I told you first, then tell me more about this… 'Sparky'.” Opaline says and Misty nods before closing the mirror and going to begin her mission. Whoever was in Zephyr Heights must be a really big deal to get Opaline’s attention. Either way, she wouldn’t fail Opaline. She goes to the jet and looks around before starting to mess with it a bit, sabotaging the system and damaging the controls. She just had to make sure there was no evidence that she was the one that did it. After making sure, she departs the jet and is about to go inside until she hears someone walking towards her and she turns around to see who she assumed must’ve been Hitch and Sparky.

“Oh. Hi there, you must be Hitch, right?” Misty asks, earning a nod and a handshake from him. “I’m Misty. Awww and this is Sparky? He’s so cute.” Misty says but while Hitch thanks her, Sparky growls at her. This confuses Hitch but Misty has an idea why he’s growling. Either he knows she’s not a friend or… he can sense that… other side of her. The side that constantly lurked in her mind, watching her every move. The side that took over earlier and made her break into the factory and attack so many ponies… the side that was speaking to her now and telling her to throw Sparky and Hitch over the cliff… She slowly looks towards them, gaining a cold look and starting to get closer to them.

Hitch notices and starts getting a bit worried while Sparky growls even more but Misty doesn’t seem to notice… it was like she was just stuck in a trance, giving them a thousand yard stare.

“Hey, uhhh are you ok? Misty?” Hitch asks and Misty suddenly shakes her head, snapping out of it. She takes a moment to gather herself before giving Hitch a nervous smile and nodding.

“Yep, all good here. Hey, can we go inside, I suddenly had an idea regarding the new pony.” Misty says, confusing Hitch even more and she instantly knows why. “Oh right, you weren’t here when she was brought in. Well come on, you’ll see what I mean.” She says and they both walk in and after Hitch and Sparky meet Sky Blazer, Misty takes her turn to speak. “Hey so… Sky Blazer is from Twilight Sparkle’s time right? Well since she’s back now, I thought that maybe Twilight and everyone else would like to know about this. Right?” Misty says and everyone thinks about it and agrees.

“She’s right. Zipp, Hitch, get the Marestream ready. We’re going to Canterlot. Thanks for the idea Misty. You know… you’re welcome to come with us if you want.” Sunny says and Misty almost said sure but then she remembered that she had to go with Titania to Zephyr Heights.

“Maybe next time. I don’t do well with heights.” Misty says, frowning and Sunny gives a sorrowful look and walks a bit closer to her.

“Awww, nervous flyer? Don’t worry, I’m sure it happens to everyone. But in that case, you’re welcome to stick around her until we get back. Ya know, have a look around, take care of the Brighthouse, that kind of stuff.” Sunny says and Misty smiles and nods and Sunny smiles back before Zipp comes back into the Brighthouse with a frustrated sigh.

“Ok so the controls, the system, and the engine are busted. I don’t know how but I can figure it out and fix them later. Right now, we need to figure out how we’re gonna get to Canterlot.” Zipp says and Sunny is about to try and think of a new way until Misty suggests one.

“Don’t the trains go almost anywhere in Equestria now? They’re not as fast as flights, but they cost less than them. You could get on the train that comes through here and since Sunny's a princesss, she could say that you all need to get to Canterlot, Ponyville or at least somewhere close for important matters and bam. You’ll be there in no time.” Misty says and everyone looks at her in shock at how good that idea sounds.

“That. Is. Genius! Nopony wants to keep royalty waiting, am I right Zipp?” Pipp asks and Zipp rolls her eyes, smiling and reluctantly agreeing. Sunny seems a bit uncomfortable with the idea of using her alicorn status as an excuse to get away with taking away from other pony's timelines. Everyone notices and Izzy puts her hands on Sunny's shoulders and gives her a reassuring look.

“Hey, don’t think about it that way. Think of it as… using your status to help reunite old friends and help somepony start over and make up for all the wrong they did. Sure, some ponies won’t be pleased… but you’re doing it for a good reason and if they can’t understand that, then that’s on them. Not you.” She says and everyone agrees and Sunny smiles a bit before nodding and giving Izzy a peck on the lips and getting one in return.

“I ever tell you you’re my favorite unicorn?” Sunny asks and Izzy giggles and leans her forehead against Sunny's as much as she can.

“Only half as much as I tell you you’re my favorite earth pony and alicorn.” Izzy says and they both close their eyes and repeat the promise that they had continued to keep throughout the years that they’ve known each other.

“I’m looking out for you… Hoof-to-Heart.” They both say and everyone responds with an “Awwww” while Solaris just rolls her eyes in mock annoyance while smirking.

“Geez, just marry each other already or get a room.” She says, her voice having an annoyed tone to it when really she was just teasing. They both blush and look away and everyone laughs and Misty has to admit… this is the most fun she’s had… considering the fact that she’s never even had fun. It felt… nice. As soon as she thinks that, she feels a twinge of pain in her chest and her head and hears a very loud ringing in her ears and she knew it was the other side of her, screaming out angrily at the weakness that Misty was showing. She nearly falls over but avoids screaming in pain or tripping but she does hold her head and groan in pain a bit and the others notice and grow concerned and confused looks on their faces.

“Misty? Are you ok, you look kinda pale.” Pipp asks and the others agree. After a few seconds to collect herself, Misty nods and tries giving a reassuring smile.

“Yeah, I think I just need to lay down. I feel a little sick but I’ll be fine. You guys go ahead before you miss your train.” Misty says and after some more reassurance, they all agree and then get whatever they might need before they head to the station. When she’s sure that everyone’s gone, she frowns and walks out of the Brighthouse and goes to meet Titania. She meets her halfway to the lair and sees her carrying a duffel bag… and she already knew what was inside. She sighs and walks closer, taking the bag when the huge Earth pony mare holds it towards her. She crouches and puts it on the ground before opening it… and slowly taking out her mask/helmet.

“Are you ready?” Titania asks and Misty doesn’t answer for a bit, already dreading what she knew was to come. Death… destruction… chaos, the things that usually came with this dark path that she was set on. She closes her eyes, breathes in and out, then opens them. She looks up at Titania who can tell that the spell had taken over again when she sees that they’re glowing purple.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Misty says before she looks at her helmet, turns it around and puts it on. She then begins putting on the rest of her armor and Titania turns around to give her some privacy. Once Misty's done, she turns back around and they nod at each other before starting to make their way to Zephyr Heights. Misty stops for a bit and looks towards Maretime Bay, thinking of Sunny and her friends and what could possibly happen to them. That kind, genuine part of Misty that was still conscious despite the spell being in control actually felt bad and didn’t want any of them to get hurt. But… that was most likely gonna happen anyway.

“I’m sorry…” Misty mumbles when that part of her comes out for a bit. That’s all she can say though before the spell takes over again and forces her to follow Titania. Whether or not they got hurt, she would complete this mission… for Opaline.

Off the rails

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Everyone was excited to be visiting Canterlot after all this time. They were even more excited to share the information with Twilight and the others about the return of somepony they knew. Sure, they may not be happy right away, but when they saw that she wasn’t bad anymore, they’d come around. Sunny could barely contain herself as she looked through the window she was sitting by, watching as the landscape passed more and more. There was still the matter of who had attacked Canterlogic in the first place and why they had stolen Midnight’s magic, but they could cross that bridge when they got to it.

Speaking of bridges, the train was coming up on one in just a few minutes, then they would be another few miles closer to Canterlot. Sunny looks away from the window when she hears yawning and she smiles and looks to see Izzy yawning and stretching while Hitch, Sparky, and the two young alicorn fillies had fallen asleep, leaving Pipp on a video chat with Violet, Jazz, and Rocky, who were currently at Pipp’s Beauty Salon, Mane Melody. And Zipp, who was looking down at what must’ve been a discarded blade belonging to the masked unicorn that attacked Canterlogic. Sunny tilts her head then gets up and walks over to Zipp.

“Hey Zipp. Whatcha got there?” Sunny asks, sitting next to the pegasus who looks at her before looking back at the blade.

“I picked this up when we were at Canterlogic investigating. I’ve managed to make a discovery. The weapon the unicorn was using… could've been made and given to them by an alicorn.” Zipp says, gaining a shocked and scared look from Sunny and almost immediately, she realizes the reason or reasons this scares her so much. “Whoa whoa. Relax, it’s not Midnight, she’s still very much dead. If there is an alicorn behind this, we’ll stop her. Besides, if she wanted to bring Midnight back, she would’ve done it already.” She says and Sunny sighs and nods, smiling at her friend.

“I hope that’s the case… Midnight nearly tore us apart in more ways than one… She took so much from us. I just don’t want any of that to happen again. We were barely able to stop her.” Sunny says before Zipp puts a hand on her shoulder then hugs her.

“And yet, you did in the end. You proved that no matter how powerful a villain is, there will always be at least one good pony to rise up and stand against them. You inspired all of us more than you already did before and I find myself thinking that more with every day, month, and year that goes by.” Zipp says and Sunny smiles and hugs her back.

“Thanks Zipp…” Sunny says before they both suddenly hear something. It sounds like… thunder? They look through the windows to see a storm. What was weird was… purple lightning flashing through the clouds. Everypony goes wide-eyed, especially Sunny when she senses a sort of familiar dark presence in the magic that’s causing this storm. At this point, the train is now crossing the bridge when suddenly lightning strikes the center of the bridge, causing an explosion that causes that part of the bridge to collapse, destroying the tracks in the process and causing the train to slide to a stop, just narrowly avoiding sliding off.

Once everypony recovers from the rough stop, Sunny and her friends all look around frantically and are about to get out and see what happened until they feel the train shift. They look outside to see that it’s engulfed in purple magic, being lifted into the air. Sunny and Izzy look at each other and nod before teleporting to the top of the train, looking around before using their magic together to force the train back down, struggling against the dark magic picking it up until the dark magic suddenly disappears and the train is forced back down to the ground violently, causing Sunny and Izzy to tumble off the roof and Izzy tumbles to the side of the bridge, going over the edge but grabbing on just in time. Sunny slowly gets up and is about to go and help her until she’s punched by something or someONE moving faster than the eye could see.

Sunny tumbles backwards from the unseen blow to her face and rolls to a stop before getting blasted in the back with purple lightning, causing her to scream in pain and her clothes to slowly start catching on fire. Sunny looks through the opening under the train and sees Izzy about to pull herself up until a unicorn in black armor walks in front of her and stomps on her hand, causing her to yell in pain. This angers Sunny and she screams in anger as her body glows golden, right before her wings and horn appear with a powerful shockwave that knocks the pony behind her away and knocks the unicorn near Izzy off the bridge. Sunny suddenly flys up then lands in front of Izzy and pulls her up.

As soon as she does though, the Unicorn suddenly swings back up and kicks them both into the train then throws magical knives towards them but the knives get blasted with green and pink electricity. The unicorn dodges another blast of the same color before being hit and stunned by purple and golden ring blades then sent flying back by a sonic scream. Once she recovers, she sends Sunny and Izzy's friends outside the train, ready to help. Great, just great. But honestly, this was expected.

Hitch aims his guns at her and speaks with a firm tone. “Don’t move. Put your hands behind your head and get down on your knees.” He says and the Unicorn smirks behind her mask and slowly puts her hands behind her head before quickly moving them just a bit lower and taking out multiple glowing purple throwing stars and sending them towards the group of friends. Sunny's alicorn empathy goes off and warns her that the throwing stars are explosive so she quickly teleports in front of her friends and makes a shield that takes the brunt of the explosion but the train also takes damage and so does the bridge.

In hindsight, Sunny should’ve made a shield around the throwing stars instead, but she’d be sure to do that next time. By now, the bridge is barely holding itself together, some of the cables holding it up starting to weaken and break. As Sunny notices this, she truly starts to realize the severity of the situation… They had to end this fight soon or else so many innocents were gonna die on this bridge. As soon as she drops the shield, her alicorn empathy goes off again and she makes another shield behind them that deflects the blades that were coming at them. The pegasus appears in a purple flash of lightning, catches the blades then bursts through the shield, sending Sunny and her friends tumbling forward.

Zipp immediately is the first to recover and she uses her own speed to deliver a powerful lightning kick to the face of the pegasus that causes her to fall and tumble right into her unicorn partner. The unknown pegasus gets up and glares at Zipp before slowly pacing from side to side, never taking her eye off her.

“You’re faster than I thought kid. No one’s ever caught me off guard like that. Not bad.” She says but Zipp pays no mind to the half hearted compliment. The unknown female pegasus just scoffs in return for the silence, still pacing. She can sense the anger Zipp was feeling… and it is immensely satisfying. “What? A speedster can’t compliment another speedster?”

“I don’t make small talk with monsters who are willing to sacrifice innocent lives for their own selfish gains.” Zipp says and the pegasus laughs when she hears that and Zipp wonders what could possibly be so funny. “Ummm… is something funny?” She asks but the Pegasus continues laughing before answering.

“Yes. You. I mean, I knew you were stuck up and a bit of a high horse but… I didn’t think you were a hypocrite.” She says, peaking Zipp's curiosity. “Oh please princess. Don’t play dumb. I know all about how you felt after your mother was killed, your sister was hurt, and your kingdom was taken over. You would’ve done anything to get back at the monster who caused you that pain. No matter who you had to sacrifice, you would’ve done it. When you actually got to him, you didn’t care that ponies and other creatures were getting hurt and dying all around you, you just wanted your revenge.” She says and Zipp is shocked that she knows so much.

She’s about to deny it until the pegasus suddenly talks first and more storm clouds roll in. “Now let’s play a game. It’s called 'Can your friends save the innocents from the collapsing bridge while you stop me before I build up enough distance, power and speed to punch right through this train!'” She yells before lightning strikes the other side of the bridge, another explosion damaging it and causing that part to collapse. This causes everyone to lose their balance and Zipp sees the pegasus run off at lightning speed so she gives chase after her but she’s surprisingly much faster than Zipp. Zipp puts a comm in her ear and talks into it.

“Guys! Help everyone off that bridge however you can before it collapses, don’t worry about stopping it. Just get them off the train and the bridge and do it fast!” Zipp says and everyone nods before Sunny and Izzy start trying to distract the pegasus while Hitch and Pipp start getting the innocents off the train and helping them across the gap in the front of the bridge. Solaris and Sky Blazer eventually start helping to get everyone off the train as well. Soon, the unicorn teleports to the top of the bridge and starts using her magic on the cables or at least some of them. She starts disconnecting them then sending them down towards the ponies below. Izzy teleports out of the way but Sunny flys straight into them, maneuvering her way through them, dodging and teleporting around them, managing to avoid getting hit before she uses her own magic on the cables and sends them towards the unicorn with a yell.

The unicorn teleports above them, using her magic to push them down a bit and they end up hitting the top of the bridge, causing more damage. Sunny sees a few pieces of it flying towards Pipp, Hitch, and the innocents so she flys under it and makes a magic barrier to catch it and set it aside before she also sees Izzy freezing a few areas to delay the bridge’s full collapse. The unicorn tries sneak attacking her but she dodges and counters her attack, sending her back with a wave of magic in the end, making her tumble backwards before sliding to a stop.

They both stand up straight and take out their weapons, starting to rush at each other until the bridge starts moving around a bit violently as the ice that Izzy made starts shattering. Sunny notices that there are still plenty of innocents on the train, including Solaris and Sky Blazer. She’s about to go help until they combine their magic and teleport the innocents off the train and to where the others are. She smiles as she sees them get off the train and attempt to fly to the other side. Izzy sees this and pulls a smooth maneuver on the unicorn before teleporting to the other side of the bridge to wait for them. Suddenly a sonic boom can be heard right before the pegasus from earlier speeds past everyone, flying straight into the train… and going all the way through it, blowing it up but coming out completely unscathed.

Everyone looks on terrified as she flys high into the air while what’s left of the bridge collapses. They hear Solaris and Sky Blazer scream and see them falling out of the sky. Before they can fall too far, Zipp comes out of nowhere and catches them both, a bit out of breath from giving her all to try and catch up to the pegasus while running and flying halfway across the world and back. Zipp lands by everyone else and gently places them down before taking a moment to catch her breath. Pipp and Hitch both check on her while Sunny and Izzy keep their eyes on the pegasus and unicorn who were both glaring down at them all, the pegasus up in the sky and the unicorn on top of what little remains of the bridge.

With anger at the forefront of her mind, Sunny gets ready to attack again until everyone hears something and look behind themselves to see half of a blade coming from… seemingly nowhere. This confuses them until that confusion turns into surprise when the blade cuts open a portal of purple and blue flame and the masked unicorn that attacked Canterlogic walks out with a tall, muscular, scary looking Earth Pony following closely behind.

“That’s enough you two! Time to go!” The Earth Pony yells and the other unicorn and pegasus both make their way to the portal before starting to fire at Sunny and the others halfway there and they all protect the innocents before Sunny and Zipp start attacking, not wanting them to get away and hurt anyone else. The pegasus blasts Zipp and tackles her, pinning her down by her throat. Sunny goes to help but gets hit with the Earth Pony's huge hammer, getting sent flying with a ringing in her ears and a dislocated shoulder. Sunny takes a bit to recover and she can hear fighting so she looks to see Izzy trying to fight off the big Earth Pony to protect her. She tries to get up when she sees Izzy losing.

Izzy suddenly gets sent flying towards Sunny who catches her with her good arm before teleporting her shield to her and using it to shield them both from the next swing of the Earth Pony's hammer. Sunny notices that the hammer is slightly glowing purple… figures. Some of Midnight's magic was in the hammer. It was starting to overwhelm the bits of her own magic that was in her shield, especially since the swings were so devastating themselves. Sunny keeps giving her all to protect herself and Izzy until she feels the shield crack on one particularly powerful swing. She recovers, but too late as the next swing completely shatters her shield and sends her flying. She tumbled away until she stops and slowly sits up with her vision blurry. She can see the earth pony walking towards her and she quickly tries harder to get up.

The Earth Pony picks her up by her throat with one hand and holds her up while glaring at her with anger and disappointment.

“Pathetic. This is the alicorn that defeated Midnight Starkiller? I expected better. If you can’t even handle something like this, I doubt you’ll be ready to protect your friends or anyone else from what’s coming. Especially that baby dragon or little alicorn of yours. And your marefriend? Oh trust me when I tell you… we have real plans for them and anyone else close to you.” The mare says and hearing all this, Sunny's blood starts to boil… almost literally as her entire body heats up and her magic starts to come out. Her mane starts flowing a bit and gains a fire-like aura as her eyes glow a darkened gold color. She suddenly slams her fist down on the Earth Pony's arm, causing her to bend her arm and move Sunny closer by accident.

Sunny immediately headbutts her, causing her to drop her and so Sunny reels back and then delivers a powerful punch to her face, sending her flying back straight into a mountain, the shockwave forming a cloud of dust around the area. Sunny then screams in unadulterated rage, the shockwave and loudness behind it getting everyone's attention. The Earth Pony slowly walks out of the cloud of dust and has some excitement in her eyes.

“Now that’s more like it!” She yells before laughing and charging at Sunny as her purple eyes glow more. Sunny charges back and jumps at her, throwing another punch, but this one is blocked before Sunny gets tackled and slammed. The Earth Pony then takes out her hammer and spikes come out of a few areas before she slams it onto Sunny only for it to get caught and pushed back by her. Sunny then blasts her backwards or tries to but she starts fighting her way through the blast and she kicks Sunny down into the ground a bit.

Sunny instantly tries to recover as she sees the Earth Pony above her, bringing down the hammer. Suddenly the hammer is caught again but not by Sunny or any of her friends… it’s caught by Twilight who shoved the Earth Pony back with a powerful burst of magic, an angry look on her face. Twilight's friends show up one by one, aiding against the four villains attacking them. Soon, they’re forced to retreat and the masked unicorn with the blade cuts open another portal.

“You won’t get away with this… Mark my words Twilight Sparkle, your days are numbered.” The Pegasus says before going into the portal, followed by the silent unicorn and tall Earth Pony. The masked unicorn is the last one to leave as she seems to focus her glare on Sunny and her friends before walking through the portal, allowing it to close soon after.

Twilight, after recognizing the magic and pondering the words she had just heard, turns to Sunny and her friends with a concerned look. She’s about to ask if they’re alright until she sees that Sunny is exhausted… and she senses new… raging magic coming from her… and it was almost overwhelming.

“H-Hi Twilight… sorry you had to come… all the way out here but… we actually have to talk to you.” Sunny says weakly, leaning against Izzy who was helping her up. Twilight looks towards where the portal was, looks at the tons of ponies and other creatures that were on the train, then looks back at Sunny and her friends and sighs.

“I need to talk to you too… there are a few things I should explain… but first… let’s figure out what to do about this mess.” Twilight says and after looking around at all the damage, everypony agrees.

“So… did you get him?” Opaline asks as her minions come walking into the throne room with Titania carrying something like… some sort of metal advanced casket.

“Just as you requested. There were a few bumps but we finally got him here.” Misty says as she takes off her mask and takes out the hairpins, undoing the puffy buns that she had tied her mane into. After electrocuting the casket, Stormcutter backs up, allowing it to open, revealing the frozen body… of Ragnar. Opaline smirks and walks forward.

“Good work. With a monster like this by my side… I will be even closer to becoming more powerful than I was before… and Equestria… will. Be. MINE.” Opaline says before she takes out the container with Midnight's magic inside it and opens it, starting to release the magic into his body. Slowly, his body starts to thaw out and he is once again given life. Opaline starts laughing as she sees his eyes glow and throughout the castle, the only sounds that could be heard were magic, laughter… and a monstrous roar that promised revenge and suffering.

A tale of fire

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“Wait wait wait. So you’re telling me that there really is another alicorn out there that you’ve defeated in the past and now she’s come back for revenge?” Sunny asks Twilight who frowns and nods. Twilight had explained what her short experience and knowledge of Opaline was, which definitely wasn’t much, considering she had only fought Opaline once and had barely won. This was due to the fact that they were both equal in power but in skill, Opaline definitely exceeded Twilight. Opaline was also much more experienced and ruthless than Twilight.

“Opaline was actually distracting me for her spell to start building up enough power to spread across entire timelines. I had to stop her by… taking a trick out of Midnight's playbook… and stealing her magic… or at least most of it. I’m guessing she used what was left of it to escape and get as far away from the spell as possible… almost like she knew me and my friends would find away to lessen the effects of it.” Twilight explains, wondering if that was actually the case. She then turns to Sunny and her friends as they all continue walking through Canterlot. “Since Opaline hadn’t made a single move while or after Midnight was defeated, I assumed that she wouldn’t ever be a problem again… but clearly I was wrong.” Twilight says regretfully and Sunny could tell that Twilight felt like this was all her fault.

Sunny speeds up a little to catch up to her before putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, causing Twilight to look down at her and smile a bit. Sunny smiles back a bit before that smile slowly shifts into a frown. “Twilight… What do you think would happen… if Opaline tried using Midnight's magic to restore her powers?” Sunny asks and after thinking about it for a bit, Twilight looks at her with a dark look on her face.

“Midnight's magic is unpredictable and even more so dangerous and violent. For all Opaline knows, trying to absorb Midnight's magic could do any number of unknown horrifying things to her, like destroy her from the inside out, rip her apart- literally, turn her into another Midnight physically and mentally, cause HER to be absorbed instead of the magic… it goes on and on and gets worse as it does.” Twilight explains, sending shivers through everyone’s spines, even her own at the many thoughts of what the rogue magic could do to someone stupid enough or not nearly strong enough to try and use it for themselves. It’s dangerous, deadly, and extremely unpredictable just like the pony it belonged to. “But I doubt Opaline doesn’t already know that, she’s incredibly smart and not to be underestimated.”

“Well… that’s pretty much the answer I was expecting…” Sunny says, slightly relieved that no one could use Midnight's magic except for her but horrified to hear about what could happen to anyone who tried. It was either death or a fate much worse than that. Either way, you couldn’t win. “So at least we know why she wouldn’t use it, but we still don’t know why she stole it or had one of those unicorns steal it to begin with.” Sunny says, groaning in frustration. Zipp sighs before walking forward to catch up with the two princesses.

“Or why she had them attack us at the bridge. So many questions but not enough answers.” Zipp says, sounding just as frustrated as Sunny.

“We can figure all that out later… right now, you all should rest. We have a lot more to discuss.” Twilight suggests, stopping and turning to the young ponies following her. They all nod before Sunny seems to remember something.

“We will but first, there’s somepony we want you to meet.” Sunny says, sounding a bit more enthusiastic than she did just a few moments ago which peaks her interest. Seeing this, Sunny and the others lead Twilight to where everyone else who was with them on the train was currently recovering from the horrifying experience. Sunny spots the two ponies they’re looking for and turns Twilight’s attention to them. Twilight immediately recognizes Solaris but doesn’t recognize the alicorn next to her.

The alicorn seems to recognize her though when they walk closer and she sees Twilight looking right at her. They both stand up and turn to face them but the alicorn is slightly shaking.

“Ummm… hello there. It’s nice to meet you. I’m-“ Twilight starts to say until she’s cut off by the alicorn speaking while stammering.

“I-I know who you are… Hello again Twilight. I-It's been a while, huh?” She asks and Twilight looks confused but gets the feeling that this pony is somepony she’s not only met before, but one she’s been at odds with.

“Who are you…? Have we met before?” Twilight asks and the alicorn nods before holding a hand in front of herself and suddenly a small multicolored flame comes from it for a few seconds and Twilight goes wide-eyed as she realizes who she’s talking to.

“Sky Blazer…? But… how are you… when did…?” Twilight tries to ask, starting to become defensive until Sky Blazer starts to explain.

“After you and your friends opened that portal, I started to regain control as I got sucked into it and over the years, I had been constantly fighting to keep it… until one day, I felt my life slowly start to fade away… I could sense that something had happened to Midnight… or at least the dark side of me could. Overtime, we both slowly got weaker until another portal opened and I got sucked out and when I woke up… Solaris, Sunny, and the others were all standing around me.” Sky Blazer explains, looking around at the others as she says the last part.

“So… you’re back to the way you were before… before you got your powers and memories back?” Twilight asks and Sky Blazer nods, causing Twilight to slowly smile before crouching down and hugging her and she looks shocked before hugging back. This earns smiles from Sunny and the others, even Solaris. “Everyone’s gonna be so thrilled to hear that.” Twilight says and Sky Blazer hesitates before nodding and replying with a “maybe”.

“Don’t worry, once everyone sees you’re good again, they definitely will be.” Pipp says and Sky smiles at her and the others before turning to Twilight and nodding. Twilight smiles at that before addressing all of them.

“For now, rest and eat. You’ve all come a long way, you’ve earned a break.” Twilight says and everyone sighs in relief except Zipp, who is reluctant to do so.

“Whoa whoa whoa, we can’t just rest like nothing’s happened. There’s still so much we don’t understand. For example, the Unicorn who opened the portal back there also attacked Canterlogic, killed and injured innocent ponies, and stole dangerous, uncontrollable magic and we don’t know why. Plus, this new alicorn has yet to make a move of her own but who’s to say she hasn’t already made one?” Zipp says and everyone looks a bit conflicted until Sunny sighs and turns to her.

“Zipp, we just got our flanks handed to us by three or four of, possibly, the deadliest mares in the world besides this new alicorn. Innocent creatures almost died and we need to be prepared for whatever they do next… but we can’t do that if we don’t take a moment to recover. Do you understand? Investigating can wait. Until we’re back up to full strength, we have to recuperate from this mess.” Sunny says and Zipp looks shocked and kinda hurt. On one hand, she understands but on the other, she thinks Sunny is the one who doesn’t understand, especially when it comes to what she just said.

“Full strength… full strength? Sunny, we haven’t even reached the true peak of our powers and you always hold back. You could literally blow a hole through an entire city in seconds or lift one up if you wanted to but you don’t. You severely limit yourself. Even when you were angry at that Earth Pony, you were still pulling your punches, I could tell. If you hadn’t, she would’ve been obliterated at the first punch.” Zipp says, causing Sunny to tense up as everyone turns their attention to her, especially Twilight. She knew she had sensed new magic within Sunny, potentially dark magic, but she had hoped she might have been wrong.

“I hold back because I have to! Because if I just accept that I could kill a normal pony with a flick of my hand, if I just suddenly decided to stop holding back… I’d never go back to that. And that’s not something I want. Midnight saw what she could do, and she decided not to hold back anything at all… and I refuse to live like she did.” Sunny snaps, causing everyone to flinch before she walks off angrily and Zipp looks after her before groaning in annoyance and walking in the opposite direction. Everyone looks after them both before Twilight sighs, hoping that soon they would cool off and fix things… before it was too late.

Flashback

As Opaline laid awake in her bed, desperately trying to think of ways to restore the rest of her magic, she’s brought out of her thoughts when she hears a knock at the door to her bedroom. She groans in annoyance, knowing who it is before getting up, walking to the door and opening it, looking down to see a crying and shaking Misty standing there with her favorite toy, a butterfly plushie. It slightly hurts Opaline's heart to see how scared and upset Misty is as it reminds her of the first day she found her.

“Misty, what are you doing up so late? Go back to bed.” Opaline asks, although she already knew the answer. After all, ever since that day, Misty had been having nightmares about the bear that had killed her parents. Opaline almost smiles at the memory of killing it.

“Can… can I sleep with you…? I don’t like sleeping by myself…” Misty says in a shaky voice and Opaline is about to decline until Misty looks up at her with pleading, tear-filled eyes. “Please momma…?” Misty asks and Opaline has to admit that on one hand it feels weird to be called momma, but on the other… it makes her become a little bit more loving, caring and compassionate towards Misty… her little filly that saved her life.

Opaline sighs a bit before opening the door a bit more, allowing her to come in before she closes it and walks back over to her bed. She sits down on the side of it and picks Misty up when she’s close enough then puts her on the other side. She then moves the covers up to cover Misty’s body and make sure she’s comfortable.

“There you go, all better?” Opaline asks, slightly cringing at how tinder her voice was right then. After Misty nods, Opaline smiles and gets ready to cover herself until she hears Misty speak.

“What’s that?” She asks, pointing towards her thigh and Opaline looks down to see her cutie mark was revealed.

“That, my little pony, is a cutie mark… it’s what a pony gets when they discover what’s special about them.” Opaline explains and Misty looks amazed by hers, looking at it with wonder and amazement. “It is amazing, isn’t it? I got mine the day I discovered that I was an alicorn… of fire.” She continues, and to emphasize her point, she holds up one hand slightly and just barely manages to spark a flame from it. Misty jumps a bit, letting out a surprised squeak and Opaline chuckles a bit. “You don’t have to be afraid Misty… my magic is… very limited now… thanks to a meddling pony by the name of Twilight Sparkle.” Opaline says as anger creeps into her voice.

“Why would she do that…? That’s so mean that she would take away your powers like that.” Misty says and Opaline sighs but then smiles a bit, laying beside Misty.

“It is mean… but let me tell you a story.” Opaline says and Misty hugs her plushie a bit more as she cuddles up into Opaline's side and Opaline smiles and wraps a wing around her.

“If I fall asleep… promise that you’ll finish it tomorrow… or whenever you get a chance?” She asks and Opaline hesitates before looking at her and nodding.

“Of course… Now… let’s begin.” Opaline says as she starts to think about her past. “There once was a young alicorn, one of power, of strength, and great beauty. She was growing up in the kingdom of Skyros which is now referred to as Canterlot. It was a city of many Alicorns, all with different talents, skills, and ideas. Every single one was unique in their own ways… but two of them stuck out more than the rest. One was an alicorn of the sun… the younger one was an alicorn of the moon. They had a big sister who was denied the role of the sun and instead became an alicorn of shadows.” Opaline explains, thinking back to her days in Skyros, constantly being overlooked by Astelle, Celestia, and Luna.

“The main young alicorn was an alicorn of fire… just like me. But… apparently that wasn’t good enough for the 'golden ponies' who thought they were so great because they had the whole sun and moon thing going for them. The fire alicorn vowed to show them she was the wrong pony to push around… then one day… a new alicorn appeared. She was far older, scarier, and more powerful. She rolled through the city like a plague, taking down anyone who crossed her path… and the alicorn of shadows was helping her to get back at the sun and moon ones. Unfortunately, that didn’t end so well for them… but the damage had been done. After they were beaten… the only ones left were the Fire, Sun, and Moon Alicorns.” Opaline continues, remembering how Midnight had showed up, destroyed most of Skyros, and slaughtered every alicorn there except her, Astelle, Celestia, and Luna. The only reason she survived was because Midnight hadn’t seen her or sensed her.

“None of them were originally Alicorns at birth… they were made Alicorns. Transformed from normal ponies into goddesses. While the Sun and Moon one thought to use their powers in the service of others to keep their praise, the fire one was still. Being. Left. Out. So she decided to take all the magic in Equestria for herself, to finally fit in and be just as strong as them if not stronger. But… they stopped her and instead of… giving her another chance or just finishing her off… they decided to further her suffering by locking her away in a prison deep inside a mountain. For many…many years… she was alone… waiting… until finally someone freed her but it was the same alicorn that had nearly ended their kind. She had a plan… one that would not only help her get revenge, but it would also-“ Opaline continues until she’s cut off by the sound of Misty’s adorable snoring.

She smiles down at the little filly before pulling her a little closer and laying her own head down. “Goodnight, my little filly. Sleep well.” Opaline says before slowly drifting off to sleep while still cuddling Misty.

Present Day

As Misty remembers that day, she can’t help but wonder why she had never asked Opaline to finish that story for her. Maybe it was because that night she had dreamt about getting her cutie mark, being special. After that, she just wanted to focus on getting it by any means necessary… and look where that got her. Misty decides that now is as good a time as any to ask for the rest of the story.

Sure Opaline might not tell her but it was worth a shot. She gets out of her bed and walks out of her room, making her way through the seemingly endless hallways of the castle. Once she turns one corner, she bumps into someone massive. She shakes her head and looks up to see the face of Ragnar, who seems to be snarling slightly. She gulps silently and starts backing up.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t see you coming…”Misty says but he just tilts his head before huffing and walking past her, just narrowly avoiding bumping into her. She stares after him for a bit before releasing the breath she didn’t even realize she had been holding. She takes a moment to calm down before continuing to walk to the throne room. Once there, she spots Opaline sitting on the throne, seemingly thinking deeply about something. “U-Ummm… Opaline? Is this a bad time?” Misty asks, causing Opaline to focus her vision on her.

After a few seconds, Opaline shakes her head and stands up, walking a little close to the mirror pool. “No, not really. What is it Misty?” She asks and Misty hesitates then walks a bit closer.

“Nothing I… I just… I-“ Misty stutters before sighing heavily and finding the right words. “I was wondering if you… could finish that story for me? Ya know… the one about the fire alicorn and the others?” Misty asks and Opaline says nothing for a bit which worries her and she starts to change her mind until she hears Opaline sigh then speak.

“Alright… the fire alicorn was defeated and locked away by the Sun and Moon ones. She spent many years alone until the same alicorn that attacked her home and eradicated her people freed her, granting her the opportunity to get revenge. It would also do something far greater for her. But then the older alicorn was defeated and trapped by an alicorn that was much younger but possibly just as powerful while the fire alicorn escaped to fight another day.” Opaline says before anger starts to creep into her voice as she continues.

“Years later she returned and confronted the younger alicorn… which cost her all of her magic and power. But her plan had worked for the most part, however… it cost her greatly. Many years later… she stumbled upon a little filly… all alone, scared. She saved the filly and helped her conquer her greatest fears as much as she could… and decided to raise her as her own… hoping to avoid making the same mistake with her that she made… with her magic.” Opaline says before she closes her eyes, breathes in and out, and opens them. “The end.”

Misty just stares, dumbfounded at Opaline. She didn’t know what to expect but she doesn’t think that would’ve been on the list. “Wow… I’m kinda glad we didn’t finish that story sooner… it was worth the wait.” Misty says and Opaline gives her a quick glance before chuckling a bit and walking back to the throne.

“And hopefully… the next phase of our plan will be too.” Opaline says before the mirror pool projects an illusion, showing what’s currently going on with Sunny and her friends. “I’m coming for you Twilight Sparkle… and then it’s your turn… Sunny Starscout.”

Rising tensions

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As Askari breathed in and out to calm her nerves, she couldn’t help but remember a special type of exercise that her parents had taught her to relieve stress and quiet her mind. At first, she hadn’t understood it, but as time went on she learned that it was very effective. She had even shared this technique with her friends during a few of their get-togethers. They too had found it very helpful for calming down.

“Nervous?” She hears her Aunt Zahara ask her. She was a beautiful, middle-aged zebra with a barely visible scar on her lip, a few more in a few more places on her body and a small hole in her left ear. “Should you be? Given the fact that you’ve been to a bunch of these with me by now.” She continues and Askari sighs before nodding.

“Yes… It doesn’t make it any easier that I’m an ex-terrorist with a former grudge against Sunny Starscout and now I’m going with you to a meeting between nation leaders about an issue regarding her and her friends. So I can imagine how that would look to others Auntie…” Askari says, frowning and looking down as she remembers the terrible things she did in pursuit of revenge for her parents. Everything it led to and could’ve led to. She feels her aunt place a hand under her cheek and lift it up to get her to look at her.

“That was in the past and in the end, you did the right thing and let go of your hatred and rage. That’s all that matters, alright? You have been forgiven for your past mistakes but you have to forgive yourself before you can fully move on… and if you ever need me, I will be there… that’s the promise I made to your parents… and now I’m making it to you.” Zahara says with a soft, reassuring smile on her face and Askari smiles up at her and nuzzles into her hand when it moves to her cheek, enjoying the comforting warmth of a touch from possibly the only real family she has left.

“Thank you Auntie…” Askari says and Zahara smiles more and nods before asking if she’s ready, earning a nod in return. With that, she breathes in and out as she hears herself and her niece being introduced and the doors open, allowing both of them to walk in and go to where they’re supposed to be. Zahara sits in her seat while Askari stands close-by with her hands behind her back. Once the meeting starts the representative for the hippogriffs, Queen Skystar, is the first to speak.

“As you all know… we are here to address the current problems regarding the alicorn princess known as Sunny Starscout and her recent actions in the zebra city. While she and her friends did manage to greatly reduce the amount of damage that could have been done by the terrorists they were tracking, innocents did get hurt and killed.” She says as she looks around at all the other leaders. “She has done great things over the years, has gained the trust and respect of Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends, and has managed to keep many promises to all of us… which is why I want you all to think very carefully when I ask: Should we allow this to go on… or start taking matters into our own hands?”

All the other leaders stay silent for a bit before Zahara speaks up. “We have heard your concerns for the future and while there are some in our community who share those concerns, there are still many who would wish to leave our safety in the hands of the very alicorn who defeated the biggest threat Equestria had seen in centuries. While Sunny Starscout’s methods can be… messy at times, her interventions have kept Equestria mostly at peace for years now.” She says, causing most of the leaders to look around at each other then back at her.

“Besides, we’ve seen what happens when different nations, tribes, and species try to govern themselves for too long without the involvement of one of the princesses or all of them.” Dragon Lord Ember says. “Without them, the world would be way more out of balance than it was before Sunny and her friends intervened and brought magic back.” She continues and the other leaders all whisper among themselves until Thorax speaks up.

“Ember- uh Dragon Lord Ember has a point. Sure, magic has become more powerful and unpredictable but the current Alicorns use it well enough. They’ve even managed to build their own city with it.” He says and almost continues until the representative for the Griffons speaks up.

“Which is yet another example of how powerful and dangerous Alicorns are. One alone could take on a whole state and leave it in ruins. But hundreds of them? What do you think would happen to the rest of Equestria if all these Alicorns were to go bad? Or has everyone forgotten Sunny Starscout’s brief but impactful time on the side of evil?” He reminds everyone and they all shudder at the memory of the images of the places she attacked after she was done. “And let’s also not forget about the actions of a particular zebra who aided in these attacks.” He continues, casting an accusing glance in Askari's direction, causing her to from and look down.

She continues to look down until a loud slam causes her to flinch and look at her aunt who was now standing with her hands on the table, casting an absolutely furious gaze in the griffon's direction. “If you dare to recount my niece’s sins to us right in her face and think you’ll receive no consequence for it, you are sorely mistaken. So I’ll give you one warning and one warning only. Know. Your. Place. Or I’ll teach it to you… understood?” She says, speaking in a tone that terrified Askari since this is the only time she’s seen her aunt like this. When the griffon shakes off the scared look on his face and nods, Zahara breathes in and out and regains her composure before sitting down.

Askari quietly clears her throat and calms down as she looks straight ahead. She could literally feel the negative energy that her aunt had been producing throughout the room when she had snapped at the griffon. It was… almost overwhelming. For a while, the meeting goes on and eventually it comes down to a vote between outlawing Sunny, her friends, and the other Alicorns or allowing them and the Wings of Equestria organization to continue protecting Equestria. It came down to 50/50 which wasn’t bad… but it wasn’t good either. Half of Equestria was losing faith in Sunny and her friends, even after all they’ve done for Equestria, just because of a few incidents.

Eventually the meeting starts coming to a close and Zahara leans towards Askari and whispers to her. “Find your friends. Go to Maretime Bay and find Sunny. Warn her of what’s happening and what might come… and please… come back home safe.” She says and Askari nods and with that, she exits the room.

“Time to make a few calls…” She says as she continues walking, hoping that they could make it in time.

Meanwhile In Canterlot

As Sunny walked through Canterlot, looking around at all the different creatures, buildings, and statues, something was nagging her about what happened earlier with Zipp. Maybe it was because she knew that Zipp was right about her severely holding back. Maybe it was because Zipp had revealed something she didn’t wanna talk about to Twilight. Maybe she just knew she was in the wrong for brushing her off like that. Whatever it was, she didn’t like feeling this way. She had to apologize to Zipp as soon as possible then talk to Twilight.

“Why does everything have to be so complicated nowadays?” Sunny sighs, holding her head as she struggles to think. She hears something and walks in the direction that the sound is coming from then recognizes the voices of Izzy, Solaris, and Sky Blazer. She looks to see Izzy talking with them while braiding Sky's mane. She smiles at the sight, imagining Izzy as a mom and honestly, it wasn’t exactly impossible. They were already like parents to Solaris in a way ever since they vowed to protect her until their last breaths. She eventually walks closer to them and they notice her after a few seconds.

“Oh, hey Sunny! Whatcha up to?” Izzy asks in her usual chipper tone and Sunny smiles at the feeling of positivity it gives her.

“Just checking on you. Kinda needed to clear my head after what happened earlier, y’know?” Sunny explains and Izzy nods and pats a spot next to her and Sunny almost immediately accepts the invitation.

“In that case, you can help me with something and help yourself clear your head. You can try braiding Solaris’s mane while I do Sky's. I’m almost done with hers so I’ll help you when I can.” Izzy says and Sunny nods and scoots closer to Solaris who stays looking forward and Sunny gets to work on her mane. Sunny finds it oddly relaxing, even if it was difficult to braid Solaris’s mane with it constantly flowing and moving. Sunny hoped her mane probably wouldn’t end up like this the further she went into her alicornhood.

Despite the difficulties of braiding an alicorn’s mane, she eventually got it done and Izzy teases her about how rusty she is at braiding manes, including her own, before thanking her for the help and giving her a peck on the cheek. Sunny chuckles and nuzzles Izzy lovingly before playfully ruffling Solaris's hair and patting Sky on the back then standing up.

“Well, I’ll leave you ladies to it. I gotta take care of a few things but I’ll be back.” She says and they all nod and wave to her as she walks off while waving back at them. She then goes to find Zipp but finds both her and Pipp with Twilight in the throne room of the castle and it looks like they had told her some sort of news… and based on the dark look on Zipp's face, it had been something truly horrifying. Sunny slowly walks in the room and makes her presence known. “Hey, is everything ok? What happened?” She asks and Pipp and Twilight hesitate to tell her while Zipp just turns away, seething with anger it seems.

“Uhhh Sunny… we got word from Zephyr Heights that the Earth Pony you fought and the Unicorn that attacked Canterlogic had attacked earlier while we were fighting the pegasus and other unicorn. It wasn’t for nothing though. They… they…” Pipp struggles to finish explaining so Twilight steps in and explains the final part for her.

“After they left, Ragnar's body was gone too. They stole it and with Midnight's magic… Opaline could use it to bring him back.” Twilight sighs and Sunny grows a horrified look on her face before groaning in frustration.

“I just don’t get it… can nothing be easy and peaceful for once?! Even when she’s dead, Midnight and everything about her is continuing to screw with everyone’s lives! It just… it isn’t fair!” Sunny yells, letting out her own built up anger and frustration with everything that had been going on. Meanwhile, Twilight could sense Sunny's new magic starting to come out and get worse the angrier she got. With that, the more it built up, the more she could feel the temperature and pressure in the room changing and she could eventually feel the ground slightly starting to shake.

“Ok ok, Sunny calm down. It’ll be ok. I get that you’re angry, I am too. But we can’t let it get to us. We have to keep a clear head and an open heart to make everything work out, ok? We’ll get through this… together.” Twilight says and Sunny slowly starts to calm down and the temperature and pressure of the room both start to go back to normal and the ground stops shaking. Twilight sighs in relief and Sunny frowns before looking at Zipp who was still kinda shaking with anger with her fists clinched so much that she was afraid she’d draw blood. Pipp notices too and slowly gets closer to her.

“Sis…? It’s ok. We'll stop him. He won’t hurt you or any of us again. Ok? I promise…” Pipp shakily says, remembering the day Zipp had beaten Ragnar to a bloody pulp and almost killed him… the day she had almost lost her sister. She slowly wraps her arms around her big sister, pulling her into a comforting hug. She could feel Zipp slowly stop shaking and smiles when she realizes it’s working. Soon, Zipp returns the hug and sighs as it goes on, helping her calm her nerves. “Better?” Pipp asks and Zipp chuckles as she nuzzles the top of her sister's head.

“A little… Thanks Pipp.” Zipp says and Pipp smiles up at her and nods, causing Sunny and Twilight to smile at the sight before them. Zipp then looks at Sunny who frowns and looks down slightly, starting to seem shy and guilty.

“Hey… earlier I actually came to apologize Zipp. I really am sorry for brushing you off earlier… I just… needed time to figure a few things out myself. I don’t… I don’t want us to fight or be at odds like we were years ago, so… can you ever forgive me?” Sunny asks and Zipp sighs before walking over to her and pulling her into a hug, prompting her to return it.

“Only if you can do the same for me.” She says and they both chuckle a bit, causing Twilight and Pipp to smile. After Zipp and Pipp dismiss, Twilight stops Sunny, asking her to stay and explaining that they really needed to talk.

“So, what did you wanna talk to me about Princess?” Sunny asks and Twilight hesitates before sighing and looking at Sunny with a serious look.

“Your new magic… I’ve noticed how it seems to react when you get angry and I’m not gonna lie Sunny… it scares me. I sense darkness inside you, darkness similar to that… of Midnight herself.” Twilight explains, causing Sunny to frown and look down. She doesn’t know what to do until Twilight continues, causing her to look up at the tall princess before her. “But… maybe you can train and learn how to control it… me and my friends will help you but first things first. Tomorrow… we’ll be paying a visit to the new city where all the current Alicorns of your generation live.” Twilight says, chuckling when she sees Sunny’s eyes light up at the mention of a new city filled with Alicorns.

“Glad you’re excited. It’ll be good for you to connect with more of our kind. Could help you learn some new tricks, huh?” Twilight asks and Sunny nods eagerly and Twilight smiles at that. “Well for now, go and enjoy some time with your friends, my friends, whoever you’d like and don’t be afraid to come see me if you need anything.” Twilight says and Sunny nods before hugging her, causing her to grow a shocked look that slowly morphs into a smile as she hugs her back. After breaking the hug, Sunny summons her magic and flys out to find her friends.

Twilight sighs and holds her head, feeling a little stressed but once she hears the doors open, she turns to see her friends walking in and she smiles at them all. “Hi girls.” She says, the tiredness she’s feeling sort of showing through her tone.

“How are ya holding up sugarcube?” Applejack asks as they all walk up to her. “Ya look and sound tired.”

“Applejack’s right darling. We know this can’t be easy for you, what with all that’s happened over the years.” Rarity says and Twilight sighs and walks to one of the stained glass windows.

“So you noticed. I just… I thought that after Sunny had destroyed Midnight, we’d never have anymore problems with her again… but even dead, she’s still interfering and defying peace… she’s still taking from others like she took… like…” Twilight stutters, starting to slip back into the dark days of their own war with Midnight… that day where she had lost her parents to that monster. She feels a hand on her shoulder and her breathing, which she hadn’t even noticed had begun speeding up, starts to slow down and she looks to see Rainbow giving her a worried look.

It then turns into a look of understanding as she pulls her into a hug. “You don’t have to say it Twi… we were there and to be honest… that day still kinda haunts us too… along with the rest that followed.” She says and Twilight frowns and hugs her back, holding her close with fear that she might be taken away too.

“But what’s important is that we work to make sure that doesn’t happen to anypony else ever again… right?” Fluttershy asks and everyone looks at her before slightly smiling and nodding.

“You’re right, so let’s turn these frowns upside down and take a break, at least for now. Ooh! I’ll throw a party to help take everyone’s minds off the gloominess!” Pinkie shouts excitedly and before anyone can stop her, she’s already long gone, running and bouncing around Canterlot to grab decorations and different things that she’ll need for the party. Her friends all groan and chuckle in amusement.

“Typical Pinkie Pie.” Fluttershy says, giggling and following after her while Rarity and Applejack walk out with their arms intertwined. Rainbow Dash lands on her feet and is about to walk out until she turns back to Twilight with a smile.

“We’re gonna beat this Twi… together.” She says and Twilight smiles and nods, causing her to smile back before Twilight turns back to the window.

“And even if we can’t…” Twilight starts, walking closer to it and looking to see Sunny and her friends all hanging out and having a good time with it looking like Sunny's explaining what they’ll be doing the next day or two, causing Twilight to smile. “They will.” She says before walking out, not knowing exactly what the future holds, but knowing one thing in particular for sure.

“Equestria is in safe hands.”

Life in the big city

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“You can run.” The familiar voice sounded out as Sunny continued to run to who knows where. “You can hide.” The voice continues until Sunny stops right in front of a cliff, just narrowly avoiding sliding off. Sunny turns to face the direction she was running from only to see nothing.

“But I’ll be right here on every side.” The voice says before Sunny is suddenly yanked backwards by her mane and dangled off the cliff by Midnight. “So long as you’re alive, I will be too! You can never truly get rid of me. In fact, by killing me, you just made yourself more susceptible to becoming me!” Midnight says before punching Sunny down into the abyss below them. Sunny screams the whole way down until she crashes through the roof of a cave and lands painfully, tumbling straight into a wall. Sunny groans in pain and slowly gets up, looking around and realizing that she’s in some sort of… temple? What was strange was that there were statues of Alicorns in each corner of the temple.

Before she can think too much about it, Midnight bursts through the roof of the temple and lands so hard she causes it to shake and makes dust fly everywhere. Sunny covers her face with her arms until it stops and she looks to see Midnight slowly standing up straight and facing her. Sunny stands up too as Midnight starts walking towards her.

“Haven’t been here in a while. Such good memories. Slaughtering the council of alicorns, taking this place for myself, planning invasions and whatnot. Hm… maybe when I take over your body, I’ll try to find this place again.” Midnight says and Sunny shudders at the thought of Midnight taking control of her body and using it for whatever evil deeds she had planned which, knowing her, involved a lot of killing and destruction. “It would be nice to have a do over by slaughtering the new Alicorns of your generation.”

“No… I won’t let you!” Sunny screams, trying to believe it herself but she was quickly losing all confidence in herself and her abilities at this point. She wasn’t in any mental shape to face Midnight again and her magic was unpredictable now, she couldn’t even use it in her dreams. For all she knows, her magic is what’s causing her to have these dreams in the first place.

“Oh Sunny… you can’t stop me. You never could. That’s not your destiny. Your destiny is to become just like me… or worse than I ever was.” Midnight says before suddenly going to grab Sunny by the throat; however, Sunny moves just in time, rolling out of the way and starting to run away. She doesn’t get far though as Midnight blasts a hole through her leg, causing her to fall and scream in pain, holding her leg with both hands. That felt so real… was this even a dream?!

She turns onto her back and glares at Midnight as she glares down at her. She grabs Sunny’s mane and uses it to hold her up, making her shout in pain, trying to free herself. “I’m giving you a chance to make this way less painful for you and your friends. Normally I’m not so generous, but you’ve managed to earn my respect by doing what the others were too weak to do. I’ll let you think about it some more but until then, tread carefully 'Princess.'” Midnight says before she forms a magical blade and stabs Sunny with it, the intense burn from the magic causing her to let out a bloodcurdling scream of pain before she suddenly jumps awake, looking around frantically and breathing heavily.

She checks the spot where Midnight stabbed her and sighs in relief when she finds nothing. She checks her leg as well and realizes that it really was just a dream… so why did it feel so real? “Morning sleepyhead!” Izzy shouts, causing Sunny to scream in surprise and fear. She realizes it’s just Izzy but her relief suddenly… turns into anger and annoyance.

“Don’t do that! What the hell's wrong with you Izzy?!” Sunny shouts, causing Izzy to recoil like she had been physically struck. It’s only when she starts seeing tears in her eyes that Sunny realizes what she just did. She covers her face and looks down in shock and shame. “Oh gods… I’m so sorry Izzy, I-I didn’t mean to snap at you. Sorry, I just… I had another nightmare. I think it really messed with my head this time.” She explains and Izzy gives a faint smile but Sunny could tell she was still hurt.

“It’s… It’s fine. I get it. I shouldn’t have snuck up on you like that… I’ll leave you alone and let you get dressed.” Izzy says before she starts walking off and Sunny instantly gets up and goes after her.

“Izzy wait!” She shouts, wrapping her arms around her stomach and keeping her there. “Please… I’m so sorry. I… I don’t want you to leave… I’m actually not ready to be by myself right now so… stay with me. Please.” Sunny pleads and Izzy sighs before looking at her with a smile.

“Ok… I’m here.” She says and Sunny smiles back as Izzy turns to face her. “And you don’t have anything to apologize for Sunny-bun. You’re going through a lot, ya know. I’m sure if I had an evil alicorn constantly bothering me in my sleep everyday for years, I’d be cranky about it too. It doesn’t change the fact that I love you and I always will.” Izzy says, leaning her head against Sunny’s as best she can. Sunny smiles loving at her as she grabs both of Izzy's hands.

“I love you too… and I always will.” She says before kissing Izzy, causing her to do the same in response. This goes on for a full minute until Izzy pulls away and chuckles a bit.

“Ok ok, hold on there. It’d probably be best for you to get dressed before we end up keeping the others waiting.” Izzy says, winking at Sunny who blushes and looks at herself, just now remembering she was still in her sleepwear. She giggles sheepishly and rubs the back of her head.

“You’re… probably right. Wait.” She looks around and seems to just now realize they’re on a train and she remembers what was happening today, causing her to go wide-eyed before squealing, literally squealing, in excitement as she rushes to get her clothes on, accidentally putting her pants and shirt on backwards before Izzy laughs and decides to help her. As soon as they’re done, Izzy says she’ll wait outside while Sunny finishes up. Once she’s gone, Sunny puts on her shoes and grabs her jacket and is about to depart until she realizes something she had just seen in the corner of her eye. She looks at the window again and sure enough, her reflection wasn’t her own… it was her dark self.

“What…? No.” Sunny says before rubbing her eyes to make sure she was still awake. Once she does, her reflection is back to normal which confuses her but calms her down a bit. “That was weird…” She says before walking off to join her friends in another train car. She sees Twilight and her friends too and everyone greets her before they all look outside the windows and see a city in the distance. Not just any city, their destination, the new city of alicorns. Everyone looks amazed at how beautiful it was from there and they couldn’t even begin to imagine how beautiful it would look while walking through it.

“It sure is beautiful, isn’t it?” Twilight asks, chuckling at everyone’s reaction to the sight of the newly built “kingdom of alicorns.”

“Understatement of the century.” Zipp says and her sister quickly agrees along with everyone else.

“It is gorgeous~. One question though. Do you think they would mind if I just took a few pictures, or maybe livestream for a bit as soon as we got there?” Pipp asks, gaining a chuckle and eyeroll from her sister. “Whaaat? Sis, you really expected me to experience this for myself and not share it with my Pippsqueaks? It’s like you don’t know me at all.” Pipp says and Zipp gives a short “That’s fair” kinda look before Twilight answers Pipp's question.

“Well I’m sure they wouldn’t mind you taking pictures, but a livestream might be a different story. I don’t know if they’re ready for everyone to see what they’ve built yet. Sorry if that’s a let down, but you understand, right?” Twilight asks and Pipp sighs but nods, gaining a smile from Twilight.

“Wait, when was all this built.” Zipp asks while looking at the city, curious as to why it seems like it hasn’t been opened or revealed to the public yet.

“According to Twilight, they officially finished it a year ago but they started building it soon after Midnight’s defeat. They wanted their own place to call home, one that could sustain all of them and pay tribute to Alicorns of the past.” Solaris explains and Twilight nods.

“These guys can be kinda skittish about who they want showing up. It depends on how much they trust you.” Rainbow Dash says but this causes something… unexpected. Sunny and Solaris look at each other and frown and Dash immediately realizes why. “Oh no no no, it’s not like that. If they didn’t trust you two, they wouldn’t have invited us and told us to bring you if we wanted.” She says and they both stop frowning but she could tell that the guilt for what they had done in the past still lingered… and it probably would for the rest of their lives.

“Hey come on ponies, turn those frowns upside down! You’re here now and besides having fun while you are, that’s all that matters.” Pinkie says, earning a smile from everyone and nods from Sunny and Solaris.

“You know what? You’re right. Whatever happened in the past doesn’t matter now… we need to be in the moment… besides, we’ve got promises to keep.” Sunny says, placing a hand on Solaris’s shoulder who smiles up at her and agrees. She was right, it’s time to stop thinking so much about the past and what could’ve been done differently and start looking towards the future, being in the moment and right now, they were just mere moments from walking through the biggest city they’ve ever seen.

City of Alicorns/New Skyros

They hadn’t known quite what to expect but the reality was way better than they thought it would be. Of course there were Alicorns everywhere but there were also buildings with a similar color palette to Zephyr Heights but a striking resemblance to Canterlot. There were giant statues of Alicorns from the past or at least they assumed. There were crystals lining each pathway through the city, fountains, parks, an arena just outside the city, most likely for training and there was a giant tower in the middle of the city, where the new “council of alicorns” usually resided. This was where the most powerful and influential alicorns in the city came to talk, plan, organize, all kinds of things.

As they walked through the city, they were completely mindblown by everything. This was incredible. Everything was incredible, especially the fact that the Alicorns made all this by themselves. After about ten minutes of walking through the city, a few of the local alicorns saw them and recognized them immediately, especially Sunny. “Oh my gods, guys it’s her!” One says excitedly before a bunch of them fly to them and soon, they’re surrounded by excited Alicorns that really wanna get to know each of them.

Sunny starts getting overwhelmed by all of this, not being used to this much attention still and also not being in the right mindset or mood for this but before she can say or do anything, a familiar voice cuts through the crowd and gets them to back up. “Ok everyone step back! Give everyone’s favorite heroes some room to breathe around here.” The voice says and when everyone backs up, Sunny looks to see Brightburn standing there with two other alicorns. One was dark blue with a blue mane and the other was a pale yellow with a dark pink mane and a horn that constantly glowed.

“Brightburn! It’s good to see you.” Sunny days and Brightburn chuckles and walks closer to her with the other two Alicorns.

“Good to see you too. All of you. It’s been a while.” Brightburn says before getting pulled into a hug by Sunny, causing her to chuckle and hug back. She was just thankful this wasn’t one of those hugs where Sunny used more strength than necessary. She definitely didn’t want a repeat of last time when she had made Sunny so happy that the girl nearly crushed her lungs, her ribs, her spine, and nearly popped her head off with a hug and probably would’ve if she hadn’t teleported out of it. A good but painful memory if she said so herself. Once they break the hug, Brightburn backs up and takes a moment to really get a good look at everyone. There’s a few slight changes, but not many. Some she could sense, some she could see.

Afterwards, she backs up and introduces the two Alicorns she was with. “I’d like you to officially meet Solar Flare and Lunar Frost.” She says, both Alicorns nodding when their names are said. Sunny then remembers the last time she had heard those names and she perks up a bit.

“Wait, I know you two. You’re the alicorns who saved Askari when she was attacked by Magma all those years ago. Aren’t you? Then after that, you were doing quite a number on Midnight's army for a while.” Sunny asks and they both nod and bow to her, causing her to get a little nervous.

“It’s an honor to finally meet the Princess of Unity herself.” Solar Flare says and Lunar Frost agrees.

“It’s surprising that we’ve never spoken in person, but we’re flattered that you’ve heard something about us.” She says and Sunny smiles and nods, telling them to keep up the great work and they both smile, despite trying to hide their excitement, and nod. They then start helping Brightburn give them a tour through the city before they walk to the tower in the middle of the city and enter, walking into an elevator and going all the way to the top floor. The view is absolutely stunning, especially with how the sunlight reflects off the buildings, the ground, the water, everything.

“This is… unbelievable.” Sunny says, much to everyone’s agreement as Pipp snaps a few photos of the view. Brightburn chuckles, slightly shaking her head as she continues giving the tour.

“You can thank Artemis and Thunderbird for helping us set all this up. Those two have been a real help. Speaking of which, you’re probably wondering why I stopped really working with and traveling the world with them, huh?” She asks, earning a nod from Sunny. “It’s… a long story but to keep it short. I saw that this place needed a leader to hold everything together… or at least a few, just to be safe. Since I didn’t do much during the real fight against Midnight, I decided to step up and help out here.” She says and Sunny smiles and nods, understanding perfectly well.

“As long as you’re helping ponies, it doesn’t matter how you do it. Every bit helps.” Sunny says and Brightburn smiles and nods in agreement.

“Speaking of which, what’s been going on with you? I heard about Canterlogic. How are you handling it?” Brightburn asks and Sunny and the others look hesitant, causing her to frown a bit. “That bad, huh?”

“We’ve been getting… sidetracked. To say the least. We made a new friend, someone from Twilight and her friend’s past showed up and we had to save them and tell the others that she was back and on the way, we got attacked by a Pegasus and a Unicorn which caused a bridge to collapse. Then another unicorn showed up, the same one who attacked Canterlogic, along with a huge Earth Pony. And I mean huge.” Izzy says, holding up her arms and spreading them wide to emphasize her point.

“It was weird, she had a physique that could probably put even an alicorn to shame, she had enough strength to stop a punch from Sunny and enough durability to survive a… almost full strength one?” Hitch says with a confused tone to that last part. He still didn’t know much about alicorn strength or how much his friend had so his description wasn’t going to be fully accurate.

“Sunny even went totally berserk on her and she wasn’t even fazed. Oh, and she broke her shield when she was trying to protect Izzy.” Pipp says and Sunny sighs, getting nervous because of how much her friends were revealing.

“The weird part was… it was like they had some of Midnight’s magic and were utilizing it into their weapons and their abilities. And it seemed like they had been watching us for a while.” Zipp explains, and that last part makes Brightburn nervous. Twilight notices and steps forward a bit.

“Don’t worry, if they were watching us right now, they would have struck already. Everything’s going to be fine.” Twilight says and after noticing Brightburn starting to calm down she then looks between her and Sunny. “I do need to talk to you about a few things, but first, do you have any other shields Sunny can use as a substitute for her old one?” She asks and Brightburn smiles a bit and nods before leading them to the weapons testing area and Brightburn walks to some sort of small device sitting on a table and picks it up. She holds it sideways and suddenly the thing in the middle of it turns and expands, multiple plates forming together to make a shield.

“Whoa… a collapsible shield?” Sunny asks, her eyes full of excitement. Brightburn chuckles a bit and nods.

“Yep, one that can absorb kinetic energy from attacks and turn it into magic that you can send right back, all better than your old shield did. Now you don’t have to carry a shield on your back the whole time whenever you head into battle and you can have it with you at all times.” She says, giving it to Sunny and showing her how to attach it. “It’s also pretty durable so it can tank just about any powerful attack thrown at it.”

Once she steps back, Sunny gives a small flick of her arm and the shield forms, glowing a golden orange color, showing that it’s adapted to Sunny's magic now. Sunny smiles and looks amazed and suddenly a few rainbow colors shine around it at the same time as her Alicorn form comes out on accident before completely engulfing the shield and when it stops, the shield is orange and purple with a gold star in the middle of it. Everyone looks amazed at this, including Brightburn.

“Whoa…” Everyone says in unison. Brightburn and Twilight both exchange looks to each other before turning their attention back to Sunny. Sunny just now notices that she turned into an alicorn on accident and looks around, confused. Just as she’s about to question it, Twilight speaks up as if she knew what she was wondering.

“I think your alicorn form was triggered by your emotions Sunny… Is this the first time that’s happened?” Twilight asks and Sunny thinks about it before answering.

“Actually… no. This has happened a few times but this is the first time it’s happened like this. And the shield… it transformed like when the jet Artemis and Thunderbird gave us was damaged and then all of a sudden, it was repaired and it looked different. Right before it was repaired, it started glowing a bunch of different colors just like what happened now.” Sunny explains, much to Twilight and Brightburn's surprise.

“New magic…? Well… newer magic.” Brightburn says to herself before she looks at Twilight then back at Sunny. “Tell you what, go with Solar Flare and Lunar Frost and they can help you test your shield and your new magic out for a bit. Twilight and I have important matters to discuss. Sunny looks between them and hesitantly nods before going to the two aforementioned alicorns and her friends follow. Twilight's friends follow soon after when Twilight tells them to go and supervise.

“Alright, what did you need to talk to me about that the others couldn’t hear?” Twilight asks and Brightburn sighs and teleports them outside before stomping one foot as it glows green and suddenly green mist forms on the ground in front of them before a plant grows in that spot. Twilight looks shocked, amazed, and horrified as she realizes this must be Earth Pony magic. “So that’s what you meant… Magic is evolving… and I had a feeling this would happen. When Opaline placed that spell that started messing up time and space, I knew there would be consequences even after me and my friends stopped it.”

“Twilight, it’s not just that. I’ve been sensing new magic in Sunny, both light… and dark. Even worse, the dark side seems to be getting stronger the longer it goes on. I need to know, has she been having nightmares, outbursts or fits of violence? Anything at all that seems out of the ordinary for her?” Brightburn asks and Twilight sighs and hesitates before looking Brightburn straight in the eyes.

“I’ll tell you on one condition. You cannot tell any of the other alicorns anything about this. Who knows what they’ll do or how they’ll react? I can’t put Sunny through that. She’s been through enough.” Twilight says and Brightburn hesitates but then nods and gives Twilight a reassuring smile, assuring her that this will be their secret. “Ok… Thank you Brightburn. Now… here’s everything that I know so far.” Twilight says before explaining everything that she had been told. Little do either of them know, they weren’t exactly alone as Opaline was using the mirror pool to watch and listen.

“So… there’s new magic… and not just in alicorns. Earth Ponies can grow plants. Hm… and Twilight doesn’t want the other alicorns to turn on Sunny due to her dark magic.” Opaline says, smirking as an idea comes to mind. “Too bad because that’s exactly what’s going to happen.” She continues before using her alicorn empathy to communicate with her minions.

“Get ready for a special trip everyone. You’re all going to the city of alicorns to cause chaos. Stormcutter, help make Ragnar a new hand that's more powerful than his previous gauntlet. Misty, you will continue pretending to be friends with those ponies after this but make sure they don’t figure out what you’re doing.” Opaline says before she sees Sparky in the mirror pool and she sees his dragon fire change a piece of equipment into a cake. She chuckles sinisterly as another idea presents itself.

“And Nightshade… come and meet me in the training area… there’s a spell I want you to perform while everyone else distracts the rest…” She says before stopping her Alicorn empathy and speaking out loud to herself. “They have no idea what they’re in for…”

The Start of Madness and Mayhem

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As Askari exits the private jet she had borrowed from her aunt, she sighs as she takes in the sight of Maretime Bay once again… too bad she wasn’t here for sightseeing. She walks down the ramp and is about to contact her friends once again until a flash of white lightning startles her and she looks to see a dark blue Pegasus with a white mane standing there with a smirk on her face.

“Goddamnit Skylight. I swear if you’re not the death of me one day, I don’t know what will be.” Askari sighs, speaking with an annoyed tone which amuses Skylight even more.

“Awww, sorry that I scared you. I was just excited to see my favorite zebra in the world. How have you been by the way?” Skylight asks and Askari shakes her head but before she can answer, a flash of purple happens next to them and they look to see the rest of their friends: Nebula, Firestar, and Magma.

“Thank you all for coming on such short notice. As I explained, half the world is losing faith in Sunny and her friends. It’s already bad but if we don’t do something, it’ll get worse. Much worse. We need to warn them and fast.” Askari says and they all nod.

“Ah yes, another adventure where we have to have Sunny Starscout’s back even if three of us have had grudges with her in the past. So satisfying and redeeming.” Magma says with a slight amount of sarcasm while also being very serious.

“Well, I for one really wanna see Zipp again and have a rematch of our last race, so I’m down.” Skylight says and Firestar agrees.

“I’ll go too. What about you Shade?” Nebula asks, looking at Magma who sighs.

“Where you and Firestar go, I go. And I told you, Shade is my old name. Call me Magma now.” She says, not really fond of her old name anymore which causes Nebula to frown, her mouth still covered by a mask to hide the scars/burns, and nods sadly. She wasn’t sure why but after Midnight and everything that happened, her friend had… changed… become a different pony. She didn’t even like using her old name anymore and it bothered her… but maybe she’s just accepted who and what she is now. Either way, it is what it is.

“Alright. First thing we need to do is see if they’re at the Brighthouse. If they’re not, we’ll have to check if anyone's seen them recently.” Askari says and everypony nods. “Ok, first thing’s first: you all brought your armor right?” She asks and everyone nods, Magma saying she’s basically always wearing her armor, earning a facepalm from Nebula and a sigh from Firestar. Afterwards, they all head to the Brighthouse to search for the others but after they don’t find them, they go around town, asking if anyone has seen them or knows where they went. This search brings them to Pipp's Mane Salon, Mane Melody.

They walk in and look around, instantly being amazed. Pipp really went all out when setting this place up. They notice that many of the ponies and other creatures that came here for a treatment are talking to a white Pegasus with a brown mane and golden wings it seems, a green earth pony with a red mane that’s partially dyed purple, and a female white Pegasus with a brown mane that’s partially dyed purple and purple primary feathers while the rest are blue.

“Rocky, Jazz, Violet. Good to see you guys.” Skylight calls to them, getting their attention and they all look excited to see her until they notice the others and look a bit confused.

“Uhhh… hey Sky. Long time no see. Um, are you and your friends all here for a treatment or is something… wrong?” Jazz asks and Sky looks at the others, noticing either annoyed, confused, or patient looks on their faces then looks back to Jazz, Rocky, and Violet.

“If you’re asking did they kidnap me, then no. And no, we didn’t come for a treatment, even though I’m probably long overdue for one. We’re looking for Sunny and the others. Have you seen them, or do you at least know where they went?” She asks and they all look at each other then back at her.

“The other day we were on a call with Pipp. We don’t know exactly what happened after she hung up, but we know that her and the others were on their way to Canterlot. Earlier today, we saw news about one of the bridges that lead there and it’s been destroyed. One of the victims posted a video of Sunny and the others fighting some terrifying looking armored ponies.” Rocky explains before Violet steps forward.

“Then Pipp texted us and said they’re going to see the Alicorns and their new city. We still haven’t heard from them.” Violet explains and Askari and the others look worried.

“Well in case you didn’t notice, we’re kind of in a hurry here. Try calling them.” Magma says with a slightly impatient tone of voice. The three ponies in front of them give her a few looks before Violet sighs and pulls out her phone, attempting to call Pipp.

As Misty stared at her reflection in a slightly cracked mirror, she started to feel… wrong. She had already been feeling wrong with everything that’s been happening… everything she’s been doing… but this was slightly different. She’s noticing things about herself that she had never noticed before. How tired she looked, how… slightly more disheveled her mane looked… the scars she had on her toned arms and stomach… she noticed it all. Even the way her eyes had slowly started to darken the longer she was exposed to the spell.

“Look at you. A pathetic little weakling turned murderer… who’s getting ready to help kill some more ponies and cause more chaos.” She hears a voice in her head say. This wasn’t just any voice… it was the spell tormenting her using her own voice… Sometimes it used Opaline's but usually… it was her own. She shakes her head and places one hand on her forehead, hoping to somehow shake off the headache she now had.

“Please… just leave me alone…” She pleads, only for the voice to laugh with the obvious intent to do the opposite.

“Look around you. Can you really be anymore alone than you already are? Compared to everything else, I’m the only thing making you better. I’m the only guarantee that you’ll get the same pointless thing that every other pony dreams of getting at some point in life.” The spell says and Misty looks down at the thought of the one thing she had done all this for in the first place.

“A cutie mark… an opportunity to be special… to be normal.” Misty says and she can see in her reflection that the spell had made her reflection show her in her armor and mask instead of the blue hoodie that she currently had on.

“So grow up! Stop feeling remorse for those that wouldn’t feel any for you! If they knew the real reason you’re doing all this, they’d never accept you!” The voice screams, making Misty hold her head in pain as her head starts throbbing, making her dizzy. Misty pleads for it to stop but it just forces her to look at her reflection. “Look at yourself! You think anyone could accept this? Could be friends with this?! …You think Opaline could ever truly love you like her own daughter? You’re nothing but a tool to her that’s been manipulated this whole time.”

“Shut up!” Misty yells, actually starting to get angry and annoyed now. When the spell continues taunting her, she just gets angrier and angrier until the spell hits a breaking point of hers.

“Without Opaline, you’d be nothing but a forgotten filly who was killed by a bear just like her PARENTS!” The spell says, and after that, Misty screams as her horn slightly lights up and she punches the mirror, shattering it and punching a hole into the wall behind with a bit of magic. After a full minute of breathing heavily, she gains a shocked look on her face and pulls her arm out of the wall and the mirror, seeing it was only slightly scratched up due to the magic deflecting some of the glass shards that would’ve went into her arm had it not been there.

She slowly backs away from the, now destroyed, mirror and walks out of the bathroom, closing the door. “Misty.” A voice calls, startling her and causing her to whirl around to see Titania standing there. “What are you doing? We leave in three minutes, you’re supposed to be getting ready. Where’s your armor?” She asks and Misty looks a bit nervous as she tries to come up with an excuse.

“U-Ummm… I… I… So funny, I was… actually just about to go… get it.” Misty says, hesitating throughout the whole sentence and earning a raised eyebrow and crossed arms from the towering Earth Pony in front of her. “Yeah, so I’ll meet you up- I mean… meet up with you and the others in a bit, ok? I just need to get my stuff.” Misty says before hurriedly walking off to her room as Titania stares after her, confused and a bit concerned.

“She is one sweet but strange pony.” She sighs before walking to the throne room to meet up with the others. It was almost time to go and whether Misty was ready or not would be defined by how she did during this mission, so she’d better hope she does well… especially since Opaline will be watching the entire time.

“So magic really is changing? Getting stronger? That’s incredible!” Sunny yells excitedly after hearing the news from Twilight and Brightburn… but not all of it.

“Yeah… real incredible. But try to keep quiet about it, 'Kay?” Brightburn asks and Sunny looks confused but nods along with the others. Zipp wants to question why but before she can, Pipp gasps at something, drawing everyone’s attention to her and they see she’s on the phone with somepony but she looks… troubled.

“Are you serious…? Ok, thanks Vi… Yeah, I’ll ask them if it’s ok. Love you too.” She says before she hangs up. “This is bad… this is so bad.” She says while pacing and holding her head.

“Sis, what’s wrong? Talk to us.” Zipp urges her and Pipp breathes in and out before looking at Brightburn.

“I know you’re not ready to share this place with the public yet, but this is important. Can I please share my location with a few ponies that I know so they can come and explain what’s going on? I swear they won’t tell anyone about this place.” Pipp pleads and Brightburn looks very skittish until Twilight gives her a reassuring nod and she sighs and nods at Pipp, who sighs in relief before pulling out her phone and starting to share her location with whoever it was that they needed an explanation from… besides Pipp herself.

“Pipp! What is going on?!” Zipp asks, shouting as she’s more than a bit nervous now.

“I can’t explain all that well but Askari, Skylight, Magma, Nebula, and Firestar are looking for us and as far as I can tell, it’s for a bad reason! As in they have to tell us something bad!” Pipp screams and everyone looks at each other nervously and just as Pipp finishes sharing her location, they hear a bunch of commotion from outside the tower. They look down to the streets and see a bit of fire spreading. They also see a storm has rolled in… and purple lightning is striking the ground and some buildings every few seconds.

“Oh no…” Twilight says and before anyone can do anything other than that, lightning strikes right where they are from outside, causing an explosion that knocks them all away and almost completely destroys the room they were in. That triggers an alarm for the whole building and starts a fire, causing the sprinklers to start spraying water throughout the building. It doesn’t take long for Sunny and the others to wake back and check on each other. “Is everypony alright?” Twilight asks, getting responses from everypony… except Brightburn.

“Brightburn? …Brightburn?!” Sunny calls, frantically looking around for her. Everypony else starts looking too until they see she’s trapped under debris and she’s unconscious. Sunny and Twilight quickly work together to move the debris and the others pull her out when enough of it is moved. “Is she ok?” Sunny asks and once Zipp nods after checking her pulse, she sighs in relief before they all hear a voice.

“Sunny Starscout! Twilight Sparkle! We wanna thank you for leading us here, we couldn’t have done it without you! Thanks to you, this city and every alicorn in it will suffer and burn!” They hear, causing them to look down to the streets and see the same ponies they encountered on the bridge… and Ragnar. Zipp's eyes go wide as soon as she sees him and she starts seeing red almost instantly. “For your contribution, we would like you to calm down so we can thank you face to face! Oh, and be quick about it! The longer you take, the more alicorns our friend here will kill!” Stormcutter shouts before the Unicorn who attacked Canterlogic steps forward with her blades whip which was slightly glowing.

The next thing they know, she yells and swings it, sending a wave of purple and blue magical fire forward and any alicorn it hits is either badly burned, burned to death, or sliced in two. It also damages buildings, blowing up one or two. Everyone looks shocked. “That blade… has Alicorn magic in it. Opaline’s magic…” Twilight says, horrified when she sees the damage it’s doing… and this wasn’t even half of Opaline’s normal power. She could feel it. The unicorn then looks up at them as if daring them to come down.

“Damnit… Twilight, we have to go down. We can probably get them to stop.” Sunny says and Twilight hesitates before looking at everyone else, hearing another explosion, sighing then nodding.

“Alright. Sunny, your friends should get Brightburn and the kids to safety. The rest of you get anyone you can to safety and be prepared just in case they try something.” Twilight says before she and Sunny get ready to go down.

“I’m going with you.” Zipp says as she steps forward but Sunny stops her.

“Zipp, no, I know why you wanna go down but I can tell you now that it isn’t the time. You can best protect Pipp by staying with her and the others. We'll make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else.” Sunny says and Zipp is about to protest until Sunny gives her a stern look and interrupts her. “Zipp. Trust us. Trust me.” She says and Zipp wants so badly to protest but after practically growling in annoyance and anger, she reluctantly leads the others out of the room and helps get Brightburn to safety.

“Sunny! Just… be careful… both of you.” Izzy says and everyone agrees, getting nods from both Twilight and Sunny before they continue getting to safety. Sunny and Twilight nod at each other then fly down just in time to combine their magic into a huge shield that blocks the next wave of fire magic.

After they do, the unicorn stops, allowing them to drop the shield. “Took you two long enough. I was worried we’d all have to start attacking to get you to come down.” Stormcutter says, earning glares from Sunny and Twilight.

“We came down like you asked. Now what do you want?” Twilight asks with a firm tone that clearly showed she means business.

“Not much Princess. Just to exact some sweet revenge. Opaline sends her regards by the way.” Stormcutter says, earning an even worse glare from Twilight. Sunny notices but doesn’t say anything, not that it would matter much if she did. Sunny does look at the villains and step forward a bit though.

“Well tell this Opaline that if she really wants to beat us, she should stop sending her lackeys to do her dirty work and just do it herself.” Sunny says, seeming to annoy the unicorn with the bladed whip the most. “The way I see it. You have two options and one chance. You can be dumb, fight, and lose. Or you can be smart, walk away, and give up this path you’ve chosen. It won’t lead you to any good, ask anyone.” Sunny says, hoping to make them see that this path they’ve chosen is pointless and won’t help anyone, not even them. Although… she basically knew they wouldn’t listen to her… but the response was still disappointing when the Earth Pony spoke up.

“I think we’ll take our chances. Thanks, but no thanks.” She says and Sunny frowns and shakes her head in disappointment.

“So, with that out of the way, you think we distracted them long enough?” Ragnar asks, confusing Twilight and Sunny before they notice the silent unicorn disappear and realize it was an illusion. Just as they were about to demand to know where she was, they hear an explosion and turned to see that one had destroyed part of the giant tower where the others were. Sunny quickly calls Pipp to see what’s going on and as soon as she answers, the first thing she hears is complete chaos on the other side and Pipp trying to tell her something but getting cut off throughout her sentences by static.

“Sunny, can you hear me?! That…- Unicorn-! Sparky-…! We need your h-!” Pipp screams, sounding very distorted as she speaks before the connection is lost and the call ends. Sunny then glares at the other villains in front of them as her eyes slowly glow a dark shade of orange.

“What did you DO?!” Sunny yells, gaining a smirk from Ragnar and silence from all of them which angers her more. She’s about to attack until they all hear a loud roar and green fire bursts through one wall of the tower. Twilight looks between it, Sunny, and the villains then sighs and looks at Sunny.

“Sunny, they need you. You go help them, I’ll handle this.” Twilight says and Sunny is about to protest but Twilight cuts over her. “Go! I’ll be fine, I promise!” Twilight assures her even though she wasn’t so sure about that. She was powerful but most of these ponies had been Midnight's top henchman and one had been trained by Opaline herself. They all had years of training and at most, she had power and a bit of experience. Sunny looks between Twilight, the villains, and the tower which was starting to slowly collapse from the damage it was taking, then looks at Twilight one more time and shakes her head before sighing in frustration.

“We better see you after this is over.” Sunny says and Twilight gives a soft reassuring smile.

“You will. Now go Sunny…, go.” Twilight says and Sunny reluctantly runs and flys to the tower, leaving Twilight to turn towards the villains with a fierce glare. She notices that the other unicorn managed to slip away… but no matter. She warns Sunny that she might try something so her and the others would have to be prepared. “Now I’ll show you why evil never pays off.” Twilight says before Titania nods at Ragnar and he nods back before roaring and slamming his metal fist/gauntlet into the ground, causing dark magic to spread and crack the ground as it does. After a few seconds, many versions of him appear and either surround and glare at her or fly around and start attacking the city.

“Just try it now Princess! We'll show you why it DOES!” Ragnar yells before they all charge at Twilight and she takes out her weapons and charges back. One way or another, she would keep them busy while Sunny and the others dealt with their own problem. She would either win this and successfully keep them away from Sunny, her friends, and her own friends… or she would die trying.

Making the hard choices

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As soon as the power in the building went out, everyone knew they were in trouble. Now they couldn’t see Sparky or the masked unicorn. In fact, they could hardly see at all, especially due to the smoke that filled the room they were in. They felt the building shake and assumed it was because of Sparky.

“We’ve gotta find him before he brings this whole place down!” Rainbow Dash calls out and everyone agrees while trying to avoid breathing in as much smoke as possible.

“Well first we’ve gotta find a way out of this room!” Hitch responds and Fluttershy gets an idea.

“I can help with that. Just give me a second.” She says and while she’s recovering, everyone else tries keeping an eye out. Soon, a few of them start seeing things as if someone’s moving through the smoke. Then something or someone starts attacking them and retreating faster than they can react. A lot of them end up receiving burns from magic or scratches from a blade but to Zipp, they could be from… claws. She remembers when Ragnar and her were alone during the battle in Maretime Bay years ago and how she located him when he was using this same strategy. She closes her eyes and lets her hearing do the work.

Soon she starts to hear the footsteps of their attacker… then hears another set of footsteps, these ones not being as silent as the others. Once she knows for sure that these footsteps belong to a second attacker and she hears them heading in the direction of her and Pipp, she blasts behind her little sister, hitting the second attacker which turns out to be the unicorn that attacked Canterlogic.

“Gotcha!” Zipp says before she hears another set of footsteps coming towards her from behind but before she can turn around and react to it, a blast of wind knocks away her attacker and the smoke clears, practically being forced outside by Fluttershy’s amazing powers of nature. Everypony sighs in relief as they’re finally able to breathe fresh air again.

“Come on y'all! Let’s find the little guy!” Applejack yells and they all make their way out of the room, but only Zipp notices that their attackers had already left so she warns them to be careful since they don’t know what they’ll find. As they seem to be getting closer, they could hear explosions and angry growls and roars that were presumably from Sparky or… whatever that spell the unicorn put on him had turned him into. As they ran, they came across unconscious and injured Alicorns who had been victims of Sparky's newfound rage. If he was powerful enough to injure this many Alicorns and STILL be going on a rampage… they feared how powerful he would get the longer he was exposed to the spell.

They stop right in front of a massive hole where a door used to be. Past the whole was a dark room with a bunch of flickering lights and chilling sounds coming out of it. Everyone looks nervous as they slowly get closer to the room.

“Sparky buddy…? You in there…?” Hitch calls nervously as he gets the closest. They all hear a monstrous growl and instantly back up a bit, getting ready to react. “I-It’s ok buddy. We’re not here to hurt you… we just wanna help.” He says and for a bit, they don’t hear anything from the transformed baby dragon… until they hear a roar, then an explosion that causes the tower to shake violently and start collapsing. Everyone gets their balance but then Sparky charges out of the room through them and bursts through walls until he ends up outside, knocking everyone aside in the process.

The tower starts leaning towards the direction he ran in and the others start sliding the further it tilts. Sparky runs off after he lands in the city, making his way out and demolishing a few buildings as he does. Before the tower can lean way too far, everyone feels it stop, not yet realizing that Sunny had caught it using both her magic and her strength until she speaks up.

“Some of you need to go after Sparky! The rest need to help with this army of clones or help keep this tower from falling!” Sunny says and everyone nods before Izzy and Rarity jump out and make ice slides all the way to the bottom before starting to use their magic and their ice powers to help keep the tower steady. Fluttershy, Hitch, and Pinkie Pie decide to go after Sparky. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pipp, and Zipp decide to help with the invasion. Sunny takes a glance at Solaris and Sky Blazer, seeing they’re still with Brightburn. She tries deciding if she should trust Izzy and Rarity to support the tower while she helps those three or if she should stay and continue to hold it. Before she can come to a decision, she feels less of the tower’s weight leaning on her than before and looks to her right to see Solar Flare helping her.

“Go. They need you. I can hold this up until they’re done.” She says and Sunny nods before landing in the building and before she gets too far, Solar Flare speaks up once more. “Lunar Frost is helping to evacuate so tell them to keep an eye out for her.” She says, the slight amount of struggling she was experiencing while holding the tower a bit evident in her voice. Sunny nods again then goes to help them move Brightburn.

“Come on. Let’s hurry and get her out of here. I can carry her. You two start helping other Alicorns who may need it. Just be careful while you do, those two unicorns could still be around here.” Sunny warns them and they nod and split up to start helping Alicorns and encouraging them to help who they could and before long, the tower is evacuated. Ragnar sees the Alicorns being safely escorted to safety and he roars angrily and a lot of his clones start targeting them. Sunny notices and quickly gives Brightburn to Lunar Flare then defends the Alicorns and giving those who can fight the chance to start attacking the clones as she does the same.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Zipp, and Pipp were helping to deal with the army of clones but Pipp instantly noticed how with every attack, Zipp went for a killing strike and she was being so aggressive and wasn’t responding whenever she was saying something. Zipp isn’t just fighting or taking her anger out on the clones… she’s looking for the real Ragnar. The way she could tell was because whenever a clone was defeated, it would disappear in a puff of smoke. Pipp sees one of the clones about to sneak in a shot on the Alicorns and she quickly throws one of her ring blades, hitting it in the face and redirecting it's shot which causes a building to explode and smoke to start spreading. Pipp calls back her ring blades but just as she grabs them, she gets tackled by a clone.

They crash and she reacts just fast enough to use her legs to keep its jaws from crushing and devouring her. It requires a lot of her strength and she struggles to keep it up so she blasts lightning into the clone's mouth, making it recoil and start choking. She takes the chance to get up and knock it through a building with a sonic scream. Pipp then goes back to fighting and checks on Zipp every few seconds. They all hear another explosion and a scream and look just in time to see Twilight fly out of a fiery cloud of smoke and crash across rooftops before tumbling into the street. She slowly gets up and Rainbow goes to help her but then a bunch of clones tackle and pile on her.

She’s struggling to fight them off of her, the others continue fighting and trying to help until Zipp realizes that the real Ragnar is one of the ones that was just fighting Twilight. She quickly goes to help and fires a powerful blast of lightning that destroys one and bounces to another, continuing to do so until only one remains. He growls and glares at her and she lands between him and Twilight. She slowly walks closer and Titania starts running at her so she blasts her with lightning and it only manages to slow her down a bit until Applejack punches her out of nowhere then proceeds to start fighting her. Zipp doesn’t stop.

Stormcutter runs past her and towards Twilight and jumps towards her. Twilight manages to block her attack with a shield just as Rainbow Dash breaks free before proceeding to blast her and knock her away from Twilight. However, Zipp still doesn’t stop. Pipp notices all this and starts moving to go and stop her.

“Zipp, no-!” She tries to call but she gets grabbed from behind by a clone that proceeds to cover her mouth so she can’t do a sonic scream… but this is also making it impossible for her to breathe along with the arm that’s wrapped around her neck. She struggles to get free, even going as far as trying to electrocute the clone but the gauntlet it has on absorbs it and she starts panicking. Twilight notices and tries standing up and going to help, only to find out that her right wing and her left leg are injured from the battle. Her leg was injured from a particularly mean swing of Titania's hammer and her wings was hurt from Ragnar or at least one of his clones jumping her and taking a chunk out of it.

She tries blasting the clone without hurting Pipp but then another clone tackles her and it, along with another one, starts attacking her and keeping her pinned and distracted. She looks around, trying to see if anyone else could help but the only one she sees as the least distracted is Zipp.

“Damnit… Zipp Storm! Your sister! She needs help! Now!” Twilight says, actually struggling with how injured she was and how strong these clones were. She looks at Zipp again and sees that she hasn’t stopped yet and lightning is wildly radiating from her body. “Zipp! Go help your sister! Don’t sacrifice her just to get revenge!” Twilight pleads, hoping Zipp would realize that the very thing she was trying to kill Ragnar for was about to happen again and this time, there might be no fixing it.

Zipp; however, was blocking everything else out, tunnel vision keeping her focus on Ragnar. She stops when she’s at a certain distance away from him and continues to glare at him as she starts charging up a powerful blast.

“You… should’ve just stayed dead.” Zipp growls with a huge amount of venom in her voice. Ragnar smirks and chuckles as he starts preparing to fight.

“And you should get better at making sure your opponents do just that. You should also get better at being a sister.” He says and Zipp's eyes narrow and she almost attacks him right then and there until a clone tackles her and she kicks it off, blasts it into a wall and then speed kicks it through the building and just as she turns around, the unicorn that attacked Canterlogic lands behind her and kicks her into what's left of the wall.

She feels her back hit the wall and before she can recover, the unicorn pins her against it by her throat with one hand against the side of her face, causing her head to turn and that’s when she finally sees Pipp starting to go limp as one of the clones are choking her out. Her eyes widen as she realizes that’s what Ragnar was talking about. Zipp screams angrily and blasts the unicorn away from her then takes out a blade and jumps at her, bringing the blade down and managing to slash the left side of her mask, breaking it and making her tumble away before she flys to where Pipp is and knocks the clone away from her. She then flys down and catches Pipp before she hits the ground.

After landing, she checks on Pipp. “Pipp…? Pipp?! Come on sis, you’re ok. Wake up…” Zipp says, sounding scared and a little desperate but can you blame her? “Come on… this is nothing. We’ve both taken worse than that. Right? Right…? Sis…?” Zipp asks, starting to get even more scared when she realizes Pipp hasn’t opened her eyes yet. After a few more frantic attempts to wake her up, pleas for her to wake up, and a few muttered teary-eyed apologies, she notices clones coming at her from all around and her first instinct is once again to protect Pipp as she covers her body with her own, anger, grief, and sadness fueling her powers as her body starts glowing. She screams as the power comes out of her in the form of multiple lightning bolts, killing all the clones and also causing Pipp to wake up as it gets her heart going again.

Zipp notices and instantly pulls her into a tight hug, afraid to let her go again. “Z-Zipp?! Wha…?” Pipp says, confused as she hugs Zipp back as best she can. Zipp shushes her and assures her that she’s ok… even though she basically was a few seconds away from dying for real. She sits up a bit and notices that both her and Pipp are slightly glowing and her magic feels… stronger. Based on the confused look on Pipp's face that slowly morphed into a smile, she was feeling the same thing. They both suddenly use their powers to zoom around and destroy most of the clones and everyone smiles as they slowly realize that they’re starting to win and Rainbow Dash especially smiles as she realizes that they’re both moving almost if not just as fast as she is and their attacks seem much stronger.

After about 20 seconds, most of the clones are destroyed and the rest are left to Sunny, the others, and the battling Alicorns. Zipp lands on a rooftop and looks down to the battle in the streets. Twilight was back up and helping to battle the villains and Zipp notices that the unicorn with the bladed whip was hanging back a bit and half her mask was broken. Zipp could kinda see a few details about the unicorn but not many. The first thing she saw was that her fur was a light blue, she had barely visible freckles and… some of her mane peeked out from the hole in her damaged mask. Those colors… is that… it couldn’t be…

She’s broken out of her thoughts when they hear a roar and see Ragnar ram into Twilight from behind, taking her straight through a building then throwing her back through it. Twilight quickly recovers but then a purple lightning blade goes through her leg and she screams in pain, falling back down. She’s about to pull it out until she’s blasted in the side by magic. She refuses to stay down though. Titania notices and pulls a pretty sneaky trick on Applejack which results in a mean swing of her hammer badly injuring the Earth Pony's right arm and leg and trapping her under a collapsed building. She then throws the hammer at Twilight and she manages to block it but Titania quickly makes up for it with a punch that sends Twilight back.

Zipp and the others intervene and try keeping the villains away from Twilight… but no one notices the unicorn with the broken mask doing her own thing, about to pull a very risky maneuver. She rushes forward and presses a button on the handle of her blade, sending it into it's whip form and she swings it, sending a wave of magic at everyone and they all scream in pain, especially Twilight, who feels a sharp pain in her back. After a few seconds to recover, they all get up and look at her and she smirks under her mask, causing Twilight's Alicorn empathy to start going off. She reaches to the part of her back where the sharp pain was and feels something. She winces and yells as she pulls it out, revealing it to be one of the blades from the unicorn's whip… and it was glowing very brightly.

She quickly realizes why and tries throwing it but when Nightshade fires a magic blast towards it… it’s too late. It causes a massive explosion that’s a mix of both Midnight's magic and Opaline’s. The explosion damages the street, the buildings, injures the heroes and villains… and majorly injures Twilight. Sunny sees the explosion from where she is and her heart drops. “No… No!” She shouts as she flys towards it and lands, running to where here friends are and immediately checking on them.

She’s relieved to see they’re all alive… until she sees the state that Twilight’s in.

“Twi!” Rainbow Dash yells as she runs to her and Sunny does the same, not even noticing as Izzy, Rarity, Solar Flare, and Lunar Frost arrive with Solaris, Sky Blazer, and Brightburn. Twilight doesn’t open her eyes or respond when Rainbow Dash moves her. “Twilight… Twi, please! Talk to me! Say something! Anything!” Rainbow pleads desperately, starting to get flashbacks of Light Hope's death the more injuries she saw on Twilight. No. Twilight wasn’t dead, she couldn’t be. Not after everything she’s been through, every challenge she’s faced, every foe she’s conquered. Twilight couldn’t die… not like this.

They all hear laughing and look to see the villains all standing away from them with triumphant looks on their faces. “Well well well. Looks like she’s not as invincible as everyone thinks she is, huh?” Titania taunts and everyone grows angry looks on their faces and Sunny slowly stands up as the temperature starts picking up.

“It goes to show. Heroes fall, their deeds going unnoticed until it’s too late.” Stormcutter says, and with that, the ground starts shaking but they continue talking and taunting them. It’s not that they didn’t notice Sunny's reaction to their taunts, it was that they did… and they wanted to get her to her breaking point for the next part of the plan to work.

“In the end, heroics will only get you so far… until they land you right where all heroes belong,” Ragnar says, causing Sunny's breathing to pick up and her eyes to glow. When he continues, it brings so many things to the forefront of her mind. “A graveyard.” He says, and that causes Sunny to remember the first funeral that had been held for her father… then the second… and she imagines the same thing, but for Twilight… and that just sets. Her. Off.

She screams as magic and power burst from her body, causing a shockwave that knocks everyone away from her and starts literally melting the ground under her and some buildings surrounding them. Her alicorn form was out but her magic was orange with red accents and she had a fire-like aura coming off her. Her eyes were orange and red as well and they burned with a rage that rivaled even that of Midnight's. This slightly worried all the villains as she gazed at them all. As everyone else recovered, they all watched in both awe and fear at this new form of Sunny's and the power it was emitting.

Suddenly Sunny screams again as she charges forward and starts attacking the villains with everything she had. A single punch caused a shockwave that knocked them and everything or everyone behind them back. A kick would send a wave of magic at them that burned them and knocked them even further back. Basically everything she did delivered a devastating attack, both physical and magical… and her power and rage just continued to grow. She knocks Nightshade into Stormcutter which sends them both through a building. She blocks attacks from Titania and Ragnar and sends them both high up into the air before dragging them back down with her magic and slamming them hard enough to send them deep into the ground.

She senses a few things coming at her and catches them without even turning to look and sees their blades from the unicorn with the bladed whip. She growls in annoyance and crushes the blades, letting them melt afterwards. The unicorn seems to back up in fear a bit when she sees that. Sunny turns to face her, glaring at her before charging forward and the unicorn just barely manages to dodge but she ends up rolling backwards and when she stops, she sees Sunny walks towards her and she crawls backwards to try and get away. Sunny still gets closer and raises a fist, charging it with magic and getting ready to incinerate her. The unicorn raises her hand in front of herself in fear and preparation for the punch. Just as Sunny’s about to deliver it, the unicorn does something… unexpected.

“Sunny, wait! Please!” She says and Sunny freezes up. That voice… it couldn’t be.

“No way… Mist-“ Sunny tries to say but she’s cut off when the Unicorn's eyes glow again and she kicks her feet from under her then follows up by kicking Sunny as hard as she can, making her slide back. The unicorn then grabs her blade, walks back to the others and cuts open a portal, most likely back to their lair.

“Get up! Our job here is done! We'll go after the dragon later!” She says and the rest of the villains get up and start going through the portal. The unicorn gives them all one last look before walking through and it closes right as she does. Sunny gets up and sees the team that was going after Sparky coming back… but he’s not with them.

“We tried as best we could to catch him but… he’s gone.” Fluttershy explains, helping Pinkie limp her way over to the others. Hitch had a sad look on his face as he held his left arm which was bleeding a lot from a pretty deep gash he received while chasing Sparky. Halfway to the others, he fell to his knees and hung his head.

“This is all my fault… I should’ve kept a better eye on him… I’m his guardian. He’s my responsibility… now he’s all alone out there, going on a rampage…” Hitch says, his voice low and broken. Zipp frowns and lands in front of him, getting on her knees and pulling him into a hug that he gratefully returns.

“It’s ok… we’ll find him and fix this. I promise Hitch.” She says and Hitch nuzzles her and she nuzzles back. Sunny frowns as she watches them before turning to Izzy who walks up to stand next to her and grab her hand. Sunny looks around at all the destruction that she had caused in her rampage… and she feels awful. She sees all the Alicorns staring at her in fear, keeping their distance, some of them having angry looks as they’re most likely blaming her and the others for all this. She looks at Twilight and sees that she still hasn’t woken up, even as Dash continued trying to wake her…

“Pipp… call Violet back…” Sunny says as she starts walking forward. “Tell her what happened. Tell her we may need help tracking Sparky. Have your fans and hers keeping a lookout.” Sunny tells her, getting a nod from Pipp who instantly pulls out her phone and gets started. Izzy walks to Sunny and asks her the question that they were all thinking.

“What’s our next move?” She asks and Sunny doesn’t respond for a bit, but when she does, she sighs and looks at Izzy.

“We’re gonna help them clean this place up, tell everyone what happened… and find a way to end this mess… if these ponies want a fight… then that’s exactly what we’ll give them.”

One step forward, two steps back

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Sunny… was absolutely fuming. It was one thing to send one pony to attack Canterlogic while she and her friends weren’t present. It was another to send more than one to attack them on their way to Canterlot… but to send everyone to attack them, mutate and transform a baby dragon into a rampaging monster, kill a few alicorns, and nearly kill two ponies she considered friends? That was something else entirely. She looks at Twilight who was still unconscious but was now laying in a bed with two alicorns using their magic to heal her as best as they can. She frowns at the sight of her idol, mentor, and friend in such a terrible state. She couldn’t help but wonder if she could’ve done something to prevent this… it should be her in this bed, not Twilight.

She’s cut out of her thoughts when she hears her friends arguing just outside the door and she sighs, excuses herself, then steps out to find them doing exactly what she heard. She couldn’t tell what they were arguing about though as the argument was getting very heated and they were talking over each, so she decides to step in and break it up before it got too out of hand.

“Ok ok! Everypony calm down! One at a time!” Sunny shouts and they all start to stop and start explaining the topic of their conversation.

“I was just telling them what I saw after I fought the unicorn with the whip, but clearly they don’t believe me. They’re too in denial.” Zipp says, earning glares from Pipp and Izzy. Sunny has a feeling she knows what Zipp was talking about. Before she can say anything though, Izzy steps in.

“No, you’re just imagining things! It couldn’t have been her! She’s our friend!” Izzy says and Sunny now knows for sure what- or who- this was about.

“I don’t think so… I think that was Misty back there… when she spoke, two things gave it away… her voice… and the way she said my name. She said it like she knew me. As soon as I heard it, I froze up… I was just so in shock. I couldn’t believe that it was her right there but… when she spoke again… she didn’t even sound like herself.” Sunny says and Zipp gives Izzy and Pipp a look before sighing and looking at Sunny.

“Believe me, I wish I hadn’t been right.” She says but Sunny just frowns and looks down.

“Hm… she was acting strange when we first met. One moment she was so nice and she complimented Sparky, and the next she went silent, gave a cold dead stare and started slowly walking toward us, almost like she was in some sort of trance. When I called her name, she snapped out of it though.” Hitch said and this intrigues and confuses the others until Pipp speaks up.

“And when she got a headache, she started looking a little pale.” Pipp says and Izzy agrees. Sunny then remembers two little details she could make out about the unicorn in question.

“And when I saw her eyes… not only did she look tired and have bags under them… they looked… darker than they did the last time we saw her. And I didn’t tell you guys this but… at the Brighthouse, the whole time she was with us, my alicorn empathy was being… really strange. Like it was sensing something dangerous but didn’t know what. Or like it was sensing danger but not immediate danger.” Sunny explains and everyone thinks about it except Zipp, who doubted that anyone else was to blame for Misty's actions except Misty herself.

“Guys! No matter how you look at it, Misty committed all those horrible crimes. No one forced her to. She doesn’t care about us or anyone else.” Zipp says, but Pipp disagrees.

“I don’t think so Zipp. When one of those clones was strangling me, I saw how she turned your head to see it happening and believe it or not, it looked intentional. She looked towards me and saw it happening then decided to attack you and turn your head just enough to see it.” Pipp says and Zipp shudders at the memory of that and gives her sister an angry glare.

“For all you know, she just wanted me to watch you die! Stop trying to make bad actions seem good! As far as I’m concerned, Misty's just as bad as the rest of them and if I see her again, I’m putting her in a cell which is less than she deserves.” Zipp says and Izzy grows an angry look as her eyes glow white and she starts walking towards Zipp but Sunny gets in between them and gently holds her back.

“Izzy, calm down. It’s ok, Zipp's just angry. We’re all on edge after last night. But don’t worry. We'll find out the truth and if Misty needs help out of whatever situation she’s in, we’ll help her. Right Zipp?” Sunny asks with a firm tone, giving Zipp a look who rolls her eyes and nods. That’s good enough for Sunny. Sunny looks to see Izzy breathe in and out as her eyes stop glowing and she can tell that’s good enough for her too.

“Thanks Sunny…” Izzy says and Sunny smiles and nods before they all hear footsteps heading their way and they look to see Twilight's friends, along with Brightburn, Solar Flare and Lunar Frost, leading the multitude of creatures they expected to see. Askari, Skylight, Nebula, Firestar, and Magma were finally here.

“You all made it.” Sunny says and they all stop right in front of them, but based on the looks on their faces, they were not coming with the best of news. “Oh no… what’s happening now?” Sunny asks and they all look away, seeming reluctant to tell her.

“We have some bad news…” Skylight says as she finally looks towards the others. “And I mean… very bad.” She continues and Sunny braces herself for what’s coming.

“Half the world… or at least half of its leaders are… losing faith in you and your friends. They’re stuck between a decision of whether to keep allowing you and the alicorns to be your own ponies and continue defending Equestria… or outlaw you and ban you from interfering in their business.” Askari says and out of all the things that they expected her to say… none of that… was even on the list. Sunny slowly looks down and starts backing up, barely processing what she had just been told.

“No… no… why? After everything we’ve done for them… they’re just going to give up on us? Just because of a few incidents that were out of our control?” Sunny growls lowly, the temperature around her starting to rise dramatically. “We fought for them, gave them hope, made compromises, sacrifices… I literally died for them, twice! I lost my dad a second time for them! And for what?!” Sunny shouts, causing the temperature to pick up even more as she feels her Alicorn form about to come out but… something feels off about it this time… it feels even more out of control than it did last night when she went ballistic on the villains. This was due to the fact that she could hear someone… laughing… talking… in her head… and not just anyone… Midnight.

Normally, she wouldn’t have been surprised or shocked by this since she heard her voice every now and again but this time was different… because when she looked at everyone else… she saw Midnight standing right there behind them, clear as day while they were all giving her concerned looks. Sunny's breathing starts becoming very elevated and that caused Midnight to smirk, her power starting to flicker between red and purple.

“You’re almost ready. See you soon… Sunny.” Midnight says before Sunny is suddenly snapped out of it as Midnight disappears and she can finally hear her friends again. She sees Izzy standing right next to her with a hand on her shoulder and a worried look on her face.

“W-Wha… Izzy?” She asks and Izzy suddenly hugs her as tight as she can.

“Oh thank hoofness Sunny, I didn’t know what was going on with you! You had us all worried for a second!” Izzy explains with a shaky, teary voice. Sunny slowly returns the hug and feels her heartbeat slowing down as they helped calm each other down.

“I’m ok now… don’t worry.” Sunny assures her but the others don’t seem convinced.

“Are you sure Sunny? We were calling your name and asking you if you were ok and what we should do, but you didn’t respond. You started panicking and you looked like… like you’d seen a ghost… or something worse.” Hitch pushes the subject, more than a little worried for his friend's mental and physical wellbeing.

“I said I’m fine, ok? Don’t start turning on me just because I slipped into a small panic attack.” Sunny says with an annoyed tone as she stands up and gives them all a stern look. Before they can call her out on her behavior or tell her that they weren’t turning on her, she continues speaking. “Right now, we need to figure out what we’re gonna do about all of this before something else bad happens-“ Sunny says but before she can fully close out her sentence, she sees Brightburn, Solar Flare and Lunar Frost walking towards them and they don’t look happy. “Great…” Sunny mutters to herself, annoyed. When they stop in front of them, Brightburn has to stop Solar Flare from walking forward and saying something to them that she’d regret.

“Guys… I’m sorry, but you have to leave.” Brightburn sighs, the frustration and sadness evident in her voice. They all look confused until she continues. “We had most of the alicorns in the city come together for a meeting and it reached a boiling point and came to a vote on whether to ask you for help… or kick you out of the city… and a majority voted against you. I vouched for you all, I really did but… I have to keep my city's best interests first.” She explains and they all give her understanding looks… except Sunny.

“This is unbelievable… if it weren’t for us, this city wouldn’t even still be standing right now, and if it weren’t for us, Midnight would’ve killed you all years ago!” Sunny shouts, getting the attention of nearby alicorns who all get ready in case something happens. Sunny notices this and it just aggravates her even more. “Without us, you won’t stand a chance against them if they come back.” Sunny says and Brightburn thinks about it but sighs and shakes her head.

“Sunny, please don’t make this harder than it already is. Look, if it were up to me, I’d allow you to stay… but… how do you expect the other alicorns to work with you after what they saw you do last night? After that, plus the darkness and hatred that we all sense in you, excuse us if we’re a little skeptical.” Brightburn says and Sunny looks down and frowns, causing her to sigh again and walk to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “If there was any other way to get everyone to calm down, I would… but we can’t risk it.” She says and Sunny continues looking down until she looks at her and slowly nods, reluctantly agreeing to what they’re asking of her and her friends.

“Well… can we at least stay a while longer and check on Twilight?” Pinkie Pie asks and Brightburn nods, causing the original Mane 6 to sigh in relief before they all look at the others.

“Don’t worry. If something changes, we’ll be the first to let you know.” Rainbow Dash says and they all nod before being led out by alicorns. Rainbow Dash looks at the rest of her friends and sighs. “So… what do we do while Twilight's… recovering?” She asks, her voice slightly breaking when she mentions Twilight and her current predicament.

“Well… the least we can do is let everyone else know what happened. With Twilight like this, we’re going to need all the help we can get.” Rarity says and they all agree.

“Leave that to me. As soon as we got started rebuilding, I contacted Discord and told him to let everyone know.” Fluttershy says and everyone smiles at their friend’s genius. Hopefully Discord could pass the message along in time, because with everything happening now… time was surely of the essence.

“It’s always fun exploring with you three. I’m glad I was able to help you all find a home again.” Sunset says as she stares up at the three massive sirens in front of her who she had become very close with, especially the leader and the oldest of them, Adagio Dazzle.

“Yes, well… you know what they say. Home is where the heart is or something like that… and you, Sunset Shimmer, have earned a very special place in mine.” Adagio Dazzle says, smirking at the now flustered pony before she hears her youngest sister, Sonata Dusk, laughing at her. She also sees her middle sister, Aria Blaze, smirking at her and rolling her eyes. Adagio immediately realizes why and starts to blush visibly through her scales. “I-I mean ours! As in our home!” She quickly tries to play it off but she can tell none of them really buy it. Sunset giggles as she watches the interaction between the three sisters but before she can respond, a letter appears in front of her out of thin air with a flash and drops to the ground. She looks confused but picks it up and opens it, immediately starting to read what it said to herself… but frowning the more she read.

The Dazzlings stop bickering and notice the change in their pony friend's behavior almost immediately. Adagio lowers her face down to Sunset's level to try and see what could have caused it. “Sunset? What is it? What’s wrong?” She asks and for a bit, Sunset doesn’t answer as she’s still reading… but when she’s done, she looks into Adagio's eyes with a distraught look in her own.

“There’s a new threat to Equestria now… last night, it struck and… and Twilight got hurt pretty badly. She’s alive, but it’s not looking too good.” Sunset says, still frowning until she feels Adagio's huge, scaly head nuzzle against her and she leans her own head against it while petting her on the cheek. “Come on. I’m pretty sure everyone else is gonna learn about this sooner or later and we’re gonna need a plan.” Sunset says and Adagio nods and gives a playful sigh as she lowers her body to allow Sunset to get on her back.

“Joining forces with the very ponies and other creatures we used to be against to save Equestria from another world-ending threat.” Adagio says as Sunset gets on. Aria smirks and cuts in after Sunset's secure.

“Well, we are overdue for some excitement. Very very overdue. And I’ve been waiting to hit something.” She says, causing Sonata to give her a pouty look.

“You just hit me a few days ago, then there’s that giant squid you hit yesterday. But yeah, anyway, we’re with you Sunset.” Sonata says, causing Sunset to smile, especially as the other two sirens agree.

“Thanks… Let’s get going.” Sunset says before the Dazzlings instantly take off towards where they just knew everyone would be going once they found out about the current situation with Twilight and the new threat… Canterlot.

Ponyville, School of Friendship

Starlight couldn’t believe what she just read. There was another Alicorn that wants to take over or destroy the world and Twilight was hurt? How much worse could things get? When would it finally end? She snaps out of it when she feels someone nuzzle her and looks to see it’s Trixie, giving her a reassuring smile which causes her to smile back.

“Hey, don’t worry. Twilight's strong. She’ll pull through and so will we. We always do, right?” Trixie asks and Starlight sighs and nods.

“Eventually. Ya know, after a long while of traumatizing experiences and grueling battles.” Starlight says jokingly, causing Trixie to laugh. “Tell Sunburst that something’s come up and we’ll be gone for a while so he's in charge while we’re gone.” She says, earning a nod from Trixie, who walks out to tell the aforementioned pony what’s going on. Meanwhile, Starlight looks back at the letter, tightening her grip on it.

“Hang in there Twilight… We’ll finish what you started… I promise.”

Canterlot

This was not good… not at all. She had hoped that these kinds of days, the ones filled with such a huge amount of danger, would never come again after Midnight was defeated… but that was just wishful thinking. Still… Celestia knew better than to give up all hope. She would stay strong just as everyone else has done… just as Twilight and Sunny have done. She breathes in and out, walking into her and Luna's former throne room, finding her sister, Princess Cadence, Flurry Heart, and Discord already waiting for her.

“I’m assuming that you were the one who sent the messages Discord.” She says, earning a nod from the Lord of Chaos. “Hm. Well then I suggest that we start preparing for another war.”

“Seems like it’s every other year where there’s a war or a potential one in the making. I’m sure everyone else will be disappointed… especially since it’s gotten so bad already.” Luna says with a frown, causing Celestia to do the same.

“Well… I think they can deal with it. Luna, you will find the Hippogriffs and the Griffons and see if they will help. Cadence, you’re going to the dragon lands. Flurry Heart, get the former legion of doom, Luster Dawn, and Twilight’s old students. When you’re done, see if you can get the Wonderbolts to prepare. Discord, you can rally with the Kirins and the changelings. I will talk to the Yaks and the Alicorns.” Celestia says and they all nod and walk out, departing to the locations of their quarries.

“No matter what you do, no matter what you throw at us… we will not let you or any other creature of evil prevail… Opaline.” Celestia says with a determined look on her face but little did she know, Opaline was watching the whole time. The fallen alicorn grows a slightly angry look on her face that slowly morphs into an evil smirk.

“Game on.” She says, giving a simple sign that she accepts the challenge from the so-called heroes. She would get her magic back one way or another, and in the end… they would see which one was stronger and which one prevailed… Harmony… or Chaos.

“Ugh! It isn’t fair! After everything we did for them, they turn on us just like that?!” Sunny shouts as she paces back and forth in front of her friends, obviously anything but happy at the moment. They were just glad she wasn’t destroying anything in the Brighthouse. “Now we’ve got no allies, no Marestream, no Sparky, and no answers!!!” She continues before sitting down, holding her head. She was so stressed out, she was surprised her entire mane hasn’t turned grey.

“And not only that, but one of our so-called “friends” could be a homicidal terrorist.” Zipp says, warning glare from Izzy and Pipp. “What?! I told you what I saw and Sunny told you what she heard! How is that not enough evidence for you?!” Zipp asks and Pipp is about to answer until Izzy walks up to Zipp with an angry look on her face.

“Because it just isn’t! If Misty was someone that dangerous, she would’ve attacked me the first day we met!” Izzy shouts and Hitch starts thinking about it.

“She also could’ve attacked me and Sparky then but at the same time… probably not since all of you were nearby. Plus, that silent unicorn targeted Sparky before attacking any of us. Almost like she knew he was special, but why would that be?” He asks and Zipp takes the chance to answer.

“We did tell Misty that Sparky's Dragon fire was special. In doing so, we basically just revealed that he has magic. So I don’t think it was a coincidence, obviously.” Zipp says and Izzy growls and is about to either hit Zipp or start yelling at her until Sunny speaks up.

“Enough! Look! We'll find out if Misty is with Opaline or not for sure, but not right now! …We’ve got enough to deal with.” Sunny says before standing up and starting to walk up the stairs to the shared room that she, Izzy, Zipp, and Pipp had. All her friends exchange worried looks between each other when she’s gone.

“Are things always going to be like this with you guys?” Nebula asks, reminding everyone of her and Firestar's presence. That also reminds them that Askari, Skylight, and Magma are outside, the aforementioned two fixing the Marestream while Magma kept Solaris and Sky Blazer occupied.

“Let’s… hope not. I’m gonna talk to her. Something’s wrong with her and I don’t think it’s just stress.” Izzy says, gaining concerned looks from everyone before they all reluctantly agree.

“Just tread carefully Iz. Sunny isn’t herself right now, so who knows what she’ll do.” Zipp says and as much as Izzy wants to ignore her for how she’s talking about Misty… she does take her advice about this. She nods and walks up the stairs, leaving everyone else to sort everything out and finding Sunny sitting on her bed… looking at a picture of her father. Sunny doesn’t notice until she’s standing right next to her. However, instead of jumping or even looking at her, Sunny sighs, puts the picture down and lowers her head, putting it in her hands.

“I’m sorry Izzy…” Sunny says and Izzy frowns, sitting down next to her upset marefriend and putting her arms around her, pulling her into a hug. “I’m so so sorry… for everything.” She continues and Izzy just continues to hold her.

“It’s ok Sunny… you’re dealing with a lot right now. It’s ok to be stressed out, we all are.” Izzy says, rubbing comforting circles on Sunny’s back. This sort of helps to calm Sunny down, but she could tell Sunny easy still upset and frustrated.

“I don’t think it’s just stress anymore Izzy… my nightmares… the things I see in them… I’m even starting to see them when I’m awake… and it’s scaring me because of what it could lead to.” Sunny explains, moving closer to Izzy's side, very much in need of comfort and reassurance. “I don’t know what to do… about this… about these new enemies… about Misty… about Twilight. It’s all just… too much.” She continues, leaving out quite a bit but telling Izzy more than enough, at least for the time being.

“Well… that’s because you’re already trying too hard to focus on everything at one time. Just focus on one thing and take care of the rest after you’ve dealt with what you choose to deal with first. Then do the same thing until you’re done. You’re strong Sunny and you’ve been through so much but… you’re just one pony. You don’t have to bear the weight of the world on your shoulders all the time… me and all our friends are here for you… so let us carry that weight with you.” Izzy says, causing Sunny to look up at her and smile.

“I’ll try… thanks Izzy… I can’t say this enough but I love you… so SO much.” Sunny says, causing Izzy to smile and blush before nuzzling Sunny, giving her a kiss afterwards which she returns.

“I love you too and no matter what, I’ll always be here for you. We all will… and I’m hoping we can still be there for Misty if she needs it.” Izzy says and Sunny silently agrees before she gets an idea. The Manesquerade Ball was happening in a few days for hearts and hooves day. They could invite Misty and test her innocence there… but for the plan to take full effect, they needed Sparky before then.

“Don’t worry Izzy… we’ll find out soon enough.” Sunny says, more determined to find Sparky and fix everything. “No matter what happens next, we’ll keep going. We’ll keep moving forward… together.” Sunny says, meaning every word of what she says. Things may get worse before they get better, but as long as she has her friends by her side, she just knows that in the end… everything is gonna be ok.

Dragon Hunting and Love's Burning Pt. 1

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It had taken two days, but they’ve finally heard news about Sparky. They were all incredibly anxious as they were heading to his location, especially Hitch… because his location was currently Grandma Figgy's house. The Marestream goes below the clouds when they’re approaching her house, but when they see a massive hole in the roof, Zipp quickly lands it and everyone runs out, heading towards the house. Hitch is the first one at the door and he kicks it down, looking around frantically.

“Grandma?! Where are you?! Where’s-?” Hitch asks frantically, cutting off when he sees Sparky and Figgy but… Sparky isn’t attacking her. She seems a bit frightened but unharmed and he just seems… confused… but calm. “Sparky…?” Hitch finishes by accident, drawing both their attention to him.

“Oh Hitchie! You’re here!” Figgy says, sounding relieved until Sparky growls at the sudden new presences in the house and the loudness of Figgy's voice.

“F-Figgy, we’re happy to see you too but try to stay calm and stay still. We don’t wanna accidentally set Sparky off.” Zipp says, gaining a shocked and confused look from Figgy as she slowly looks at Sparky.

“This… This is…” She tries to say until Sparky growls even louder and they all could swear his eyes flashed purple for a second. He slowly stands up and they see that he looks… bigger than he did back at the city of Alicorns. Way bigger.

“Whoa. Hey hey hey, easy buddy… we’re trying to help you. Everything's gonna be ok.” Hitch says, holding his hands out in a calming manner as he slowly starts to walk towards Sparky. Sparky growls and slightly bends his knees as if he’s ready to pounce at the first sign of trouble. Sunny and the others stand ready just in case anything happens. “We’re your friends bud. Remember? It’s me. Hitch. Your pony-dragon dad. You’re Sparky. My little buddy.” Hitch tries to remind Sparky of who he is and who they all are.

Sparky looks like he’s starting to calm down for a second… until his eyes flash purple again and he roars, charging forward and knocking everyone aside as he makes another hole in the house, running outside and jumping far far away, using his newfound dragon strength. Everyone groans in pain before getting up and Hitch rushes to Figgy to make sure she’s ok. “Grandma! Are you ok?!” He asks, looking her over for injuries.

“I’m fine. But you don’t have time to worry about me. Get out there and find your son.” She says and Hitch hesitates before giving her a hug, which she returns, and nodding.

“Alright. You’re right Grandma. We'll get him back.” He says before standing up and helping her up. She smiles and puts a hand on his cheek, nodding as well.

“I know you will… now go. He needs you.” She says, and that was more than enough motivation for Hitch as he smiles and runs out with the others. Sunny activates her magic and flys after him with Zipp and Pipp close behind. Meanwhile, Hitch and Izzy get the Marestream up and running and Hitch flys it after them.

“Hang on Sparky. We’re coming.”

Opaline smirks as she watches Sunny and her friends chase after the mutated baby dragon, enjoying the fact that the spell she had prepared was working really well and he was getting stronger and more powerful the longer he was exposed to it. This would be perfect for testing her theory.

“Misty, get ready. You and the others are being sent on another mission.” She says, smirking until she realizes that Misty hasn’t responded. She looks towards where the young Unicorn is standing in the room and sees Misty staring blankly at the ground. “Misty!” She calls out, her loud tone pulling Misty out of whatever trance she was in as she looks around frantically, confused.

“Huh?! What?! O-Oh… sorry Opaline. I wasn’t trying to ignore you, I just… I’m just…” Misty tries to explain, especially as Opaline flys over to her and lands right in front of her. Misty immediately backs up in fear and looks away… but Opaline had already seen it, although just barely.

“Misty. Let me see your eyes.” Opaline says and Misty tries to find an excuse as to why she couldn’t or shouldn’t do that but Opaline wasn’t having it. “Let. Me. See. Your. Eyes.” Opaline says forcefully, causing Misty to sigh and look at her, allowing her to see them. Opaline is a bit concerned when she sees an uncommon amount of bags under Misty's eyes and a lot of puffiness around them. She’s even more concerned when she sees how dark they’ve gotten and she immediately realizes that that spell was having more of an effect on her than she thought. “Misty, I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to be truthful with me. Alright?” She asks and Misty looks confused but nods.

“Did I make a mistake putting that spell on you?” She asks, and Misty looks ready to answer… until she pauses and has to think about it.

“I… I honestly don’t know Opaline. I wanna say no, but… I don’t feel like it works how you wanted or expected it to.” Misty says and Opaline frowns and sighs. She didn’t want anything bad to happen to Misty, but she knew that there was a very big possibility of that happening… and they’ve come too far to stop now. She would ask Misty to elaborate on what she meant later and once they were done, they’d figure out a way to help her… probably.

“Well… we will figure everything out. But right now, I need you with me Misty. We’re so close now. Soon we will both have what we want and this will all be over. You will have your cutie mark and take your place by my side and I will be the most powerful being in Equestria.” Opaline says as she walks closer to Misty and puts a hand on her cheek, almost smiling as Misty nuzzles into it like she used to do as a filly. “That is still what you want… isn’t it?” Opaline asks and Misty sighs and nods up at her, causing her to smile just a bit. “Good. You’ve done good and made it this far. Don’t start letting me down now.” She says, noticing Misty’s eyes flash purple for a second before she starts looking a bit less tired.

“Yes, Opaline.”

As Sunny gets flung through Maretime Bay for the third time, she can’t help but wonder if there was an easier way to do this without destroying the town or hurting Sparky. She finally stops when she crashes into the theater and she can tell that even if they succeeded, a few buildings were definitely going to be demolished before that happened. She groans in annoyance and pain before getting up and rushing outside to find her friends doing their best to keep Sparky in one spot, giving chase after him whenever he ran. He roars angrily and starts running on all fours towards Canterlogic, which was scheduled for demolition and already had cranes and construction tools and vehicles outside it. Sunny uses a scanning spell and sees the crew is inside.

“Oh crap crap crap crap CRAP! We need to stop him!” Sunny shouts before she makes a magical tendril that wraps around Sparky and she lands, trying to use her Alicorn strength to stop him or at least slow him down. He doesn’t like this however, so he jumps, taking her with him, and uses the tendril to pull her to him and slam her into the side of a building. He lands and continues running towards Canterlogic. Izzy uses her ice powers to skate after him and makes an ice path ahead of him and a few ice walls to try and trip him up, which works for a bit until he stops, roars angrily and breathes fire at the ground in a circle around himself. The flames engulf him and when they disappear, he’s gone.

Everyone’s about to question where he went until a huge green flame appears in the sky, next to one of the cranes. Sparky comes out of it and slams into the side of it, making it tilt a bit. He latches on to it and starts climbing to the top.

“Since when could he teleport?!” Pipp asks and everyone shares her shock and confusion. Zipp and Pipp fly towards him but he swings his tail towards them and Zipp is able to dodge. Pipp, however, isn’t so lucky. She gets knocked down into Maretime Bay, crashing through the Main Street and Zipp growls after seeing this. She almost starts blasting Sparky with lightning but… she has to remember that he’s still a baby dragon in there.

“Goddamnit. How do we stop him without hurting him?! Any ideas?!” Zipp asks, dodging a blast of fire from Sparky. He roars then looks confused when his hands start freezing to the crane. He easily breaks them free and continues climbing and one big jump lands him on top of Canterlogic with a powerful slam that cracks almost every window in the building. He roars angrily as his body glows a bit and he grows at least three sizes bigger. “You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Zipp says when she sees this. They were already having trouble with him when he was smaller, now he was three sizes bigger. This was not going to be easy at all if he continued growing. She’s about to try and do something until Sunny tackles him into the roof, making both of them slide across it before she kicks him away, almost sending him off it.

“Whoa! Easy Sunny!” Zipp yells, surprised with how rough her friend was being with him. Sunny uses her magic to hold him down then gives Zipp the steeliest glare she can muster.

“He’s a dragon, so he can handle it! His scales will protect him!” She shouts, sounding very frustrated and with everything that’s been going on, who could blame here.

“Even still, we don’t wanna hurt him! That’s still Sparky in there!” Zipp says, landing by Sunny.

“Do you think he knows that?! Or that he cares about hurting us or anypony else?!” Sunny shouts, her eyes glowing and Zipp is about to shout back until Sparky roars and blasts fire from his mouth but instead of going straight into the sky, it spreads in a big explosion, knocking both Zipp and Sunny off the roof and knocking Sunny into the crane, making it tilt even more and start to fall towards the street below and all the ponies in it. She quickly recovers and gets back on the roof before using her magic to hold the crane up. She looks behind her and sees Sparky slowly walking towards her through fire and she can’t lie, he looks like he got bigger… and spikier, which makes him look very intimidating right about now. “Oh come on…” She says, already struggling to keep up with everything going on.

She senses the damage that his most recent attack has caused to the building and knows that the roof is getting close to collapsing on the rest of the building and the crew inside. She growls in annoyance and starts dragging the crane back to stand it up but Sparky roars and runs towards her so she makes a shield to protect herself. He runs into it then punches it, then claws it, then breathes fire on it, giving it everything he’s got and she can feel it starting to weaken. She needs to fix the crane quickly then deal with him. But the crew…

“Zipp, Pipp! I need you two to get in there and-“ She tries to say through the comms but she’s cut off when she senses something and just barely dodges when a familiar big hammer smashes through her shield, going past her and slamming into Sparky right in his chest, knocking him to the other side of the roof and knocking the air out of him. She looks at where it came from and sees Titania standing on one of the rooftops below before she jumps all the way onto the roof of Canterlogic and grabs her hammer.

“Nice to see you again Princess. I’ve been waiting for our rematch.” She says as she points her hammer at Sunny as a gesture for a challenge. If Sunny wasn’t trying to keep a 700,000 pound crane from falling onto Maretime Bay, she probably would’ve accepted it… but duty calls.

“Well you’ll have to wait a little longer. We have a job to do.” Stormcutter says as she and Nightshade appear on either side of Sparky, who was struggling to get back up and breathe. “Damn. You really did a number on him.” She says, causing Titania to shrug and smirk under the mask covering her mouth.

“Opaline said to bring him back alive. She didn’t say unharmed.” She says as she rests the hammer on her shoulder in a relaxed stance. She then walks towards Sparky and kicks him back onto his back when she notices him sitting up. She then uses her foot to keep him there. “Time to sleep little one.” She says before raising her hammer and preparing to slam it onto his head and knock him out. Before she can, they all get knocked away by lightning and a sonic scream.

“Stay away from him!” Zipp shouts as she and Pipp land by him and get ready to defend him. Before the villains can get up, they’re frozen in place by Izzy.

“Too bad your other unicorn friend didn’t show up. I’ll bet that fire sword of hers could’ve helped you guys a lot.” Izzy says as she glares down at them but still has a triumphant smirk on her face. They hear Stormcutter chuckling and instantly know that’s not a good sign.

“Who says she didn’t?” She asks before fully laying her head down as the other two do the same. This confuses the group of friends until Izzy, Zipp, and Pipp are all knocked off the roof by flame magic and then held up by dark magic with a painful squeeze on all of them. They all grown in pain as the magic brings them all face to face with Ragnar, who’s also holding Sparky. They all try using their powers to escape, only to find that they can’t. Sunny tries using her powers to free them but she’s sent flying into the crane by flame magic from Misty's whip sword. She groans in pain and looks at the spots the flames hit and sees burns in those areas, not just on her armor and the suit underneath, but also her fur and skin.

“That’s not good…” She says, suddenly remembering that the magic in that blade was the type of magic that could kill her… alicorn magic. She just barely dodges another wave of magic, allowing it to hit the crane instead which causes a small explosion and also starts melting what’s left of it in the area it hit. Sunny then sends a wave of her own magic towards the villains, knocking them back quite a bit before Ragnar launches Izzy, Zipp, and Pipp at her and she catches them all. Before she can turn back to him though, she feels another wave of flame magic hit her in the back this time, making her yell in pain and go tumbling forward.

“Sunny!” Izzy yells in concern as Sunny tumbles to the edge of the roof, being forced to keep her grip as her magic fades back into her body for a second.

“Oh come on! You’re an Alicorn! You should be better than this.” Titania says, her disappointment clear. Sunny just glares at her but she seems unbothered by it. “And with that… I think you all have lives to save.” She says before her hammer glows brightly and she throws it at the crane as hard as she can, knocking it forward and making it fall way faster towards Maretime Bay.

And if they think that’s bad, it’s about to get way worse. Stormcutter flys up as high as she can as lightning starts radiating off her body wildly. Before anyone can stop her, she flys down as fast as she can, slamming down through the roof and every floor after before flying out of the building and sliding into Main Street. Sunny starts panicking before she uses her magic to grab onto the crane and try to pull it back… but she senses that the crew is still in the building and half of them are injured, but all of them are alive… for now. Now she’s stuck with either saving Maretime Bay or at least the ponies still in Main Street… or saving the crew.

“No… I… I can do both!” She grunts, ignoring the pain from her wounds and pulling the crane even closer, trying to fully call out her alicorn magic. She sees the villains starting to escape with Sparky and she suddenly latches on to him with magic, trying to pull him back. “I won’t… let you… take him!” She yells, fighting against the magical pull but also using it to help keep the crane from falling onto Maretime Bay.

Meanwhile, Hitch, who was helping to get ponies off of Main Street, sees this going on and sees Sparky being pulled back in forth between Sunny and the villains. He has hope that his friend can get him back… until Stormcutter cuts off the magic that Sunny was using to hold up the crane… and so many ponies were still on Main Street… and Sparky was being taken, yet he couldn’t defend him OR the residents of Maretime Bay…? No! He would protect them! All of them! He rushes forward before he can even register his next thoughts. It was as if his body was moving on its own now.

His feet suddenly start glowing green and so do a few vines that appear on the ground underneath him. He suddenly slides forward to where he sees the crane about to land and he’s suddenly launched into the air as his whole body glows green. The battle between the villains, Sunny, and the others stops when they see a huge blinding green light flash from in the town, followed by a loud, ferocious roar. They all turn to see a giant green Ursa Major catch the crane and slowly put it down. They all look amazed and when it looks at them then growls at the villains, they realize where it came from.

“Hitch?!” They all ask, even more surprised when the giant Ursa nods at them. Hitch suddenly swings at the villains and knocks them all away from Sparky, allowing Sunny to pull him towards them.

“Got him! Hitch, take him. Zipp, Pipp, Izzy, distract the villains. I’ll get the crew.” Sunny says before she starts walking towards the edge of the building and puts Sparky in Hitch’s new giant Ursa Paw.

“Sunny, it’s too dangerous! Let Zipp and Pipp save the crew, they’re way faster.” Izzy says, giving Sunny a worried look. Sunny gives her a reassuring look.

“Izzy, don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’ll be in and out before the building collapses.” Sunny says before she runs and jumps off the building as her wings and horn form once again, allowing her to dive down and fly through the window where the closest members of the crew were. Meanwhile, everyone else splits up to do their part. Izzy, Zipp, and Pipp go to distract the recovering villains and Hitch gets everyone away from Canterlogic while taking an unconscious Sparky to safety. Mid-fight, Izzy and Zipp notice that someone’s missing and they see that it’s Misty, still not knowing for sure that it’s her under the mask.

“That little-!” Zipp tries to say, only to be cut off when they hear a roar from Hitch, then from Sparky. Before they can check it out though, Ragnar knocks Zipp into a lightning blast from Stormcutter, blasts Pipp into Izzy, then forms a ball of fire and throws it at Canterlogic, causing an explosion and setting half of the building on fire instantly. A huge wave of flame magic sets the other half on fire before Misty uses her whip sword to swing to the rest of the villains and make a wall of flame between them and the others.

“Plan A's a no-go. Time for plan B. We’ll be back for them later.” She says and the others reluctantly agree even though they could beat them right here and now… but their backup was on the way and they didn’t want the struggle right now. They didn’t know what plan B was, but they assumed they would find out soon enough. Misty quickly cuts open a portal and they all go through and it closes right as the wall of flame disappears.

Izzy, Zipp, and Pipp all get up, frustrated but also concerned. They notice Sunny hasn’t come out of the building and grow even more concerned. Izzy is about to try using her magic to put out the fire until Sunny bursts out of the building with the entire crew and lands on Main Street with them. She tumbles forward but keeps them shielded until she stops. She takes a moment to recover then looks at the building then at the crew.

“Is everyone alright? Was that everyone?” She asks and when they nod, she sighs in relief and slowly stands up straight with a little help from them. She smiles until the building finally collapses and she shields them with her magic from any debris or dust. Once it’s over, she drops the shield and after they thank her, she sends them on their way. As soon as she turns around, Izzy tackles her in a hug, knocking her over.

“Oh thank hoofness! I thought I lost you Sunny… again!” Izzy says tearfully, causing Sunny to hug her back and try to comfort her and calm her down.

“Shhh it’s ok… I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.” She says while rubbing comforting circles on Izzy’s back. Izzy soon calms down and helps her up. They see everypony coming back, some clapping and cheering for them for saving them and the crew and some distraught and upset about the destruction and damage caused by the chase and the fight. They see a familiar, well-known yellow pony with a pink mane that holds a lot of influence in Maretime Bay. After seeing the glare on her face before she walks away, they could tell that she was just gonna make things way worse for them…

“Great… last thing we needed was to be on Posey's bad side.” Zipp says as she and Pipp land by Sunny and Izzy.

“You mean even MORE on her bad side… but right now, we should check on Hitch and Sparky then… help clean up some of this mess.” Sunny says and they all agree before going in the direction Hitch went with Sparky. Hopefully by the time they got there, he would be small and calm again, but who knows. It didn’t matter anyway, because Plan B… was going to prove more than enough for the villains.

“So you’re telling me… that you came back empty handed… when you could’ve grabbed the dragon?!” Opaline shouts, stomping hard enough to make the entire castle shake. She was definitely not taking the news well… but luckily, Misty’s plan was about to save their hides.

“Not exactly. It may not be a dragon… but,” Misty starts before taking out a container, similar to the one containing Midnight's magic but smaller. Opaline notices that it has something green inside which could only be one thing. “It is dragon fire.” Misty continues as she holds it towards Opaline, giving it to her. Opaline nearly smiles, but first… it’s time to truly test her theory. She opens the container and the fire slowly creeps out before flowing into her body and she closes her eyes as it starts to take the effect that she had been hoping for.

She opens her eyes and there’s literal fire behind them. Opaline crushes the container and slowly melts it before she slowly floats into the air, chuckling. The others back up in fear, but Misty stands her ground, smiling up at her mother figure and Queen, glad to see her happy.

“My my my, Misty. You have truly outdone yourself this time… but we’re not done yet. This isn’t nearly as strong as I need to be. That… is why I need that dragon. His fire is special and possibly the only type of dragon fire that can restore my power. So next time I give you all the task of grabbing him… don’t come back without him. Do I make myself clear?” Opaline demands, glaring at them all as fire starts coming off her wings and the temperature in the room raises drastically. They all nod and she lowers herself as the fire stops. “Good. But for now, I would like to speak with Misty. Alone.” She says and the others step out while Misty stands in front of Opaline nervously.

“You have done incredibly well Misty. Now, I just need you to keep it up. We’re so close. Soon there will be no more unity or equality. Only ponies with power and ponies without it.” Opaline says as she starts circling Misty, making her feel even more nervous. “But for that, I’m going to need you to get back out there and see what you can learn from those ponies. I know what happened in the city of Alicorns, and I know they suspect you. So gain their trust while also gaining information. At least for one day, then report back to me. Can you do that?” She asks and Misty nods, making her smile.

“Good. But for now, get some rest. With the spell fading and giving you back control, you look awful.” Opaline says and Misty frowns a bit and nods again before walking out of the throne room, leaving Opaline to enjoy feeling a mere fraction of her power returned to her again.

“And so it begins. My upbringing… and their downfall.”

Dragon Hunting and Love's Burning Pt. 2

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It had been a while since Sparky turned back into his normal self and the villains hadn’t really attacked again, which was good… but it was unsettling to everyone. It helped that Askari and the others had come back to Maretime Bay to help keep watch and prepare for whatever the villains would do next, but this was an enemy that they didn’t know quite enough about, which was frustrating to say the least. They could handle it though… probably. Which brought up another issue.

Over the last few days, they had been talking to Misty and she had not given any indications to whether she was innocent or not. That frustrated everyone, especially Zipp, which had ultimately led to more altercations between her and Izzy and eventually Sunny… again. All the negativity had started to get so intense that Sunny had felt the same sensation she felt all those years ago when magic had started to glitch and everyone noticed, so they had agreed to stick to the plan of using the Manesquerade Ball to find out if she was on their side without any complaints… but if it went wrong then not only would they owe Misty a huge apology, something else could happen that would put everyone even more on Posey and half the world's bad side than they already were.

A little over half now due to Posey's recent news interview which allowed her to voice her displeasure with all the action and drama that took place the day they found Sparky.

That had caused quite a big crowd in Maretime Bay to start turning against Sunny and if they didn’t figure something out soon… they just needed to figure it out. They asked Haven ahead of time and she was fine with their plan, but only as long as it didn’t turn into a brawl when they did find out and if it did, they had to take it outside so no one would get hurt. They could do that. Speaking of which, they were all currently getting ready to go to the Manesquerade Ball. They were putting on their outfits that they wore for the party in Askari's hometown, if only just a bit updated to fit the occasion.

Izzy had made masks for each of them and one for Misty. They were beautiful and so were the outfits. When Solaris and Sky Blazer asked to go, Izzy made masks and outfits for them as well. Solaris had a purple and gold dress with silver accessories and white star markings in some places and Sky Blazer had a blue, pink, and black dress with a few multicolored flames on the hem of her dress and multicolored lightning on the dark blue arm tights she wore. Both their manes were tied into ponytails with a bit of glitter thrown in them, compliments of Izzy Moonbow.

Everyone was amazed at their new looks. “O. M. G. You two look totes AMAZING!” Pipp squeals when she sees the two and they both smile sheepishly, not yet used to the new styles that Izzy provided them with.

“Thank you…” They both mumble before they all hear the doorbell ringing and they all get ready, knowing who it was since they had invited her a while ago.

“Everyone ready?” Sunny asks and after everyone nods, she walks to the door and opens it, seeing Misty nervously smiling on the other side. She does her best to smile back, despite her suspicions. “Hey Misty. Glad you could make it.” Sunny says as she steps aside, allowing Misty to walk into the Brighthouse.

“Well… I didn’t wanna be rude and decline an invitation. Besides, I’ve been told that I need to get out more. Y'know… expand my social skills, meet new ponies and other creatures, make friends, that sort of stuff.” Misty says as she looks at everyone, amazed by their outfits. “Oh wow. You all look awesome. Makes me feel… a bit underdressed.” Misty says as she gestures to her own outfit which consisted of jeans, a purple shirt, a light blue hoodie, and blue and black shoes with green highlights.

“Well… just in case you didn’t have anything pretty to wear to the ball, Izzy and I made you a dress and a mask.” Pipp said, earning a really frantic nod from Izzy. Before Misty can protest, they drag her upstairs and when they come back down, Misty now has a blue and purple dress with black and purple arm tights. They all notice that the torso part resembled what they assumed to be butterfly wings but they had a beautiful pattern that also consisted of light blue, dark blue, and purple. “See? It suits you.” Pipp says and Misty looks at herself before looking at the pegasus.

“How’d you know I liked butterflies?” Misty asks and Pipp shrugs, giving her a sweet smile.

“You just seem like the type. There’s something about you that just screams “I’m a butterfly lover.” So… that kinda inspired us to make this for you.” Pipp says and Misty smiles back before she realizes she’s staring too long and she looks away, blushing.

“U-Ummm thanks Pipp. I… You really know how to read ponies, huh?” Misty asks and Pipp smirks and gives a confident flick of her hair.

“It’s one of my many talents.” Pipp says before winking at Misty and Misty blushes more before shaking her head and chuckling nervously. “Anyway, come on. We’re gonna be late for the ball.” Pipp says and they all regroup with the others who all love and compliment Misty’s new dress, even Zipp who has to admit that Izzy and her sister really outdid themselves. When they leave and get in the Marestream, Izzy gives Misty her mask which was also butterfly themed. Misty smiles at it before putting it away as the Marestream takes off to Zephyr Heights.

Meanwhile, Zipp takes the chance to search Misty for anything she hasn’t noticed about the unicorn yet. She didn’t look as tired as she did last time, she could see… a few faint scars on her arms and a on her back, peaking just a bit from underneath her dress, she could see just how toned Misty's muscles were, which raised a few questions, and she could see… bruises on Misty's knuckles. What did Misty do to get scars and bruises? And how could a pony with a personality like that… be as muscular or almost as muscular as a pony with a personality like her own.

Maybe Zipp is reading too much into it, maybe she’s not. Regardless, something isn’t right. “So… Misty… If you don’t mind me asking, how did you get those scars? Or those bruises?” Zipp asks and she ignores the looks she gets from Izzy, Pipp, and Sunny as she notices Misty tenses up and start to shy away from her. Usually Zipp would feel like she crossed a line and apologize, but this could be a dangerous criminal capable of killing alicorns, which happened to include one of her friends. How could she refuse? Besides, it got her an answer.

“When I was little, both my parents were killed in front of me… by a bear. I would’ve been next until somepony came and saved me… but not before the bear got a few good swings in…” Misty says, feeling her eyes start to burn as a few tears start to form in them. “It-uhhh… it inspired me to get better… so that wouldn’t ever happen again. So I started exercising, training myself to be way stronger than I was back then. And with everything that’s happened over the years with you guys and Midnight and now all this… I wanted to push myself. Which sometimes included… punching stuff until my knuckles bled. Which they hardly do anymore.” Misty says, gaining shocked and sorrowful looks from everyone.

“Oh my god, that sounds awful… I’m so sorry Misty. No one should have to witness something like that… but we all know what it’s like.” Sunny says and everyone looks down and frowns as they agree. Misty smiles a bit as for the first time in forever… she truly feels like she’s not alone… like she’s around real family…. Ponies that really love and care about her. Sure, Opaline had saved her and taken care of her… but when she changed, she treated her differently. Like she was more of a tool than a pony… and after Opaline got some of her power back… it just increased. Every day that Misty and the others went without bringing her Sparky just served to increase Opaline’s rage and want for power.

But these ponies… they actually treated her like one of them, like she belonged… which just made knowing that they would all most likely suffer terrible fates after all this… just hurt that much more. For a moment, Misty is tempted to tell them the truth about everything… but before she can, they all see Zipp look ahead in her seat and turn off the autopilot before grabbing the controls again.

“Hold on to your flanks everypony.” She says as she makes the Marestream accelerate even faster until they breach the clouds and see Zephyr Heights for the first time in a while. Misty pretends to be amazed since she’s already been there once when she and Titania… well… you know. “We’re here.” Zipp continues before going to the landing pad at the end of the pathway leading up to the castle. Everyone puts on their masks and Misty does the same… both physically and mentally… preparing for what’s to come.

Minutes later, Castle Throne Room

So far, everything was going well. The party was going good, ponies and other creatures were socializing, Sparky was being kept under watch at all times and so was Misty. Surprisingly but unsurprisingly, she hadn’t made one move towards Sparky. If anything, it send as though she might be afraid of him. Maybe she heard about his rampage in Maretime Bay and other places? Maybe she was afraid of him going out of control again and actually witnessing it? Or maybe… it was just an act to make them drop their guard so she could steal him for Opaline. These were Zipp's thoughts and feelings and she had a nagging feeling that she was going to be right about the last one.

She had watched Misty closely, especially when she was around Pipp or anyone who had Sparky. She noticed that Misty's eyes would linger a bit on Sparky then focus their gaze somewhere else. When Izzy had brought him close though, Misty shied away from him a bit, keeping her distance… but he wasn’t growling at her like Hitch said he had done the first time they saw Misty… which was strange. She also noticed that Misty mainly kept to herself unless she was with her or one of the others. Seems Misty doesn’t like crowds. Hm… guess that’s one thing they have in common.

She sees Pipp walk up to her and sees them talking about something and it looks like Pipp is pleading for Misty to try dancing. Just as she’s about to walk over, she hears a familiar voice, one that she had hoped to avoid getting called by for the rest of the day.

“Zephyrina? There you are!” She hears her mother say, cringing at the volume and preparing herself before she turns around, coming face to face with her mother and… Alphabittle? What was he doing here… and why were their arms locked?

“Hey mom…” Zipp says in a monotone voice, tossing Pipp and Misty one last glance before walking forward. She had to end this conversation quick then get back to keeping an eye on the possible traitor in the room.

Meanwhile, Pipp was trying to wrap her head around the fact that Misty had never learned how to sing or dance. Not once in her life. It was… sad to hear… then again, with Misty's past, she isn’t that surprised.

“Well then… I’ll teach you. Come on!” Pipp urges as she drags Misty to the dance floor, despite her protests. Once they get to the center, they stop and Pipp turns to face Misty, telling her the basics before releasing her hand and starting to move to the rhythm of the music. Misty looks confused and very nervous but tries to mimic Pipp’s movements… looking ridiculous and almost tripping over herself while doing so. Pipp laughs and moves a bit closer to Misty with a smile on her face, looking her straight in the eyes. “Maybe you’ll do better with a partner.” Pipp says before grabbing both her hands and starting to move again.

Misty blushes but tries her best to sync up with Pipp, it takes a bit but eventually they sync up, matching each other's movements. Pipp chuckles, causing Misty to smile as she realizes she’s actually doing pretty well.

“Look at you! You learn pretty fast.” Pipp says and Misty blushes more and starts stuttering as she tries to thank her for the compliment until they bump into somebody and Pipp instantly turns to apologize. “Oh my gosh! We’re so sorry about that! We weren’t paying attention, and… Vi?” Pipp asks, recognizing her marefriend who also turns and recognizes her.

“Pipp? What are you doing here? And who is she?” Vi asks, pointing at Misty who shrinks back a bit and silently gulps nervously.

“Wait wait, I can explain. Misty is a new friend of mine and the others and we got an invite from my mom. She told us it was ok for us to bring one other pony and Misty has never been to an event like this so… we just wanted to show her how much fun stuff like this is.” Pipp explains frantically as Violet crosses her arms, her gaze switching between her and Misty.

“Ok, but why are you dancing with her? And why didn’t you tell me about her?” Violet asks, feeling a little bit jealous and just a little threatened by Misty.

“I-I'm sorry Vi. I just never found the time to tell you, and I was teaching her how to dance, she never learned how to dance or sing so… I wanted to help her.” Pipp asks, more than a bit nervous because of the look Vi was giving her. She knew that look even though she rarely saw it… Violet was angry and irritated. “Vi please… I’m telling the truth. Misty's just a friend. That’s it.”

“Uh-huh… sure.” She says before looking at Misty and walking forward a bit. Misty takes one step back, just in case. “Since Pipp probably hasn’t told you about me, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Violet Sparkles, but all my friends call me Vi or Sparks.” Vi says, directing a look at Pipp while emphasizing that one word, dropping a subtle hint/threat to what would probably happen after the ball, causing Pipp to frown and look down in shame. She holds her hand out for Misty to shake and Misty hesitantly does so.

“Uhhh… nice to meet you. I’m Misty.” She says, earning a raised eyebrow from Vi, which confuses her until she realizes… Vi is waiting on a last name. “Oh, umm Misty Brightdawn.” Misty says and Vi nods before letting go of her hand but before she walks off, Misty feels the need to try and fix things. “Listen, I’m really sorry about this. Pipp really was just trying to help me learn how to have fun. And as a matter of fact… she did talk about you. Quite a bit actually.” Misty says, causing Vi to look shocked. Even though that was kind of a lie, she did know some important stuff about how Pipp feels about Vi. Now she just had to keep it up.

“She did?” Vi asks, earning a nod from Misty.

“Yeah. She mentioned how beautiful you were, how you make her feel, how your voice could always bring her joy and peace when she was down… how she wanted to spend the rest of her life with you.” Misty says and with every word, Vi looks more and more regretful as she looks at Pipp and back at her. “So you don’t have to worry about me or be threatened by me. She’d never do that and I could never replace you, nor would I. As far as I see it… Pipp's lucky to have you.” Misty says and Vi puts her hand over her mouth as tears start falling down her cheeks and she looks down before looking at Pipp.

“I’m… I’m so sorry Pipp. I’m so sorry I doubted you. I just… I… lately I’ve felt like I haven’t been doing enough, so when I saw you with her, I just… my insecurities… my doubts… they won for a minute.” Vi explains and Pipp starts crying as well before she hugs her and rubs soothing, comforting circles into her back.

“Come on now Vi… you’re more than enough. You do everything you can and that. Is more. Than enough. Ok? Don’t ever forget that… sometimes I worry about the same thing but you always reassure me. Now it’s my turn… I’m always here for you, ok? I love you.” Pipp says and Vi hugs her back, nuzzling her cheek against hers lovingly.

“I love you too… and I always will.” Vi says tearfully and Misty sadly smiles at the scene, starting to tear up herself. She slowly backs away to give the two some space, happy for them… until she feels like she’s being watched and she looks around… but sees no one watching her.

“Misty.” She hears Opaline's voice in her head, making her jump and look around before she starts to try and act casual. “I’ve sent Nightshade to your location since you are clearly having… issues… with your mission. I’ll guide you to where you need to meet her. Come up with a plan fast… or I will. Oh, and Misty? I’m just warning you now. My plan will involve a lot of blood being spilt until the dragon is retrieved. So… do try to hurry. The clock is ticking. And if you fail me or if I have to come up with the plan myself… some of that blood might end up belonging… to YOU.” Opaline says with a subtle hint of venom in her voice throughout the sentence. Misty feels a chill go down her spine as she knows that whenever Opaline says in that tone of voice that she’ll do something… she means it.

She subtly nods and walks off, following the directions that she’s given through Opaline's Alicorn empathy. Once she gets to the bathroom, she can feel that Opaline has stopped watching her… for now… so she lets out a heavy sigh until she hears laughing in her head and looks at the mirror as she recognizes the cold sound of the voice in her head that sounds almost exactly like her own.

“Pathetic. Weak. Soft. When are you gonna get it? These aren’t your friends! You don’t have any, and you don’t need any! The only thing holding you back is you and your pity for these disgusting little nobodies!” The voice says and Misty finds herself getting frustrated and angry real quick.

“Shut up…” Misty says through gritted teeth as she slams her hands on the sink, clinching them onto it.

“Awww, did I hurt the widdle baby’s feewings? Try growing a backbone and doing something about it! Make your choice already! You can let me take over and finally be strong… or you can continue to be a weak, whiny little bitch who will keep crying over her lack of a cutie mark forever.” The voice says venomously as Misty's eyes flash purple in her reflection and it’s at that point where she’s had enough.

“I said SHUT UP!!!” Misty screams before she suddenly turns towards the wall next to the mirror and delivers her hardest punch, majorly cracking the wall and badly damaging it. Misty just stays in that position, breathing heavily until she realizes what she just did and quickly looks around to make sure no one heard her. She sighs in relief until she hears a sound, causing her to jump and look up as Nightshade starts to come out of the vent in the ceiling. She drops out of it and lands in a crouched position before slowly looking at Misty and standing up straight.

“Oh… uhhh… h-hey Nightshade. Um… h-how much did you hear?” Misty asks, knowing damn well she got caught… but she can’t help but sigh when Nightshade uses sign language to tell her answer.

“Enough.” Nightshade signs and Misty sighs and holds her head, pacing back and forth. “It’s that spell Opaline put on you, isn’t it? You can’t let it get to you, we have a job to do and we can’t afford to slip now because of something so trivial as this. Stop letting your weakness get the better of you. You are stronger than you know. Opaline raised you and trained you since you were a foal right?” Nightshade asks and Misty frowns and nods. “Then start acting like it.” Nightshade signs aggressively and Misty nods and sighs as she can feel Opaline watching again.

“Ok, you’re right. I need to start acting like I actually want my cutie mark… wait… acting. That’s it! Do you know any shapeshift or illusion spells?” Misty asks and Nightshade nods, causing her to smirk. “Well you can use one to turn into me and crash the party, asking for Sparky. Just don’t… don’t kill anyone… not unless you need to.” Misty says hesitantly. She didn’t want anyone else to die, but she knows that it’s better this way than Opaline's plan. “This way my cover won’t get blown and we get Sparky and Opaline can get her power back and hopefully no one has to die.” Misty says and Nightshade thinks about it then signs to Misty.

“Don’t get your hopes up. But for your sake, I hope you’re right.” She says before starting to walk back under the vent. She takes a second before looking at Misty and gesturing to the wall she punched then signing. “Your swing is getting better. Good strength and power.” She says, causing Misty to look down and chuckle, looking at the wall then at her with a thankful smile.

“Thanks.” She says, still having the smile on her face. Nightshade nods then starts signing again.

“Maybe the spell is the motivation you need to be at your best… use the anger it gives you to your advantage… and you’ll come out on top.” Nightshade signs and Misty nods before Nightshade jumps back into the vent, closing it behind her. Misty sighs then looks down, shaking her head.

“I’ll try.” She says before composing herself and exiting the bathroom.

“Hey.” Zipp says from beside her, causing her to jump and look at the princess beside her, who has her arms crossed while glaring at her. “Who were you talking to?” Zipp asks, moving to open the bathroom door but Misty moves in front of her, blocking her off from going inside.

“Myself! Nopony else! I… I…” Misty frantically tries to lie before sighing and pretending to be sad. “I had a small panic attack… after I met your sister’s girlfriend. I needed some time to myself. That and I don’t really like crowds… I just… I… I don’t fit in anywhere and what happened back there just proved that.” Misty says, gesturing back towards the throne room while slumping her shoulders and slowly forcing tears to well up in her eyes. Zipp notices this and gets confused.

“Whoa whoa whoa. Back up, what happened? You said you met Vi, but it doesn’t sound like that was a good thing.” Zipp asks and Misty explains what happened, letting the tears fall which causes Zipp to actually feel… sorry for her. “Oh… I see. Well at least you fixed things in the end. That's what matters most. You were there for my sister when she needed it most… you really do care… and… I should’ve realized that sooner. I’m sorry Misty.” Zipp says as she starts to wipe her tears away, feeling extra guilty as she does.

“All this time… I thought you were one of the villains without even really getting to know you. Then you told us about your past and now this… this proves that I was wrong to judge you. I guess that… after I saw Rag… that monster almost kill my little sister… I was determined to keep her safe at all costs… and I thought that meant keeping her safe- keeping everyone safe… from YOU… Part of me knew I could be wrong… but the rest of me was still so blinded by my hatred of him that the thought of you being just like him and toying with us… scared me. I judged you so unfairly… and I’m so sorry for that Misty… I’m so… so sorry.” Zipp rambles, sounding on the verge of crying herself. Without thinking, Misty pulls her into a hug, one which she quickly returns.

“It’s… It’s ok Zipp.” Misty says, now sad but also very nervous because of how close Zipp was to discovering the truth. “You were just protecting your family and your friends… something I wish I could’ve done. So trust me when I say… I understand.” Misty says before pulling back and holding Zipp's hands, smiling at her, causing her to nod back and slightly smile. “Friends?” Misty offers and Zipp chuckles and slowly nods.

“Friends.” She says and Misty smiles more before they both start laughing a bit, happy for the understanding. They suddenly hear frantic footsteps heading their way and look to see Pipp heading towards them. “Sis? What’s-?” Zipp starts to ask before Pipp stops in front of her, grabs her by her arms and starts aggressively shaking her back and forth with a surprising amount of strength.

“You have got to come quick! You will never believe who’s here! Come on, hurry! Both of you!” Pipp says before flying back towards the throne room before either of them can stop her. They look at each other before rushing after the pegasus, both anxious to see who could’ve showed up to get such a reaction from Pipp… but Misty has a feeling that she knows exactly who…

And she has a feeling that things were about to get very dark soon… and she would have to make a very… very hard choice.

To be continued…

Dragon Hunting and Love's Burning Pt. 3

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When they finally got back to the dance floor, they weren’t prepared for what they saw, not even Misty. Ponies were gathered around a group of ponies that Misty didn’t recognize, but based on the gasp that came out of Zipp’s mouth, she’d say that she did. She sees Sunny and Hitch excited as well and wonders why. She taps on Zipp’s arm, getting the Pegasus’ attention,

“Sorry, but I’m confused. Who are those ponies?” She asks and Zipp looks shocked then seems to think about something before deciding to explain.

“Sorry, I keep forgetting that you didn’t grow up the same way as us. But the group of Pegasi is my all-time favorite band: Electric Blue. The Pegasus that's colored like a ruby is Ruby Jubilee, Pipp's favorite singer. The three female Earth Ponies are Sunny and Hitch's favorite singer group: The Dreamlands. But I had no idea mom invited them too! Oh my god, I almost wanna walk right up to her and thank her. Almost.” Zipp says humorously as she nudges Misty, causing both of them to laugh before joining their friends just in time for Queen Haven to introduce the special guests. Each one earns applause and gives their own special greeting.

“We wanna thank you all for coming and we'd like to thank Queen Haven for presenting us and honoring us with this glorious opportunity.” Ruby Jubilee says, causing all the other singers to agree and everyone to applaud Queen Haven, who nods her head in acknowledgement with a smile on her face.

“We also want to give our thanks to Sunny Starscout and her friends for looking out for Equestria all these years.” Minty, the lead singer of the Dreamlands says, causing the crowd's attention to suddenly be on Sunny and the others. For a second, they all get nervous, thinking that they think the worst of them now… but then almost everyone claps and they sigh in relief.

“We know things haven’t been easy for you these past couple of days, but that’s ok. We know you’ll pull through.” Snuzzle, the second singer for the Dreamlands, says before the last singer, Blue Belle, speaks up.

“You always do, and this will be no different.” She says and everyone agrees, bringing smiles to the Mane 5's faces.

“Thank you so much everyone… We promise that we’ll do our best to defend Equestria from whatever threats dare to get in its way.” Sunny says, putting one hand over her heart to emphasize her promise. “Hoof to Heart.” She says and all her friends do the same thing.

“Hoof to heart!” They all say and everyone claps in response. Haven and Alphabittle smile at this before Haven walks forward and spreads her wings while addressing the crowd.

“And with that, let the festivities begin!” She says before Jazz and Rocky, who Vi had brought with her, change up the music to something that all the singers requested… and it was one of Pipp and Violet's most popular songs. Once it starts playing, all the singers add their own lyrics to it as everyone dances. The Mane 5 all start dancing along with Solaris and Sky Blazer. Misty smiles and decides to sit out since she doesn’t have a partner this time. For a second, it just seems… so easy for her to forget what she’s supposed to be doing… to forget all the violence and bloodshed that’s transpired and is going to transpire… but she doesn’t allow herself that for too long.

She sighs and checks to see if anyone's watching her then pulls out her alicorn mirror and when she opens it, she immediately sees Opaline on the other side. She frowns and gives the others one more look then looks back at the irritated looking alicorn.

“Tell Nightshade that I’m ready to begin the plan.” She requests and Opaline nods before Misty closes the mirror and just waits. She soon sees Nightshade through the skylight, looking down at her. Misty gives her a nod, causing her to nod in return before jumping up and delivering a powerful blast downwards, causing the skylight to explode, the shockwave making all the windows shatter. Nightshade drops in, disguised as Misty in her armor and mask and almost immediately, guards are attacking her but she’s too fast and skilled for them, injuring all of them and taking one hostage and using Misty's blade to bind them.

She looks at Misty and her horn glows, causing Misty’s throat to do the same before her own throat does it too and so do her eyes. This confuses Misty… until she hears Nightshade speak using Misty’s voice or at least how it sounds when she’s wearing her mask while under the influence of the spell.

“I doubt I have to explain why I’m here.” She says and Misty is shocked and amazed. Nightshade can’t just copy appearances, she can also copy voices? That’s amazing… or at least it would be if Nightshade wasn’t using it for bad.

“Let me guess. You want Sparky? Not happening.” Sunny says, glaring at her… meanwhile her Alicorn empathy was trying to tell her something, but she didn’t know what.

“No? That’s fine, I’ll just shred this guard to pieces and broil him alive while I do!” She shouts as the blades on the whip start to glow and she looks like she’s about to pull it and literally chop up the guard while cooking him alive. She gives Misty a glare as a subtle signal to hurry up and do something so she can avoid killing someone, for Misty's sake.

“Wait wait wait!” Misty shouts, drawing the attention of everyone in the room to her. “Hitch, give Sparky to me…” She says and Hitch hesitates and Zipp is about to protest and question what she’s doing until she speaks up. “Please… trust me.” Misty pleads and Hitch looks between her and Sparky before slowly giving him to her. She gently takes him and he looks confused as she slowly walks into the middle of the room with him. “You want him?” She asks, getting a nod from Nightshade.

“You’ve gotta catch me first!” She says before bolting straight for the doors, causing Nightshade to try and blast her but Izzy freezes her hand then jumps towards her and kicks her back, making her let go of the whip. Pipp and Zipp quickly untie the guard but just as they do, Nightshade uses magic to pull the whip to her then turn it into its blade form and block an ice blast from Izzy.

“You’re not getting Misty or Sparky!” Izzy shouts angrily, her eyes glowing a bright blueish-white. The others notice that she now has a glowing blue snowflake marking on her shoulder, another on her head where her horn was, and one more on her chest, right where her heart is. They look amazed, as they’ve never seen this happen to her before. Nightshade eventually maneuvers around the blast before they can box her in and sends a wave of fire towards them all, putting the crowd in danger in the process.

Luckily, Sunny makes a shield and blocks it off from everyone and everything, but that gives Nightshade an opening to swing the blade around herself, making a wall of flame that blocks her from anyone’s view. Sunny growls in anger and jumps through the shield, lunging through the flames and slamming her fist down hard, only to hit the ground instead of her since… she’s gone. Damnit… well, at least she didn’t really hurt anyone… too badly. And at least the shockwave from her punch extinguished the flames.

“Is everyone ok?” Sunny asks as she drops the shield, earning nods from everyone. “Good… wait, Misty!” Sunny shouts as she realizes that Misty was all alone… and she had Sparky! They had to find her fast! They all run out after swift apologies to Queen Haven and everyone else and they begin the search for Misty… they just hoped this pony wouldn’t hurt her too much and that she could keep her distracted and hang on to Sparky until they got there.

“Please be ok… both of you.” Sunny says as she continues running and looking around for them with the others. “We’re coming…”

Misty continues running as far as she can from the party which leads her outside the castle and down into the rest of Zephyr Heights. She takes a moment to rest against a building but as soon as she does, she hears something and looks down an alleyway to see glowing purple eyes staring back. Nightshade slowly walks out of the alleyway and signs to Misty that they bought it.

“Ok, good. Now I’m gonna give you Sparky, but before I do, there’s something you need to do first.” Misty says and when Nightshade tilts her head in confusion, she sighs before looking her dead in the eyes. “You have to make it look like you were forced to take him from me… which means you have to hurt me… badly.” Misty says and Nightshade seems hesitant but also impressed that Misty was committed enough to the mission to willingly get beaten, possibly within an inch of her life.

“How badly?” Nightshade asks and Misty thinks about it before looking down at Sparky, who didn’t seem aggressive or angry, just confused and scared. She then looks at the castle then looks at Nightshade.

“Badly enough to make it believable that I tried to defend him… and you almost killed me because of it. Meaning cuts, burns, bruises, maybe one stab wound.” Misty says hesitantly, looking down at her blade in Nightshade's hands, causing her to look down at it too then back at her. “Don’t worry, I can take it.” She says and Nightshade just stands there for a bit before stabbing Misty in the shoulder with the blade, making her scream in pain. Nightshade then yanks it out and punches her in the face, knocking her down to her own right side.

Misty drops Sparky in the process and Nightshade uses magic to make sure he stays there until she’s done. She then proceeds to beat Misty senseless, not liking any part of it, but knowing it’s what has to be done. Meanwhile, Sparky was actually trying to break out to help Misty. He didn’t know this was a trick and how could he? He was a baby dragon… but seeing someone that his pony friends also see as a friend get hurt by a bully like this armored unicorn… made him mad. He starts glowing green and growing in size but Nightshade sees this before she can deliver another blow to a half-conscious Misty.

She silently sighs in annoyance before using her magic to modify the barrier trapping Sparky, and before long… he starts falling asleep due to the sleeping spell she added. She keeps it up until he’s unconscious then turns her attention back to Misty. Misty slightly sits up and looks at herself then up at Nightshade.

“Good… but still not enough.” Misty says and Nightshade goes wide-eyed and starts signing frantically.

“Are you serious?! Anymore and I could kill you!” She says but Misty just gives her a small smile.

“I’m stronger than you know…” She says, quoting what Nightshade had told her in the bathroom at the castle, causing her to go even more wide-eyed… before slowly nodding and signing once again.

“Yes… indeed you are.” She says before taking the blade back out and calling on the flame magic within it. “I’m sorry for this Misty. I underestimated you. And I think Opaline has too.” She signs and Misty chuckles a bit.

“It’s ok… and feel free to tell Opaline that.” She says before they both hear someone calling out for Misty and recognize it to be Pipp. They must be close. “Oh no… whatever you’re gonna do, do it fast.” Misty urges and Nightshade frowns a bit, seeing Pipp notice them and start flying down as fast as she can. She charges the blade with more magic and gets ready to unleash it.

Pipp tries to hurry, but halfway there, she starts feeling dizzy and out of breath… and she can feel her heart beating very fast. She holds her chest as it starts to become painful. She looks ahead and sees the blade being swung between Nightshade and Misty, unleashing a wave of magic that causes an explosion.

“Misty!!!” Pipp screams before landing and falling over, coughing a bit and trying to catch her breath. What’s wrong with her…? Because of whatever this was, she wasn’t fast enough to save Misty… She looks to where they were and sees that Nightshade is gone… along with Sparky. She frowns and looks down, starting to hate herself and whatever the hell was doing this to her. The sad part is… this isn’t the first time it’s happened… ever since Zipp zapped her back to life, she hasn’t been as physically active and agile as she used to be. Her stamina wasn’t the same and whenever she started to push herself, she could feel her heartbeat speeding up drastically… almost to the point where she thinks it’ll explode.

She was also more sloppy in combat now. Her movements and footwork were off, her hits didn’t pack as much power, her aim was a bit off, and her weapons felt a bit heavier to her now, making it difficult for her to stay perfect or quickly recover when fighting. She punches the ground, letting out a sad scream… until she hears something and looks towards where the sound came from, seeing a trembling lump on the ground. She goes wide-eyed when she realizes… it’s Misty.

“Misty!” She shouts as she crawls forward and grabs onto the limp body of the mare, gently and slowly laying her down on her lap. Misty has a lot of pretty bad injuries… but she’s alive. “J-Just stay with me Misty. Help will be here soon.” Pipp says and just as she says that, Zipp lands right by her out of nowhere and crouches down next to her.

“Oh my god… is she still-“ Zipp starts to ask before just deciding to check Misty's pulse. Sunny and the others soon get there and see the state their friend was in. They also see that Sparky's gone…

They all frown, feeling shame, guilt, and anger alike. Zipp, while looking for any clues that might lead them to where Sparky was taken, discovers something… strange… but they could discuss it later. Right now, they needed to get Misty to a hospital… and fast.

Zephyr Heights Hospital

It had been a few hours since Misty was “attacked” and no one had any idea where Sparky had been taken. Misty should be happy but… she had seen the look Sparky had on his face while trying to get out. He was scared but… he was trying to help Misty more than himself… and her fri-… Those ponies… had been worried about her and carefully but quickly rushed her to this hospital. It… it didn’t feel right… Misty didn’t deserve this kind of care. She deserved absolute hell for the things she’s done… so why… why couldn’t she tell them the truth? It was the right thing to do… but she was too much of a coward.

Misty wanted to make things right… but it was too late for that now… the plan was nearly complete. She slowly opens her eyes and the first thing she feels is pain. She hears voices but… they’re faint, however she recognizes them as those ponies. She squints her eyes to see what’s going on, while staying as still as possible to avoid drawing attention to herself.

“I’m telling you, something doesn’t add up. We’ve seen alicorns die from the magic in that blade, but somehow Misty survived it? No, she wouldn’t have survived it unless whoever that was wanted her to survive it.” Zipp says, sounding very frustrated and Misty absolutely hates that Zipp is so close to the truth! It’s very nerve wracking and this mission is stressful enough!

“I think that was a diversion. I don’t know how, but what I do know is that when we got there, there was a huge burn mark on the ground from the explosion. Misty should’ve been killed by it, but she wasn’t. Pipp said Misty was right in front of that unicorn, more than close enough for a point blank shot. But instead of hitting Misty, she hit the ground.” Zipp says and Misty almost gasps and widens her eyes, realizing where she went wrong and it’s at that point where she wishes that she had magic at the time to make a shield and make things seem a bit less suspicious.

“Ok, but maybe she thought that would be enough to kill her Zipp, or maybe she wanted to keep her alive as a message and a warning to us. Either way, you saw how serious her injuries were, yet you think this was a trick, why?” Sunny asks and Hitch and Izzy agree, and Misty notices that Pipp isn’t with them. Weird. But she could ask when she was ready.

“Yeah, why are you so hellbent on making Misty look like our enemy when she’s not?” Izzy asks, sounding annoyed and looking just as much.

“Because there’s so much that doesn’t add up! I don’t wanna believe she’s our enemy, but I have to make sure… for all our sakes…” Zipp says forcefully before frowning and storming out (No pun intended). A few seconds after she leaves, Misty slowly opens her eyes more and groans in pain.

“Ow… did anyone get the license plate of the truck that hit me?” Misty asks jokingly, causing the three remaining ponies to laugh a bit… and it actually feels good to see and make them smile. “Hey guys… where’s Zipp and Pipp?” She asks and they all look at each other then back at Misty before answering.

“Zipp's taking some time to… cool off and Pipp is getting a checkup for something that happened to her earlier.” Hitch explains and Misty nods in understanding before sighing. She notices that Hitch looks so worried and sad… and she actually feels so bad for him.

“I’m so sorry guys… I’m sorry Hitch… I… I couldn’t protect Sparky from her. I’m… I’m pathetic… this is all my fault…” Misty says, actually feeling bad for letting Nightshade take Sparky but still having to lie. She covers her eyes with her arm that didn’t have IV fluids being put in it, pretending to try and avoid crying… although she did feel like she was on the verge of it right about now. She feels a gentle hand on her shoulder and sees Sunny and Izzy smiling down at her on one side and Hitch on the other.

“We’re sure you did your best Misty. We'll get him back together and stop these guys, but until then, you should stay with us.” Sunny says, and Misty looks shocked and like she’s about to protest, but Sunny wasn’t having it. “Misty, you’re a target now. If they find out you survived, they might try something against you. We need to keep you safe. We already failed once, we’re not taking that chance again.” Sunny says firmly and Misty sighs and nods, giving her a faint smile, causing her to smile back.

“Then it’s decided, once you’re all healed up and able to be checked out, we’ll come get you and you’ll stay in the Crystal Brighthouse with us.” Hitch says and everyone agrees. Izzy squeals and hugs Misty, making her groan in pain as she feels a few of her bones creak and ache. Hearing this, Izzy leans back with a sheepish smile and apologizes before giving Misty a… more tame hug. Wouldn’t wanna snap her friend in two, now would she?

Three Days Later

Misty was finally out of the hospital and happy for it too. The food was terrible and she actually lost a bit of muscle while in there… no problem. She could easily get that back. Most of her injuries were all healed up, however she was advised to take it easy because of the stab wound on her shoulder and the few cuts, bruises and burns she still had. She would be sore for about two more days but aside from that, she shouldn’t expect any other issues. She’s walking to the Brighthouse with two bags that she had been provided by Ragnar. One had regular clothes inside… and the other had her armor, mask, and blade inside.

Honestly… Misty was starting to really really hate even having that stuff with her. It just served as a painful reminder of who she really was… and the terrible things she’s done… the terrible things she’s going to do. What Misty wasn’t expecting was for some of the ponies and other creatures from Twilight Sparkle's time to be in Maretime Bay, along with some of her friends and allies. Meanwhile, the Mane 5 were all talking to the princesses, Discord, Artemis, Thunderbird, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, and Trixie.

“So you’re saying you might know a few potential locations where this… Opaline could be located?” Sunny asks, gaining a nod from Celestia.

“Mhm, and thanks to the blade provided by your friend, Zipp Storm, that was at the crime scene in Canterlogic, it’ll make it so much easier to locate her.” She says and Sunny nods and sighs in relief.

“Thank hoofness… this nightmare might finally be over soon.” Sunny says tiredly, wiping her hand over her face and sighing. “By the way, how’s Twilight?” She asks and they all manage to smile, making her once again feel relief.

“She pulled through. She’s almost fully healed but she’ll need a bit more time to fully recover… but she’s been asking about you ever since she woke up Sunny. She’s worried about you and frankly… so are we.” Sunset says and Sunny frowns and looks down.

“She shouldn’t worry about me… she’s got enough to deal with. I’ll only drag her down… seems like that’s what I’ve been doing a lot lately…” Sunny says, crossing her arms. Everyone frowns and looks at each other then back at her before Starlight and Artemis step forward.

“Sunny… being a leader, especially to a whole community isn’t ever going to be an easy job. Everyone will always be looking to you for an answer or a solution. You may not always make decisions that they’ll be happy with, but as long as it gets the job done, you should be pleased with yourself.” Artemis says before Thunderbird steps forward.

“Every decision you’ve made has been to protect those around you, to protect the entire world, even before you became an alicorn. Being an alicorn didn’t change you or make you into a hero. It just… made it easier to be one… to be like your idols.” Thunderbird says as he puts a hand on Sunny's shoulder, making her look up at the two.

“Just like another great pony we all know. And I think we can all agree that she would be proud of you… and so would your parents Sunny.” Starlight says, causing everyone else to agree and Sunny slowly starts to tear up before using her magic to pull everyone into a huge group hug, thanking them tearfully. Meanwhile Misty smiles at the scene from outside… before remembering that Zipp is so close to helping them ruin everything… She slowly and quietly closes the door then walks around the Brighthouse and takes out her alicorn mirror. Once Opaline answers, she explains what’s happening and Opaline… looks very very angry and intimidating afterwards.

“That Zipp pony is smart, too smart for her own good… Misty, there’s been a change of plans. I need something powerful enough to harness the baby dragon's dragonfire. ALL of it at one time. But it’s taking longer than expected… if they find us before then, the plan is ruined. So… I’m sending Stormcutter and Nightshade to steal that blade back after everyone leaves… but your mission… is to kill Zipp Storm before she finds our location or figures out the truth about you. And that goes for any witnesses… anyone sees you, kill them as well.” Opaline says… and Misty’s blood runs cold. She goes wide-eyed at the command and feels the spell trying to take over and force her to comply, but she shakes her head, not wanting to go through with it.

“Opaline… I-I can’t. T-There has to be another way. I can’t just kill Zipp or anyone who sees me.” Misty says and Opaline raises a threatening eyebrow, her voice turning very impatient and venomous.

“And why ever not? You have the spell, so you don’t have to do anything, you just have to let it work.” Opaline says forcefully but Misty shakes her head.

“But you don’t know the effect it has on me every time it forces me to kill or hurt someone. I can’t… I can’t do it anymore. Opaline, please don’t make me.” Misty pleads, desperately hoping that Opaline wouldn’t force her to kill her friend… or anyone else. Opaline closes her eyes and is silent for a bit before she opens them and they’re both glowing.

“You picked a bad time to regrow a conscience my dear Misty… When you told me more about how that spell was effecting you, I made a few… modifications without you being aware… both to the spell… and the mirror.” Opaline says before the purple crystal next to the alicorn shape on the mirror starts glowing and it unleashes a stream of magic into her head and she grunts in pain and holds her head, dropping the mirror as she feels the spell getting stronger… As it does, she finds it getting harder and harder to resist and stay awake.

“No… Opaline… this is wrong!” Misty just barely manages to get out as she tries crawling towards the mirror to destroy it and stop whatever it’s doing to her… but she runs out of strength and slowly starts to black out. “I thought… you… cared about me…” Misty barely says before her head lowers onto the ground and her eyes close. Opaline frowns and looks down, closing her eyes, breathing in and out, then opening them. She looks through the mirror again and sees Misty slowly getting up and when Misty looks at her, her eyes are glowing purple.

“Now Misty… you know your mission… don’t fail me.” Opaline says before closing the mirror from her side and sighing afterwards. “I wish you didn’t force me to do that… damnit, why did you make me do it Misty?” Opaline asks herself before holding her head, getting a headache as memories of her and a younger Misty come to the forefront of her mind… but she forces them to the back of it. She couldn’t get sentimental after all this time, she had a goal… and she’d be damned if one unicorn without a cutie mark was going to get in the way of that.

Meanwhile, Misty grabs the mirror then grabs her blade out of the bag containing her armor and hides it before putting the bag in a nearby bush. She then walks to the front of the Brighthouse, stops the glow in her eyes, then knocks. When she’s allowed in, she pretends to be happy, accepting hugs, meeting the older ponies and Discord, and she places her normal bag upstairs as Izzy and Pipp help her get settled.

Meanwhile, the Alicorn empathy in all the present Alicorns had been going off the whole time and they don’t know why. Unbeknownst to them, Misty currently has one mission and one mission only, one that wouldn’t be easy…

She was going to kill Zipp Storm… and anyone who got in her way.

The Reveal

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Night Time, The Crystal Brighthouse

For some reason, Zipp couldn’t sleep. She just had something in her head nagging at her, she didn’t know what but… she did know she had to do something about it. She gets up, puts on a grey sweatshirt and shorts and her running shoes then flys out of the Brighthouse through one of the windows. She soars high up into the sky, flying through and around the clouds for a bit before diving for the ocean by Maretime Bay. She closes her wings to increase the speed of her fall, waiting till she gets very close to the water to open them again and glide just a few inches above it. She continues to glide for a bit before flipping forward, closing her wings and using her momentum and powers to literally sprint along the water.

She smiles a bit before flying back up into the sky at top speed and reaching above the clouds in little to no time at all. After just hovering in midair for a bit, she starts letting herself free fall back down towards the ocean. It actually feels good to finally have time to fly just for the fun of it again. Everything’s been so stressful lately and it all seems to be getting worse. It didn’t help that Pipp, due to clinically dying for a few seconds then being shocked back to life with lightning magic, was weakened and was having complications.

Her super form helped make things easier for her but if she didn’t go through training and exercises and other things that were supposed to help her get back to peak physical condition, the complications could get worse and worse until she can’t use her powers, fight, or even sing at all. So Pipp was currently away, training with Artemis, Thunderbird, and the Wings of Equestria. Sure, they had assured everyone that Pipp was in good hands but… she was still worried… and she missed her sister already.

She’s broken out of her thoughts when she remembers that she’s currently free falling and getting really close to the ocean. She quickly turns over and opens her wings, managing to just barely avoid landing in the water but she has to pull up to also avoid slamming into the beach or the railing on the edge of Maretime Bay. She bumps her foot and loses her balance a bit, starting to unintentionally fly towards the Brighthouse. She suddenly closes her wings and flips forward again to try and direct herself and right as she gets close to the ground, she opens her wings and glides a few inches above it before landing and sliding all the way to a bush next to the Brighthouse.

“That… could’ve been way worse.” She says before leaning forward and sighing in relief. She just barely sees something in the bush and reaches in… pulling out a bag. She may be crazy but… this looks very similar to the bag that Misty came in with. She looks around before standing up and bringing it into the Brighthouse. She looks at the couch where Misty is soundly sleeping before walking into the basement and placing the bag on a table. “Hm…” She hums, looking towards the bag Misty brought and seeing they really are the exact same. “Misty, you just became that much more interesting.” She says before unzipping the bag she found… and finding the armor and mask of the pony that Misty was supposedly “attacked” by.

“I… I knew it… Oh, you’re so done Misty. Wait till the others find out.” She says before she moves to get out of the basement… only to find out the door is locked. She’s about to break it down until she hears something and looks to see… that the bag is gone. The lights in the basement start flickering… and then turn off and Zipp tries to turn them back on but nothing happens. “Shit…” Zipp says as she readies her powers and looks around.

It was now suspiciously quiet. Zipp frantically checks her surroundings, making a small ball made of lightning to create some light. She hears noises left and right and this reminds her of her fight with Ragnar when they fought in Maretime Bay. He was using the same strategy that Misty’s using now… but she wasn’t falling for it this time. As soon as she hears a noise, she sends the ball of lightning in the direction of it and it doesn’t hit anything, but it does explode, electrocuting anything or anyone near it, and thankfully, that included Misty.

She tumbles over a box and Zipp takes the chance to charge at her but Misty unexpectedly gives her a kick to the stomach before using her other foot to kick her in the face and knock her away. Misty then gets up and lunges at Zipp, preparing to stab her until Zipp kicks up, making Misty fall to the side, giving her the chance to get above her and start punching her in the face relentlessly then shock her with her powers.

Misty grunts in pain before stabbing Zipp in the leg with her blade, making her yell in pain before Misty punches her off. Misty then gets up and readies the magic inside the blade, glaring at Zipp.

“You just couldn’t… mind your own business, could you Zipp?!” Misty asks angrily, a bit out of breath since Zipp caught her off guard a few times. “Well now you’re gonna pay for it! And the worst part? You’re dragging everypony else down with you.” Misty says and that… that angers Zipp. She’s about to charge at her until Misty sends a wave of fire down onto the floor, making a wall of fire between them. Zipp stops then glares at Misty for a bit.

“I knew I was right about you… if only I had trusted my instincts! If only everyone else had, we’d have stopped you from the very beginning! So many ponies would still be alive!” Zipp shouts angrily as she paces back and forth, never taking her eyes off Misty.

“Hmmm I’m not so sure. This was always gonna happen one way or another. You would wind up dead first, then your little friends and your sister. Then your mother. And it’d just be a much better repeat of what Midnight and Ragnar did to break you guys in the past… only we’d break the rest of Equestria. Piece. By. Piece.” Misty says and Zipp grits her teeth. “You know? Ragnar was right… you should definitely work on being a good sister. The rest of Equestria could really benefit from it.” Misty says before chuckling and Zipp just grows angrier and angrier until she feels the same rage she feels towards Ragnar and for a second, with help of the fire, Zipp doesn’t see Misty… she sees Ragnar.

She screams in anger as lightning suddenly starts coming off of her wildly and she charges through the fire, making a sonic boom instantly and tackling Misty into the wall behind her. The tackle stuns Misty long enough for Zipp to get a few good hits in and even break her mask, knocking her to the side.

“This is your last betrayal Misty!” Zipp shouts angrily, planning to do to Misty what she should’ve done to Ragnar so many times when she had the chance. Misty notices that Zipp doesn’t even really sound like herself anymore. This wasn’t the same pony she was just fighting… Zipp's changed.

Well… two could play that game. Her eyes glow more and she kicks Zipp’s feet from under her and sends her blade into its whip form, making it slide under where she was gonna land before jumping over Zipp, using the magic in the whip to make it wrap around her before slamming her back and forth between walls wildly, all in one smooth move. She then brings Zipp towards her and kicks her away into one of the shelves, breaking it and making it fall on her when she falls forward. She notices the fire she started had been put out by the sonic boom that Zipp made… no problem.

Misty smirks when it looks like Zipp isn’t gonna get up in time, then proceeds to make her way to the door. She puts her blade next to the knob and makes it heat up just enough to melt it so it stays locked. Just in time too as she hears footsteps. Misty walks back to where Zipp is and glares down at her.

“Don’t think I forgot about your friends. I may not get to kill them yet, but at least you’ll be dead long before they realize what’s happened.” Misty says as her blade and eyes glow. Zipp tries even harder to get up but Misty stomps on her hand to reduce her movement a bit. “Don’t struggle, it’ll just make this more painful.” Misty says, slowly raising her blade. Zipp notices that… Misty looks like she’s struggling. Her arm is shaking and her face is showing signs of… hesitation. Maybe this was her chance.

“Misty… don’t do this. You’re not truly a bad pony, are you? If you have any little part of your conscience left, you have to see that this isn’t right!” Zipp says and Misty's eyes widen… then narrow and she brings the blade down, prompting Zipp to close her eyes and flinch… but when she doesn’t feel anything, she opens them and what she sees confuses and surprises her.

Misty is using her other hand to hold the one with the blade in it back, keeping it just inches away from her face, close enough that she can feel the heat. Zipp takes the chance to move her body so fast that she’s building momentum without Misty noticing.

“I don’t… want… this!” Misty shouts, struggling mentally and physically. “I never wanted… any of this!” She shouts again, struggling even more until her eyes glow more and she yells as she steps away from Zipp then makes another wall of fire. “But… it’s too late to turn back now.” She says as she hears the others trying to get in. She uses the same teleportation spell as always to start cutting open a portal but she screams in pain and holds her head as the mental struggle continues.

Suddenly, the door is knocked off its hinges by Sunny and her, Izzy, Solaris, and Sky Blazer all run in, looking around frantically. They notice Misty holding her head and Zipp on the ground, pinned beneath a damaged shelf.

“Zipp!” Sunny yells, but Zipp holds a hand towards her and the others and shakes her head.

“Stay back and shield yourselves!” Zipp shouts and Sunny nods and shields herself and the others just as Zipp’s eyes and wings glow. Just as Misty recovers, Zipp unleashes all the energy she built up in a powerful burst of lightning from her own body. The blast knocks Misty back into the wall behind her, also causing her to accidentally cut open a portal since her blade was still in the process of making one.

Misty struggles to recover but once she does just enough, she rushes towards the portal but Zipp is right on her. Zipp yells and tackles her just as she jumps for the portal and they both end up going through it. Luckily, it only takes them to the top of the Brighthouse. They smash through the windows of the room where the Unity Crystals just happened to be and tumble to the other side, now both dawning cuts on their bodies. They could handle the pain though.

Zipp looks towards her right leg and sees the stab wound Misty left already halfway healed. Seems like Opaline's magic didn’t have the same devastating lasting effects as Midnight's did. Good. Zipp gets up and glares towards Misty, who’s also returning the glare with one of her own.

“You might as well give up. There’s nowhere to run.” Zipp says and Misty growls and looks like she’s about to charge forward… until she pauses and seems to look confused.

Meanwhile, Opaline was talking in Misty’s head.

“Change of plans Misty. Since they all know who you are and you can’t take them all on yourself, your new mission is to report back to me and fetch something for me. Next time, we’re all going to Maretime Bay and putting an end to those ponies and everything they hold dear.” Opaline says and Misty hesitates but then nods. Before she can give a verbal answer, Zipp tackles her and she uses their momentum to kick Zipp through another window and into the railing on the outside.

She gets ready to send a wave of fire at her and just as she does, Sunny appears and blocks it, charging through the fire, knocking her blade out of her hands then grabbing Misty's arm with one hand and grabbing her head with the other. However, as soon as Sunny does this, she’s suddenly in the woods. She looks around and sees that it’s storming hard and… she hears crying. She looks around more until she sees a little blue unicorn filly on the ground, curled in on herself, but not just any filly…

“Misty…?” Sunny asks as she steps closer. She notices the filly flinch at the sound of her voice before looking at her, showing her tear-stained face.

“S-Sunny…?” The filly asks, confused and obviously scared. Sunny slowly lowers herself to be at eye level with her and Misty suddenly jumps at her… only to pull her into a hug as she cries more than she already had been. “I’m so sorry… please… please get me out of here… I can’t take it anymore…” Misty cries and Sunny frowns and hesitantly hugs her back.

“Misty… I don’t understand what’s going on. WAS it you who did all those horrible things? Have you been… in here the whole time?” Sunny asks and Misty shakes her head.

“Whenever I have to do something bad… I’m usually not the one in control. I let Opaline put a spell on me so I would be ready… but I think something went wrong. It would always taunt me or torment me and whenever I gave up control… it would bring me here, to Maretime Bay… or to Opaline's castle.” Misty says, shivering at the memories of whatever this spell showed her. “Usually I could decide when I wanted control back, but earlier… Opaline did something to me and now the spell is in charge… I was able to fight back and give Zipp enough time to recover, but not fully.” Misty explains and Sunny tries to think of a way to save Misty. This had to be similar to when she saved Solaris from Midnight. So if that was the case, then there also had to be…

“Sunny, look out!” Misty shouts but before Sunny can react, Misty’s whip is wrapped around her and she’s pulled away and slammed through a tree. She groans in pain and looks towards her attacker… only to see Misty but she had her armor and mask on and she had a dark aura coming off of her. Suddenly the location changes from a forest to what she assumed to be Opaline's castle.

“You’re not welcome! If I see you again, I’ll kill you!” 'Dark Misty' yells before pulling Sunny forward.

“Let her go!” Misty yells before she tackles her dark self and starts punching her and pulling her hair until she pulls her off and throws her into a wall hard enough to crack it.

“Misty!” Sunny yells, worried but also angry. She breaks free, grabs the whip and spins around with it, pulling Dark Misty along with it before letting it go and sending her into a wall. She lands on it with her feet though and seems to charge magic into her legs before jumping at her, causing a huge shockwave when she does. Sunny fires a blast towards her but she manages to maneuver her body around it in midair before kicking her in the face, sending her sliding back. Sunny recovers fast enough to duck under a wave of fire before she grabs the whip again when it’s swung at her.

Sunny then charges her own magic into the whip, allowing it to combat Opaline's own magic. It continues for a bit until the whip glows more and more… then finally explodes.

“Sunny!!!” She hears Misty yell as she’s blinded and sent flying. When she opens her eyes, she’s back in the Brighthouse, set down on the couch as the sun shines through the windows and straight in her eyes. She winces and covers them and slowly sits up. She feels somepony tackle her into a hug as soon as she uncovers them and recognizes it as Izzy.

“Oh thank hoofness! Are you ok Sunny?!” Izzy asks frantically, looking her over for injuries… or at least ones that hadn’t been patched up after Misty’s escape from the Brighthouse. Sunny nods then looks towards the other couch and sees Zipp laying there with her own wounds either bandaged up or fully healed.

Sunny tries sitting up again but winces when she feels a sudden sharp pain in her stomach, back, and a few other areas. She lifts her t-shirt up a bit and sees bandages wrapped around her midsection and sees a few on her arms. She’s about to question what happened until Izzy answers as if she was reading her mind.

“Misty… She got away but not before she left a few good hits on you and Zipp. She mainly burned you and I tried using my ice powers to cool you down and lessen the burns while Solaris and Sky Blazer patched you up.” Izzy explains sadly and Sunny could tell she had been crying after everything, especially finding out the truth about Misty.

Sunny frowns and gently pulls her into a hug, allowing her to hug her back and shed a few more tears.

“It’s ok Izzy… it’s ok. We'll get her back. We'll fix this… all of it.” Sunny promises and she feels Izzy nod into her neck. They pull apart when they hear something and they see Solaris and Sky Blazer coming back with food and water for all of them. Zipp wakes up after a few seconds and after talking for a bit, they eat and decide that once they’re done, they need to meet up with Hitch and Pipp so they can all come up with a plan and discuss what they found out.

They were gonna get Misty and Sparky back… no matter the cost.

Opaline's Castle

As Misty walked the halls of the castle, she couldn’t help but notice that… she was back in control but she could feel the spell lingering and struggling to take over again. Thanks to Sunny, that wouldn’t happen for quite a bit… at least not until she found a way to free herself from all this… she hopes.

She stops right in front of the door to Opaline's study chamber and walks inside, seeing everyone gathered there and also seeing Sparky inside a magical bubble, unconscious… his scales lacking the same brightness and colorfulness they had before. Just by looking at him, she could tell Opaline had managed to drain quite a bit out of him already… poor little guy… he didn’t deserve this. Opaline notices her walk in and she frowns a bit before she gets straight to explaining.

“As you all know, due to me being a fire Alicorn, I can absorb fire from living beings, but also control it, no matter what or where it’s from. However… before we can begin our attack on Equestria, I need something that will make this process a lot easier… and I know just the thing.” Opaline says before using her magic to create an illusion of a stone with ancient markings and symbols carved into it. A second illusion is created after a few seconds, showing a staff with a red crystal in the top of it. “The dragon stone and the dragon lord staff. With these, I’ll easily be able to absorb the fire from every dragon all at once and make them all fight for me. With dragons on our side, we will be unstoppable.” Opaline says before chuckling evilly.

“So prepare yourselves. Later… you’re all going to the dragon lands.” Opaline says before dismissing them to allow them to come up with a plan and walking out. While the others are forming a strategy, Misty looks at Sparky and feels so much regret and guilt. None of this was right… she knew that… and now she was finally gonna do something about it.

“I’ll get you out of here Sparky… somehow… but if I’m gonna help you… I can’t do it on my own.” Misty thinks, knowing exactly what she had to do. She silently makes a promise to herself and to Sparky…. The same promise that her friends had all kept in the past…

That she’d do her part… hoof to heart.

My Little Pony: Harmony and Chaos

by AlphaToothless95

Strong body, broken mind

New dangers, same fears

A new evil

New friend, old foe

Off the rails

A tale of fire

Rising tensions

Life in the big city

The Start of Madness and Mayhem

Making the hard choices

One step forward, two steps back

Dragon Hunting and Love's Burning Pt. 1

Dragon Hunting and Love's Burning Pt. 2

Dragon Hunting and Love's Burning Pt. 3

The Reveal