The Phantom Pegasus

Maddie and Jack struggled to get to their hooves in their strange new pony bodies, but managed to do so to rush up to Danny- awkwardly tripping every so often- and shower him with excitement and love. "You have no idea how glad we are to see you!" Maddie cried, kissing Danny all over. Jack had wrapped Danny in a bear hug of sorts. Danny blushed and was happy to see them as well.

Everypony waited for a minute, and when they pulled away, Celestia spoke, smiling. "I take it you are Danny's parents?" she asked. Maddie and Jack looked up with smiles as well- and a bit of awe for the tall pegasus-unicorn before them.

"Oh, yes! And what is your name?" Jack asked.

"I'm Princess Celestia. Pleasure to meet you two." she said, offering her hoof to be shook. The parents gasped and took turns quickly shaking hooves.

"You are Princess Celestia!" Maddie said, shocked. Celestia chuckled and nodded. The parents quickly greeted Sam and Tucker and turned to the wide-eyed group of ponies that the kids had said were helping them. "Are you all the ponies that Danny, Sam, and Tucker said that were helping?"

"Yes. Pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton." Twilight Sparkle said. Jack beamed.

"Oh, so you're Twilight Sparkle! Pleasure is ours."

"And I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie Pie shouted out, getting their attention. She gleefully hopped up and down. "And these are my friends, Applejack-"

"Hello, y'all." Applejack said casually.

"Rainbow Dash-"

"Hi there!" The pegasus said it with a grin.

"Rarity-"

"It's a pleasure." Rarity said.

"And Fluttershy!"

"H- hi..." Fluttershy murmured shyly, smiling softly. Maddie and Jack giggled.

"Oh, nice to meet you all, and Princess Celestia...thank you so much for...for coming here to help my son and his friends. I regret to say that we're not here on the most easy of terms. We took the ghost's necklace and found out her name and plans."

Celestia paused. She went past them to see the gem laying on the ground. Her eyes widened. "Not even I would've thought it was real. Even I thought it was a mere fairy tale. But here it is."

Jack frowned, confused. "What? What's so special about it? Well, other than the fact that it sent us to this pony-world-thing." he said, raising an eyebrow. Celestia turned to them.

"'Tis a long story, but I will repeat it for you..." she trailed off and began to tell the story again. By the end of it, Maddie and Jack had their jaws drop.

"That's her we're dealing with?" Maddie asked, surprised. Celestia nodded.

"Yes."

"Well...we hate to confirm the worst, but she's gone bad." Jack said, sighing. "We heard her plans when we caught her to interrogate her. She also almost killed us before we got teleported here."

Twilight Sparkle grimaced. "She's gone from 'her heart was in the right place' to 'cold-blooded killer for whatever she wants to get'?" she asked. "I'm sorry, it doesn't seem possible...how in Equestria could a good-hearted pony turn into a murderer? Is it possible she's under a spell of some sort?" she asked. Celestia shook her head.

"I'm not sure, my faithful student. It may be possible. But for now, we have to figure on stopping her first, then seeing if something's really happened to her. Maddie, Jack, please, can you tell us what you heard or saw?"

"Of course..." Maddie took a breath, then repeated everything to the group. With each word, they became increasingly horrified- at one point, Fluttershy hid under the table. Finally, Twilight Sparkle scowled.

"Just as I suspected- she wouldn't leave our world alone, either. But here's another problem. You have the necklace- she doesn't. She's still going to build up an army and take over the Earth and Ghost Zone while we're away- and she'll be expecting us to come back in attempt to stop her."

"We'll have to build up a strong defense when we try to return. Rushing in without preparation is too dangerous. I'll have to have all my best magicians- including you, Twilight Sparkle- come with us, as well as the strongest ponies possible."

"Hah! You got me, we got no worries." Rainbow Dash said proudly. All of a sudden, Maddie gasped out in terror.

"Jazz! She's still there! What if-" Both of the parents began to panic. Danny and his friends looked pale and worried as well at the mention of it. Celestia frowned.

"Who is Jazz?"

"Our daughter; oh my gosh, can we go back for a minute to make sure she's okay? Please?" Jack asked. Celestia nodded.

"Very well. But I will come along to keep you two safe."

"Fair enough. C'mon, let's go." Jack said, running without any hesitation. Danny almost came along, but Maddie held him back.

"Danny, no. It's too dangerous for you. I won't risk losing another child. Stay here." she said sternly. Danny almost opened his mouth to protest, but then remembered: secret identity. He shut his mouth closed and sighed and nodded, depressed. Celestia cast Danny a look that said the following: they don't know? Danny shook his head, frowning. He got a disapproving frown from her, and she picked up the necklace. With another portal, the three ponies were gone for the moment. Silence filled the room for the longest time.

Applejack murmured something to her friends, who all nodded in agreement. Fluttershy pulled herself out from under the table. "We need to talk, Danny." Twilight Sparkle said seriously. Danny and his friends shared a look, then looked towards the mane six. Applejack was first to speak.

"Danny, if we're gonna find a way to save all three worlds, we need your help. And since your parents are here, they're gonna help, too."

"So...you can't just try hiding you-know-what. It'll just make the whole thing way too hard for all of us." Rainbow Dash said. "They need to know. Not just because they're your parents. But because you trying to hide it the whole time will just slow down the process and make it difficult."

Danny was looking down at the ground, trying not to make eye contact. Sam and Tucker were silent. Danny felt his stomach lurch and his blood run cold. "I...oh- do I have to?"

"Yes, darling." Rarity said, "Did you see Celestia's face at finding out your parents were unaware? When she thinks it's wrong they don't know, it is. Not to mention we all do."

"I..."

"Danny..." Fluttershy managed to speak up, walking up to Danny. "Danny, I know you said you're not afraid of your parents rejecting you...but even if you were, um...I saw how happy they were when they saw you. I take care of animals on a daily basis; I know love when I see it. Please..." her voice was soft and timid, yet strong at the same time. Danny's face contorted into a mixed expression. He seriously didn't like the idea.

"Danny, they're right." Twilight Sparkle said. "Look- we'll give you alone time in my library, and we'll let you do your thing. Complete and utter privacy."

"Oh, gosh, I...I...Sam, Tuck, what do you guys think?" Danny asked, looking to them for some sort of reason to not do it. Both of them were quiet. Tucker cleared his throat.

"Well...dude, they're kinda...right. But...you know, what Fluttershy said."

"Just do it, Danny. It'll all be okay." Sam said. Danny looked hesitant, but then Sam lightly kissed his cheek, making them go bright red. He slowly nodded.

"I...okay..." he said. He sucked in a breath. "Thanks, guys..."

Rarity smiled. "You know, you two are absolutely adorable together. Now, I swear, if one time you two would like to go on a date, I can get you two the most darling outfits-"

"We are not a couple!" both shouted, mortified. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"You guys, seriously, it's kind of obvious. Like, it's all over the place. And I never point this sort of stuff out-"

"We are not!"

Rarity and Rainbow Dash began to giggle and shared a high-hoof. "Danny and Sam, sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Pinkie Pie cheered. Tucker was beginning to laugh at the non-couple's dismay. But everypony stopped when they heard sobbing. Behind them, the ponies who left had come back, and in Jack's hoof was a note that Lady Pravus had left, concerning the kidnapping of their daughter. It read:

To Whom it May Concern-

I have your daughter. Is she a hostage? Yes. Now, I won't hurt the pretty at all...if you agree to join me for an eternity and tell no one about my plans. Say no to either and your girl goes bye-bye.

Love, Lady Pravus.

Maddie was sobbing and Jack was holding her and attempting to calm her, all the while looking furious at the letter. Danny walked up and took it, read it for a moment, he becoming more and more enraged with each word. He then paused. He put the note on the table and determination ran through him. "Mom, Dad." he said. Both parents looked towards him. "I have something to tell you. Everypony, can you please-"

"On it." Twilight Sparkle said, leading everyone out with her. She whispered the plan to Princess Celestia, who nodded and left with them. Sam and Tucker cast him a supportive smile and left, closing the door behind them. Jack watched them leave, confused.

"Danny? What on earth's going on?"

Danny sighed. "It's time you two learned something..."