Chapters The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
A panic had arose over Equestria upon hearing of Blueblood's absence. Everypony worried where he could be, and who he would strike next. There were frightening end results of one of his escapades, shown by Lady Strawberry Blossom and her horn. It had to be chopped off from all the cracks, leaving nothing but a short red stump on her forehead. When she tried to use her magic, not even a single spark flew from her stump of a horn.
Soldiers were sent to patrol all of Equestria in search of Blueblood. Celestia had placed guards by the portal in and out of Equestria to Earth, some standing in front of the portal in Applejack's cellar, some standing in the weapons vault. Day and night, these portals were guarded. Even more guards waited outside the cellar, letting only authorized ponies through. Guards also patrolled Ponyville and Canterlot- especially the castle- twenty-four hours, seven days a week. They stood patrol at Lady Blossom's farm whilst she tried to get back to her business in spite of all that had happened.
There was quite a bounty on the prince's head, and multiple Equestrian bounty hunters had been fruitless so far in their search for the culprit. The Fenton family was working with the princesses on their search, and ghosts even began to cooperate (for once!) to get the prince out of fear of being controlled again.
The huge majority of Earth remained unaware of what was going on, the minority being the Fentons, Sam, and Tucker. Vlad had his suspicions raised by the odd behavior of all the ghosts and the Fentons, however. He couldn't earn any answers from them, and even Jack wasn't telling him anything. Jack would merely sigh and say it was nothing unconvincingly. Maddie refused to answer him outright, simply stating, "It's none of your business."
This went on for two weeks until finally Celestia called them to her, claiming to have a lead. Danny, Sam, Tucker, and all of the mane six came, ready for another adventure. Celestia spoke when they arrived. "We've got a lead. Twilight and her friends will recognize this spot- in the cave where a dragon slept once up in one of the mountains that they awoke and got to leave, a few suspicious flares came from up there in that cave just an hour ago. Twilight's already informed me that they appear to be from what she thinks is a teleportation spell that went wrong. I want you all to go up and inspect the area for any clues."
Rainbow Dash immediately saluted the princess. "Yes, your majesty! I can't wait to go get 'im. Man, he'll be crying all the way home to his mommy after I-"
"Rainbow Dash, there are no guarantees he'll even be there any longer. I want you all to go up just in case- protection in numbers- and see what you can find." Princess Celestia said calmly. Rainbow paused.
"Well, uh, that works too..." she said, a little disappointed. Celestia continued.
"Anyhow, I'd like you to go home and get what you need for the journey up the mountain and meet at Twilight Sparkle's library after you're ready to go."
Everyone set off, and Danny and his friends immediately began to murmur about what weapons they needed and the thermos- and snacks, in Tucker's case. Twilight advised to them that they bring only a few weapons, due to the weight of them- and that if need be, Danny could go ghost and fight.
In any case, their adventure had truly begun.
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
When everyone was ready, they all came to meet at Twilight Sparkle's library. When Twilight caught a glimpse of Tucker's bulging bag, she frowned. "Tucker, we were only supposed to bring what we can carry and what we need. You have way too much in there."
"Nope!" Tucker said, a soft teal glow forming around his horn. His bag opened and out came little bands with ghost rays on it. He put one around each pony's hoof, with the exception of Danny. "These babies come from the Fenton's lab. In case of an attack- especially a ghost- you can just press the button on top and it'll shoot at the enemy. Danny's parents modified the bands to fit around a pony's hoof."
Pinkie Pie immediately ran out, making the other baffled ponies follow her. She had aimed her gun towards the ground, pressed the button, and out of the gun shot a green ray that left a small, smoking hole in the ground. She giggled. "Cool!" she squealed. Rainbow Dash tried hers as well, leaving another hole. She grinned broadly.
"Aww yeah! Tell your parents these things are awesome!" she cried. Rarity gave hers a bit of an alarmed look and shuddered, and Fluttershy merely winced in slight fear of it. Applejack frowned.
"Now, be careful with these, y'all. We don't want somepony losing an eye." she said. Rainbow snorted.
"Relax! We'll be careful!" she said idly. Twilight gave her a look, then smiled at Tucker, Sam, and Danny.
"Thanks for bringing these! Also, do any of you have the Fenton thermos?"
"I got it." Danny said, reaching into his bag and pulling it out. "I doubt a ghost will come, but you never know."
"Is it wrong that I'm kind of hoping one does? I'd like to use this baby." Rainbow said. "Or if Blueblood's there, he'll get a taste of this!"
Fluttershy whimpered. "Do...do you think anything will be there?" she asked, scared. Danny shook his head.
"No, I doubt it. I doubt even Blueblood will be there. But if there is, you don't have to worry, Fluttershy. I'll keep you safe. I promise." he said. Fluttershy smiled, a little relieved. Sam walked up.
"We'll work together to keep us safe." she said, standing beside Danny. The two shared a quick look before blushing softly. Rainbow Dash was about to pretend to gag, when a better idea came to mind.
"I know you'd love to keep each other especially safe, lovebirds." Rainbow teased with a sneer. Danny and Sam both turned a bright red and turned to her.
"We are not lovebirds!" they shouted. Rainbow rolled her eyes.
"Five bits says that they get together by the end of this."
"I'll take that bet." Applejack said, sharing a brohoof with Rainbow. Danny and Sam scowled and turned to a giggling Twilight, who quickly acted as if she hadn't been laughing to spare them.
"We'd better get going." Twilight said. She retrieved the map out of her bag and they set off. Tucker immediately pulled his PDA out of his bag and began to play with it as they began to walk. At first no one said anything, but then Twilight turned to him.
"Tuck, how much energy does your PDA have left?"
Tucker looked at the energy bar and saw it was three quarters of the way full. "Three-fourths. Why?"
"Nothing. Just keep in mind in case we get in trouble that we might need to use it, so be careful with its energy." Twilight said. Tucker smiled.
"Not to worry! I brought two of them."
"Uh, how many do you have?" Applejack asked. Tucker shrugged.
"Just three. I brought two so in case Susan goes out, I can use Karen. I left Leia at home." he explained. "They don't call me a techno-genius for nothing!"
"I thought they called you a techno-geek at school." Danny said. Tucker shrugged.
"Whatever. I am proud either way. Besides, they call Sam a goth geek and call you just a geek. We're like the royalty of geeks." he said. Danny shared a brohoof with him.
"At least they don't call me freak. If they ever found out at school I'm half ghost, I'd go from geek to freak." he said flatly. Pinkie skipped past them.
"Or Geeky Freak! Or Freaky Geek! Oh, what would I be? Freaky Pinkie? Geeky Pie? Freaky Geeky Pinkie? Geeky Freaky Pie? Geeky Freaky Pinkamina Diane Pie?" she began to sing it along. A number of the ponies looked as if they were ready to shoot herself with their own guns as Pinkie went on, but kept silent. Twilight shook her head.
"No, none of you- or Pinkie- are freaks or geeks. There's really no such thing as long as you're a good person. Because to some extent, we're all freaks and geeks." she said.
They conversed for awhile as they climbed the mountain. Eventually upon getting to the colder part of the mountain, Sam shivered and took out a hat and scarf she had made herself that was purple and black. Rarity look notice to it. "I say, my dear, did you make those yourself?" she asked. Sam nodded.
"Yep! Sometimes it's hard to find the exact sort of goth stuff I want from stores, so I make a lot of my own stuff. I even modified a purple swimsuit to fit my style."
"You didn't mention you sweat to kingdom come in it." Tucker muttered, looking up from the game he was playing on his PDA. Sam scowled.
"Goths don't sweat, we simmer!" she said. Rarity smiled.
"While after researching goth, I can't say it's exactly my style. But it'd be wrong for me to discourage the individual's own style. Especially when it can be made to look good, like you've done with that hat and scarf..."
"Thanks! So-" Sam was cut off when Danny gasped and a puff of blue air came out of his mouth. Rainbow immediately gave an excited shout.
"Aw yeah! Ghost time!" she said. Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind a bush. Before Danny could go ghost, the Boo-merang flew up and whacked him in the head.
"Ow! What on-" Danny paused and saw a note attached to the Boo-merang. He opened it and read aloud. "To Danny- Mom and Dad were getting worried, so I found Cujo and told him to chase the Boo-merang after I sent it to you. Sorry if it hit you in the head- I'm not sure why it always aims for the ghost's head. Love, Jazz. "
"Who the heck is Cujo?" Rainbow asked. A puppy's yapping then came into earshot, and Fluttershy removed herself from behind the bush to see a ghost puppy flying up. Immediately Fluttershy approached the ghost dog, who gave her many a kiss on her cheeks as the pegasus petted the puppy.
"Oh, he is so cute! You never told me there were cutesy-wootsy ghost animals!" she said as Cujo snuggled up to her. Cujo then turned to Danny and flew up and knocked the boy down and began to decorate his face with green dog saliva, much like he did with Fluttershy. Danny gave a laugh.
"Down, boy. I'm happy to see you too."
Rainbow Dash stared for a moment. "How is he gonna help? He's just a dog." she said. In response, Cujo growled and became a gigantic dog before them, snarling and saliva dripping out of his mouth. Rainbow screamed along with the majority of the ponies and ran back. "I take it back, I take it back!" she yelled. Fluttershy flew in front of Cujo.
"No! Down, boy!" she snapped, opening her eyes wide to give Cujo The Stare. Immediately Cujo whimpered and backed down and changed back into a puppy. Fluttershy flew down and began to pet Cujo to reassure him. "There's a good boy."
Danny, Sam, and Tucker stared at her, mouths open wide. "H-how did you do that?" Danny asked. Fluttershy smiled lightly.
"I'm just good with animals. Now, c'mon. Let's get going." she said, walking forth. Cujo ran up to Danny and sat down, waiting for his master to go. Danny whistled and the rest of the ponies came out and began to walk again- though Rainbow was a tad afraid of Cujo still.
After awhile, they reached the cave in the mountain. No sounds came from inside the cave. The only sound was the wind softly whistling at the top, and the occasional sound from a wild animal roaming below. "I don't think anypony's in there. Let's go look." Twilight Sparkle said. They entered. Darkness was inside the tunnel for awhile, then light began to filter from inside the cave. Candles were flickering. "Alright, he couldn't have been here long ago. The candles are still going." Twilight pointed out. Danny turned to her.
"Everypony keep back. I'm gonna walk forth to just make sure it's not booby-trapped. Fluttershy, keep Cujo back too."
After they did as such, Danny walked forward. He failed to notice a net above him full of blood blossoms as he reached the center of the room. Suddenly he felt his hoof press down against something, and looked down to see a button concealed in the floor. The net disappeared and blood blossoms flew down around him. A burning sensation swept him all over, and it felt like he was being pricked by a thousand swords. Red smoke rose from his body, and he screamed and fell down and began to shudder in agony, every couple of seconds screaming bloody murder.
"Danny! "
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
Rainbow wasted no time flying at top speed to get to Danny. She lifted Danny out of the circle of blossoms and carried him out, but he was still shaking and screaming. "It's still hurting him! What the heck are they?" she shouted. Cujo was whimpering and pawing Danny, while giving a frightened look towards the blossoms. Every so often he would squeal in slight pain from being in proximity of the blossoms.
"They're blood blossoms! We've dealt with them once. They're poison to ghosts!" Sam shouted.
"Then what the heck do we do?" Applejack shouted, alarmed.
"You have to eat all of them to get rid of the effects!" Tucker said, shuddering in disgust at the vegetation.
"Well, why in tarnation didn't you just say that earlier? Let's eat, ponies!" Applejack yelled. Everypony with the exception of Tucker, who stayed with Danny began to shove blossoms in their mouths. Rarity was delicately placing one in her mouth when Applejack swallowed two and turned to her. "Don't be picky, Rarity! We gotta get these things eaten, and fast!"
"But-"
"No buts!" Applejack shouted, shoving another in her mouth. Pinkie Pie shoved a few in her mouth and grinned.
"Hey, these are kind of yummy! This will be easier than pie!"
"Shut up and eat!" Rainbow shouted. After the frenzy, when Sam and Twilight shoved the last blossoms in their mouths and ate, Danny stopped screaming and the smoke faded. Danny let out a deep sigh in relief and still shook a little. He wobbled as he sat upright.
"T-thanks g-guys." he said.
"Not a problem!" Pinkie said happily. Rainbow frowned at Tucker.
"How come you weren't eating?" she demanded. Tucker groaned.
"It's not my fault I'm a carnivore! The last time that happened, I had to eat all of them because Sam was tied up and I got sick!" he whined. Rainbow rolled her eyes and looked to Danny. Danny was struggling to his feet. He wobbled a few times while Rarity and Sam helped him up, but eventually he managed to stay on his feet. He opened his wings, which had frayed feathers from all his shaking, smoothed them down, and looked around. The room was mostly empty by this point, except for a stray paper that lay by one of the candles that Blueblood had forgotten.
Twilight lifted it with her magic and opened it. Inside was a map of the Ghost Zone with an arrow pointing from where the Fenton's lab opened to the Far Frozen's lair. Twilight turned to Danny. "What exactly is he going?"
"The Far Frozen's lair." he said. Sam gasped.
"He must be going for the Infi-Map!"
"The Infi-what?" Rarity asked.
"The Infi-Map. It's a map that brings you pretty much to wherever you want to go and opens natural portals. It can even go back in time. Who would like to bet that natural portals can also lead to Equestria, not just Earth? It would prove disastrous if he got it- not only would it function to more places than just the gem last time, but he could use it to go back in time!" Tucker clarified.
"Ooh! Do you think it could bring me to to invention of cupcakes?" Pinkie asked excitedly. Danny raised an eyebrow.
"Uh...probably. But anyhow, we need to head on over there. Frostbite, the leader of the people who reside there, will help."
"How do you know they'll even listen to you?" Twilight asked.
"They treat Danny like he's a king. They call him 'The Great One' because one time he stopped this evil ghost king that was a threat to everyone, but that's a story for another day. Trust me, they'll be more than excited to see someone they treat as royalty." Sam said. Danny blushed softly and nodded. Rainbow grinned.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" she said, flying out. Everypony followed her, and Rarity turned to Twilight.
"Before we head on over to the Far Frozen's, do you mind if I make a quick stop at home first? I would like to grab something before I go."
"Sure!"
When they had arrived in Ponyville, Spike sent off a quick notice to Celestia about the Infi-Map and what they found, and suited up to go with them to the Far Frozen- he said that he was bored at home and that he could keep them warm with his fire breath in such a place.
They stopped on the way at Carousel Boutique, where Rarity entered. They waited outside. The unicorn quickly grabbed a tiara she had forgotten for the way up the mountain. She placed it on her head with a smile. "Just had to finish off this look." she said to herself.
She stopped short when she heard a popbehind her. Fear rose up in her, and she slowly turned to see none other than Prince Blueblood standing in front of her door, grinning.
"Hello, Miss Rarity."
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
A Black Eye and A Narrow Escape
Rarity was about to scream when Blueblood ran up and closed her mouth with his hoof. "There, no need to shout, my dear. It's been awhile since we last met...I have an important matter to discuss with you. That freak half ghost colt you're friends with and his friends. You could do much better than to be with their kind."
"Danny isn't a freak. He's a hero. Don't call any of my friends that, either." Rarity hissed. Prince Blueblood smirked.
"Oh, but they are, Miss Rarity. And you know it. I daresay I remember when you were in Canterlot- you still stay in touch with Fancypants, don't you? I saw what beauty and grace you had. If you come with me, we could quickly take over three worlds. And you could be my queen. I am...fairly sorry for the way I treated you at the Grand Galloping Gala," he said, attempting to hide his dishonesty, "I need a bride who is as good-looking as me. So, power or friendship with a bunch of nobodies and freaks. What do you say?"
Rarity was quiet a couple of minutes. Her eyes then half-closed and she smiled. Blueblood grinned. "There's the smart pony I know. Now-" he was cut off when a hard hoof came and whacked him straight in the face, knocking him to the floor.
"How dare you? You...you pig!" Rarity shouted, charades over. Her eyes filled with burning hate and rage. "I will never leave my friends! They are the most important ponies I know!"
Prince Blueblood turned bright red with anger, pawing at a black eye that was quickly forming. "Fine, you won't be my queen. But whether or not you want to, I'm taking you with me. They'll focus on saving you whilst I work." he said angrily, beginning to walk to her. Rarity panicked, then her eyes caught onto the gun that Tucker had given her. She lifted it up to face Blueblood, pressed the button on top, and Blueblood screamed as he was sent hurdling backwards. He crashed into the door and burst it open, allowing himself to fall in front of the group- and the public.
Screams and gasps came from the crowd and Rarity's friends. Mothers herded their young foals away from the area, and a few began to run up to tackle the monster. Danny's eyes flashed a bright green and hid in front of his friends. His hoof began to glow a blue to freeze him- but Blueblood's horn glowed, a flash blinded them momentarily, and he was gone.
Rarity was left to stare at a crowd that was staring back, not even recognizing the smoking gun on her hoof anymore. Her friends rushed in, a frantic Spike in the front of the pack. "Rarity! Rarity, are you alright?" Spike yelped. Rarity weakly nodded.
"Y-yes. T-thaanks." she stuttered. The group gave a relieved sigh.
"Oh, thank goodness you're alright!" Fluttershy squeaked.
"What did he want from you?" Twilight Sparkle asked. Rarity grimaced.
"He asked me to leave you all and come with him as his queen. I rejected, hit him, and then blasted him...oh my goodness, that's the oddest thing I think I've ever said." she said flatly. Rainbow Dash grinned.
"That's easily the coolest thing you've ever done! Do it more often!" Rainbow Dash said excitedly. Danny scowled.
"Aw, man! I was so close to freezing him! Ugh. This stinks. At least you're alright, Rarity."
"Worry not, Daniel. I'm more worried about staying here. What if he comes back to try to get me again?" she asked. Fluttershy squeaked in fear.
"What if...if he tries to come for one of us instead of Rarity?"
"We can request that Celestia send some guards to our homes. Besides, I don't think that'd even be a wise move for him. He knows now that news will spread and it'd be too predictable and risky for him to attempt that. But still. Spike, would you mind taking another letter?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
"Oh, would you? That would be perfect. Thank you, Spike." Rarity said, kissing Spike on the cheek. The baby dragon momentarily froze up before sighing in content.
"Anything for you." he said, as if in a dream.
"Don' bother 'bout my farm. It's already uncomfortable with all the guards righ' now." Applejack said. Spike quickly wrote up the request and sent it off. Sam uncomfortably groaned.
"After you're ready, we should get headed to the Far Frozen. I would also imagine Cujo's getting antsy, being invisible this long." she said. Cujo barked in response, though no pony could see him.
"Right. So, what are we waiting for?" Twilight Sparkle said. Tucker raised a hoof.
"Ah, can we make a stop at Sugarcube Corner? I ran out of snacks during the trip. I've already missed two feedings today!" he said. Danny merely laughed while the rest of the mares gave him a blank stare. Sam then elbowed him.
"You'll live. It's not like the Far Frozen would mind sparing a bite for The Great One's 'sidekicks.'" she said. "Man- I mean, pony up- I mean, stallion- oh, forget it. Let's just get going." she said. Tucker moaned.
"And now I missed my third feeding of the day! If I don't make it...someone tell my PDA that I love her!" he said melodramatically, falling over. Pinkie Pie grinned.
"Don't you worry, Tucker! I always bring along extra cupcakes with me! You can have one!" she said, pulling out a chocolate one from her bag. Tucker smiled gratefully at her.
"Pinkie Pie saved me!" He and Pinkie both joyfully gave out a loud 'hooray' as Pinkie got her own cupcake and gave a high-hoof to Tucker.
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
As soon as they entered FentonWorks from the cellar, Maddie was waiting. "Hi guys! Rarity, are you alright?" she asked. Rarity smiled.
"I'm fine. Thanks for asking."
"How did y'all find out so fast what happened?" Applejack asked.
"One of the guards delivered a letter from the princess. She explained what happened and where you were planning on going. Jazz and Jack are in the lab, putting some supplies in the Specter Speeder for the journey just in case. Come along." Maddie said. Twilight glanced at the humans as she walked towards the lab with the group.
"I know I only cast the non-form changing spell on Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike, and I, but it always strikes me funny to see you as humans." she said. Danny turned to her.
"Why's that?" he asked curiously. She shrugged.
"I dunno. It's just so different from ponies. Again, skin, hair only on the head, two legs, no cutie marks, no wings, no horns, fingers...plus sometimes I wonder if I didn't cast the spell on us what we'd look like as humans."
"Considering humans generally only seem to have hair that range from black, brown, blond, or red, I'd say we'd have pretty funky hair colors, especially myself." Rainbow Dash said. "Also, skin tones also only range between a few different colors as well..." She shuddered. "It'd be weird, let's just leave it at that. I think the only one who wouldn't be looked at funny by other humans would be Applejack."
"I'm not sure whether I should be takin' that as a compliment or not..." Applejack said flatly. They quieted as they approached the lab. They saw Jack doing some quick repairs here and there on the speeder, and Jazz was bringing some supplies in and out of the speeder. They turned when they saw everyone coming down. Jack waved and grinned, and Jazz, done with bringing things in, approached the group.
"Glad to see you guys. We're about ready to take off. However, Danny, the GPS system Dad's trying to install for the Ghost Zone isn't even close to being complete. So you'll have to guide us." she said. Danny shrugged and went ghost. Fluttershy grimaced.
"We're...we're going back in there a-again..." she said nervously. Spike was curious.
"We get to go in there finally? Awesome! I've always wanted to see it!" he said cheerfully. He petted Cujo on the head, who barked and then ran through the portal and disappeared into the Ghost Zone. Pinkie Pie hopped up next to Fluttershy.
"Don't you worry, Fluttershy! Just remember a familiar song! When I was a little filly and the sun was going down... "
"This again...?" Twilight muttered.
"The darkness and shadows, they would always make me frown... " Pinkie sang, jumping over Twilight Sparkle without a care.
"Apparently." Rarity said. The Fentons and Sam and Tucker stared at Pinkie, baffled. They listened to her sing for awhile, until she finally said-
"So, giggle at the ghostie! Guffaw at the- "
"Wait, wait, wait, you have a song that involves giggling at ghosts? What?" Danny asked, indignant. Pinkie smiled.
"Yep! I just never sang it because you're not scary, Danny! You're also only half a ghost! And the last time we were in there we were going to make ourselves obvious to the ghosts when we were hiding if I started to sing!" she said cheerfully. Danny raised an eyebrow.
"So I'm not scary?"
There was a pause before everypony and person gave a "Nah." Fluttershy smiled. "No, and that's a good thing, Danny. You're fine the way you are." she said. Danny shook his head and floated over in front of the speeder. Jazz followed and place a small microphone headset in Danny's hand.
"You can talk to us through here. We have the radio inside the speeder. One thing Dad did manage to finish." she said with a smile. Danny nodded and placed it in as the group went inside. When the door closed and the speeder began to rumble as it turned on, Jazz's voice ran clear into it. "Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear."
"Can Danny hear us, too? Hi Danny!" Pinkie said cheerfully, yelling into the microphone. Danny winced and frowned.
"Y-yes, Pinkie."
"Yay!"
"Uh, Pinkie Pie, I think you're being too loud. Maybe you should take it down a notch." Twilight Sparkle's voice rang. Pinkie paused before agreeing. Danny looked to his mom, who was at the driver's wheel, and nodded. He flew into the portal and the speeder followed. The ponies crowded around the window to look outside, with the exception of Fluttershy, who backed up against the wall in fear.
"I've been here before, but I never like being here..." she murmured.
"It's so fascinating still. There's so much I'd love to learn on it! But I doubt there's any books on it..." Twilight muttered. Rarity looked about.
"It's endless, isn't it? I see no floor, nor at end to the sky, which is non-existent..."
"Has anyone else noticed that the ghosts are avoiding the ship?" Rainbow Dash asked aloud.
It was true. Every couple of seconds they spied a ghost who would glance over to the ship before fleeing. Once or twice one stopped and looked to Danny and appeared to be thinking about talking to him for a moment before it decided against it and fled. Danny frowned.
"I have no idea why they're doing that. Usually there's at least one that tries to come up and says 'durr hurr I'm gonna be the ghost that finally defeats the ghost boy.' It's really weird. Heck, even I might expect a visit from the-"
"Beware!"
Sigh. "-Box Ghost." Danny finished. He paused as a familiar short, portly blue ghost flew up, waving his hands idiotically.
"I AM THE BOX GHOST!"
Rainbow Dash opened the window. "We all know who you are! Ugh, you're getting annoying. How often do you try to-"
"Rainbow Dash! " Rarity snapped, pulling the pegasus back and slamming the window shut. Danny rolled his eyes.
"He does this at least five times a day, I swear. Whaddya want this time, Box Ghost?" Danny asked, crossing his arms. The Box Ghost waved his arms.
"I AM THE BOX GHOST! And I am the only one brave enough to challenge you at this time!"
"Why is everyone so afraid of the speeder and I?" Danny asked. The Box Ghost paused.
"Well, they were paranoid you had ponies with you again...everyone's began to group all ponies in the same pool after that incident."
"Hey! Y'all can't group us in the same pool of evil! 'Sides, it's only one pony we're after right now!" Applejack snapped. The Box Ghost looked to her curiously. More ghosts began to approach, determining there was no danger at the moment.
"And who is he or she?" he asked. Twilight Sparkle walked to the front of the speeder.
"It's a he. He was responsible for all that happened before." Gasps and murmurs came from the ghosts. "His name is Prince Blueblood. He's a white unicorn with a blond mane and tail. He's very haughty. On his rump should be a compass rose. We're trying to capture him, as he's a treat to all. He's the only one you need to fear. If anyone is to spot him, let us know. I highly advise great caution around him. He has good magic skills that sometimes fail, and I have greater magic skill."
Some ghosts began to back off at that. She shook her head. "No, don't be afraid. I am working to apprehend him. If any should find him here, keep an eye on him."
The ghosts all nodded simultaneously. They flew off, ready to spread the word. Except for the Box Ghost, who floated silently for a moment. Danny raised a glowing green fist up. The ghost took that as a hint to go away. He shouted one last 'beware' before fleeing. Fluttershy broke the silence that followed with a squeak. "T-that was scary...at least it's over."
Pinkie grinned and turned to her. "Just remember to giggle at the ghosties! " she said. Jack leaned back and wiped some sweat from his brow.
"I was prepared to start attacking. Good job defusing the situation, son, and Twilight." he said.
"Thanks Dad. Let's go." Danny said. They traveled for a little longer before Danny finally led them to a tunnel of ice. Jazz told him to wait. Everyone slipped on jackets, except for the ponies, who said they'd be fine. They entered the tunnel and soon found flat ground to park on. Everyone piled out of the speeder, but Fluttershy, the last to come out, shrieked and ran back inside and hid under a bench. Danny turned to see Frostbite and a few other Far Frozen staring in confusion at the ponies before grinning broadly.
"Welcome, Great One and friends. We heard the roar of engines and spied you flying down."
"Nice to see you, Frostbite." Danny said, walking up and shaking hands with him. Fluttershy pried herself from under the bench and peaked out. Frostbite looked to the group who was staring.
"Might you introduce us to your servants, Great One?"
"Servants?" Rainbow blurted stubbornly. Danny chuckled awkwardly.
"Ah, you recognize my friends, Sam and Tucker..." he said, gesturing to his best friends. They waved. Frostbite smiled.
"Of course! The Great One's advisers, best friends, and the young girl whom you call mate..."
Danny and Sam blushed furiously. The ponies, Tucker, and Danny's family burst out loud laughing. Sam walked up beside Danny. "Ah, we're not together, Frostbite..." Sam said. Frostbite shrugged.
"My apologies, then. I was mistaken."
"Or are you?" Rarity giggled. She giggled further as Danny and Sam glared at her momentarily.
"Anyhow, this is Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. And that's Spike." he said. Spike groaned.
"Do you have any gemstones? I'm hungry..." he complained. Twilight Sparkle frowned.
"Spike! Ah, I'm sorry for-"
"Not to worry, Twilight Sparkle," Frostbite said cheerfully, "Anything for The Great One's friends. We actually have a deposit of rubies we're trying to dig through; rubies aren't exactly a prized gem of the Far Frozen, they're more pestilence than profit. He may have at them. I'll lead you towards them soon."
Spike's eyes excitedly lit up. Rarity frowned. Spike immediately caught it and looked up. "I'll save most for you, of course, Rarity..." he said, blushing. "I can only eat so much, after all..."
Rarity smiled. "Oh, how generous of you, Spike! Sometimes I wonder why you don't have the Element of Generosity instead of I..."
"The what of what?" Tucker asked. Rarity's eyes went wide.
"Oh, goodness, I can't believe we never told them that story! We'll have to tell them after we're done with business." she said. Danny then turned to his parents and sister.
"And you haven't met them yet, but these are my parents and sister..." He trailed off as his mom and dad approached and shook hands with the leader of the Far Frozen, who smiled proudly.
"The Great One's family! I must say, it is an honor!" He bowed deeply. "Great One's parents, you have raised fine children."
"Ah, what did Danny do to become Great One?" Jazz asked.
"I second that." Rainbow included. Frostbite grinned.
"He became the greatest hero the Ghost Zone and Earth has ever seen. I shall explain the story promptly!" He was about to talk, but Danny shook his head.
"Actually, Frostbite, we're here to talk. It's in regards to the whole incident with the ghosts in the Zone being taken over. We know who's the culprit and we need to talk."
Frostbite immediately sobered and nodded. "Come this way. We must hear of this at once."
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
No sooner than did Danny and friends explain the danger the Infi-Map was in did Frostbite have the map moved to a locked chest with an enormous amount of guards standing outside of it, making it virtually impossible for anyone- or pony- to get in. The large Far Frozen guards, especially in large numbers, was enough to turn most away, except for the foolish, who would find themselves in deep trouble.
Frostbite then led them to a cave full of paintings of Danny defeated the ghost king, Pariah Dark. "For thousands of years, the king of the Ghost Zone was locked away in a special coffin. He possessed a ring and a crown of fire. If one was to get both, they would have extraordinary power...I assume Danny has told you about Vl-"
"Uh, Frostbite! One second..." Danny murmured into Frostbite's ear, who sent a quick glance to Jack and Maddie and frowned.
"They are unaware?" he asked. Danny threw a hand to his face as both parents scowled.
"For goodness' sake, Danny, what else are you hiding? Hiding the fact you were Danny Phantom all along was bad enough. Speak up." Jack said. Danny paled.
"Uh...I don't know if you want to know, Dad..."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Of course I would! It's my job to know! I'm a ghost hunter and a father!"
"Well..."
"Danny, you're lucky we aren't going to ground you for not telling us. Speak up." Maddie said. Danny sighed.
"This stinks, majorly ...if you'll excuse us..." Danny left the others behind and got his parents to follow him off to a private area where no one would hear them. He took a breath. "I never wanted to be the one to tell you this. At all. But...ugh , there's another half ghost..."
Maddie and Jack's eyes went wide. Maddie gasped. "Why didn't you tell us you weren't the only one? Who is the other?"
"Well...he's not a good person. At all, really. He wants to kill you, Dad, and wants to marry you, Mom...and take Jazz and especially me as his children...he's insane."
Maddie immediately knew who Danny was talking about. She let out a yelp of alarm and shock and covered her mouth. "Him? I knew he was a sick person who even trying to get me away from Jack, but he's a half ghost? Him?"
"Who is this monster?" Jack snapped, enraged. "No one tries to take my family and kill me! Never!"
Maddie stared up towards her husband, then Danny. "I suddenly realize why Danny didn't want to tell us, Jack...this is terrible. I can't believe it...it must've been that...that accident in college..."
Jack's eyes went wide and his face blanched and all color faded away. "You-you can't mean Vlad! No, not him...it can't be."
"Well, he got into just about the same accident I did." Danny pointed out. "Surely you remember the Wisconsin ghost?"
"It can't be!" Jack blurted again, flabbergasted. "Not my best friend!"
"Dear...surely you remember the DALV trip Danny and I went on?" Maddie asked. Jack looked up.
"Yes, of course...that was a strange time. Ghost animals kept attacking the house. Jazz and I tried to clean it up so you two didn't find out..."
Maddie grimaced. "Figures. We got attacked by ghost animals, too. They actually chased Danny through this forest we crash-landed suspiciously right by Vlad's mountain home in the Rockies. I saved him. Earlier on when we went into Vlad's home, he told me to leave you and stay with him...of course, right when we came back because we needed some sort of transportation back or a phone, I went to go look around while Danny kept an eye on him to make sure he didn't come looking for me. Oddly enough, Vlad seemed to have run out when I came back. Danny looked rather relieved, come to think of it." she said, casting a glance to Danny.
Jack was silent for the longest time. Finally he croaked out something. "I...I need to be alone for awhile...never mind hearing the story of Danny becoming Great One...I think I know what story you're talking about. The Ghost King. I'll come back when I'm ready."
Danny was going to say something, but Maddie shook her head and made Danny come with her. Back in the cave, the group was waiting. Twilight Sparkle sighed.
"How did Jack take to the news of...Vlad?" she asked. Danny looked down.
"Not too well. He wanted to be left alone for awhile." he said. Rarity groaned.
"Ugh. I remember you telling us about Vladimir Masters in the weeks we were waiting for news about Blueblood. Such a strange fellow."
"Or as Danny called him, a big, fat Frootloop!" Rainbow said.
"Frostbite told us about the story while you were away. He assumed that you already knew about it, so he just told us." Fluttershy said. Danny nodded.
"That was the best thing to do. Alright, now I believe you had a story to tell us about the Elements of Harmony?" Danny asked. Applejack shook her head.
"Let's wait until Jack's ready to talk again. It'd be best if he heard this, too."
"In the meantime, why don't you come with me for dinner? I would assume you all have had a long day. Spike is still happily eating away at the rubies. He's actually become quite a big help. And he's left a large pile for you, Miss Rarity." Frostbite said. Tucker smiled.
"Finally! Food! Meat! "
Jack had come back in the middle of dinner. He ate with them and failed to speak a word. The rest had chattered amongst themselves. At the end, Twilight Sparkle began the story. "I used to live in Canterlot. Since I was a child, I had studied under Princess Celestia about magic. But one day I had read a legend of a mare by the name of Nightmare Moon. She had been imprisoned on the moon by Princess Celestia for a thousand years for threatening to not move the moon for the sun, angry that ponies played in the sun, yet slept and ignored her beautiful night she worked so hard to create in Equestria. It said on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration that occurred at the thousand year mark that the stars would aid in her escape.
"The princess had told me to go to Ponyville and make friends, much to my distaste. I met all of these five and at first shunned the idea of being friends. But when the legend came true and Nightmare Moon escaped once more, I needed their help searching for what are called the Elements of Harmony, the only thing that could stop her. In various acts, they earned their elements. When all five came together, the sixth and most powerful element was exposed. They are Laughter, Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, and Magic.
"Pinkie Pie controls the element of Laughter, Applejack has the element of Honesty, Rainbow Dash earned the element of Loyalty, Rarity captured the element of Generosity, Fluttershy got the element of Kindness, and I have the element of Magic. We used them on Nightmare Moon, our friendship uniting our elements. We freed Princess Luna from whatever evil force had hold upon her to create Nightmare Moon."
"Princess Luna was Nightmare Moon?" Jazz asked, surprised. "I would've never guessed. She's so kind."
"We were surprised, too. But now she is free from those powers of darkness. We then had to use them again when a villain named Discord escaped and he caused havoc. He was almost the end of our friendship, but the control he put on us was broken and we stopped him. We have to wear special jewelery which contains the elements only we can use. The jewelery is in the Canterlot Castle, under careful protection."
"Wow. Funny how we met up with the heroes of one world when the heroes of another were in trouble." Sam said. Pinkie smiled.
"Well, we always believe now that future friends have some sort of special connection to each other. Long story. But that must've been the case!" she said cheerfully. Tucker was about to speak when a shrill, falsetto scream was heard. They all turned to see multiple Far Frozen guards chasing a certain unicorn with the name Blueblood away. With a flash, he disappeared again.
They were left to stare for a long time. Applejack grinned. "That'll teach that fool."
"But how did he get past the guards?!" Rarity shrieked.
Upon returning home, baffled guards had told them that Blueblood had teleported so fast that they had hardly a chance to get him. However, he had not returned back yet to the portal, so it was probable he was still in the Ghost Zone somewhere. The ponies returned home, a little shaken, and the Fentons had- nervously- gone to bed. Jack or Maddie had stayed awake during the night and traded off turns for one to sleep and one to keep watch. Neither of the Fenton children could sleep peacefully, and Sam and Tucker had felt the same at their homes, despite the fact Blueblood was unaware of where they lived.
It was a very uneasy night.
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
The next day, after school was over, the trio and Jazz made their way to Danny's house. The ponies and Danny's parents were waiting. They went to the lab. Maddie spoke. "First things first. The guards had no reports of Blueblood attempting to go back into Equestria. Jack and I took watch at different turns over the night, and nothing came out of the Ghost Zone. So we're led to believe that he's still somewhere in the Ghost Zone. We're going to search for him. Hopefully ghosts haven't gotten to him first."
"The Ghost Zone? Hold up, Mom, we can't just go tearing in there. It's endless. He could literally be anywhere in there. We'd never find him. Our best bet is to just see if he comes back through. He'd have to eventually to survive." Danny said.
"So what? We can't do anything?" Rainbow Dash asked, irritated. Sam nodded.
"Looks like it..."
Twilight Sparkle smiled. "Not to worry! I was just studying a new spell. It should be able to show where lifeforms are. Considering ghosts aren't exactly lifeforms, it should narrow it down."
"Well, it's certainly worth a shot. Oh, and Twilight, I finished reading the book on beginner spells you gave me. I need a new one." Jazz said. Twilight nodded.
"Oh, it's always wonderful to find a friend who loves reading as much as you do! Alright, now..." Her horn began to glow. She concentrated. "Alright, I obviously detect all of you, including Danny...but...it seems like there's something not too far away from the portal...oh goodness!" She stopped. "Brace yourselves! Speak of the pony devil, it looks like Blueblood might be trying to come back through!"
No sooner than did she speak did Blueblood begin to pull himself through the portal. He was badly battered. His clothes were torn and his hair was all over the place. Maddie and Jack immediately pulled out weapons and Danny went ghost. The rest pulled out their wrist guns. Blueblood's eyes were filled with fury.
"I...have had enough of you all...putting me through hoops." His left eye twitched involuntarily. "You've become more than a thorn in my side...I have dragged myself through the worst place possible to get back here. Without a certain map. And I shall end it!" His horn glowed. "One spell shall put you all out of commission for a week!"
"Not on my watch!" Twilight shouted. At the same time Maddie had immediately grabbed the Maddie Modulator to counteract it. Right as both spells from both unicorns were shot, both were intercepted by the modulator. Maddie had meant to just capture Blueblood's, but Twilight's had accidentally been absorbed as well.
The modulator began to shake and smoke. "EVERYPONY RUN!" Applejack shouted. "SHE'S GONNA BLOW!"
But it was too late. The modulator exploded with a loud, resonating BANG with a storm of smoke. There was coughing. But every human in the room felt strange. Their bodies began to painfully feel like it was changing rapidly, too fast for comfort. When the smoke faded, Blueblood was gone. The group moaned and groaned. Jack was the first to fully open his eyes. When he saw his hands had turned to hooves and a horn was on his head, he groaned.
"This is not good." he commented.
"What happened?" Fluttershy asked aloud. The ponies regained their bearings and turned to the rest...only to recoil in shock. The spell had changed all the humans to ponies again. On Earth, no less. "Oh..."
"What's- oh!" Everypony began to rise to their hooves awkwardly. Sam groaned.
"This is just perfect. My parents are gonna be so mad..."
"Hey, mine too!" Tucker grumbled. "I don't think they'd be too happy to see me like this again."
"We have more important things to worry about..." Maddie muttered, ruefully poking her wings. "Blueblood escaped again."
"Fabulous," Danny commented sarcastically. "Just freaking fabulous."
"How long did he say that spell was supposed to last?" Rarity asked. Jack frowned.
"A week, if I'm correct. That means my family and I, and Sam and Tucker are going to be afflicted by this. Well-"
They were cut off by frantic knocking at the door upstairs. They stared at each other in horror, and Maddie came to the door, followed by the rest. "Um, now's not a good time! Come back...eventually..." Maddie said.
"Mrs. Fenton? It's Mrs. Foley and Mr. Foley." a voice came. Tucker's eyes went wide.
"Oh, um...Mom! Dad! Uh..."
A sigh. "I take it you are suffering the same problem as well..."
Eyes went wide. "It wasn't just us?" Twilight Sparkle asked aloud.
"No! Not just you at all! Please, open the door..." Jack opened the door using his magic and outside of the door was Tucker's parents, two unicorn ponies. Behind them ponies were stumbling in the streets, trying to stand up.
There was a long silence, and then Sam gasped. "Amity Park?"
"No. Worse...it appears the entirety of Earth has fallen foul of whoever caused this...we were wondering if you might have any idea of what might've caused this, considering our children have been in that world once."
Tucker sweated. "No, not at all. We're just as confused." he lied. His parents seemed to believe it and nodded. Soon Sam's parents, struggling as they attempted to run, made their way up to the Fenton's door. Both of them were earth ponies.
"I see we're all having an issue." Sam's father commented dryly. Mrs. Foley looked to them.
"It looks like the Fentons had nothing to do with this. They're just as confused."
"That can't be good...but when the world gets turned into ponies, nothing can be good..." Mrs. Manson said. "Anyhow, Mayor Masters has declared an emergency town meeting. You may wish to speak with him on the way to solve this. Come with us!" They said urgently. The group followed nervously. Jack didn't look pleased at all that he had to go listen to Vlad. The ponies from Equestria did their best to look like they were just as confused as the others- previously human- and forced a fake stumble in their step.
Blueblood had been hiding in Danny's room. When he saw them leave, he smirked and was about to walk out when a laptop caught his eye. It had already been logged into- probably by Danny's parents- and ghost files lay open for him. He scrolled through it curiously. He froze when he got to one that said 'half-ghost'. He popped it open and Vlad Masters came on-screen.
He read it for a few moments, learning about the arch enemy of his enemy before grinning maliciously. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend..." he said to himself before concentrating and teleporting himself. No one would notice him on Earth, except for a certain group he would avoid.
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
Vlad wasn't happy.
At all.
It had been so sudden, so quick; a brief flash, an ache, some screams, and even more screams following the previous screams. When he regained his bearings to tell the people working in the office of the mayor to calm down, he suddenly realized why they kept screaming...after all, it wasn't every day that everyone in your office was turned into a pony- unicorns, pegasi, and normal ones (though Vlad noted that a lot of the normal ones were the ones with all sorts of earthy things around their desks; plants, pictures of animals, and one or two came from parents who were farmers; perhaps they had some ingrained connection to nature) and when he frantically looked for a mirror, he saw he himself had been transformed into a gray unicorn pony with a dollar sign on his flank.
He was able to resist screaming. His eyes narrowed. A ghost had to be behind this. Immediately he told his staff to try to calm down enough to order an emergency town meeting in an hour. A few of the unicorn ponies in the office tried to fix up the schedule, but upon seeing how hard it was to work with hooves, got frustrated. But when they gave a fixated stare at whatever they were doing, they were alarmed further to see their horns start glowing and doing whatever they commanded it to.
Vlad immediately tried it himself and found he was able to pick up papers. With a sigh, he retreated to his office and slammed the door shut. His first thoughts fled to the Fenton family; could Daniel have done something to cause this? He began to sort papers with his magic, all the while thinking how right after the meeting he'd demand that Daniel and his friends come and talk to him, to tell him what they knew.
The unicorn almost laughed at the image in his head of a group of confused teenage ponies stumbling up to him. And then he froze- he remembered how all the ghosts had been acting strangely lately, as well as the rest of the Fenton family- Maddie and Jack had done everything in their power to steer clear of the mayor, and Danny refused to tell him anything. He could no longer not be in the know; he had to know what was going on.
A brief pop resonated behind him, and he flipped around to see a white unicorn behind him with a rather haughty smile. Vlad stopped with the papers and scowled. "Who are you? Tell me before I have you taken out of the office for trespassing!" he snapped.
Prince Blueblood smirked. "Settle now, Mayor Vlad Masters...or otherwise known as Vlad Plasmius,"
Vlad gasped and then his eyes flash a blood red. "Tell me now what you're doing here and what you know before I do something I won't regret!" he snapped. Blueblood was completely unfazed by him.
"I believe you are aware that Daniel Fenton's parents have recently found themselves in the know about their son's...condition. It seems they were stupid enough to accidentally leave his ghost files open for all to see."
"What? His parents found out- that would explain why they've been acting so..." he paused and continued glaring at Blueblood. "Never mind that for a moment. Who are you?"
"I suppose I should introduce myself. Pardon me for being so rude. I am Prince Blueblood of Equestria. For weeks the Fentons have been hunting after me after a certain three children found themselves meddling in my business. I am in fact the one who is the source of this. My apologies- I meant only to afflict the Fentons and the ghost child's two friends for a week, which would be enough time for me to do what I intend. I meant to take over Equestria- where I'm from- and the other two places I managed to discover secondly, Earth and the Ghost Zone. This is all just a spell gone haywire and should only last a week or so. However, I come to you with a deal..."
Vlad was about to attack him when he heard that this Prince had intended to take over Earth and the Ghost Zone- which is what hewanted- but upon hearing a deal, he stopped for a second. "Go on." he said. Blueblood smiled.
"It's quite simple! You keep the Fentons and their friends busy, and I use the ghosts in the Ghost Zone with a mind-control spell to take over Equestria. I then turn the ghosts over to you and allow you to take over Earth. Equestrian troops under my command plus ghosts will be too much for them to handle. I then split it with you. You get Earth, I get Equestria, and we split the Ghost Zone between ourselves. As an added bonus, you get the Fentons for your own...minus the oaf of a father. What do you say, good sir?"
The other unicorn couldn't help but smile. "Well, why not? You have a deal." he said, shaking hooves with the other. Blueblood smiled.
"Ah, what a glorious deal. I have only a couple things to warn you about. They have made friend with six ponies from Equestria, who control powerful elements...however, the elements' power is kept in necklaces in Equestria, in a city called Canterlot. Provided they don't get them, they're helpless. The one of the six who might give you the most trouble is Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn who's, admittedly, better at magic than I- she studied under one of the Princesses of Equestria since childhood, so don't doubt her. The others are Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack. Applejack and Pinkie Pie are earth ponies, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are pegasus ponies, and Rarity is a unicorn pony. You should be able to spot them with him."
"I'll keep that in mind. Go about your business and I'll go about mine. Check in with me as needed."
"Very well. Good luck to you." Blueblood said, and then took his leave with another 'pop'. However, both already had in their backburners to back stab the other at the end of it and take over all.
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
Jack had hardly paid any notice to anypony following him except for Maddie on the way to Vlad's office. After some coaxing, Maddie finally convinced the other parents that she and Jack were just going to discuss with Mayor Masters on what he'd be saying at the meeting and got them to leave. She turned to Jack as they approached the doors. "Jack, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, maybe we should just-"
"No, this is important, Maddie. And I want you by my side during this." he said quickly. "There's no getting out of this. And now is the time." So Maddie decided to not push it farther. A sort of lump swelled in her gut when they finally entered and found themselves out of the mayor's office. Looking to Jack, the unicorn's face was devoid of emotion. He simply knocked on the door and waited. A few moments later an irritated-looking Vlad answered. He was about to demand who wanted to bother him when he was getting ready for a speech, when he saw who it was. He gave a quick grin of pleasure to Maddie and completely ignored Jack.
"Well, well, well, look who it is. Maddie...and...Jack." He extended the door open. He wanted to close it on Jack, but Maddie quickly threw a hoof out and held the door open. She gave a cross look to Vlad as Jack walked in. Vlad sighed, then faked a smile. "What can I do for you?" he asked, closing the door. "Please, take a seat." he said, gesturing to a few seats by his desk. Jack ignored the offer.
"No. I'm just here for brief business. Recently I have found out about Danny being half ghost. When I found out there was another half ghost, I made him talk. Being the good son that I have, he obliged. He told me...about a monster. A monster who would kill to get what he wants. A monster who steals to get his riches. A monster who tortures a man's son. A monster...who betrays his best friend." Jack turned his head to him and finally, a small yet large frown came to his face. "I believe we both know who we're talking about. That relationship is dead. The Vlad I knew is long dead; a vicious beast took him over. There is but one thing I have left to say to you." Jack leaned in and glared. "Stay away from my family and friends. If you so much as lay a hoof on them again, you'll find yourself inside of a Fenton thermos. Especially my son. Back off. I will never speak to you again."
"And nor will I. You are dead to me as well." Maddie said coldly.
"That's all." Jack said. He opened the door and he and his wife left, all the while slamming the door shut. And all Vlad could do was stare in a mortified trance of shock and horror. Finally he scowled before letting out an enraged scream.
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
A large crowd had amassed around the stage the podium was atop of. There were so many ponies that some of the pegasus ponies that could fly- Maddie, Danny, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and some other random ponies- had taken to the air to avoid the crowd. Vlad walked up and cleared his throat. He opened his mouth and spoke. "Citizens of Amity Park, we have found ourselves in an unusual predicament. It has been but an hour and we know very little on the matters of state...we have already been faxed by the state government who got faxed by the federal government a message. It is to stay calm, and that this is being looked into. However, though I cannot prove it, I have a feeling this is not at all permanent." Vlad smirked. "I have made some observations of my own- obviously, pegasi can fly, unicorns can use magic...and the ones with neither I have noted to be particularly good at things like gardening or animal care, perhaps indicating a natural ability with nature.
"Aside from that, all I can advise is for you all to try to adjust...if you have any matters of importance or know any information, please report to the town hall or email us your concerns. Lines are already full of messages, so please be patient and we'll get to it as soon as we can. If we panic and descend to chaos, we cannot fix what has happened. We are currently unsure as to whether or not this was caused by a ghost...but, of course, my money is on Danny Phantom-"
No sooner than did Vlad make the accusation against Danny did Applejack step forward. "Now wait just a cotton pickin' minute!" Applejack snapped. The crowd turned to see her. Danny stared in silence at her. Vlad looked carefully at her, then noted how close she was to a pegasus pony that looked a lot like Danny- and remember what Blueblood had said. When he saw the mark of apples on her, he knew that had to be one of his new friends- Applejack. Vlad scoffed.
"And who are you?"
"My name is-" Applejack paused. "Uh...Jacqueline...Smith. But my friends call me Applejack! And you can't make an unproved accusation against Danny Phantom! He is innocent until proven guilty. What proof do you have that he did anything at all?" she asked. The crowd murmured, and Vlad scowled.
"What proof do you have that he didn't do anything?" he asked.
"What proof do you have that he did do something? If he didn't, then you're being downright dishonest and mean. Ponies should be honest with each other, especially with someone in power like you. Honesty is a virtue. I ain't no fancy-schmancy speaker or nothin', but I am an honest pony. And Danny Phantom is innocent until proven guilty." she finished. The crowd began to cheer and stomp their hooves in approval of her words. Applejack politely tipped her hat and smiled. Vlad's face turned a bright red in embarrassment and anger- no one made him look like a fool.
"I suggest, my dear, you be careful about what you say. Meeting adjourned." he said, and walked off. He walked inside and went to his office. He opened his desk and found a small, flying bot that could spy for him. He quickly set the target and let it go. He turned on the speakers in his room and listened in.
He could hear the group began to laugh and high-hoof and congratulate Applejack on her words.
"Couldn't have said it better! Nice going, making the Frootloop look like a fool!" Rainbow Dash said. Applejack smiled.
"Why, not a problem. I just don't like seeing my friends be pushed around, and I certainly won't tolerate it." she said. Danny grinned
"That's so nice of you. Thanks."
"Alright, Jack and I have some business to take care of at home. We're already guessing people are going to be asking us for information. Why don't you go and report to Princess Celestia and see what's going on in Equestria?" Maddie suggested.
"I have homework to do. The others can go." Jazz said.
"Yeesh, you're thinking of homework at a time like this?" Danny asked.
"Shut up, little brother. Let's get going."
Vlad quickly controlled the robot and made it land in the closest available pony's hair that was following them. However, that target happened to be Fluttershy, and as soon as the robot landed on her, she detected the movement, shrieked, and flopped over, thus crushing the robot in the process.
Everypony turned to Fluttershy in alarm. The pony let out a small moan and stood back up. She turned to see pieces of a destroyed mechanism on the ground. She brushed off whatever scraps where in her tail and stared at it. "W-what is it?" she squeaked. Tucker examined in for a second and made his judgement.
"It looks like one of Vlad's robots he uses for spying. Luckily, he chose Fluttershy, who would detect it in an instant. Looks like he meant to spy on us." he said. Spike shuddered.
"But how much did he hear? That's so weird!" the baby dragon said. Twilight Sparkle stared at the remains.
"I dunno. He could've heard nothing or everything we just said."
"Goodness gracious! He's sure determined..." Rarity said, disturbed. Pinkie poked at it and got a minor shock, making her retract her hoof and pout.
"Ouch! What a meanie...doesn't he know nopony can have many friends if you're mean?" she asked.
"He doesn't care. In any case, we need to be careful. Keep our eyes and ears open." Sam replied. Maddie, Jack, and Jazz quickly changed their plans.
"On second thought, maybe we should tag along just in case. I'll bring the Fenton guns!" Jack said proudly.
In the mayor's office, everything went static after he heard a yelp of terror and then nothing. Vlad grumbled, but at least knew where they were headed. He turned into a ghost and flew out. Turning invisible, he saw the group headed to Fentonworks. As he began to follow them, he knew he had a lead.
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
After much debate, in spite of the fact Danny's parents had said they were coming with them, eventually they were convinced they should stay home and keep an eye out for Vlad. They went through the portal to Equestria and headed to Twilight's library. The unicorn got out some parchment, a feather, and a vial of ink. Spike grabbed it and began to write what Twilight dictated. "Dear Princess Celestia, something's gone terribly wrong. Prince Blueblood had a spell that backfired and turned all the humans into ponies for a week. It's nothing short of a crisis on Earth. He disappeared shortly after, and-"
"-I personally think that he's gotten with Vlad. Vlad seemed particularly keen on spying on us and blaming me for the disaster." Danny interrupted. Spike paused writing and looked up.
"I dunno, are you sure? From what I've heard, he just seems like a weird pony." he asked. Sam frowned.
"You never know. Vlad is tricky and clever. He might not be with Blueblood, but he could be trying to use this for whatever plan he tried to think up now." she said. Right as Spike was about to write it down, Pinkie shuddered and her tail shook.
"My tail's a-twitchin'! Something's about to drop down!"
"Y-you mean those heavy-looking books that's eerily floating up there, right about Danny's head?" Fluttershy squeaked, pointing to a book that had just been taken off the shelf. One of the books dropped, and Danny dodged it. Twilight, Rarity, and Tucker were not using magic, so it had to be-
"Vlad." Danny said coldly, moving away from under the book. Rarity looked to him.
"But wouldn't you sense him if it were Vlad?"
"No. My ghost sense never goes off around him. Not to mention none of you are using magic. Vlad." he said shortly. An irritated looking Vlad became visible. Instead of the gray coat he had, his coat had become an eerie blue tone, and his eyes lost their pupils and instead had pure crimson with a pure black outlining in the eyes. His mane was swept up into the usual Vlad Plasmius style with the same color, and his tail curved down and then up in a sharp half-circle. His white and red cape had draped over his back, but as he turned his head to glare down at the group, it moved to reveal a brick-colored, ghostly swirl for a cutie mark. He lacked wings but was still able to float as a ghost, and his horn looked rather sharp.
The ponies shrieked in terror, especially Fluttershy, who clung onto the nearest pony, who was Pinkie Pie, who clung onto her nearest pony, who was Sam. Sam grimaced. "Crushing...goth...indifference!"
Danny did not hesitate to transform. He flew up to Vlad, getting into a defensive pose. "How did you even get here, Frootloop?"
"I used invisibility, little badger. Ah, you're only but a year into being a half ghost. Otherwise you would've known immediately." Vlad's horn glowed red and he placed the book in his hooves back. "I come here for a reason. Team up with me, Daniel. We can solve this problem. There is no reason to fear me, because honestly, who wants to be a pony when you're used to being a human...or half ghost, in our case?"
Rainbow sneered. "Yeah, right! Fat chance, Frootloop!" Vlad smirked and looked to the group.
"Aren't you going to introduce me to your new friends, Daniel?"
"I'm Rainbow Dash! The rest are Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and Pinkie Pie! And you better not mess with us!" she snapped. Vlad looked at Fluttershy and floated down by her. The pegasus screamed and tried to fly away, but Vlad used his magic to catch her tail. She kept screaming in terror.
"Now, now, my dear, you have no reason to fear me. I actually am quite a kind and reasonable stallion, you see. And-"
"Don't you dare touch her!" Danny snapped, flying into Vlad and tossing him against the other side of the library. Spike yelped and jumped down to avoid being hit. Vlad gave an oof as he was thrown into the bookshelf. Fluttershy began to cry and everypony stood in front of her defensively. Danny tried to hold Vlad against the shelf, but the elder ghost threw him back onto the floor. The colt grunted and glared at him. "What do you want, Plasmius?"
"I already said, and you already know."
"Fat chance!" Danny snapped. "If you really wanted to work with us, you wouldn't have just tried to knock me out with the thickest book Twilight has in here and blamed me for this mess in Amity Park! Sam, Tucker, get the thermos!" he said, flying back up. Danny blasted at Vlad, who threw up a shield and blocked it. Danny growled in irritation and threw himself towards Vlad again, who moved quickly and allowed Danny to crash into the bookshelf. The other ghost was about to grab Danny, but Rainbow flew into Vlad and threw him to the ground. Applejack ran up and as soon as Vlad hit the ground, she bucked him- hard.
Vlad screeched in pain. He dodged a few shots from Danny and the guns that Sam and Tucker had on their hooves. But soon glow surrounded him and lifted him into the air, done by Twilight Sparkle. She looked to Sam and Tucker and nodded her head. Unfortunately, before Sam could crack the thermos open, Vlad broke free of the spell after much struggling. He cast an enraged stare at the group. A cake hit him in the face from Pinkie Pie, who already had plenty of cake in her arsenal. Right as Rarity was readying a spell to hit him with, the ghost disappeared and fled. Rarity stared at Pinkie Pie.
"Pinkie Pie, where did you get all that cake?"
"I have no idea, but it makes a perfect weapon!"
"Why did he leave?" Spike asked, terrified. Twilight sighed.
"He must've realized he was outnumbered. He probably had no idea ponies could pack such a punch."
"He'll be back eventually. We have to prepare ourselves," Danny said. He changed back and landed. "And he'll be back with help, probably. He's not stupid. A frootloop, but not stupid."
Rainbow chuckled. "No matter what, he'll be no match for us!"
Fluttershy was still crying. Pinkie Pie came up and gave her a hug. "It's okay, Fluttershy. It's all over." she said. Danny smiled.
"I won't ever let him hurt you. I promise." he said. Fluttershy gave a weak smile. Her face was still red from crying, but she was beginning to calm down. Spike pulled out the letter he was working on. Sam looked to Spike.
"Spike, I want you to write that we were attacked in the middle of this by Vlad. Describe what he looked like- in both normal and ghost form. Please."
"Of course..." Spike wrote it up and sent the letter off with a puff of magic fire. Tucker looked around the library- it was trashed. Books and papers what were more often than not torn or burnt lined the floor. The cake that had hit Vlad's remainders were a pile of frosting and cake on the floor. He sighed.
"Sorry for the damage, Twilight."
"It's not your fault..." Twilight stared at all the papers and books. "The only problem is now everything is out of order! My organizing system has been trashed! It'll take me a long time to fix this all!"
"Can we help you at all?" Rarity asked. Twilight nodded warily.
"You could, but I don't want to make anypony stay for too long. If you want to help, it'd be nice if you could start organizing the papers and books by category for me while I tidy up the place..."
A few hours later, the group had finished cleaning up the library. It would've gone by faster, but Twilight demanded that they stay on a strict organizational regime, and every so often she reorganized the categories that the group had done. At one point Danny took over a book and made it float up and down to try to alleviate stress to no avail. Pinkie Pie had mistaken it as Vlad had come back and, shrieking, bucked the book as hard as she could. It knocked Danny out of the book and partially damaged the novel he had taken over. Danny had crosseyes and saw stars around his head for a few moments before regaining his bearings and getting back to work after many a 'sorry' from Pinkie.
Eventually everypony went home, exhausted. They had agreed to meet the next day at the Fenton's house. Danny's parents were infuriated by the news of Vlad's attack- Jack himself wanted to march up to Vlad's house immediately and confront the man. After much effort, they finally got him to (reluctantly) stay home, telling him a direct attack would be too obvious. Instead, Danny's father decided to sit in the living room all night with an ectogun held up by the door with his magic and a number of weapons activated in the living room. Because of this, Jack had forbidden Danny to come downstairs until he told him he deactivated them, lest he set them off.
Yet again was it a long night.
Prince Blueblood had spent all day scouring the Ghost Zone. Eventually he found a hiding spot in a crevice on a floating island in the Zone and waited. For most of the day too many ghosts had come and gone by for him to take one over without being spotted, and he was beginning to get a headache from all the creepy moaning and groaning and a loud, insistent BEWARE that had come from a particularly obnoxious ghost. But eventually the traffic had slowed and soon enough, only one nervous-looking one was passing. He immediately used his magic and the ghost froze. It came up to his hiding spot. Its eyes had gone blank. "Hello...master..." it said emotionlessly.
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
Vlad was covering up some wounds he had sustained in the earlier battle. Being half ghost, he knew they wouldn't take long to heal, but also knew it'd take the night at least before he healed up. He also took some aspirin to relieve the pounding headache and aches he had throughout his body. It was then that Prince Blueblood decided to drop in on him- with a pop he appeared behind Vlad. Vlad turned around to see the prince standing behind him. The stallion finished with his bandages and sighed. Blueblood smirked.
"I take it you got more trouble than you bargained for, Masters?"
"Understatement, that," Vlad said tiredly. "I was bucked about a million times over and even plastered in the face by cake from that annoying pink one. I'm trying to think up a way to get them while they aren't expecting it. I knew I should've duplicated." he muttered. Blueblood turned to the ghosts behind him.
"I've begun my work on taking over the ghosts again. I've brought over six for you. One for each pony." he said. The ghosts flew up to Vlad obediently and said nothing. "Hopefully this might help you."
Vlad eyed the ghosts carefully and then nodded, pleased. "I say, you're not doing so bad. Thanks for the help. They can keep them distracted while I take on Daniel and his friends. By the way, do you mind if I ask a question?" he asked. Prince Blueblood smiled.
"Depends on the question, but otherwise I certainly don't see why not."
"How- how are you a Prince? Do you just call yourself one or are you actually one?" Vlad asked. Blueblood nodded.
"Ah, that's a good question. I am the great great great great great great great great great great great," Blueblood paused to take a breath, "and possibly more greats, nephew on Princess Celestia's and Princess Luna's mother's side, about 52 times removed or so." he said.
Vlad blinked after a second and then raised an eye. "Er...sure you're not a duke, then?"
"I am a prince and I won't be called less." Blueblood said shortly. Vlad shrugged.
"Have it your way. You will be prince- or even king, anyhow, once we're done. But how can you be that many greats? How old are the princesses?"
"Over one thousand years old. They are pegasus unicorns- a type of pony only the top of the top royalty are, and I wish I was- and live for a very, very long time. It's even possible they're biologically immortal. Celestia is the elder of the two."
"Then how long do normal ponies live, then?" Vlad asked. Blueblood shrugged.
"I've heard so far that natural ponies here- not as smart or have wings nor horns- only live for so long. However, ponies from where I'm from live about to same age as humans." he answered. Vlad nodded.
"Ah...one last question, do you mind?"
Prince Blueblood rolled his eyes. "Make it quick. I have to get back to the Ghost Zone and continue my work."
"Fair enough," Vlad said. "Time is money, after all. My last question is...why are they called princesses and not queens, if they're the ones who rule?"
"No one knows for sure, and neither Celestia nor Luna will say. I've heard rumors, however, that it has something to do with when Luna had to be banished to the moon when she grew evil from some outside force and threatened to force the night to never be removed for daylight. Celestia didn't want to call herself Queen until her sister returned in a thousand years- hopefully back to normal- and ruled alongside her, as she felt Luna had a rightful place by her. And of course, about a year ago, she came back- saved by the very ponies who are working with Danny Phantom. They haven't changed from Princesses to Queens yet, and I suspect it's more symbolic than anything else. Rather stupid, in my opinion."
"Wait, wait, wait! The ponies who are working with Daniel...are the ones who saved the princess? You didn't tell me that!" Vlad snapped. Blueblood smiled.
"Please, good sir. Like it's that much harder for you. Without their Elements of Harmony, they'll be helpless against you and your ghosts. Alright, I must go now. Ta-ta!" he said, disappearing with another pop and flash of light. Vlad turned to the ghosts who were waiting commands patiently.
"Go wait in the lab. Don't move a muscle away from the door until I tell you to move. Tomorrow morning we're to strike again." he said, heading off the bed. The ghosts obeyed and silently went to his lab. Vlad went off to bed, already planning the next day's attack.
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
The Not-So-Surprise Attack
On the way to the Fenton's home, Twilight had asked for each pony to bring their ectogun that they could strap around their hoof. When they first met, Rarity's gun immediately caught their eyes; it was bedazzled with diamonds and sapphires that glittered and cast rainbows on the ground in the morning sun as light struck it. Rarity had replaced the pure black strap with a soft, white strap. When given quizzical looks, she flipped her hair back and smiled. "Just because I am given a weapon doesn't mean it has to be plain. So I made it fabulous, and I'll do the same for anypony else who wants it! I'm not one for fighting, but I can at least do it in style." she said. Applejack rolled her eyes.
"C'mon, we're almost to the house. We can talk about pretty-fied guns later..." They entered the cellar and passed the guards and went to Earth. Jazz was waiting inside the weapons vault for them, and a pink glow had surrounded her horn and a book that was floating in front of her face that she was reading. She glanced towards them and placed the book down.
"My Mom and Dad told me to wait for you guys. C'mon." she said. "Sam and Tuck are already here."
While they were following her, Twilight caught a glimpse of Jazz's book- How To Deal With Irritated Brothers- and began to wonder what she could be reading that for. She got her answer when she entered the living room with the others to see Sam and Tucker staring in dismay at the scene also in front of them- Jack Fenton was hurriedly trying to disable every anti-ghost weapon he had set up overnight with his wife helping him. Danny stood on the upper balcony of the staircase, looking extremely annoyed- he would restlessly flap his wings every couple of seconds.
"What happened here?" Applejack asked. Jack grunted as he pulled the lever out of a particularly stubborn weapon to disable it for the time being.
"I was paranoid about Vlad coming back, so I set up all these anti-ghost perimeters. I warned Danny not to come down here until I told him it was safe for him to not get shot out and or electrocuted by multiple weapons automatically."
"But it's taking us longer than expected to dismantle everything. Jack really went to town on all this. Just a bit longer, Danny!" Maddie said. Danny groaned in irritation and paced back and forth. Rainbow Dash laughed.
"Oh, this is too rich..." she said. Pinkie Pie happily hopped over all the weapons on the floor that had been taken down already and went up the stairs. She threw a hoof around Danny.
"It's okay, Danny! We'll be Stair Balcony Buddies! This is like the game where the floor's made out of lava, except only it is in a sense for you! You got me, good ol' Pinkie Pie!" she said cheerfully. Danny groaned and managed to throw a smile in her direction before irritatedly staring at the contraptions on the floor.
"They actually had to bring breakfast up here for me," Danny said bitterly, "Because I couldn't even go down to the kitchen! "
Rainbow laughed even harder. Sam jumped over the stuff and came up, too, Tucker following. Sam smiled at Danny. "And you still have us, Danny." she said. That actually managed to make Danny crack a real smile at her. Pinkie and Tucker looked at each other and snickered before heading back down. Danny and Sam stared after them. "Wait, where are you going?" Sam asked.
"Just giving the lovebirds their free balcony time together. He's all yours, Sam!" Pinkie said. Danny and Sam's faces turned bright red like a tomato.
"WE ARE NOT LOVEBIRDS! " they shouted in unison before pausing, sharing a look, then continuing giving everypony else a death stare. Rainbow by this point was dying from laughter, and Rarity gave an 'aww.'
"It's nothing to be ashamed of, you two cute little lovebirds!" the unicorn said. Danny and Sam turned away from each other, embarrassed. Finally Jack grunted and grinned.
"Alright, everything's done! Unless, of course, you two want a few more minutes up there..." he said teasingly. Danny rushed downstairs, trying to ignore what his dad said, Sam following. The pegasus turned to the group.
"So, what're we doing today?" he asked. Jack picked up a gun.
"I say we go straight to Vlad's place and take care of this pronto!" he said. Maddie nudged her husband.
"We should take a slower approach. A direct attack would be much too obvious and-"
"-and what, my dearest Madeline?" Vlad's flirtatious voice came. Everypony turned to see Vlad coming into sight, losing invisibility. Behind him were six ghosts mindlessly waiting a command. Twilight Sparkle gasped.
"He is working with Blueblood! He's got mind-controlled ghosts with him!"
Vlad rolled his eyes. "Funny, you finally figured it out, Miss Sparkle. However, this knowledge will be of no use for you after I'm done with the ones I don't need, and the ones I want are under my control- Madeline, Daniel, and Jasmine! Ghosts- ATTACK! "
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
Vlad duplicated into four, each surrounding Danny. The ghosts that Vlad had with him flew up to the ponies as told, and the fight began. The ponies began to use their hoof-rays to keep the ghosts away as best they could. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz used whatever weapons they could find, and Danny helplessly looked back to the others while he tried to best Vlad with his parents.
"How can I get them all at once? I can't use ghostly wail, and I can't..." Danny looked to Vlad and realized what he had to try. Danny grunted. "C'mon...c'mon!"
The boy struggled until three more copies of himself formed with a flash. Everypony took notice of this achievement of Danny's and cheered for him. Danny gasped. "I did it!" all of the clones said at once together. Two Danny duplicates were sent to help the ponies best the ghosts, first with Fluttershy, who was screaming and trying to shoot at the ghosts from under a table. One of the duplicates managed to knock out Fluttershy's ghost momentarily, much to Fluttershy's relief.
The effort quickly drained Danny and the copies came back to one. Vlad laughed. "Daniel, you're still weak! What makes you think you can beat me?"
"He has his family!" Jack roared, giving Vlad a hard blast from the ectogun he was wielding. Jack turned to Danny. "Son, go help the others fight off Vlad's minions! Your mother and I will deal with Vlad!"
"But-"
"NOW, son! Don't you dare argue with me!" Jack snapped. Danny immediately obeyed- reluctantly- and turned to help the others. Rainbow Dash and Applejack had managed to buck the ghosts attacking them in the head, but all it did was momentarily daze the ghosts- and they their mind control did not fade. Twilight Sparkle yelped as she cast a spell towards one of the ghosts, while Spike tried to breath fire at them.
"Blueblood's gotten better! I can't undo the spell unless they're all down!"
"How are we gonna do that? It only takes a minute for them to regain their bearings!" Applejack yelled. Their question had been answered not even a second later, when perhaps the shrillest shriek anypony had ever heard from Rarity. Everypony paused and stared at the unicorn, who was breathing heavily. She was not injured in a physical sense of the word- but was injured where it hurt most.
One of the ghosts made the deadly mistake to damage Rarity's hair and left an unpleasant-looking burn mark on her coat. Rarity whimpered for a second before her eyes filled with fire. "Oh...no...you...DIDN'T, YOU ECTOPLASMIC MONSTERS!" she screamed. With more speed than anypony knew she had, she ran forward and bucked her ghost in the stomach as hard as she could. The ghost gave a pained cry and fell back. Still enraged, she took the same action out on another ghost. The other ghosts began to back away, but it was too late. Rarity began to buck and kick them as they tried to stop her, successfully throwing each one to the floor. "YOU NEVER DESTROY MY MANE OR MY COAT! EVER!"
Everypony, even Vlad, had stopped to gawk in shock at this turn of events. Nevertheless, Twilight Sparkle used this to her advantage and cast a powerful spell over the ghosts. Each one let out a moan as a strange-looking puff of red escaped them each. When they got back up, the ghosts had forgotten all about the others and their fury got turned to Vlad. Now severely outnumbered, Vlad stared at the group of beaten and bruised ponies before him and ghosts who had directed their attention to him. Vlad looked around for a quick target for a distraction, and laid his eyes on a certain purple earth pony who he knew Daniel loved.
His hooves began to glow a dangerous red and tried to blast Sam with all his might. Danny reacted without thinking and shoved Sam out of the way and took the blast in all its glory. The boy screamed in agony and fell down, panting and moaning. Smoke rose from his body. Vlad flew over the boy and was about to unleash another when a blue light surrounded him.
He paled and turned to see Jack with the thermos. "NO! JACK! STOP! I...oh, butter biscuits..." he muttered as he was pulled in. Maddie shoved the thermos shut and placed it down. Everypony ran up to Danny, who was lying in pure pain. His side of his coat had been burned away and a bright red burn was apparent. Danny changed back and moaned. Sundry places on him had been burnt or singed. The ghosts flew away and Sam gasped and knelt down next to him.
"Danny! Are you-"
"I'll be fine," Danny said hastily, "J-just...go take care of Blueblood. I'll b-be fine."
"Danny...how can I ever...I don't even know what to..." Sam stopped with words and decided to complete what she was saying with no words. She kissed him on the cheek, which made the pony blush and grin.
"That made it all worth it...so what's the plan next- Twilight?" He was lifted in the air with Twilight's magic. She simply stood there as she opened his bedroom door with her magic and placed him on the bed inside and pulled the covers over him while the others began to walk upstairs.
Pinkie Pie rubbed Danny's forehead. "You'll be okay, Danny. You're one tough cookie...or cup cake...or even pie! Yep, Danny the Tough Pie!" she said. Danny smiled at her weakly. Danny's parents shoved their way past the others and knelt down. Jack grinned.
"I'm proud of you, son...that took bravery. And heroism...we'll even spare you the obvious lovebird comment right now. I just wish I could've got Vlad in a different way that didn't end with you getting hurt. I can't believe I was ever friends with...with a man who hasn't got a soul."
Danny rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter. You got him, and now Blueblood'll be a pushover. Do you need my h-"
"NO! " everyone said at once. Maddie frowned.
"Don't you dare get off of this bed, Danny. You're in no condition to fight. Half ghost super healing or not, burns like these won't fade overnight." his mother said. Danny scoffed.
"I think I've been through worse. I'll live."
"We should take him to the Ponyville Hospital immediately. I don't know if the human doctors are equipped right now for severe burns out of nowhere. Why don't Fluttershy and I take him while everypony else does what they need to do?" Rarity suggested. Fluttershy nodded.
"Oh, goodness, I don't think I could deal with more fighting at all today. Plus I don't want to see Danny suffer without help..." she said. Maddie and Jack nodded.
"Good idea. We'll discuss how to nab Blueblood..." Jack said. Fluttershy and Rarity picked up Danny together and waved to the others. Danny, embarrassed, tried to fly stubbornly, but pain met him in his right wing and he yelled and stopped. Rainbow Dash grimaced.
"Ugh, make that burns plus a broken wing..."
Danny sighed, defeated, and waved to the group. For a split second his and Sam's eyes met for a split second, telling each other things they didn't know they were telling each other without so much as a word. Danny, Rarity, and Fluttershy faded away from view as they retreated to the portal in the weapons vault and to the Ponyville hospital.
Tucker cleared his throat. "Alright, I have an idea. Here's how it's gonna go down..."
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
Vlad's house was silent and seemed to be empty. The house was waiting for the arrival of a most important guest. Outside, the wind brushed up against the windows and made an eerie, squeaky creaking sound. If one paid close enough attention, they swore they heard soft breathing from something unseen. An air of restlessness danced about. This eerie restlessness was broken by a popping sound.
Blueblood made himself apparent. He glanced around the house for a second, first in impatience and then bafflement. "Hello? Vladimir? Did you handle those pesky Fentons and company for me yet? I am demanding to know!" he yelled. "I can hardly wait any longer! For soon the world is ours! If you've taken care of them, I- I mean, we- can move along with no problem...my spell that turned them to ponies only lasts a week, and you know this. We need to move along. Now! "
Silence met his frustration for a moment before it stepped aside to allow a popping sound and a flash to momentarily blind him. Seconds later, a group made themselves obvious; Sam, Rainbow Dash, Maddie, and Jack appeared. There was now an empty spot next to Sam that had a pitch black burn mark on the floor- much like what happened when Blueblood tried the teleportation spell for the first time. It was a spot that Tucker once resided in.
Rainbow sighed. "Stinks that the invisibility spell from Twilight didn't last long. We could've messed with him longer." she said. The prince stared wordlessly in shock for a moment before he laughed cruelly.
"Please! You haven't even got Danny Phantom with you; at least Vlad did one thing right. No matter, I was going to dispose of him anyways...you'll never catch up with me. And-" Everypony paused as the floor began to shake, as if it were an earthquake. Someone might've suggested it was until angry screams and yells accompanied this shaking. Blueblood turned adruptly to see the doors of Vlad's home burst open and be thrown aside as if they were nothing more than pesky driftwood as ponies stampeded in. Blueblood stared in terror. An earth pony pointed at him.
"There he is!"
"He's the scum who turned us into ponies!"
"GET HIM! "
Blueblood turned back to his enemies, who ran out of the way of the mob and waved as he was about to be trampled. He immediately teleported away from the area. He moved himself to the Fenton portal and ran in, feeling safer where ghosts were under his control and he was not going to be attacked...
Being that there was no ground below him, he did not feel the vibrations of a large hoard coming towards him again. Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Pinkie Pie, and Jazz floated a little ways away and watched the scene unfolding calmly. Blueblood's ears pricked as he began to hear increasingly louder screams, shouts, and ghostly moans approaching. He turned to see all the ghosts he had previously taken over completely free of his control banded with more ghosts, all of which looked like they wanted to kill him.
"How...not again!" Blueblood teleported again, this time to in front of the portal to Equestria. He did not think about the fact that no guards were waiting for him inside of the portal and rushed in as his last resort.
It happened so suddenly to him he could hardly tell what just happened. All of a sudden, a numb feeling was in his horn and suddenly felt like it had even fallen off. Panicked, he looked to the floor- and stared in mortification. A still glowing white unicorn horn was lying before him. Some magic surrounded it, picked it up, and placed it into a bag. As he looked up, his eyes following it mutely, he saw a guard running off with it.
He hardly realized what was going on anymore, nor that Celestia was staring solemnly at him. "You are under arrest, Prince Blueblood of Canterlot, for charges of murder, multiple counts of assault, multiple uses of the illegal mind control spell, conspiracy, multiple attempted murders, and failure to comply with authorities. You have the right to remain silent and-"
Celestia found that she did not need more words, as Blueblood had fainted. Guards shook their heads and took the unconscious criminal away. Moments later, multiple ponies and a dragon who had contributed to the arrest came through the portal. Princess Celestia smiled. "I must thank you all for your help. We will be forever indebted. I would like to proclaim that the Fenton family as well as Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley are now official citizens of Equestria for their deeds- I'm sure we'll have some ceremony later for it, but right now...how did you think to get him captured like this?" she asked. Tucker smiled.
"It was easy after Vlad was taken down. We knew that eventually Blueblood would return to Vlad's house to see if he had done his job. So Twilight- who managed to finish reading a complex book on invisibility spells just the week prior- decided to test it. She made us go invisible for a short period of time and taught me to teleport- which wasn't easy, but I did it. I got my PDA's film rolling as soon as Blueblood appeared. I got him saying on camera what he said he did and what Vlad did and what he intended. I teleported away at that moment and showed it off to Amity Park's public."
"No sooner than did he give the word," Sam continued, "did an enraged mob of ponies come after him. He panicked and went to the Ghost Zone, where he thought he had a place to hide among the ghosts he took over."
Twilight smirked. "He was dead wrong. While the others went with Tucker, we went to the Far Frozen. I knew I could reverse the spell's effects if I had enough help- and the hardy ghosts of that region of the Ghost Zone were more than happy to help. So I reversed the spell and upon explanation, a mob also formed there to go after Blueblood. Right after I managed to undo the spell was when I had Spike send you a letter to prepare yourselves in Sweet Apple Acres, assuming that that was the next place he would go. We just outsmarted him, that's all." she finished. Celestia grinned.
"I knew you were all clever. Prince Blueblood will be given a trial in court, but we have more than enough proof to convict him of the crimes he's committed. Once convicted, his horn will be turned over to Zecora to make a potent and extremely rare potion that can restore Lady Strawberry Blossom's horn, and ultimately her magic. Hers would've been put back if it wasn't so cracked and torn apart by the end; there was no saving it. If Blueblood was not convicted guilty, his horn would be put back, and you all know and I know that won't happen. For the moment, the horn is going to Canterlot for storage until the trial and ruling is over. Unless he can somehow prove that he did none of this, he will not get his magic back ever again, as he abused it." she explained. Maddie whistled.
"Good. He forgot that what goes around comes around." she said. Jack frowned.
"How...how is Danny doing?" he asked nervously. Celestia smiled.
"He's been put into the Ponyville Hospital. Doctors say he'll be fine because he got there just in time. Little do they know that Danny will heal right up in perhaps a week or a week and a half. Fluttershy and Rarity did a good job getting him there in good time."
"So is that it?" Rainbow Dash asked, incredulous. "I mean, it just seemed so...well, it seems weird to just calm down after all of that..."
"Well, we'll need your testimonies in court, so in a sense, no, not quite. But I wouldn't suspect any more danger for now." Celestia said. She turned her head to a guard with a box, who walked up. He popped open the box and five glittering necklaces and one shining tiara- all of the jewelry seemed to shine as the dim light of the cellar reflected off of the stone on them- one with a butterfly, one with an apple, one with balloons, one with a diamond shape, one with a lightning bolt, and the tiara's stars. Everypony gasped.
"What...what are these? They're so beautiful..." Jazz asked. Rarity and Fluttershy began to walk into the cellar, back from business prior. Rarity smiled.
"Those, my dears, are in fact, the Elements of Harmony. We got a letter from the Princess after we put Danny into the hospital- that we were to be using the Elements. But for what?" she asked. Celestia smiled.
"They will reverse the spell and erase memories of all the humans. I do not believe they are ready yet for knowing there are intelligent lifeforms other than themselves. So to avoid anypony here losing their memory of the event, all of you- the Fenton family, Sam, and Tucker- shall stay here until the deed is done. The reason I'm having them use the Elements is because the only reason Blueblood's spell was so amplified was when it met Twilight's inside of a modulator. That and erasing of minds takes more than just raw unicorn magic." she explained.
"But...what about Vlad?" Jack asked, pulling out the Fenton thermos. The princess paused for a minute.
"I'll leave that up to you, Doctor Fenton."
Jack was torn. As much as he wanted to keep Vlad in the thermos and never let him go so he could not cause more trouble, he knew that what had to be done. If Vlad was exempt that the mayor could out Equestria's existence yet again. He gave the thermos a long stare before he turned it over to the six mares. "Do what has to be done." he said. "You know what to do."
The mane six took the thermos and nodded politely. "How're we gonna go about this?" Applejack asked.
"Go place him at the mayor's office. Let him out of the thermos- Applejack, you have strong legs. Give him a nice buck to the head. He should be out for long enough for you to be able to perform...whatever you do with those things."
"Fair enough." Rarity said. "Thank you. Alright, the doctor said he wants to speak with you two at the hospital. We'll take care of this while you go take care of your son."
The parents and Jazz left. The ponies pulled on their elements, waved to the princess, and went through the portal. Celestia turned to Sam and Tucker. "While they're taking care of business, the only thing we can do right now is wait for their return. After that, you can both go home. I'll personally reverse the spell of staying ponies for you and the others when you're about to leave."
The two nodded. Tucker immediately pulled out his PDA and began to play a game on it. Sam glanced to him, then Spike, who was staring at the floor. She nudged him, and Spike looked up. He sighed. "I'm bored!" he declared. "I wish we could go on epic adventures more often..." Sam giggled, and Tucker paused his game.
"I'll show you a game, Spike."
"Really? Cool!" Spike ran off to go look at the game Tucker was playing. Sam smiled, then looked off to the portal. She knew everything was going to be alright. But her smile faltered, giving way to important things on her mind she knew she had to attend to the next day that seemed large yet small. The portal became a mere background item as she dissolved into her thoughts.
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
Soon enough Danny was discharged from the hospital- doctors were still baffled as to how the colt healed so fast. His wing healed up and his burns were almost clear, and fur on that side of his body was already growing back. Eventually all that was left was a scar that got progressively smaller over the weeks post being discharged. The white coat was restored.
In what became one of the most followed court cases in Equestrian history, Blueblood was eventually found guilty unanimously. His horn was turned over to Zecora, who whipped up potent potions into multiple doses to be taken over a month, each dose once a week. It was sent to Strawberry Blossom, who had a business that was beginning to flourish yet again.
One quiet and sunny Saturday morning, Danny, Sam, and Tucker ventured into Ponyville. All of them were carrying a towel on their back. They made their way to Twilight Sparkle's library and knocked on the door. Twilight answered the door a second later. She had a bag that carried a towel and goggles. "Hi guys!"
"Hey Twilight. Are we waiting for anypony else to go to the lake with us?" Sam asked. Twilight opened the door wider.
"Come in. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are already waiting. We're just waiting for the rest." she said. The two she mentioned were sitting on the floor by their bags, playing a card game Tucker had introduced them to from Earth. Pinkie Pie had on comically large swimming flippers and snorkling equipment already and Fluttershy had a pink towel by her. Spike was impatiently pacing back and forth, waiting to go swimming already. They looked up and smiled.
"Hi guys!" Pinkie Pie said with a wave.
"How are you all?" Fluttershy asked. Danny grinned.
"Never been better. Ghosts are taken care of and I get to relax and go swimming for a day. What more could I want?" he asked. Rarity's voice came.
"We're here!" the unicorn called. She, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash came in. Rarity was wearing a gorgeous sunhat that was blue and had a yellow ribbon tied around the base, which swept down past the brim of the hat in the back. She was carrying a royal blue towel with yellow trim. "Am I the looker of the lake or what?"
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Aren't y'all going swimming? That hat won't do you much good if you're swimming."
"Oh, pish-posh, Applejack. You can all have your fun, but I have no desire to trounce into a dirty old lake with icky fish swimming around. I will just be relaxing and sunbathing."
"Then what do you need a towel for?" Rainbow Dash asked. Rarity scoffed.
"Surely you don't expect me to just sit down on an uncleaned beach chair, do you? The towel will add to the beauty and protect my beautiful coat."
Silence met her and then Twilight smiled. "Well, let's get going. We finally get a break after the whole fiasco and Danny's healed up. I spent hours making a schedule that would adhere to me having time in my schedule to have a schedule today to go swimming!"
Spike sighed. "I didn't know you had to put together three schedules just to go swimming. Now c'mon!"
The day that went by at the lake seemed all too fast. Rainbow Dash kept having fun flying up and then diving as fast as she could into the water and then turning and launching herself into the air like a rocket out of the water. Twilight would occasionally document creatures she saw in the lake, and Fluttershy spent a lot of the time feeding or playing with some of the animals that resided by the water. Danny would sometimes turn invisible and sneak behind somepony and splash them- but after the first couple of times they caught onto telling when he was trying this and splashed him before he could splash them.
Rarity went between snoozing and reading on her towel. Spike was having a blast playing in the water and once or twice convinced Rainbow Dash to take him on her back when she did a dive in the water for fun. Eventually the baby dragon was tired out by all the exercise in swimming, and after drying off, curled up next to Rarity, who had already fallen asleep while sunbathing.
When the evening came, they agreed it was time to pack up. Spike yawned. "What a great day. We gotta do this more often and-" The dragon began to cough and gagged. He burped and not one, but two letters burst out of his mouth. Twilight picked one of them up- it was from Strawberry Blossom. She opened it and read aloud.
"Dear Beloved Friends,
I can't thank you enough. I'm onto my last dose of magic restorer from Zecora. I sent a letter of thanks to her and decided you all deserved a thank you as well. My business is booming again, though it wasn't easy at all without magic. And now my life is returning to normal again after those years of torture. Without you, I could've never gotten my life back. I am forever indebted to you and please, come to me for strawberries whenever you need them. No charge.
P.S. Look at the photos I sent you in the envelope.
Love, Lady Strawberry Blossom. "
Applejack smiled. "Now, ain't that heartwarming? Let's look at the pictures."
Twilight pulled out five photos from inside the envelope. The first one said Before First Treatment, and had a picture of her horn still in a short stump. The next one said First Treatment, and the stump on her head had nearly doubled in size. The third said Second Treatment, and the horn began to narrow down and elongated. The fourth said Third Treatment, and all that was left in the horn to be filled with the tiny tip. The last said Projected Finish by Next Week, and it was the same photo as the last one, except only she doodled in the last part of the horn. It was a crude drawing, wobbly drawing, and she added at the bottom, "P.S. that was drawn with magic. It took a lot of trying, but I did it. My magic should be fully restored by next week. "
Sam grinned. "Aww, a happy ending. And usually I hate those in stories. But seeing as this is real life and not a story...I should stop talking. I've already beaten up my goth indifference as it is."
Twilight picked up the other letter. It was labeled From The Desk of Princess Celestia. Twilight read the first couple of lines and then gasped. "It's for your parents, Danny." she said. She passed it to Danny, who opened it curiously with his hooves and read.
"Dear Doctor Madeline Fenton and Doctor Jack Fenton,
We have begun to create Equestria's very own ghost portal for scientific study in Canterlot. We would like your help instructing and watching over the construction of the portal. Seeing as you're now Equestrian citizens, I'd like to commission our first doctors on ghosts to help with the building. Please send a letter of reply in a few days.
From the Desk of Princess Celestia. "
Danny shuddered. "Why do I get the feeling this whole portal thing isn't going to go as desired?"
"Relax. What could go wrong? We would know what to avoid after the first time with you." Rainbow Dash said. Danny shrugged nervously.
"I dunno...I just have a strange feeling about this..."
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
Encounter With The A-List
The group had arrived early- along with the majority of the town. Every now and then somepony would ask why Spike was a dragon; Twilight would immediately claim that he had just been affected differently by what happened, and most seemed to believe it, too concerned with other matters to question the matter further. Jack had been silent the whole way there and looked nervous. However, upon arrival, he murmured something to his wife and turned to the others. "Alright, stay here. Mrs. Fenton and I have some business to attend to with...the mayor..."
They walked off immediately and soon the other parents followed them off. Rainbow Dash looked around, and then smirked. "Well, would ya look at that?" she said aloud. She pointed to a large group of teenagers all nervously talking, some of which trying to text with awkward hooves. But barely any of them had cutie marks.
Applejack smiled. "Shoot, we oughta tell the Cutie Mark Crusaders that it takes even longer for ponies here to find their special talents! At least ninety-nine percent of all th' ponies their age don't even have a highfalutin cutie mark!" she said. Tucker pulled out his PDA and snapped a picture of the scene.
"I'll print this later for you to show to the Crusaders," he said, putting the PDA back away. "But I'm a little concerned. Spike's the only dragon here, so won't anyone find it a little suspicious that he's not a pony?"
"Please!" Rarity scoffed. "If they can't notice the dreadfully obvious connection between Fenton and Phantom, I doubt they're wise enough to notice that Spike's the only dragon."
Pinkie frowned. "Hey, nopony here is smiling! What's wrong with these ponies?" she asked aloud. A few passing ponies stopped and gave her a blank stare before walking on.
"It's probably because of what just happened. I mean, if I was suddenly turned into a human with no explanation...well...oh goodness! I don't know how I would react!" Fluttershy said. Pinkie groaned.
"But don't they know that they can at least make a bad situation a little better by being optimistic?"
"Nope. Humans seem to be a lot more pessimistic that ponies." Jazz said. "Bit of a shame. Smiling actually improves mental and physical health. It releases chemicals in the brain that make you happy! So it's wonderful that you can stay so happy, Pinkie. Wish I could do that."
"But you can, Jazz! All you have to do is smile, smile, smile! It's true, some days are dark and lonely...and maybe you feel sad...but Pinkie will be there to show you it isn't that bad! " she sang. "See? Maybe I should sing that from the beginning!" Pinkie was about to open her mouth and begin to sing, but all of a sudden a large, crimson hoof nudged her. She stopped short and turned around. Behind her was a group of haughty looking ponies that were teenagers, much like Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz. The hoof belonged to a large earth pony with a short, blond mane- his cutie mark was a football. Behind him was a navy blue pegasus pony with short black hair and no cutie mark. Two mares were by them, one a hot pink unicorn pony with a nearly flawless coat and a flowing, black mane. Her cutie mark was a makeup mirror. The other was a pale pink- much paler than Jazz's- earth pony with a blond mane with a flower by the ear and no cutie mark.
The earth pony who had gotten Pinkie's attention frowned. "'Scuse me, but do ya know anyone named Fenton, Foley, or Manson? Do you know where they are?" he asked. The trio before her began waving their hooves to try to tell her no, but she did not pick up the hint.
"Oh, totally! They're some of my best friends! In fact, they're right behind me!" she said, standing aside. Danny's ears flipped back nervously, Sam face-hoofed, and Tucker covered his face with the bag he was carrying that had multiple PDA supplies. Dash turned to Pinkie.
"Thanks...whoever you are...Fentasus!" Dash snapped, walking up. Danny reacted by flapping his wings and lifting himself in the air, away from where Dash could reach him. This action momentarily caught the jock by surprise, as almost none of the pegasus ponies could fly yet, but he shrugged it off and scowled. "Coward! Fentasus, what happened to us? What did your freaky parents do?"
Rainbow flew up and floated in front of Dash's face. "And who do you think you are?" she snapped. Dash tried to push her away, but Rainbow was faster and flew back and flew beside Danny. "The name's Rainbow Dash! And-"
"What, your name is Rainbow Dash? But my name is Dash! I'm Dash Baxter!" he snapped. "And Rainbow? Geez, people give their kids weird names..."
"Well, obviously, I use the name better. And I'm a few years older, so I had it first. Who do you think you are?" Rainbow asked coolly.
"They're the A-list kids from our school." Sam said flatly. "A bunch of snotty brats."
"How dare you? I'm no snotty brat!" Paulina said, playing with her mane. "You're just freaks, goth geek."
"Okay, that was uncalled fer!" Applejack said. "State yer business and go. We don't have time for this." she said, observing as Fluttershy nervously hid behind Danny and Rainbow in the air. Dash growled.
"I want to know who's behind this. It had to be a ghost- and your parents work with those. What do you nerds know?"
"Nothing, Dash. And even if we did, why would we tell you?" Danny said. "Whatever's going on is not in our power. We did nothing and know nothing. Go away."
"Come down here and say it to my face."
"Sprout some wings and come up here and make me." Danny retorted. Dash turned to the pegasus beside him.
"Kwan, your cue." he said. Kwan nodded and then grunted. He tried to flap his wings. He gained an inch off of the ground before crashing back down. Star looked to him and then up.
"It's so weird that he can't fly but you all can with no trouble."
"Yeah! What do you know?" Dash demanded. "Speak up before Paulina uses her magic to make you come down."
Paulina frowned. "How do you know I can do magic right off the bat?" she asked stubbornly. Dash turned to her.
"Well, you're a unicorn, like Folicorn! If he can use magic along with their new friends, I don't see why you can't..."
"Unicorn magic takes practice." Twilight Sparkle said. "You can't just do it right away."
"How would you know?" Star asked. "And what's with the dragon? Why isn't he a pony?"
Twilight nervously laughed. "Ah...well, uh-"
"Such nerve!" Rarity said, offended. "I don't believe we did anything to warrant such suspicion. We're just ponies minding our own business. To answer your questions, the dragon, Sp- I mean..."
"Steven!" Twilight said off the top of her head. Spike gave her a look, and Rarity picked it up.
"Yes, Steven...was just affected differently. He's just a...little boy, just leave him alone. And as for the magic, anything done right takes practice. Now do you see why?" she said. Paulina stared at her, then concentrated. She took for Fluttershy's tail as a target, but all she managed to get was the very tip. Fluttershy squeaked in terror and shook it off with no effort. Paulina gasped, tired by the little effort put into the magic. Danny glared at the A-list.
"Unless you have a proof we did anything, I suggest you go away. You can't get us up here."
"And he has more than one friend here today with him. You mess with them, you mess with us." Rainbow said, sharing a brohoof with Danny. Dash realized he was outnumbered and scowled again.
"Fine, you win this round, Fentasus. Don't try anything funny." he snapped, and then they walked off. Pinkie frowned.
"Goodness, how mean!"
"What's mean?" came Maddie's voice. They turned to see Danny's parents approaching. Danny landed.
"Long story. We'll explain later. What were you guys up to?"
"Just giving a talking-to to Vlad. Now quiet- he's starting. I have to hear this." Jack said, turning to see Vlad walk up to a podium.
The Search for the Rogue Pony Prince
The ponies entered Earth. Twilight's horn glowed and teleported them to the mayor's office. Rarity opened the thermos and out came a dazed Vlad. He didn't even have a chance to regain his bearings before Applejack gave him a hard buck to the head, knocking him out. The unicorn changed back to normal. Twilight propped him up on his seat to make it look like he was just taking a nap, and Twilight teleported them again, this time out of the mayor's office. Pinkie Pie looked about.
"So where are we going to this?"
"I suggest we head back to the Fenton's house. When everypony changes back, I don't want us to be in the middle of things in the open. We're real ponies, so we can't risk revealing ourselves again...unless anypony has a better idea..." she said, looking to the group. Nopony said anything, so Twilight nodded. "Right."
She moved them to the house, on top of the roof. Applejack opened the door for a quick getaway, and the ponies started. The jewelry began to glow brightly, surrounding each pony with a soft light. They were lifted into the air into a circle, Twilight Sparkle in the center. When their eyes opened, it was revealed that their entire eyes had turned a pure white, glowing sharply. A rainbow shield surrounded them and grew wider and wider. Citizens in the town below gave a startled look to the roof and began to scream and run- but as the shield passed over them, they stopped short. Their eyes went blank.
The ponies became mere shadows in the shield as it turned began to glow so fiercely that onlookers had to shield their eyes. With a rumble, the entire place was engulfed in the light. It lasted for a few seconds before it suddenly faded. Humans stood where their pony self once did, blinking in befuddlement. The ones who had used the Elements of Harmony were long gone now, the door that Applejack opened closed shut.
It was nine a.m. in the morning. The Ponyville Hospital was bustling even in the morning- newsstands declared Blueblood's capture. Danny was reading Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Statue, a book Rainbow Dash gave him upon hearing how bored the boy was. For a pony who was used to being on the go a lot with hunting ghosts, sitting in a hospital bed with a wrapped up wing and a bunch of bandages decorating his side wasn't exactly the most exciting thing ever. But the book captivated him, and he found himself reading every word eagerly of the novel, already deciding that it was his favorite book ever.
He was forced to put his book down with the nurse came in and told him he had a visitor. The colt was at first annoyed to put down the book, but when the visitor made herself present, he forgot all about Daring Do. Sam made her way into the room. Danny placed the book on the nightstand next to him and looked up at her. "Morning, Sam. Where's everyone else?"
"They're coming, but...I wanted to get here a bit earlier. You see...I kind of need to talk to you about something." the earth pony said, her ears folding back nervously. Danny smiled.
"Well, I'm happy you're here. What can I do for you, Sam?"
"Um...that was...really brave of you to save me from that blast. Even if now you're stuck in a bed, being bored."
Danny chuckled. "It's not so bad. It was at first, but then Rainbow Dash gave me a "get well" gift that was a book, and a pretty good book at that...uh, anyhow..." He awkwardly grinned. Sam giggled.
"You see, um...I...I'm going to tell you something, and if you don't like it, I'll shut up and forget about it...I like you." She stopped and blushed violently. "I've liked you for a long time...and was too embarrassed to admit it. And-" She was cut off when Danny closed her mouth with his hoof. He looked up into her eyes and then leaned forward and kissed her. She was caught by shock for a mere second before kissing back. It lasted a few seconds before a laugh came.
"You owe me five bits, Applejack!"
The two looked up to see the rest of their friends, and Danny's family, coming in. Applejack grunted and pulled out five bits and gave it to a proud Rainbow Dash. "Thanks for not letting me lose a bet, guys!" she said. Danny and Sam awkwardly smiled at the group.
"You two are so adorable!" Rarity said. Jazz snickered.
"About time!"
"Just don't make me the third wheel." Tucker said simply, shrugging. Danny looked to his parents and silently begged them to not say anything more. They took the hint and said nothing. Danny cleared his throat.
"So how'd it all go?" he asked.
"Fantastic," Twilight said, "We got Blueblood, as you might've keyed into by seeing all the ponies with newspapers. We tricked him and cornered him- and he got his horn chopped off, too!"
"Sweet! He got what he deserved!" Danny said, laughing. "So, what about Vlad?"
"Doesn't remember a thing," Jack said, "They went to change all the ponies on Earth back to humans and to erase their memories. He was released in his office and courtesy of Applejack, given a nice buck to the head to knock him out while they took care of business. He doesn't even remember that Maddie and I know about his identity."
"It's a bit sad, really..." Maddie said. "Jack didn't want to let him go- because he wanted him to stay in the thermos and not be released, so he couldn't cause more trouble. But he had to, because if he didn't, Vlad had a chance to escape again and reveal Equestria all over again." she said. Danny frowned.
"That's...understandable..."
"At least you'll be prepared, right?" Fluttershy said. Danny grinned at her.
"You bet. He doesn't stand a chance. Even though I ended up with a broken wing and third degree burns, I have to admit, that was fun. It was a nice adventure with some old best friends and some new best friends." he said. The group- especially the mane six- gave an 'aww' and everypony tried to hug him. But when Pinkie Pie accidentally touched his wing, he gave a grunt of pain, and they backed up. Pinkie Pie beamed.
"I'll just tack an 'I-O-U Hug for Danny' in my head." she said. "Also, I brought you a cake!" She produced the cake from behind her back- from nowhere. "I made red velvet with buttercream Frosting- your favorite! Jazz told me it was, so I told the Cakes, who made this 'Get Well' cake! I hope you enjoy it!" she said, placing it before Danny. The boy smiled broadly.
"This is great! Somepony pull up a table or something to put this on; cake for everypony!"
They cut up the cake and distributed it among the visitors. Spike shoved his second piece of cake into his mouth. "Man, Danny, you have a great taste in cake. Just imagine how delectable it would be with gems!" he said.
"I don't think we can share that desire with you, Spike...but this is good food." Jazz said. Twilight Sparkle opened her bag and pulled out a piece of parchment and ink and a quill. She smiled.
"How about we write a letter, Spike?"
"Sure!" Spike placed down the plate that was covered in only crumbs and grabbed the parchment.
"Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight began, "We spoke a bit too soon with a recent letter. But with teamwork and cooperation, we captured a criminal. Peace has settled once more upon Equestria and Earth for now. But in this adventure, more than one of us have learned a lesson about friendship."
Danny continued. "I myself, Danny Fenton, learned that some secrets are worth sharing with ponies who need to hear it and that you shouldn't be afraid to speak up. I should've told my parents much earlier about my secret, and I also should've told them right away about who Vlad really was. But I now know that some secrets shouldn't be secrets with some people, especially for those who truly care about you."
"Well spoken, son," Jack said, "Now, I, Jack Fenton, also learned. Even in my forties, I realized there's still much to learn about friendship. I realized that one of my closest friends since being a teenager was really a traitor. It hurt deeply, and it's okay to hurt, but I realize that he was never really a friend at all. You have to know whether or not somepony's a real friend or just a faker. And it's okay that we're not friends- because I still have other friends and family who are honest and love me for being me, my own fudge-loving and ghost-hunting self."
Sam picked it up. "And, I, Sam Manson-"
"-And Danny Fenton,"
"Learned that when you might have strong feelings for one another that perhaps you should share it when you feel ready, and that you shouldn't be embarrassed by what everypony else thinks or says."
Pinkie hopped up and down. "Oh! And I learned that Danny's favorite cake is Red Velvet with Buttercream frosting!"
Spike looked up at her and wrote it down. "Does anypony else have anything to say?"
The room was silent, and Spike wrote "Love, Your Faithful Students, " and then wrote something himself. "P.S. Spike did not have to learn anything about friendship, because Spike is the BEST friend of all and already knew all of this. And- "
"Spike..." Applejack said simply. Spike huffed and was about to cross it out before Danny shook his head.
"Nah, let him have his fun. It's harmless." he said. Applejack shrugged and said nothing. Spike's eyes lit up and wrote a bit more.
"Also, Danny is cool with a little fun, so obviously Danny is awesome. Yours truly, Spike. "