Invincible

*** Three months before the Summer Sun celebration (Nightmare Moon's return)

Since the day that Nimbus left, things had been different for Rainbow Dash, to say the least. She definitely had a whole lot of time to herself and her dedication to become a wonderbolt, but she no longer had that extra push or motivation that Nimbus always provided. Granted, she hardly ever needed it. Training, doing everything herself, and being so independent, Rainbow Dash made quite a name for herself inside and outside of Cloudsdale.

Unfortunately, she dropped out of school her first year without Nimbus by her side. She couldn't find anypony who let her cheat off of them. Fluttershy tried to help Rainbow Dash as much as she could, but she couldn't keep Rainbow Dash's attention on one subject for any longer than a few minutes. Plus, Rainbow Dash sleeping through each class didn't help either.

However, Fluttershy did help Rainbow Dash score an interview and job at the old weather factory. Rainbow Dash's speed more than qualified her for the spot they needed to be filled, so they didn't really say too much when she slept during working hours. She could easily clear the sky by herself in less than one quarter of the time it took her entire team.

On the morning after Nimbus helped Evening Primrose start her new life as Octave, Rainbow Dash woke up to the sound of her alarm at six in the morning. Rarely did she ever wake up at this time on a non-working day, but every now and then she did take the time to get up early and exercise before starting her day. It was going to be a long day: Help Fluttershy bring in a new animal from the post office, help feed the said animal, go to Apple Jack's and make sure no bats were hanging out in the trees again, pick up a dozen cupcakes at Sugar Cube Corner from Pinkie Pie, take those same cupcakes to Rarity's for her sisters party, and then end the day with some apple cider at the old sky tavern in Cloudsdale.

Rainbow Dash only ever went to the tavern to drink cider when she felt like she deserved it or wanted some alone time away from friends, otherwise she would just drop by Apple Jack's and get it for free....sometimes.

The tips of Rainbow Dash's wings reached for the ceiling as she stretched out from underneath her sheets. "I don't want to wake up!" She groaned, flipped over, and buried her face deep into her pillow. "It sucks being the center of attention." Rainbow Dash lied to herself.

"Well, you could always just let somepony else do it."

Rainbow Dash picked her head up to see Sky Forge floating outside her window. Drool hung from the bottom of Rainbow Dash's lip as she waved slowly at the old friend. "Has my window been open this whole time?" Rainbow Dash asked, as she had a temporary lazy eye that complimented the drool she hadn't noticed yet.

Sky Forge nodded and dipped her head inside. "I saw it open and thought somepony broke in." She looked at the unmade bed and all the miscellaneous items that surrounded it. The scratched up and half broken dresser concerned her the most out of the entire mess. "DID somepony break in or..."

"No." Rainbow Dash finally wiped the drool from her lip when she finally looked down at the mess. "My room just always looks like this."

Looking at the half-eaten and melted carton of ice cream next to Rainbow Dash's guitar and amp, Sky Forge asked "Explain to me how stallions find this attractive."

"Pfft." Said Rainbow Dash as she blew her mane out of her eye view and brushed her front lock into her trademark mane-style. "Please, I haven't had a stallion in this place since I moved in, and that's only because he was helping me break the bed apart."

"Break the bed apart, sure. You don't mean breaking it in?" Sky Forge teased.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and finally pulled herself out of the bed. "I swear sometimes you think like a guy."

"I'm a blacksmith, I only have sweaty guys in heat to look at all day. Can you blame me?"

The crack in Rainbow Dash's mirror made her tilt her head back and forth until she had a clear image of her white teeth. She smiled widely to the mirror and kept her mouth shut as she spoke to Sky Forge. "I guess not. I haven't seen you in about two months. I don't think you came by you talk about guys. You know I'm not that kind of mare."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Sky Forge admitted. "But I just wanted to see if you wanted some company at the tavern tonight."

Rainbow Dash stopped smiling at herself and raised her eyebrows at Sky Forge. "How did you know I was going to the tavern tonight?"

"It's the beginning of July, I know what day it is." Sky Forge leaned on and hung off of Rainbow Dash's window seal.

"You don't have to hang out outside the whole time if you don't want to." Rainbow Dash told Sky Forge, giving her an invitation to step hoof inside.

"Thanks." Sky Forge carefully leaped over and made sure not to step on anything lying around on Rainbow Dash's floor that hasn't been broken yet.

Waiting for Sky Forge to explain herself, Rainbow Dash stood on her two back legs and leaned on her half broken dresser with the elbows of her forelegs. "And what day is it?" Rainbow Dash knew the answer to her own question, but only she knew why this day was special to her. Only one other pony, except probably Celestia, would know Rainbow Dash would go out by herself in early July.

"You've been speaking to him to him, haven't you?" Rainbow Dash asked Sky Forge.

Guilty of the answer, Sky Forge flopped her ears down and dropped her wings.

"Even when I asked you if you have, you lied to me and said you didn't, why?"

Sky Forge wanted to answer all of Rainbow Dash's questions truthfully, but she made a promise to Nimbus she would never tell her.

"I think" Rainbow Dash voice went softer "I've always known you kept in contact with Nimbus. Why he doesn't come around to come talk to me or even see me. Wait! Actually, I do know why!" Rainbow Dash looked at the smallest trophy in her wall of accomplishments. It was still a first place trophy, it was just the only one she kept up from one of her flight school races, and the only one that was plastic instead of gold.

"He still blames himself for what happened. I kept telling him it wasn't his fault, but...I let him go because I thought he needed time to think. I didn't know he was going to run away from me." Rainbow Dash picked up the plastic trophy and held it above her head to look at the two names underneath. "You know, he hates this trophy. It was his last race before he had his heart ,or hearts, problem." Rainbow Dash set the trophy back down and placed it back on it's respectful spot. "He thought, and probably still thinks, I don't know about it, but I always have. I just waited for him to tell me, but he never did.

" I don't hate him for it, don't think I ever could hate him. He pissed me off a lot...a lot, a lot." Thinking back on the subject, Rainbow Dash remembered when Nimbus had used her Spitfire signature aviator goggles in a race once and chipped them. "But he's always been my best friend. Sky Forge, please, you don't have to tell me where he's hiding, but could you at least him I said Hi?" Rainbow Dash requested to Sky Forge. "Tell Nimbus, Rainbow Dash said Hi."

Sky Forge looked away from Rainbow Dash the entire time she spoke, too guilty and ashamed to look her in the eye. "IF I see him...I'll let him know." Sky Forge turned her head up to see that Rainbow Dash was looking at a small strip of miniature photos she had safely tucked away in one of her working dresser drawers. "Let's put all these depressing memories behind us, okay? Other than that Tavern, what else are you doing tonight, Rainbow Dash?" Sky Forge knew Nimbus would never forgive her if she told Rainbow Dash where she could find him, but it wouldn't be her fault if they "accidentally" went to the same place at the same time. "There's this place called Club Dub...."

Club Dub was a club Rainbow Dash knew a little too well. "You mean the place where the Wonder Bolts made that vigilante, Dark Wing, an honorary member?"

"YES!" Sky Forge had forgotten that had happened. Maybe if she could get everything to work out, Nimbus might even tell Rainbow Dash that HE was Dark Wing.

Rainbow Dash leaned away from Sky Forge a bit from her over excitement.

"Sorry." Sky Forge squeaked. "There's a V.I.P. only party going on tonight and I can get us both in."

"A V.I.P. only party?" Rainbow Dash had been on some pretty crazy parties with her friend, Pinkie Pie, before, but she had never been to a party at an actual club before. "Okay, I'm sold. I'll be there after I'm done at the Carousel Boutique today."

"No, stay there, I'll meet you there.You're going to need something cute to wear before we go." Everything was going better than planned for Sky Forge, and on such an impulse decision.

"...cute?" Rainbow Dash peered at Sky Forge with a questionable look. "Do you even know who you are talking to?"

"I'm not letting you go looking like..." Sky Forge pointed to Rainbow Dash and said "This."

"What's wrong with" Rainbow Dash made a circle motion around herself with her hoof. "THIS? Ponies line up to see all of THIS."

"That must be one heck of a short line then." Sky Forge told Rainbow Dash with a straight face.

"I'm not wearing anything to that party."

"It's a V.I.P party! You have to!" Sky Forge argued. There was no reason to wear anything at all to the party, it was hardly even V.I.P.! Reverb just called it that so more ponies would want to come in. The only reason Sky Forge wanted Rainbow Dash to wear anything was for Nimbus's sake.

"NO, Sky Forge. I'm not wearing anything, and that's final! I don't do cute."

***

Sugar Bomb laid on Talitha's couch on her back and held the first chapter of IInvincible above her face. "Oooh! This is the part where I come in." Sugar Bomb squinted her eyes at the paper in front of her. "Now what's my line?"

Reading her lines three times back and forth, Sugar Bomb shred the papers in her tiny hooves and hopped onto the top of Talitha's couch and asked her, "So Tali, what's it supposed to do anyways?"

Talitha took her eyes off the target dummy in front of her and spat her sword onto the floor. "What? What's what supposed to do?"

Sugar Bomb removed her cap and pulled and extra copy of chapter one from underneath it. "Wait a minute...I skipped a line....Oh." Sugar Bomb took a giant bite from the first pages of chapter one before asking Talitha "Why did we let Dark Wing take the wand?"

Talitha picked her sword back up and swung it at the target dummy, spinning it and dodging one of the extended arms swinging for her head. "I had gotten shot and Dark Wing still had a lot of energy in her. Besides, I wasn't sure if she knew how to use the wand."

"What's it supposed to do anyways?" Sugar Bomb asked Talitha once again. "Ah, there's that line. Much better!"

Talitha grunted and swung the entire sword through the body of the wooden target dummy, splitting it into two and sending the top half flying into the wall. "Ever heard of anything called the Fellowship Wands?"

Sugar Bomb shook her head. "I read about it briefly in Vulnerable, but the author didn't really talk too much about it." Sugar Bomb jumped off from the arm rest of Talitha's couch and ran to her, hugging her leg tightly like a filly wanting to hear a bed time story. With wide eyes too big for her head, Sugar Bomb said. "Tell me more!"

"The Fellowship wands are said to be what created the Elements of Harmony, but it's rumored that when you have all of them combined, they do something even more."

"So are the wands stronger than the Elements of Harmony?" Sugar Bomb asked, clutching hard to Talitha's leg when she walked over through the double doors that led to her small personal library.

There was no personal reading material for entertainment in Talitha's library. It was too small and important to contain such things. The only subject Talitha kept in her library was anything about the Fellowship Wands, stories or tales about them, and several unlabeled scrolls that only Talitha knew what they were.

"They could if somepony wanted them to, but somepony could use the Elements of Harmony to destroy the wands if they wanted." Talitha explained. "But like the Elements of Harmony, the Wands wouldn't go away forever. They would reappear when they found new pure masters."

"And all the masters of the wands are dead, huh?" Sugar Bomb looked up at Talitha and the book she pulled from one of the top rows.

"Do I look dead to you?" Talitha rhetorically asked Sugar Bomb.

The bottom of Sugar Bomb's jaw literally hit the floor with a clunk. "Whoa, did not see that coming. Wait a minute...how can YOU be a master of one of the wands?"

Talitha stopped immediately what she was doing and held the leg Sugar Bomb was clutching onto over one of the torches that lit up her library. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The fire beneath Sugar Bomb began to singe and burn little hairs off of Sugar Bomb's bum and tail. "Oh, no,no,no,no! I'm not implying anything at all. I'm just saying, you said the masters were pure, and you're so...well...right now, you're holding a child over a fire."

Sugar Bomb whispered to the reader. "Hey, don't worry about me, I'm a main character, and this isn't a George R.R. Martin story. So I won't die yet." Sugar Bomb's face fell after realizing what she just said.  "W-why did I say 'yet'?"

Talitha pulled poor Sugar Bomb to her face and put out a small flame that had started on the tip of her tail. "Oh, but I am pure, pure unadulterated badass."

"...wow, that was cheesy as hell. We stole that from somewhere. I just can't remember where." Sugar Bomb told the reader before turning to face Talitha.

"If you're a master, where's your wand?"

Talitha answered Sugar Bomb's question with a chant to the book she had laid out flat on the table. "Reveal to me that which cannot be seen."

The book went up in grey smoke until it was too thick to see. When the smoke finally cleared, in place of the book was a small skranny stick with a carving of a dragons head at one end and a representation of it's tail throughout the rest of it. The wand lit up in a red light bright as a torch and emitted an eerie red glow around the entire thing.

Sugar Bomb's eyes widened as she glanced at the sheer caliber of awesomeness the wand in Talitha's hoof wielded. "What's it supposed to do?", Sugar Bomb asked again for the second time. She wondered what a battle between Talitha and Dark Wing would be if Dark Wing could use the wand she currently had.

"I don't know", Talitha said, shaking her head. "Each one is unique to it's master, or Wanderer, that's what they're properly called. The wands can't even be used unless you have all of them."

"How did you become a.... Wanderer?", Sugar Bomb put amount of pronunciation to the term.  "What made you designated as this wand's master?"

Talitha crushed Sugar Bomb's cap over her mane and scuffled up her mane style. "It found me a LONG time ago. Back before I even became a mother."

A million more questions popped like popcorn inside of Sugar Bomb's tiny head. "Wait, you're a mother? You never talk about it. How OLD are you even?"

Talitha lowered the wand to Sugar Bomb's throat. "Do I LOOK old to you?"

Swallowing the honest answer down her throat, Sugar Bomb lied and said, "What?! You? No! Other than the scars all around your body, the wrinkle above your forehead, and the crow's feet under your eyes, your skin looks absolutely flawless."

Talitha pulled the wand back and threw on the same saddle bags she wore last night, except leaving her sword behind this time. "That's what I thought. Gear up, Sugar Bomb, we're going to a party." Talitha tossed her wand roughly into her pouch and trotted past Sugar Bomb, who still had a million questions to ask.

"A party?!", Sugar Bomb cheered. "Is there going to be cake? Mmmm I like that ice cream cake I had at Sugar Cube Corner once. Can we stop there on our way? Hey, wait, where are we going anyways? Talitha, stop ignoring me! I'm just a filly! I need attention! Talitha!"

***

"The Club Dub?" , Fluttershy repeated in question to Rainbow Dash as they both pulled her newly acquired goat in a flying carriage behind them.

"Yeah, I know really cheesy name.", Rainbow Dash nodded. "It's supposed to be a huge club, but I've never heard of it."

Fluttershy just nodded in agreement, not knowing how else to respond about the current topic. "It's nice that you have friends that can take you to places like that. I would never go myself, but...it's nice."

"I guess", Rainbow Dash shrugged with a roll of her eyes.

It was easy for Fluttershy to tell when Rainbow Dash was having second thoughts about something she wanted to share but wouldn't say out loud. Taking the bait, Fluttershy asked, "Do you not want to go?"

"It's not that I DON'T want to go", Rainbow Dash began to explain "I just don't want to get all dressed up like she wants me to."

"Oh!" A small spark of excitement lit up in Fluttershy. "I'm sure that will be fun. You should let Rarity help you."

A frown was found on Rainbow Dash's face at the mention of using Rarity's help in finding her something to wear. Rarity had been quite persistent about asking Rainbow Dash to help her model for some more "sportive" attire that  she had the right body build for, and now that she was going to Rarity's this evening....Rainbow Dash shuddered at all the flashy and girly apparel Rarity probably already had in mind.

"Nothing says fun like...dressing up for Rarity.", Rainbow Dash said with a sour tone.

After Rainbow Dash helped Fluttershy with acquiring her new animal, she quickly made way for Sweet Apple Acres where Apple Jack was already preparing an ass chewing for her for being late again. Even with her unbelievable speed, Rainbow Dash was still going to be at the very least twenty minutes late.

Once she got to Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow Dash could already see Big Mac pulling a large cart full of crates of apples stacked on one another with Granny Smith telling Apple Bloom all about the dangers of leaving animals, other than birds, in the trees.

"You see, Apple Bloom", Granny Smith croaked. "You leave one of 'em little critters in one tree then you get the whole lot of them in all of your trees."

"But, Granny Smith", Apple Bloom argued. "Why can't we have them in our trees? We have a whole lot of them." Evicting a poor creature out of all their many tress in Sweet Apple Acres upset Apple Bloom.

Hearing the whole conversation without Granny Smith or Apple Bloom's knowledge of her being there, Rainbow Dash interjected into the conversation. "I won't be throwing the animals out of their homes. I'll just be moving them to another location, where it's better for everypony...or uhh critter."

Coming out of nowhere unexpectedly, nearly scared Granny Smith out of her hide , and she would have to if it wasn't for her "dern hip"!

"Oooohhhh!", Apple Bloom said with surprisingly quick understanding and nodding. "We're not taking homes away from the animals?", Apple Bloom tilted her head at Rainbow Dash. The giant bow on Apple Bloom's head also tilted and waved in the small country breeze.

"Now why in 'Questria would we do that?". Granny Smith picked up Apple Bloom and set her on a higher stack of apple crates. "That there is just wrong."

"Ayep", a single response came from Big Mac, agreeing with Granny Smith by her words.

Not too long after, a familiar voice hollered after Rainbow Dash, "We might jess 'ave to if Rainbow Dash here was any slower."

Oh great, Rainbow Dash thought rolling her eyes just before turning around to face Apple Jack.

"Wha' took ye so long, Rainbow Dash, fastest pony in 'Questria?" Apple Jack announced, doubting Rainbow Dash's rightfully claimed title. "Half 'mah farm could be gone if ye don't put yer rear in gear."

***

At a gliding pace, Rainbow Dash poked her head in every tree, looking for nest of any sort that didn't need to belong there. So far no animals had been seen, not even birds. Most times when Rainbow Dash came over to check the trees, there would be at least two or three families of squirrels, birds, or if not fruit bats, but not today. It was very odd indeed.

Just when Rainbow Dash was going to skip the last section of the farm, she heard a low buzzing sound coming from the top of the trees. It was too loud to be a humming bird at her range, definitely something in the trees though. She poked her head into the low branches and then the buzzing got even louder. Whatever was making the buzzing sound was incredibly close. It obviously hadn't seen Rainbow Dash yet or it would have flown away by now.

Using her impressively convincing Timber Wolf howl, Rainbow Dash roared as loud as she could, in hopes of scaring whatever was in the trees out of the trees. She waited a few seconds as she heard absolutely nothing. She thought the buzzing had gone running for the hills until she heard it going again right above her head.

In one of the higher branches, there was a steel cage with many lines of tiny bars all around it, preventing what was inside from escaping. The space between her and the box was too tight for Rainbow Dash to fly up, so she instead balanced herself and climbed up until she could get a good look inside of the cage.

With a gasp, Rainbow Dash held her breath as she looked inside the cage to find a small family of four Parasprites flying around. There was no handle or traditional key lock on the door of the small cage, but there was indeed a small kitchen typed timer on the door with twenty minutes left on it.

Grabbing the cage in her hooves, Rainbow Dash spun the timer back to an hour and bolted her ways to Apple Jack's house, to inform her of the threat.

When Rainbow Dash told Apple Jack about what she found and showed it to her, Apple Jack grabbed and set the cage on the ground. She crouched down and closed one eye while inspecting the Parasprites with the other. "Now why in 'Questria would anypony put a family Parasprites in mah' farm?"

Shrugging as an answer, Rainbow Dash said, "I don't know, but somepony definitely put that there. Look at the timer on the door though. Whoever did that was planning on attacking your farm."

"And fer what good reason would anypony do that?", Apple Jack asked Rainbow Dash violently.

"Back off, AJ. I'm just doing detective work here...". Rainbow Dash stopped for a moment as she thought about how cool she would look with a smoking pipe right now...even though she didn't smoke. "You don't think somepony, like the Black Ale family, did this to knock you out of the Cider Competition for the Equestia Festival this year, do you?", Rainbow Dash asked, accusing the family that had the largest grudge against Sweet Apple Acres.

"Dag nabbit!", Apple Jack cursed. "Them Black Ale's been sore since we took first fer the past five years. It's no wonder thaid do something like this."

Rainbow Dash pointed her hoof at stamped insignia on the top of of the corner. "Wait, I know that symbol."

Apple Jack gave Rainbow Dash a hard questioning look.

"Well, I don't know it exactly, but I know where this cage came from. There's only one place I know of where you can buy a cage that Parasprites can't get out of."

Picking the cage back up in her hooves, Rainbow Dash told Apple Jack, "This was the only thing in the trees I could find, but I think I could find out who REALLY put this here." She looked out past Apple Jacks door and said, "I'll have to tell Pinkie Pie to hold to those cupcakes a little longer than I thought she would have to and...CRAP!"

"What is it now, Sugar Cube?" , Apple Jack asked.

"I''ll have to tell Rarity that I'm going to be late at her place too.", Rainbow Dash said as she looked down at the cage in her hooves with disgust. "You guys couldn't have arrived at a better time?"

One of the Parasprites looked at Rainbow Dash with it's large eyes and cooed at her.

"Don't you worry about a thang, Rainbow Dash. Ah'll tell everypony that yer helping me on mah' farm.", Apple Jack promised Rainbow Dash. "Jess don't say mah name unless you absolutely have to at wherever it is yer going."

***

The bell above the door rang as Broker, the merchant pony who sold miscellaneous magical items in Trotsylvania( an unmarked city in every major map of Equestria), was just unboxing a new shipment of books, "Hexes (and how to use them)". Broker looked to the door with a smile, welcoming the familiar friendly face that just entered. "Nora, my dear!", he praised.

Nora, the unicorn who was relieved from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns because she couldn't perform a levitation spell, bowed her head slight with a bent knee and conjured the magical claw hand she used as an alternative to the levitation spell. Nora's magic claw hand did a greeting open palm gesture, saying hello to Broker in sequence with her bow.

"Ah, there's no need to bow, I've told you already.", Broker said, waving but ultimately appreciating the amount respect Nora had for him.

Nora didn't apologize, but she did pick herself back up and asked Broker, "Are those the new books on..."

Broker chuckled as held up and faced the front cover of the book in Nora's direction.

Nora squealed like a filly excited for her first day of school. She reached out for the book with her claw grabbing spell, but Broker had tucked the book under his shoulder, away from and out of reach of Nora's spell.

"Nora..." Broker gave her a stern look. "You know better, or you SHOULD know better, than to take something that doesn't belong to you."

Nora made a scrunched expression and apologized quickly. "S-sorry, I just got a little over excited."

The book reappeared back from underneath Broker's shoulder. "It's understandable but completely intolerable."

Nora's ears flopped down as she showed how disappointed in herself she was with a large pouting lip. "C-can I still have the book though?"

Broker saw that Nora had learned her lesson and smiled back at her. "Of course you can, but that's not all you're here for is there?"

A quick reminder in her head told Nora she needed to get a lot of other things she had forgotten to write down. "Yes!" Looking around the shop, Nora knew she'd remember what she was supposed to grab if she saw it. In the middle of a shelf was a green glass tube filled with a potion Nimbus needed for his heart.

Nora pointed at the very green glass tube and said, "I need three of those for this month ...and" Nora clicked open her side saddle and withdrew the magic lock ball Nimbus had asked her to open a few weeks ago. "...if you could open this for me?"

Magic lock balls could be easily open if somepony knew the password need, or if a unicorn had a high enough locksmithing skill. Another way of opening them was using a "skeleton key" that only Broker sold under the table.

There were no windows large enough inside Broker's shop for somepony to see him reaching  behind one of the shelves and opening a safe full of the skeleton keys he had hidden. He took the magic lock ball from Nora and began to enter the key inside of magic lock ball. "Now what's supposed to be in here?", Broker asked. He usually asked other ponies what was inside of the balls before opening them, but he trusted Nora enough to feel safe with opening it.

"I'm not too sure.", Nora admitted, making Broker blame his hindsight for not asking earlier. "A friend of mine...found it in a cave and got ambushed by some mercenaries after the same thing." Nora lied for the sake of Broker opening the magic lock ball for her. If she had told him that there was even a possibility of a Fellowship wand being inside, he would first be down right upset with her for not staying away from the wands like he told her to,  and second refuse all transactions with her for as long as he seemed fit.

"Trotting Talon?", Broker asked, jumping to the conclusion that Nora was trying to bring Trotting Talon to justice again. The ball broke open as Broker turned the key. Lying flat inside the now flattened out ball was a wand that casted a yellow/golden glow to it. The handle was of strong wood carved into flames with a carved sun at the tip and the same yellow/gold glow in the middle of it.

Several items of fortunately no value fell and shattered from the shelf Broker had backed once he recognized the wand. Nora, on the other hoof, had a completely opposite reaction. She was absolutely glowing with excitement. This was the second wand she had come across in the past five years.

Reaching into her seemingly bottomless saddle bag, Nora pulled out a soft and cuddly Ursa Major plush toy on Broker's trading counter. "Knowledge", Nora called to the toy. "I found another one."

"Another one?!", the toy glowed with each word he spoke. Standing up on his squishy cotton filled legs, Knowledge stood up and picked up the wand laying on table.

When Nora found Knowledge as a book, she thought his appearance was a little...disturbing. So in exchange for future guidance and knowledge of the Fellowship Wands, Knowledge told Nora of a spell she could use to give him a new body, thus donning him with his current Ursa Major plush toy look.

"Ohh! This is the Solaris Wand. Very powerful indeed, but of course you know, Nora, you need all six wands in order to fully activate them. With your progress though, you should have them in no time!" Knowledge was more than happy to congratulate Nora on her find.

Shaking his hooves and nearly unintentionally knocking Knowledge off the counter, Broker asked Nora, "No! No wands in my shop. I don't even know who else knows about- those ponies who were after it know you have that!" Broker picked up Knowledge and roughly shoved him back into Nora's saddle, bending his legs backwards.

Before reaching the door, Broker was nice enough to give Nora her book and medicine for Nimbus's heart. He pushed on Nora's back as hard as he could but Nora had stretched out her legs and completely blocked the exit with her body. "Broker, it wasn't Trotting Talon. It was just somepony named Talitha."

"TALITHA?!", Broker shouted in fear, quickly slapping his hooves over his mouth. "She's even worse than the entirety of Trotting Talon! Get out, get out, get out!"

Finally finding the strength within him, Broker was able to push Nora out the door and into the streets where  Rainbow Dash was desperately waiting to walk inside.

Rainbow Dash walked around the fallen Nora and her stuffed  talking Ursa Major toy that popped out of her saddle bag yelling, "How rude!"

The door was shut in Rainbow Dash's face, hitting the very tip of her muzzle. She backed up and rubbed the stricken area. "Hey, what gives?"

Behind his mail slot, Broker's eyes appeared and apologized to Rainbow Dash, "Sorry, we're not open today. Come back never. Good bye." Broker disappeared behind his door and a series of locking and chain sounds were followed right after.

"Oh, come on!" ,Rainbow Dash shouted at the door. "I came all this way from Ponyville and you decide to close early?!" She began to throw her shoulder into the door after setting the cage full of Parasprites down.

Still lying on the floor, Nora looked face to face with one of the Parasprites inside the cage. He smiled back at her after she made a disgusted sound at his revolting sight. Nora looked up at Rainbow Dash, not realizing it was her until she looked at her, and gasped at her sight. It was fortunate for Nimbus that Nora had came to Broker instead of himself.

She knew exactly who Rainbow Dash was, even though she had personally met her. She didn't need to though, Nimbus talked about her enough times for Nora to instantly recognize her by her description. There was no mistaking her unique mane and cutie mark.

Rainbow Dash could see that Nora was staring at her rather hard and with great interest. Intentionally avoiding why Nora was staring at her so hard, Rainbow Dash asked her, "What were you here for?"

Not hearing Rainbow Dash's question, and too focused on the Parasprites in front of her, Nora asked Rainbow Dash a question of her own, "Where did you get this cage at?"

"I didn't.", Rainbow Dash answered, picking up the cage and looking to see how much time she had on the timer. "I found this in my friend's tree. I know it came from this shop because of the symbol on top." Rainbow Dash pointed to the insignia on the cage that matched exactly to the same one on Broker's shop window. "I know somepony put it there as a trap, and I'm trying to find out who.

"I thought coming to the store whoever bought it from would be a good idea to start." , Rainbow Dash said right as she caught a glimpse of Broker peering through the mail slot again, eaves dropping on her conversation. He gasped loudly and hid back behind the door before Rainbow Dash could try to poke his eyes out.

No doubt, Nora had a pretty good idea of who put it there, the same guys Nimbus went after a few weeks ago. Being a, and the only, qualified detective from Ponyville to Canterlot, Nora leaked info about the money sharks she had been a close eye on for some time. They mainly hitting smaller farms or newly born family businesses in the beginning, but they'd never hit anything big like Sweet Apple Acres. If Rainbow Dash had the Parasprites in the tree today, then that meant somepony put it there as of last night or early this morning. The money sharks always planned their operations within twenty-four hours, making them near impossible to track until there was already a victim.

This now meant that Nimbus didn't take care of all of them like he told Nora he did. It was logical to determine either Say-So had survived the fall and recruited new members, or Evening Primrose wasn't as reformed as Nimbus said she was. Nora cursed at herself for taking Nimbus's word so boldly and not confirming the information herself.

After hearing Nora mumble some words to herself, Rainbow Dash grew incredibly concerned with Nora's silence and asked, "You okay? You're acting really weird."

Nora explained herself to Rainbow Dash about how she was a detective and knew exactly who put the Parasprites there.

"Let's go find them then!" Rainbow Dash pounded her left hoof in her right, backing up her fighting words with action.

Nora shook her head at her. "It's not that easy, I have to actually catch them in the act in order to take any action, no matter how much evidence there is..." She bowed her head for how flawed the system was. "It's the law. My hooves are tied."

Setting the timer in the cage back to an hour, Rainbow Dash set the Parasprites right next to Broker's entrance and left them there as she started to walk away from the shop with Nora. "Isn't there anypony doing something about it?" , she asked.

Laughing, thinking of how Nimbus would react if she told him she told Rainbow Dash he was Dark Wing, Nora amusingly asked Rainbow Dash, "You don't read the Equestria Daily much do you?" Nora looked around to see if anypony was within earshot of their conversation before moving forward with it. "Look, I know somepony who can help you and your friend, but it has to be completely discreet."

Rainbow Dash's wing extended out between her and Nora as she increased her distance away from her. "This isn't somepony crazy is it? I don't need Applejack yelling at me for bringing a complete stranger on her farm."

"No, no, don't worry about that. She'll just be watching and patrolling your farm while everypony else is away, you won't even know she's there. Completely discreet."

Rainbow Dash chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, mulling over wether or not she should trust Nora or her "friend". Nora seemed like a pretty straight trust worthy pony, but her friend....Rainbow Dash didn't know what to make of her. Somepony going around Applejack's farm completely unnoticed? Apple Jack sure could use the help, but she wouldn't go out of her way to go and get it.

"Okay", Rainbow Dash gave her answer to Nora. "But just for a week. If Applejack finds out..."

"Trust me.", Nora reassured Rainbow Dash. "Nopony, but a hoof full of ponies even know my friend exist. They're really good at hiding." If Nimbus could hide from his closest friend for five years, with her actively searching for him here and there, nopony could even find him in an empty room.

***

"I can see you hiding behind the curtains, Nimbus", Sky Forge said as she flew into Nimbus's window.

A shuffling sound came from behind the curtain as Nimbus shifted around inside. "Oh, nopony here. Jus' the cleaning mare. You go now.", Nimbus said, using his stereotypical maid voice.

"You're not fooling anypony, I know it's you.",Sky Forge said. She tried to pull the curtain off Nimbus but he pulled away from her and tucked it around himself. A small gasp came from behind Sky Forge when the door to Nimbus's room quickly opened and closed.

Curiosity was now on Sky Forge's mind, wondering what Nimbus was hiding from her. "What did you do, and who did you bring home?"

"Bring home?!", Nimbus cried defensively behind the curtain. "She basically followed me here."

"She?!" Sky Forge grew angry and raised her voice at Nimbus. "THIS IS A ONE BEDROOM APARTMENT! YOU CAN'T HAVE SOMEPONYELSE STAYING HERE!"

Finally revealing himself to Sky Forge, Nimbus pulled the curtain back. "She really needs the help. I couldn't just leave her." Nimbus had a black eye and a large cut, not deep enough to scar over, over his nose.

Frightened at the sight, Sky Forge quickly asked, "What happened to you?"

"Funny story really.", Nimbus said, but looking at Sky Forge's concerned expression, maybe it wasn't the time to amuse her.

"Amuse me.", Sky Forge said, crossing her hooves across her chest after taking a seat on the floor.

Or Perhaps she was.

Nimbus scratched the back of his head, bringing his hoof back in front of him covered in his own blood. "Maybe it's better if I showed you." Nimbus limped his way towards his room and lightly pushed the door open after twisting the knob with his wing. He poked his inside the gap barely large enough for him to fit between the door and the frame. "It's okay. We can trust her."

As soon as Nimbus widened the door open, small fragile creature slowly walked out of Nimbus's room, a Bat Pony. Her facial features were as weak as her fangs were sharp, and her legs were shaking so much it looked like they were going to give out from underneath her anytime now.

Lost for words, Sky Forge didn't know which question to ask first except, "What...in the...freaking name of Tartarus are you doing with her, Nimbus?!"

The Bat Pony flinched and dropped her ears lower than they already were and hid behind Nimbus for safety from Sky Forge.

"It's....well it's actually pretty easy to explain.", Nimbus said before stepping to the side to reveal the Bat Pony to Sky Forge again. "Remember those illegal fish traders Nora was talking about?"

"I'm listening..." Sky Forge vaguely said, urging Nimbus to continue without any interruptions.

"Weeeellll, for staters, those fisher ponies are a lot stronger than they look. They're out of shape but they now how to turn any fishing pole into a deadlier weapon than a sword." Nimbus pointed to the back of his head as part of the result. "After I finished knocking them on their butts and cuffing them to the side of the boat, I heard a crying noise.

"It wasn't a child. I've been to too many infirmaries to figure that out." Nimbus swiped at the dry tear underneath his eye after remembering telling all the colts and fillies who died in hospitals to "hang in there."

Continuing on, Nimbus explained how he got the Bat Pony, "As you probably guessed, it was Flower Butt here." Nimbus pointed to the Bat Pony crouched and hiding behind him. "That's what I decided to call her since she's got a crown made of flowers for a cutie mark."

It was perfectly clear to Sky Forge now why Rainbow Dash used to slap and punch Nimbus around from time to time. "... she doesn't talk?", Sky Forge asked, holding back the comment she wanted to make about the suggestive name Nimbus gave Flower Butt.

"Not yet.", Nimbus answered. "I don't know what she was doing down below the ship with all the food and stuff, but she doesn't like it when you ask, so I didn't pry any further."

"I still don't understand why you took her along with you." Sky Forge said. She stretched her neck out to get a better look at Flower Butt, but she hid to the other side of Nimbus once she saw Sky Forge peering over. Giving up, Sky Forge let Flower Butt continue to hide until she was more comfortable.

Nimbus spread out his wings to his side and turned them long ways so Flower Butt had more room to hide. "and leave her on that ship? Yeah, right! Also, look at how cute she is...", Nimbus turned his head around to smile at Flower Butt, but she had already ran back inside Nimbus's room before he made the generous compliment about her.

"Oh, and I'm letting her sleep in my room."

"YOU'RE SLEEPING WITH HER?!" , Sky Forge raged at Nimbus.

Completely offended by Sky Forge's accusation, Nimbus put his wings to his hips and used a silly voice to say, "Do you really think I'd save a damsel in distress just so I could get her in my bed?"

Sky Forge answered the question with a disappointed stare at Nimbus.

"Well, I'm not!", Nimbus said in full seriousness. Not from lack of trying if I'm going to be completely honest with myself... Nimbus admitted internally.

A quick well coordinated secret knock at Nimbus's door with the sound of somepony panting outside the door.

"Just jump in through the window, Nora, he left it open again." Sky Forge yelled to Nora from inside Nimbus's apartment.

Hopping, skipping, and jumping into Nimbus's apartment from the balcony window, Nora breathed heavily, "What's...the point of...having a secret knock if you're-"

"Just going to leave your window open?", Sky Forge finished for Nora as she paused to take a breath.

Nora leaned against Sky Forge for a moment and used the time to catch her breath by breathing in through her nose and out her mouth. Once she was finally able to talk without gasping for air, Nora pointed at Nimbus with her claw spell and said, "Do I have a job for you!"

Never before had Nora been excited to assign Nimbus with a task, at least not since she told him where he could find one of the Trotting Talon headquarters he eventually shutdown with her help. "You are going to watch over Sweet Apple Acres tonight!"

"....yay?", Nimbus faked is enthusiasm with very little effort. "What's so spe-"

"Tonight?!" Sky Forge butted into Nora and Nimbus's conversation. "H-he can't go tonight, he's got plans!"

"I do?", Nimbus looked to his calender hanging on the wall behind him to see what appointment he could have forgotten about. "It's not Nightmare Night is it?"

"I apologize, Sky Forge." Nora picked up Sky Forge with the ease of her claw grabbing spell. The claw extended from Nora's horn and wrapped a strong grip around Sky Forge's entire body, shutting her wings down to her back and turning her upside down. "But this is a confidential meeting. Dark Wing members only. Key Word: Confidential."

Sky Forge reached her hooves out for Nora and tried to kick her but only ended up looking like a turtle tipped over on it's shell. "I knew he was Dark Wing before he even got the mask! I'm the one who made it!"

"And I'm the one who put the spell on it!", Nora pointed a second pointy claw in Sky Forge's face. "I tell him all the places to go to and who he needs to go after. What do you do?"

"I''m the one who gave him his secret lair!"

Nora turned Sky Forge right side up and had her claw spell face Sky Forge to Nimbus's "secret lair". "You mean his unused kitchen?" A small pile of over piled stack of pots fell over and crashed from the small breeze blowing through the window. There was nothing more or secret in the kitchen except for a table that held Nimbus's Dark Wing mask next to bottle of half used ketchup.

"....a work in progress." Sky Forge was still determined to prove that she was as official a member of Dark Wing as Nora was. "If I'm leaving, then Nimbus's new mare friend has to leave."

"New mare friend?!" Nora dropped Sky Forge and crossed both her claws in front of her, expecting an immediate explanation from Nimbus.

After falling onto the floor face first, Sky Forge picked herself up with a wing on her head and standing in a dizzy posture. "Good point, he never had an old one."

"Where IS this new mare friend of yours?" Nora asked Nimbus, steeping closer to him with her both her magical spell claws out and aimed at Nimbus, pinning him into a corner.

Opening the door slowly as possible, Flower Butt poked her head out of Nimbus's room and weakly waved at Nora with a timid face.

Insulting Nimbus in his face, Nora told him, "You're a real pig, you know that? Don't even know her for a full day and you're sleeping with her."

Nimbus's hooves were thrown out in front of him for the same accusation Sky Forge pinned on him earlier. "Do you two honestly believe I'm that much of a sleaze bag?"

Recovering from her quick headache, Sky Forge exchanged glances with Nora, they both looked towards Flower Butt to make a quick judgment call on her as well, but Flower Butt had already hid back into Nimbus's room and dove into his closet after Nora had accused Nimbus of sleeping with her.

"See? Now look what you done. How am I supposed to help her if you two are going to scare her." Nimbus pushed Nora's spell claws to the side with a strong wave of his wings. He tried to open his door back up but Flower Butt had locked it from inside the room to prevent anypony from coming in.

"You two are legit the worst friends I have.", Nimbus said to Nora and Sky Forge.

"We're the only friends you who have..." , Nora shot back at Nimbus. "Key Word: Only", Nora said twice to remind him.

Sky Forge now took the chance to throw in the plans she had for Nimbus later tonight before Nora cut between her. "Because you never go out, Nimbus, and speaking of that, tonight you're going to Club Dub and try to find somepony to talk to...." Sky Forge looked back to the door that Flower Butt had locked herself behind. "Preferably somepony who can see in the sun properly.", Sky Forge added.

"Club Dub? I don't know. I really don't feel like going all the way over there just to get out. Plus, what if somepony  sees and recognizes me?", Nimbus asked. Nopony except the old War Veteran Knight, Slash, was looking for him now a days, but Nimbus was making excuses not to go out.

Making a motor sound with her lips, Sky Forge gave Nimbus less room to make excuses. "There's going too many flashing lights for anypony to see you properly."

Nimbus looked to Nora for assistance, but she was riding the same boat as Sky Forge. She thought Nimbus needed to go out just as much as Sky Forge thought so. She concluded she could just report the incident to a Knight and hopefully have them watch Sweet Apple Acres for tonight only.

"Come one, Nimbus, you owe Reverb for getting you a once in a lifetime chance to meet the Wonder Bolts. You even got V.I.P. (very important pony) season tickets to all their races personally from Spitfire!"

"Yeah, but I was Dark Wing when I met them, not Nimbus!"

It was now Nora's turn to argue with Nimbus. "It doesn't matter, you owe Reverb. He always asks when you're going to come over one of these weekends, now's the best time!"

"...Alright, but Flower Butt comes too. She could hang out with Reverb the whole night. I just want her to get comfortable around ponies again."

Nodding and agreeing to the terms, Nora told Nimbus, "Deal."

She leaned over to Sky Forge and whispered, "Who's Flower Butt?"

"Bat Pony", Sky Forge whispered just as quietly back and pointing to Nimbus's locked room.

A quick nod from Nora's head came and she leaned away from Sky Forge. "It's settled then. Nimbus, you're going to Club Dub tonight and you're going to have fun. Key Word:..."

"Enough with the Key Word thing, Nora! I'll go if you promise not to do that all night tonight!", Nimbus put his wings over his ears as he spoke. "It drives me crazy."

Before Nora was even given a chance to agree or disagree, Sky Forge slapped her wing over Nora's mouth and answered "DEAL!" for her. She looked into Nora's eyes and whispered tp her, "I have something really big planned for Nimbus tonight. Don't screw this up for me!"

All that could be heard from Nora behind Sky Forge's wing was a questioned muffle.

***

Rainbow Dash was waiting outside the Carousel Boutique for about twenty minutes until she saw Sky Forge flying in towards her from the direction of downtown Ponyville. From the distance that Rainbow Dash was looking at Sky Forge from, she could tell that Sky Forge must have traveled from a great distance or just not a strong flyer in general. She had never really seen her fly before or too often to have really noticed it before now.

"What's with you?" , Rainbow Dash asked Sky Forge after watching her struggle to control her breathing.

Only a few words at a time could be heard from Sky Forge, "I'm a black....smith! I don't nor...mally fly this far...I didn't think my...hotel was that far away.""

From Rainbow Dash's knowledge, Sky Forge had told her earlier that she was staying in a hotel in Ponyville for the weekend. All the hotels in Ponyville were generally in the same area, in the opposite direction of where Sky Forge had flown from. Sky Forge was definitely planning something with vague details to Rainbow Dash other than just a normal night out to the club.

"Yeah..." Rainbow Dash looked to the front door of the Carousel Boutique and sighed, thinking of how Rarity was going to act when she told her she needed to get a dress for tonight. "Let's just get this over with..." Rainbow Dash pushed open the door to the Carousel Boutique shortly hitting somepony on the other side and ringing the customer bell twice.

The first thought that came to Rainbow Dash's mind was that something, not somepony, was in the way. So she head butted the door open and sent the poor soul behind the door flying into one of the many,and fortunately naked,  mannequins Rarity had displayed.

Rarity cheered happily with relief as she saw the two Pegasai enter her shop, only recognizing Rainbow Dash. "Oh good, you're finally here, Rainbow Dash." Rarity's eye shifted to Sky Forge, who was standing over the unidentified pony Rainbow Dash had sent across the other side of the room. "and you brought help!", Rarity was blessed to see she had an extra pair of hooves to help her with Sweetie Belle and her friends.

"Don't worry about her, darling." Rarity said to Sky Forge. "Sew-and-So was going to put those away so nopony would get hurt....ironically." Rarity hid a laugh to quiet for Sew-and-So's ears to hear.

Sky Forge helped and let Sew-and-So pick herself back up by using her wing for added balance.

A cupcake from behind Rarity flew through the air and struck Rainbow Dash in the face, sliding down her face and hitting the floor in of her fore legs. "Looks like you've got your hooves full Rarity, but I don't have too much time to hang around too long." Pulling Sky Forge away from Sew-and-So, dropping her into the pile of mannequins again, Rainbow Dash pushed Sky Forge towards Rarity involuntarily. "but my old friend, Sky Forge, has all the time in the world."

"WHAT?!" Sky Forge tried to scurry away from the room full of children, but Rainbow Dash was surprisingly strong enough to keep her in place with her hooves pushing against Sky Forge's chest.

Rainbow Dash glared at Sky Forge and whispered into her ear, "You're making me wear a dress tonight, you owe me!"

Reuniting Rainbow Dash and Nimbus back together tonight was the only intention Sky Forge had in mind. She technically didn't need to be there for them to talk to each other, as much as she wanted to though. Swallowing hard, Sky Forge agreed, "Okay. You know where Club Dub is, right? I'll be there as soon as I can. Kids don't stay up that late anyways, right?"

***

After getting some assistance from Sew-and-So instead of Rarity made the process of dress fitting a little less painful for Rainbow Dash, only a bit though. Sew-and-So was currently in training under Rarity and had a couple problems fitting an outfit on a live model instead of the mannequins like she practiced on. Unlike the mannequins, Rainbow Dash jumped and yelped when Sew-and-So accidentally stabbed her a few times with the clothes pins.

Creatively, Sew-and-So wasn't as strong as Rarity was, but she compensated for it with how fast she could easily tailor and fit an entire outfit. Within the impressive time frame of just over an hour, Sew-and-So was able to perfectly and tailor one of the pre-made  dresses Rarity had and thought Rainbow Dash looked rather "glowing" in. If Rainbow Dash told Rarity she needed a dress with at least a three days notice, Rarity would have made her a completely fresh and unique design, but with the limited time frame she was given, Rarity settled for having and saving Rainbow Dash's measurements for another time.

Down at Club Dub, Octave, formerly Evening Primrose, had just finished her first recording with Reverb. The club was closed to the public for the next two hours, and Octave walked out the front door after thanking Reverb for the opportunity he had given her and for inviting her back later tonight so she could thank Nimbus personally as well.

"I'll see you tonight!", Octave waved at Reverb just before he bowed and shut the front door behind her. As soon as Octave heard the door click locked, she sighed out of irritation and exhaustion, "Stallions are so easy..." She looked down both sides of the street to look for chairot she was expecting to be waiting for her as soon as she finished.

Yesterday, Octave came across a message from Said-So telling her that he had a gig for her that promisingly tripled what he was previously paying her in a months pay for just a bit of information. More surprised at that fact that Said-So was still alive and had survived both encounters from Dark Wing and Talitha, she wanted to see him for herself.

Flaring her nostrils angrily, Octave said to herself, "Take for Said-So not to be on schedule", thinking nopony was around to hear her, but this was not the case.

Waiting for her in the front of the alley beside Club Dub, a pony hissed behind Octave, "My brother sends his apologies, Ms.Primrose."

Octave jumped and quickly turned 180 degrees to face her pursuer, but she was instantly relieved when she recognized the restraint mask over the pony's muzzle. "Oh, Loony Bin, it's just you.", Evening Primrose glowered. "Said-So got you out of Pen Book's Asylum again?"

The mentally dangerous pony Octave referred to as Loony Bin laughed and smiled behind his mask, "No, I simply asked nicely this time."

The broken blooded chained cuff around Loony Bin's right leg told Evening Primrose that the doctors at Pen Book's must have said, "No."

"Looks like you brought back some jewelry this time.", Evening said, referring to Loony's hoof cuff.

"A parting gift!", Loony chirped, his were nearly sparkling as he said it. "We should really take the time to catch back up for lunch, Ms.Primrose, but my brother has sent me here on official business."

No actual intention in Evening's mind wanted to be anywhere alone with Loony, especially for lunch. The mask over Loony's face was there for a reason, as well as the lock on it. "Said-So wants to know my progress on Dark Wing." Evening walked into the alley behind Loony, making sure his mask was actually locked properly when she walked past him. "Tell your brother I've got a name and face on Dark Wing, as well as engagement with 'her' this evening." The more information Evening withheld from Said-So at the moment, the better the rewards he would bribe her with for more information.

"Excellent!", Loony Bin said excitedly, his voice echoing between the nearly empty space in the alley. "Said-So will be much pleased to hear it himself."

Evening Primrose took one concentrated look at Loony Bin, he was distinctively skinnier than the last time she saw him. Of course that was a result of him not sticking to his usual "diet". A sick thought came to Evening's mind as she remembered Said-So telling her he wanted the true face of Dark Wing, fully intact or not.

"Loony" , Evening addressed formerly, "you said you wanted to catch up. How about tonight? I have somepony in mind you would KILL to have for dinner." Evening worded her sentence carefully for Loony to understand perfectly.