The Little Pony Legend: Journey of Iris

The Earth Empire express was speeding along the beautiful countryside run, on route from Ba Sing Se cargo Station, to Harmony City Grand Central. The skies above were bright and colorful in prominent blue, the summer winds blowing along the sides of the train. It was basically business as usual for the workers and operators inside, which made up of both human and pony workers, each keeping busy with different tasks from checking the cargo hold, to operating the actual train. Everything seemed to be going along as expected. Just as they liked it.

"All cargo accounted for." a pony fireman informed to the human conductor.

"Good to note. We should be arriving in Harmony City in just a few minutes," the conductor replied, looking back in front to watch the tracks. The tracks themselves went through the mountainous regions of the Earth Kingdom, going past the valleys and through the mountain peaks. On a regular run, this would be quite a sight for the workers to behold. It wouldn't normally be that much of a problem for the workers on the train, but as they sped along, they looked out to the tracks when, all of a sudden they spotted something in their path.

A creature, on all fours, suddenly running down from a hill and onto the tracks. The conductor gripped the brakes, pulling it back as hard as he could master. The wheels stopped fast, and the screeching wails of the tracks echoed throughout the otherwise calm landscape. Sparks from the wheels shot out from both sides as the train, and the cargo trucks it was dragging, tried to stop its speedy run. The people on board, aside from the first two at front, looked around questionably. The screeching moments lasted for ten seconds, until the train finally stopped itself on the tracks, steam letting off from the wheels upon stopping. Once all was calm, the Conductor looked back up outside to seemingly check for the creature, which had suddenly disappeared.

"What the hay happened?!" An anthro pony yelled.

"There…there and was an animal standing in the road!" The conductor replied, still trying to regain his nerves.

"What animal? There's nothing there!" A human coworker claimed. The conductor, obviously confused, looked again. He could've sworn he saw something standing in the middle of the train tracks, but when looking again, nothing seemed to be there. The conductor took a moment or two to calm down.

"That's strange… alright then, let's go." the conductor decided.

After a few more minutes, the train started up again, and with a few cranks of the engine's wheels, the train began to go off once again. The conductor swore that something was in the road just a minute ago.

As fate would have it, the animal was now hitching a ride on their train.

(~)

"While the primary example of magic we are often familiar with is the active form. Such as unicorn magic, pegasi's ability to control the weather to an extent, and even the bending of humans. However, even the most passive form of magic, such as earth pony magic, the magical abilities of some spirits, and even the magical energy non-benders have within themselves can prove to be extremely powerful. The same applies for objects. Can anyone mention a few?"

"Oh, oh!" Gallant Steed rose his hand eagerly. He was now eleven-years-old, and was a very handsome young anthro unicorn.

"Yes, Gallant Steed."

"To name a few, The Alicorn Amulet; a gemstone which grants unlimited power, but also corrupts the user. The Crystal heart, which was forged from the Crystal Ponies of the Crystal Empire to spread love and light, the geodes which are used to power geo-phones. These were all stones and or crystals which contained a powerful source of magic unique to its own. Of course, this is became these kinds of stones often have this electromagnetic pull towards magic, and thus once it has magic, in a way, implanted within, it becomes what the magic is."

"Very good, Gallant. Extra points for the description."

"Teacher's pet." Mai muttered, doodling on her notebook.

"I heard that." Gallant said from behind her.

It was a normal day at Harmony High. The school was known for its vast variety of students, going from humans, to ponies, a few griffons and dragons, and even a few younger spirit children. P'Li had become a history teacher. It was a fitting position, teaching children of the past so they can better mold their future.

The next generation had already reached the early stages of puberty at this point. Mai Sato was quite fit looking for a thirteen-year-old. Her skin was light like her father's, her eyes bright and orange in color, common of a firebender. Her hair was as long and waving as her mother's, wearing it in a widow's peak, with curled traces of hair falling down to the front side of her face, and a smaller cuff of hair dangling above her forehead.

Her brother, Hiro, was recognized as one of the cutest boys at school. He was tall and athletic with green eyes, a similar light skinned complexion, and equally dark hair, styled into a sleek manner.

Gallant had already gained his cutie mark at this point; A silver sword with a star on the side of the golden handle. It was on his left arm, though it was mainly covered by his long sleeved shirt.

Chi sat bored out of her mind in her desk. She now wore a dark blue shirt with long striped sleeves, and a symbol on the center depicting a fox's head taking the form of a heart. She wore shorts and a pair of converse.

"Of course, just like the magic many of us posses, these magical artifacts can be used either for good, or for evil." P'Li said. "Take the Anti-Bending Revolution, for instance. One man named Amon believed that by eliminating benders he would be making the world a better place. However, he never told anyone that he himself was a bender. He used his power to take away the talents and abilities of others."

"But, he didn't believe he was doing anything evil." Akari said, "I mean, yeah it was bad, but he acted out of anger and hurt."

"That's very true, Akari. Magic can be used for good or evil. However, while the actions speak louder than words, the thought process can often go in the opposite direction. Sometimes, people believe the best way to solve their problem is to get rid of it entirely. But, often times, that's not the answer. The change Amon, Unalaq, Kuvira, myself included, all believed our ideas of an ideal world were flawless. However, those ideals, rather than help us grow, only kept us stuck. It kept them from growing and understanding others."

"And then they got their butts kicked!" Hiro pointed out. His sister rolled her eyes and Chi had to give him a punch in the arm. "Ow! What? Isn't that how it always happened? Bad guys do something bad, Team Avatar swoops in, epic battle, them BOOM! The good guys win, bad guys get locked up and some turn into good guys."

"Not everything is solved with violence, Hiro." Iris pointed out.

"Actually, you both make a good point." P'Li said. "Yes, a lot of us did eventually get, "our butts kicked" as Mr. Sato placed it. However, as Princess Iris stated, it wasn't violence that allowed many of us to come to our own revelations." P'Li looked at Gallant. "Would it be alright?"

"Of course." Gallant nodded while smiling.

"When it comes to individuals such as myself, Kuvira, Discord, Queen Hou-Ting, or Gallant's mother, Starlight Glimmer, we didn't fully reform until someone showed us true friendship."

"Except it didn't always work." One student, a young pale skinned male wearing dark clothing and a gray streak on his messy hair said, without raising his hand. "When Avatar Korra showed Kuvira friendship she still turned into a dictator and conquered the Earth Kingdom. Not to mention, Discord betrayed them and joined Tirek."

"Well, that was from their own choice. But, did any of the good guys care about them any less? When they were left with nothing, did they just walk away? No, they didn't."

"I still don't get why. If somebody has done so much bad, why even give them a second chance?"

"Because that's what The Magic of Friendship is. I've mentioned that there are many forms of magic out there, but there has always been one that is more powerful than any of that. A magic that is untouched by the corruption of the world, and sees no true evil, but the potential for new friends. Team Avatar uncovered that magic, and that was how they were able to help so many others. There is a big difference between "changing", and changing for the better."

Iris bit her bottom lip and then rose her hand.

"Yes, Iris?"

"I know there are plenty of people who obviously need to change for the better, but…Is it also possible for somebody out there who just, maybe, doesn't need to change?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if there is a person who has been good all their lives, and isn't sure what it is about them that needs to change for the better? Should they even change? Or, should they just stay where they are because they're doing okay?"

"Well, like I said, it all depends on the results. Of course, that's also something that, for some people, takes time for them to figure out. But, even the most kind-hearted people can fall short of grace. That's why we have friends to help us figure stuff out."

"For some it's probably easier if your mom is literally the Queen of Friendship." the dark clothed boy said. Two more of his companions snickered at his comment. Iris narrowed her eyes at the boy, as did Akari.

"That's enough, Pao." P'Li told him firmly.

The school bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. The students couldn't pick up their backpacks fast enough and dashed out the door. "See you kids next week. And don't forget your book reports on the revolution of the state of Omashu!"

The young teens ran, flew, floated, and galloped out of the building, happy for the weekend to finally start. Iris and her friends calmly walked out, the fourteen-year-old princess human alicorn still looking dejected.

Akari wrapped an arm around her best friend. "Iris, don't let what Pao said get to you."

"Yeah, I wouldn't take the words of a D- student seriously." said Gallant Steed, levitating the last of his book onto his backpack.

Iris forced a smile. "I know, I know. I feel stupid for even opening my mouth."

"Hey, you had an honest question, you got an honest answer." Chi said as the group walked further and further away from the school building and down the street corner that led to their favorite after school place.

"Besides, why would you want to change anything?" Nori said with a casual wave of her hand.

Hiro nodded, ruffling his cousin's head. "Yeah, I mean, you got it pretty much made. You've got a swanky castle for a home, good grades, you excel at magic, you do community service, everybody in the city knows you, and to top it all off, you've got the coolest, most gorgeous rising pro-bending super star as your first cousin." Hiro took a pause and flashed Iris one his signature flashing smiles. He then pointed his thumb to everybody else who all gave him annoyed glared.

"Oh yeah, and these guys."

Nori and Mai's eyes darted towards each other, both equally annoyed by Hiro's comment. Nori spoke, "Are you and I close enough for me to--"

"Yes, yes we are." Mai finished.

"Good." without hesitation, Nori slapped behind Hiro's head. He cried out in pain, yet it was enough to get Iris to giggle.

Hiro rubbed the back of his head and laughed triumphantly. "Ha, ha! There's that smile! My work here is done."

Niro blinked. "I can't believe I fell for that."

"That's right, not just another pretty face." Hiro smiled…this time, not anticipating Nori slapping him behind the head again. "Ow!"

"Didn't see that one coming, did you?"

"Touche."

Akari rolled her eyes. "Hiro does have a point, Petals. You've got nothing to feel sad about so long as we're around."

Iris breathed in a heavy sigh, but smiled none the less. "I know. I guess I just kind of get tired of the same old same old is all. I mean, the last time something truly exciting happened to me was breaking a sword and restoring a lost tribe of pony/spirit hybrids when I was seven."

"What about the time we faced that hydra in the Everfree Forest?"

"Well, sure."

"And that one time we saved those elementary school kids from drowning during a boating trip?" Nori said.

"Or the time Discord played Ogres and Oubliettes with us?" Chi said.

Gallant shuddered at the memory. "Please, don't remind me. I still have blisters."

"Don't get me wrong, life with you guys is anything but boring." Iris continued, "It's just that--"

"So, heading off to another one of your charity drives again, Princess Irus? Or, was today rescuing homeless puppies?"

Iris groaned under her breath, rolling her violet eyes upon encountering Pao, and his companions, two boys and a girl, blocking their path by leaning against a lamp post. Gallant leaned closer, speaking in a hushed tone into Iris's ear. "Don't listen to him, don't look at him, live a long life."

"None of your business, Pao." Iris replied to him sternly, all the while clenching the strap of her backpack tightly. "And it's Iris."

"But you can call her, "never listens"." Gallant muttered under his breath.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's kind of hard not to take notice when your family pretty much runs the city. Besides, I thought you wanted people to know about your "goody-goody" works. Maybe it will finally get you a statue one day, since you probably won't be blasting any world ending monsters anytime soon." he laughed, as did his companions.

Akari wanted to step forward, but Iris blocked her path with her arm and instead approached her classmate, narrowing her eyes and clenching her fists. "You really want to push my buttons, pretty boy?"

"Go for it. I'll give you the first shot, your majesty."

The two glared at the other, with Pao awaiting patiently for Iris to punch him first. Of course, while the human alicorn princess may have been top of their class in gym, that didn't mean she was all brute and no brains. With a snap of her fingers, Chi immediately morphed into her wolf form and growled at Pao ferociously. The boy immediately let out a high pitched scream and leaped away, having his lackeys sustain his weight when he nearly tumbled backwards.

Chi only smirked, her wolf ears perking up in satisfaction. Pao adjusted his already greasy hair and made his leave, giving the princess a haughty "huff" before turning his back. His companions followed closely behind.

Chi morphed back into her blue human form, and the entire group broke out laughing. Even Iris, who tried to hide it with her hand. It wasn't very becoming to laugh at someone else's expense, but it wasn't the first time Pao had disrespected Iris and her friends.

"Never gets old!" Chi chuckled.

Iris finished laughing, but the look of disappointment in her eyes was still visible. Iris was never one to be too subtle about her emotions. The young girl was an open book, wether she liked it or not.

"He doesn't know what he's talking about." Mai said sympathetically.

Iris closed her eyes for a moment. One she opened them, she tried her best to seem chipper than before. "I know. My family name isn't about the statues. It's about the good they've done for others."

"Exactly!" Nori exclaimed happily, "Now, what do you say we forget about that chain-dragging grease monkey and get some smoothies at Pinkie and Cheese's place?"

With all this talk about Pao, Iris had nearly forgotten. Having one of Pinkie Pie's famous raspberry cinnamon smoothie was always the highlight of the final hours of the school week. The group crossed the street towards the other side, bypassing several pedestrians, spirits and ponies alike, waving hello to the children. Aside from Iris and Akari, the other kids have gained their own form of popularity over the years.

Hiro and Mai were obviously popular due to their parents being the owners of the city's industrial business, and their mother pretty much as the co-creator of the geo-phones, which became a worldwide phenomenon. Every adult, child and teenager had one. A portable phone with a flippable lid, powered by the geodes they found in the mirror world's Camp Everfree caves after absorbing so much Equestrian magic over the years. This started a whole new era of techno magic.

Chi was famous for, what else, being the only wisp alive. Her vivacious and magnetic personality attracted so many new friends, and her shape shifting abilities made her the life of any party, aside from Hiro, who relied more on his happy-go-lucky personality, which many have mentioned rivaled Pinkie Pie's.

Nori was, at least for now, the only known merpony the city had. She and her father had gained quite the reputation, and whenever she participated in festivals and such, Nori would delight the crowd with her mesmerizing singing voice.

Gallant Steed was probably the least popular out of the group, but it wasn't due to his family not being well known, primarily his mother, who was one of the best known Airbender unicorns there was, and a highly skilled magic user to boot who taught new aspiring unicorn airbenders in the art, Gallant was never one who relishes in the spotlight. So, in all honesty, the decrees in popularity for him wasn't entirely bothersome.

The group stopped at a brightly colored candy store cafe, adorned in blues, light yellows, greens, pinks and blues. Drawings of lollipops, balloons, gumboils and cupcakes were painted on the corner of the door frames. Above the entrance read the words; "Cheese and Pie's Cookie Sweet Cafe!"

Ponyville's best known party pony, and her husband, the best party planner that traveled Equestria, opened up their own little place in Harmony City. The building itself was two stories, with the upper level being a live-in home for the couple and their daughter.

Upon entering, Iris was immediately greeted by a young three-year-old anthro pony with a light brilliant gamboge coat/skin color with matching ears, and a wild mane of curly brown hair, streaked with whites, blacks and bright pinks and a matching tail. She wore a pink and white dress with a small apron-style pattern with picadors, streamers and candy wrappers imprinted on it. She wore simple mary-jane shoes and had white freckles on the bridge of her nose. Her forehead also had a heart shaped white symbol, and the lower half of her arms were colored white, along with the lower half of her legs, from her knees to the tips of her toes. The white made it seem as if she had dipped her hands in whipped cream which dried up and became a permanent addition to her body. In reality, this was just the way her coat had come out when she was born. The whites also had faded tints of pink if examined closely. Her eyes were a bright baby blue, identical to her mother's.

"Iris! Iris! You're here! Mommy, Daddy, Iris is here!" the three-year-old jumped so high it seemed almost humanly impossible. Like mother like daughter.

Iris happily took the anthro pony into her arms. "It's nice to see you again too, Cookie Cream."

"How have you been? I haven't seen you in like, forever and a half!"

"You saw us yesterday." Akari pointed out, giggling.

"Really? It feels like forever and a half." Cookie beamed.

It didn't take very long until the group was seated down at one of the café tables. They all took a seat over by a café booth just by the front window, giving them a view of the street. Pretty soon, the group was waited on by the pink party anthro mare herself, who was just as eager to see them as Cookie was.

"Howdy do, kids!" Pinkie asked, in her usual bouncy tone. Even after all these years, the pink pony's high spirit never wavered, or slowed down. Her hair usually curly and untamed hot pink mane was held in a half bun like style, with a few paler streaks of pink here and there, yet her blue eyes were still as bright as ever. She held out a notepad and pulled a pen from her puffy bun.

"So what can Pinkie Pie get for you today?" Nori opened her mouth to speak only to be silenced by Pinkie herself, "Ah, ah, ah, let me guess…seven cinnamon strawberry smoothies, a large pizza cookie and an ice cream sundae with extra, extra, EXTRA whip cream for Chi. Right?"

Nori only chuckled. "Yes. As always, Miss Pie."

"Coming right up!" Pinkie inhaled deeply before shouting at her husband in the kitchen. "Cheese! We need seven brown sweethearts swimming in soap, a sugar rush pie and a mountain top with extra snow, STAT!!"

"Already on it, honey pie!" Cheese called out from the kitchen, giving her a quick salute and moving at top speed. One of the reasons why the business was such as success was because both husband and wife were so fast on their feet, hands, and in some cases hooves, that they could prepare an order in two minutes, three tops.

As always, it didn't take too long before the order would come back around. Chi licked her lips, morphed into her wolf form and devoured the ice cream sundae like it was an animal attempting to escape. Droplets of ice cream flew in all directions, even on Nori's hair, much to her dismay.

"Chi, could you please show some decorum! I just conditioned my hair!" the merpony whined, while trying to remove some of the ice cream from her green and purple curly hair. Nori simply scooped the ice scream from her cheek with her finger and licked it.

Hiro and Gallant covered their heads with napkins, while Iris and Akari used magical small force fields to spare themselves from the incoming ice cream rain. All four casually sipped on their smoothies. This wasn't the first time Chi went crazy with the whipped cream.

Hiro glanced over at the wall nearby, taking notice of a particular advertisement poster. Dazzling, eye-catchy, and pretty colorful, with a particular anthro DJ mare on the side of the cover, with a single anthro pegasus pony front and center. A cream colored mare with long feathery wings and long (and to an extent, big) black and blond mane that covered her eyes, leaving her mouth visible and wide open singing into a mike. Her clothing consisted of a black and white one piece jump suit and a large pink bow behind her mane. On her cheek was a musical note cutie mark.

The radio next to the counter beside Cheese Sandwich began playing a familiar tune. A harmonious voice was heard, and several customers squealed and cheered with delight. The voice of Shiro Shinobi was heard almost immediately after the chorus.

"That was Songbird Serenade's number one single, "Perfectly Imperfect", and you can hear her perform it and her entire new album live tonight at Harmony City's Center of Perform Arts! Be sure to get your tickets for this once in a lifetime opportunity!"

Nori, who had been holding it in since the song began, finally bursted out squealing. "AH!! Can you believe it? Songbird Serenade live! I still can't believe it, somebody pinch me!--Ow!" Nori rubbed her arm, narrowing her eyes at her pincher, Mai who smiled smugly while sipping her smoothie.

"Splash some water on yourself, girl." said the youngest of the Sato siblings. "We already know who Songbird Serenade is."

"And we've already got our tickets." Gallant pointed out right before taking a bite of his pizza cookie slice.

"I know, I know." Nori waved her hand casually, brushing it off. "It's just, I've been Songbird's number one fan since I was a guppy! And she's never performed at Harmony City until now!" her rose colored eyes shimmered and she drifted off into a daydream. "One day, that's going to be me singing up on that stage, performing for all of the adoring fans, and dance as they sing along to the lyrics!" she sighed dreamingly as she got back to reality. "Oh, just wait until you see the outfit Rarity made me for tonight!"

While Nori continued to speak, Iris took a moment to glance outside. It started off as a calm, nice moment until one of Harmony City's buses went by. They were a common sight, but this one had a particular image of a familiar face on its side, one that Iris knew more than anyone. The picture showed Queen Avatar Korra, wings spread in their glory. While lovely for many, Iris suddenly found her smile disappearing, and she looked down at her smoothie. for Iris, seeing her mother's image on the bus just reminded her how much her mother accomplished, and how much admiration she got. As for her ...

"Iris?" Akari asked, having noticed her friend dozing off. "Something wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

"No, not nothing. Come on, what's really wrong?" Akari said, rather than a comforting tone, it was more straightforward than most.

At this point, the others paused and looked to Iris with open ears. Iris gave a long sigh, and just stared outside. Before she could say, they glanced out at the bus, seeing the image just before it drove away.

"Your mom bothering you?" Gallant asked.

"What? no, no, it's not my mom ..." Iris sighed, "... It's me."

"You?" Chi asked.

"Yes. Me. My mom, she did so much for this world - for both of our worlds. I mean, look at all the villains she's defeated. Amon, Unalaq, Vaatu, Tirek, The Dazzlings, Zaheer, Kuvira. ... But all I did was break a sword."

"Yes, and restored the sorcerers back into the world, plus it got you your cutie mark. That's good isn't it?" Asked Mai. Iris rested her elbows on the table as she continued.

"It is, I'm not saying stopping Ronin was a bad thing ... but ..."

"But ...?"

"What if that's it? What if that's all I had to do, and there's nothing left for me? Everybody still talks about all the great thinks Queen Korra has done over the years, but all her daughter did was break something only once, and that was seven years ago. How can I be called an alicorn princess if that's all I've ever done? ... I hate to say this, but, Pao is right; I'm lucky to even get a statue of my own at the rate I'm going."

"Ah Ponyfeathers, Pao' just an idiot." Chi said, "Besides, you've done plenty of good things since then. Didn't we already address that?"

"I know, but let's be real. How many of those problems affected the world?"

Everyone opened their mouth, ready to say something, but in the end they came up empty, only proving Iris's point more. Iris just slumped in her seat. "I know mom says I should find my own path, but it's not as easy as it looks. What if I make the wrong choice? What if what I'm doing isn't good enough? What if I'll never be the queen the city needs me to be."

Hiro wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket and leaned against his chair. "You know what your problem is, Petals? You care too much."

"Gee, thanks Hiro." Iris groaned. That didn't make her feel better. If anything, it made her feel worse.

"No, let me explain. You care too much about what other people say about you. Sure, almost everybody in the city likes you, but you're letting expectations get to your head."

"Oh!"

The others turned, and suddenly see Cookie Cream Pie standing nearby, eyes wide, and feeling a little shiver through her hair.

"What is it?" Akari asked.

"That's my Cookie sense! You know what that means!"

Mai knew exactly what was coming, leaning back in her seat and letting out a sigh, simply saying "Just do it already."

Cookie Cream smiled wide, along with Hiro, who turned to Nori.

"Nori, some assistance, if you please?"

"You don't even have to ask!"

Both Hiro and Nori got up from there.

"Hit it, Cheese!"

(Wings from Little Mix)

Hiro:

My mom told us not to waste our life

She said, "spread your wings, my little butterflies"

Don't let what they say, keep you up at night

And if they give you,

Sh..

Then they can walk on by!

Nori:

My feet

Feet can't touch the ground

And I can't hear a sound

But they just keep on running up their mouth

Yeah!

Hiro:

Walk, walk on over there

Cause I'm to fly to care

Oh, yeah!

Hiro and Nori:

They're words, don't mean a thing

We're not listening

Keep talking all we know is!

Akari jumped out from her chair, dragging Iris along with her, singing along to Hiro and Nori's song as they dance around the cafe.

Akair, Hiro and Nori:

My mom told me not to waste my life

She said, "spread your wings, my little butterfly."

Don't let what they say

Keep you up at night

And they can't detain you

Cause wings are made to fly!

And we don't let nobody bring us down

No matter what they say it won't hurt me

Don't matter if you fall from the sky

Cause wings are made to

Fly!

Iris quickly got into the beat, as did Chi and even Gallant. He had to take Mai by the wrist, spun her around and she nearly tripped, only to grab hold of a table to balance herself. She blew a strand of hair that landed on her face. A confident grin spread across her face and leaped onto one of the tables. The costumers pulled their plates aside, happily watching the young teenager sing while strutting on the table as if it were a runway.

Mai:

I'm firing up on that runway

I know I'm gonna get there someday

But we don't need no "ready, steady, go!"

No!

Chi:

Talk, talk turns into air

I don't even care

Oh, yeah!

Chi, Mai and Gallant:

They're words, don't mean a thing

We're not listening

Keep talking all we know is!

Akari, Hiro, Nori, Mai, Chi and Gallant:

My mom told me not to waste my life

She said, "spread your wings, my little butterfly."

Don't let what they say

Keep you up at night

And they can't detain you

Cause wings are made to fly!

And we don't let nobody bring us down

No matter what they say it won't hurt me

Don't matter if I fall from the sky

Cause wings are made to

Fly!

Nori:

Don't need no one saying

Akari, Hiro, Mai, Chi and Gallant:

Hey, hey, hey, hey

Nori:

I don't hear no one saying

Akari, Hiro, Mai, Chi and Gallant:

Hey, hey, hey, hey

Hey, hey, hey, hey

Akari, Nori, Chi and Mai:

You'd better keep on waking

I don't wanna hear your talking

Boys!

Hiro and Gallant:

You'd better keep on waking

I don't wanna hear your talking

Oh!

Nori:

They're words, don't mean a thing

We're not listening

They're just like water off my brain!

Akari, Hiro, Nori, Mai, Chi and Gallant:

My mom told me not to waste my life

She said, "spread your wings, my little butterfly."

Don't let what they say

Keep you up at night

And they can't detain you

Cause wings are made to fly!

And we won't let nobody bring you down

No matter what they say it won't hurt you

Iris:

Don't matter if you fall from the sky

These wings are made to

Everyone:

Fly!

The song was soon over, and things went on back to normal. Iris couldn't help but smile after that. Leave it to a musical number to lift someone's spirits.

"Thanks guys." Iris said.

"And, it's gonna get even better with the concert tonight!" Nori said.

Now Iris felt taken off guard. "Wait, what time is it?" she looked over to the candy styled clock on the wall and gasped. "Oh, man! I'm supposed to meet Nova in fifteen minutes for our magic lesson! He hates it when I'm late!" Iris finished the last bit of her smoothie and jammed the last bit of her cookie pizza into her mouth, chewing on as quickly as she could.

"How long is it going to take?" Nori asked fearfully. "The concert starts at eight, and there is no way we're going without you."

"Yeah!" added Hiro, "You have any idea how many hoops I had to jump to get those tickets?" Hiro gripped Iris's shoulders, now right in her face and she swallowed the last bit of food in her mouth. "A WHOLE LOT of hoops, woman!"

Iris needed a minute before she gently pushed Hiro away. "Guys, relax. I'll be there. The test shouldn't take that long," Iris assured them. "Plus, I gotta brush up on my floreshia, fidiles spell before he gets there."

"You sure you're not my mom's daughter? You study almost as much as she does." Akari wondered, as Iris went over to the door. She needed to get going before she would end up late for Nova's practice.

"I'll see you guys at the concert tonight."

"I'll call you so you won't forget!" Akari promised.

"I won't, I promise! Latter guys, Pinkie Pie, Cheese, Cookie!"

"Goodbye!" Cookie said, just as Iris left.

(~)

"Thank you so much for your assistance, your Majesty." said the man once the winged woman finished magically planting seeds into the area where several flowers had been aggressively pulled and crumbled at the seems. She dusted her hands off and smiled.

"You're quite welcome. The seeds shouldn't take that long to grow. And I'll have a word with my sister-in-law to see if she can help replace your security cameras."

Iris herself may have been getting along easy, but in another part of Harmony City, life was still as busy as ever. Over in the city park, this sort of business was NOT a good one. Queen Avatar Korra herself, along with her friends, Officer Rainbow Dash and fellow alicorn Queen Twilight Sparkle, were assisting the park owner with its repairs. The damage seemed to be put on a security camera, which had been destroyed, and left on the ground with electricity still coursing through. Repairs were simple enough for the camera.

"You sure you didn't see who it was?" Twilight asked.

"The footage we managed to gather showed nothing. One minute, everything was fine and then BAM! The camera shuts off!" The park owner explained, a bit worried over the whole thing himself. Korra placed an assuring hand onto his shoulder.

"Don't you worry about a thing, Sir. We'll see to it this never happens again." Korra promised.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you!"

Once the park owner left, Korra, Twilight and Rainbow Dash exchanged serious expressions and looked on to the rest of the park. The security camera was bad enough, but the whole park had been in a horrifying state in it. Bushes, flowers, and even trees were completely torn up, cameras laid in waste, various park benches broken apart, and holes dug up practically all over the place. It was as if a violent storm had just passed through this part of Harmony City. To sum it up, it wasn't pretty.

While the women had done their part to help fix it, the aftermath was so grave it took them nearly all day to fix it, and there were still several other areas that needed to be fixed.

"Okay, I like pranks as much as the next pony, but kids these days take it to a whole new level of extreme." commented Rainbow.

"I highly doubt this was the work of rambunctious teenagers, Rainbow." Twilight remarked.

"Guys, look at this." Korra, levitating the broken security camera and presented the broken equipment to Rainbow and Twilight. It looked more like scrape metal than a camera at this point, but when studied closely by both alicorns and pegasus noticed that something on the metal looked a bit off. ...

"Bite marks. Yeah, definitely not teenagers, unless it's a kid some very impressive molars." Twilight concluded.

"Look over here!" It didn't stop there either. Rainbow Dash got both alicorns to look over to one of the broken park benches, also finding something peculiar on the stone surface of said bench. Rather than marks from sharp teeth, these look more done by claws, and rather rough ones judging by the thickness of the marks.

"Claw marks. Where have I seen these before?" Twilight wondered. Korra took the moment to pull out her geo-phone - a recent invention - and took a quick picture of it. Might as well take what evidence you can while it's there, and this evidence was showing quite a bit of animosity towards the park, whatever went through. And Rainbow still had something else caught in her sight.

"Look." The group then saw yet another intriguing piece of evidence at the scene, hidden off near one of the torn trees. At the base, a small glisten from the sun revealed to be a green, thin object, about as big as a pony's hoof. This was clearly some sort of scale, a reptile scale to be exact. It still got Twilight scratching her head.

"That's weird. What kind of reptile leaves wolf-like claw marks?" Twilight wondered.

"And cause so much damage to a public park," added Korra. It was then their attention went to the holes. There were plenty of them in the park, yes, but these holes didn't look right. At least by an animal's standard, anyway. The one they were at in particular was pretty large, circular, and when Korra placed her hand on the interior, surprisingly smoothed out.

"Look at the holes. They're not just random, they're precise. Not even an ordinary dog could dig a hole that size, or that deep. Whatever did this, it was searching for something."

"But what?" Twilight asked.

"No idea," Rainbow responded, picking up the reptilian scale with a pair of tweezers, and putting them in a police evidence bag. "Let's get back to headquarters. Mako and the guys may want to see this."

(~)

At the police station, the busy nature of the job was just as high as ever. Over at his desk, King Mako was busy with his own current investigation. Being the head chief of police, and the city's instated king, meant that he had plenty of work and cases to work on, but the one he was working on had him going around in circles for a while now. During another session of case study, he heard his front door knock, with his co-chief, King Flash Sentry, along with Soarin and Sunburst, soon coming in.

"Yes, Flash?"

"Mako, we've got something you should see." Flash informed. Sunburst then placed in front of him a folder, with pictures of claw marks on the surface of a cargo train from the other day. Mako spread out each picture to get a good look at each one. These pictures showed claw marks on a metal surface.

"These pics were taken on the day a cargo train arrived from the Earth Kingdom the other day. The conductor reported seeing some kind of animal on the tracks but it disappeared." Explained Soarin and immediately pulled out another folder of pictures. As for these, the pictures showed shadowy figures taken by random pedestrians from locations all over both worlds: Canterlot, Manehattan, Las Pegasus, the Fire Nation, and Earth Kingdom. Regardless of where exactly, the pictures had two common factors: shadowy, four-legged creatures hidden somewhere in each shot, or claw marks left on surfaces of walls and/or broken objects. The sight of so many similar problems in so many different places made the situation even more confusing.

"Looks like our mystery friends have finally decided to pay us a visit." Flash concluded, picking up the most recent picture of the train. Mako leaned back in his seat, arms crossed, and in some thought.

"I was worried about this. Our troops in Equestria and the Earth and Fire kingdoms have spent weeks trying to get a lead on these guys. They've robbed shops, vandalized public property, and stolen random objects like pottery, jewels or books. Not to mention all of the random innocents they've injured. None of this makes any sense." Mako summed up, and indeed it was.

Usually there would be some common goal, or pattern to these crimes for any normal gang to do, but they just didn't seem to add up. The objects stolen seemed unrelated to each other, the attacks seemingly random, and property damage not connecting to anything important in particular. He and the other police officers were left in some wild goose chase.

"Maybe they're some rouge dragon gang." Soarin suggested. But, Flash shook his head in disagreement.

"Unlikely. Only fully grown dragons as big as a mountain can claw through metal as deep as this. The marks are too small and too thin to fit a dragon's claw. Even if that were the case, they've have to be at least adolescent or so." Flash retorted. He had a good point there.

"Plus, if they were dragons, you'd think we'd get more eyewitness reports." Mako, pointing to one of the figures within one of the shots. "These don't look anything like dragons to me." he added before looking up at Sunburst. "Did the conductor get a good look at the creature this time?"

Sunburst took out his notes with some levitation magic before answering. "He described it being on all fours, gray and black with purple eyes, and fully covered in hair with spikes on its back. He said it resembled a wolf of some kind, but he's still not sure." described Sunburst, reading the notes as described by the conductor. Such an odd sounding creature, indeed.

"Doesn't sound like any wolf from our world." Mako concluded. His world may have its fair share of odd animals and chimeras, but this one didn't sound very familiar to him at all.

"Equestrian origin, maybe?" Flash wondered.

"A wolf with spikes and able to claw through pure metal. ..."

As Mako pondered a bit on what this could be, the police station soon had another little visitor. This time it wasn't a human, or an anthro pony, but instead a sort of reptilian spirit with insect wings wearing a female police officer's uniform. This was Ali, Mako's adopted spirit daughter and Iris's older sister.

"Dad, mom is here to see you." Ali informed. No sooner after Ali said that, Korra, Twilight and Rainbow Dash all walked in.

"Everything okay?" Mako inquired as he stood up from his chair and walked around his desk to properly greet his wife.

"Sorry to barge in like this, but we found something you should see." Korra said, pulling out her geo-phone. Korra was quick to show her husband the photos she had taken at Harmony Park, the claw marks almost identical to the ones shown on the train, after comparison. Same size, same length, and even same pattern! Mako's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, no. When did this happen?" Mako asked.

"This morning, Harmony Park was in shambles. Twilight, Rainbow and I spent all morning cleaning it up, and trying to figure out who vandalized it," kora explained, as Mako skimmed through the pictures on Korra's geo-phone, seeing the different damages done all over the park, from fallen trees, to the stone bench.

"But it wasn't just some random street gang's doing," Twilight continued, "There were holes scattered all around. Whatever this thing is, it was looking for something."

"And we found this at the crime scene." Added Rainbow, presenting the evidence bag with the green scale inside it. Sunburst went on to collect it from Rainbow.

"I'll analyze it along with the hair samples they sent us. I'll let you know what I find."

"Thank you, Sunburst." Mako said, as he turned towards Ali. "Brief every officer on the force on this unknown creature. Double the search parties and security in every landmark and public area. We'll need all hands on deck."

"Sure thing, dad. But, if you don't mind me saying, isn't it a tad extreme?" Ali asked.

"I can't take any chances. This has been going on for months and nobody could figure out who or what these things are. For all we know, these markings they keep leaving behind could be some kind of warning. They're clearly preparing for something. Now that they're here on our doorstep, we have to take top priority in keeping the people and our family safe."

"Iris."

"Exactly."

The mention of Iris's name got Korra more troubled, something Mako quickly caught in his own sights.

"Honey, we knew this was coming." Mako said, a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"I know, but she still hasn't show any signs of her powers yet."

"I know, I know, but if this thing escalates any further, we will need her to be strong. I know you don't like it when I smother, but--"

"No, I understand. You're right. We'll tell her tonight. I'm not sure how she'll take it."

"What about the concert tonight?" Ali suddenly asked, reminded them of the big event in the first place.

"I don't think they'll attack a public place with a big crowd. From what we gathered they only strike when there is hardly anyone around. However, that hasn't stopped them from hurting those who dared cross their path." Mako explained.

"We'll amp up security. Akari's been looking forward to it for months." Flash promised.

"Heck, if anything, it's those mystery criminals whom you should be worried about." Rainbow Dash put in.

"Speaking of kids…" Soarin said. Suddenly, Rainbow seemed to remember something, slapping her forehead.

"Oh, right! We should be heading back home to Fire Fly. I think we've made Scootaloo suffer enough for one day."

"You guys go on ahead." Mako allowed, as Soarin and Rainbow began to go.

"I'll get started on deciphering the evidence." Sunburst said.

"I'll get started on the briefing." added Flash.

"I'll come with you." Twilight said. Before she left with him, she placed a hand on Korra's shoulder, giving her close friend a sympathetic smile. It was the least she can do to help comfort her friend for now.

"It's gonna be okay, mom. If you want, I can give San and Mika a call and we can help break the news to her." Ali suggested.

"Thanks." Korra replied. Pretty soon, it was just her and Mako alone in the office, everyone else gone to do their own thing. ...

"I hope you're right."

(~)

Once Hiro and Mai arrived home, they spotted a familiar country styled truck outside their mother's work shop. Asami and Bolin assisted Applejack and her husband Double Diamond were loading their car with new farming equipment to replace their old ones inside. A young anthro earth pony, a filly with bright blue eyes, a pale yellow coat, almost identical to Apple Bloom's, and bright orange red hair with bright gold streaks gasped upon seeing the young female firebender.

"Mai!" she happily called out, speaking in an adorable southern accent.

"Hey, Sweet Gala!" Mai crunched down as the little filly ran up to her and she scooped her into her arms. "I swear, you get bigger and bigger every time I see you."

"Thanks!" Sweet Gala said, "Mama's been teaching me how to buck apples."

"Already? Well, no wonder you're so strong. Keep this up and you'll be lifting up that truck in no time."

"Don't go givin' her any ideas, Mai." Applejack said, having heard their conversation while Bolin wiped his brow, placing a box of tools onto the ground.

"Man, is it just me, or are these boxes getting heavier?"

"Here, let me help, Dad." Mai insisted, grabbing the nearby box. She got her hands gripping the corners, and she tried to lift it alongside her father. Her knees buckled a bit as she strained. Pretty soon, Hiro and Bolin both took the box and hoisted it up with ease onto the back of the truck, much to Mai's dismay. She pouted as Hiro moved the box.

"It was a good try, sugarcube." Applejack said, trying to cheer her up.

"Thanks, but I guess I should have expected it as much." Mai remarked, crossing her arms. "I mean, I'm no Aunt Korra."

"Oh, don't beat yourself up." Asami encouraged, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, at least you got it three feet off the ground this time." her brother said.

"Hiro!" Bolin snapped.

"What? I'm just trying to make her feel better!" Hiro said, which is true. As they did that, Double diamond started looking around the factory, but began to notice that somepony was missing.

"Uh, Sweet Gala, where's your brother?" Double asked.

"Incoming!"

Suddenly, zooming by, their son Half Pipe was racing through the factory on his skateboard, doing some stunts as he did so. It was fun for Half Pipe, but Double Diamond had to grab him before the reckless anthro could fall over.

Half Pipe was Sweet Gala's twin brother, with the same light yellow coat and orange, yellow hair, only instead he had green eyes instead of blue. Like his sister, he too spoke with a southern accent.

"Whoa there, son! How many times have we told you never to skateboard inside!" snapped Double Diamond.

"I wasn't inside, I was in a factory." Half Pipe snapped back.

"Half Pipe, don't you sass your father like that, young man!" AJ demanded. That was enough to get the pony to quiet down.

"Sorry, Mama."

Asami giggled at Applejack schooling her son when her geo-phone started ringing. She was quick to answer it. "Hello? Korra? Oh, yeah sure, what happened?….What? O-Okay, I'll see what I can do, thanks for telling me." Asami quickly hung up the phone with a look of concern on her face.

"Everything okay?" Bolin asked.

"Something vandalized the park and destroyed all of the security cameras." Asami explained.

"Do you need any help?" AJ asked.

"Thanks, but I've got it covered. It was probably some crazy kids or rebel spirits or something."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure you and Korra can take care of it! Right, Mama?" Sweet Gala said.

"Of course, Sugarcube. But, we'll wait until we get more information before we go letting our imaginations run wild."

Half Pipe leaped onto the back of the truck, removing his helmet. "Oh, I bet it was a scary monster! If it is, can I help fight it Mama?"

"No fighting monsters until your sixteen." Double Diamond said, ruffling his son's hair.

Half Pipe pouted sadly. "Awww!"

"Let's get this stuff back to Sweet Apple Acres." AJ concluded, starting up the car before turning to Asami again. "We'll catch up with ya'll later. Keep us posted!"

"We will!" Bolin called out as he and the rest of the his family waved farewell to the Apple family. Mai gripped her wrist, having pulled it a bit while helping with lifting the box. Bolin ruffled her long raven locks, which were as smooth and un-tangled as her mother's.

"Don't worry, Fire Cracker, keep it up and then you'll be the one lifting a truck up."

Mai smiled, fixing her now messed up hair. "Thanks, Dad."

As the family retreated back to their mansion, Hiro wrapped an reassuring arm around his sister. Mai was always the smart tech-savvy engineer of the group, but she always tried to be just as athletically skilled as the rest of them. Heck, even the introverted and soft spoken Gallant had just as much experience in self defense as she did. She was close to Mako, due to him being her firebending teacher, and she was close to Korra who taught her martial arts. However, she was still rather meek in physical strength. She often needed her brother of father's help with lifting her most extravagant equipment for her experiments.

Still, she was only thirteen. Maybe with time she would get to be as strong as her other friends.