White Curse

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 13B
Chapter 13 part 2
Intermission 2
Intermission 3
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 16 2
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 20 2
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26 part 2
Chapter 27
Epilogue
The Best Gift Ever
Chapter 1
Chapter 8
Intermission 1
Chapter 26

Chapter 2

When they got back to the school, Twilight explained to them what had happened and what she was planning to do with the school. A long discussion between adults, a song, and a bit of puppy eyes later, and the students were back in school. And a cool kind of school.

The rest of the day passed without too much incident, but Sandbar still found it hard to fall asleep that night. The events at the castle still played in his head. He wasn't pushing his points enough. He tried to keep them on track and screwed it up. If he had only pushed his points a bit harder...

*Thud!* "Ow."

Sandbar sat up in his bed and looked at his door. "Who..." He hopped out of bed and peeked outside his room. After determining no one was right outside his door, he fully opened his door and looked around to see...

"Silver?"

Sure enough, the hippogriff was rounding a corner, barely escaping his line of sight. He started after her, only to be stopped by a squeak. He looked under his hoof.

"Ocellus? Sorry, I-"

The mouse shaped creature looked up at him. "You're lucky it was just my tail. That could have been a mess."

Sandbar lifted his hoof, and Ocellus turned back into a changeling.

"Are you following Silver too?"

"Yeah. Can you get the others?"

Ocellus was taken aback. "But if I do that, I'll lose track of Silver. I don't know what Silver is doing."

"Neither do I, but the more of us there are, the better chances of us being able to help her. We can meet by the lake we were at earlier when we skipped on class."

Ocellus nodded. "Right."

Ocellus went back to get the other three, while Sandbar continued to trail Silver through the halls and out of the school.

Silver floated down to the lake. The same one they went to when they skipped class earlier. She stared at her reflection as she, well, reflected on the events of the day. She fell for everything that voice told her, then let it control her into harm's way, and then... then... put her friends in danger.

She let out a small sniffle, then just started... crying. "I'm so stupid. Why did I do that?" She buried her face in her claws. "It was such an obvious trap. How did I fall for it?"

"We all did."

Silver gasped and looked over her shoulder. Upon realizing it was just Sandbar, she turned away and sighed. "The voice led me to that room. To the mirror. When I was there, it... repeated some of my worst memories."

Sandbar trotted over and laid next to her.

"It made me remember how childish I can be, and how the other Seaponies treat me as useless and stupid," Silver continued, "and then it told me that it could help me if I just touched the mirror. So I did, just to make the pain stop... and that thing called me stupid and grabbed me."

Sandbar bit his lip. He wanted to help but wasn't sure... no. He just needed to talk to her.

He started by placing his hoof over her and pulling her in a bit closer, ignoring her blush. "You are childish."

Silver was shocked to hear her friend affirm her worst fear. "Wh-what?"

"But that isn't a bad thing. It means you can keep things positive, even when they get bad. When we get down, you can bring our spirits back up."

Silver started crying again, but with a smile on her face. "Sandbar..."

"Besides," He continued, "It lets you see the best in others, something not all of us can. It can help avoid trouble sometimes, and when it can't, I'll be there to protect you."

"We all will."

They both looked at Gallus, who had Yona, Smolder, and Ocellus right beside him.

Ocellus stepped forward. "It's convenient she came here. Though it shouldn't be too surprising. This is a memorable place for all of us."

Gallus walked up to Silver and pressed his talon against her beak. "Don't act like you're the only one to make a mistake. We should have been happy with each other, and not gone for more."

Smolder shrugged. "But it all worked out in the end anyway, so don't sweat it."

"Yak happy to have friends!" Yona capped her declaration by grabbing all of them in one big hug.

Smolder yelped. "Who cut me?"

"S-sorry," Silver replied nervously.

They held each other for a while before Sandbar pointed something out. "You still don't seem happy, Silver."

Silver sighed, then pulled away from the rest of them. She walked up to the water and stared at her reflection. "That thing that got out. I... think I heard it when it tried to eat me."

Smolder scratched her head. "Well, eat is a strong word."

"It's accurate," Silver asserted. "Because... it said it wanted to consume me. And the whole world."

The others felt their hearts sink. "What?"

"It wants to eat the world and I let it out." Silver started shaking. "I just doomed us. I doomed Equestria."

Sandbar felt like his earlier efforts were worth nothing. "Silver..."

Silver's face contorted into one of pain. "I doomed the whole WORLD!"

To emphasize her point, Silver slammed her claw into the ground. Not even a moment later, a pillar of water erupted from the lake. As it rained back down, they all stared in shock.

Ocellus looked at Silver. "Is... that a hippogriff thing? Or a Seapony one?"

Silver looked at her claw. "... neither. What did I...?" She lifted her claw up, willing the water to move.

And move it did. Some water came up out of the lake, like a flying snake made of water.

Sandbar stared in amazement. "Woah."

Gallus tried to poke the floating water. "How long have you been able to do that?"

"I don't know." Silver continued to move the strand of water around. "This is the first time I'm seeing this."

Suddenly a thought crossed Silver's mind. A nasty, devious thought. She just needed a good target.

"Hey, Smolder... THINKFAST!"

"Huh? WOAH!" Smolder had just enough time to duck the water blob that shot towards her. The others were laughing, but Smolder was just angry. "What was THAT for, Silver?"

Suddenly, the others were staring at her in wonder.

"Yak thought dragons only breath fire."

Smolder was confused, then realized what Yona meant and looked at her hands. Which were on fire. After a moment of surprise (though not fear, because, ya know, she's a dragon), she tried lighting her legs on fire. Then lifting herself with the flames.

She started laughing. "This is so cool!"

"Don't you mean hot?" Gallus snarked.

Ocellus put her hoof to her chin. "Does that mean-"

"Look, friends! Look!"

Everyone turned to Yona, who managed to make structures out of both sand and dirt, and balanced them above and below her while she balanced on a pillar of sand.

Silver was shocked at the precision of what amounted to a living battering ram. "H-how?"

Yona giggled, then looked at one of the structures and gasped, losing her balance and causing everything to tumble down. Once the structures fell apart, a vine came out of one pile of dirt. Ocellus, oddly bravely, trotted up and pet it.

Smolder was shocked by the changeling's sudden courage. "Ocellus?"

"I'm controlling it." Ocellus smiled at her friends. "I made it."

Sandbar looked over the girls. "Water, fire, earth, and plants? When would you have..."

"Let me try!" Gallus held up his claw and made an aggressive face.

After a few seconds, Smolder made an observation, "Well, your power seems to be looking incredibly stupid."

Gallus looked incredibly hurt by that. "Ow. Burn."

Sandbar curiously waved his hoof. Sure enough, a small dust storm started up.

"OH, SURE!" Gallus yelled loud enough to nearly knock Sandbar over. "You just wave your hoof, and you get WIND POWERS! Guess who deserves THAT!?"

"S-sorry." Sandbar looked around. "Maybe your power requires something that isn't here? Like metal?"

Smolder chuckled. "Or maybe it's everywhere, but he's just too stupid to use it."

Gallus started tearing up. "I have feelings you know!" But his tone made him sound like a comedy actor.

Silver looked at her claw. "But how did we get these powers?"

They all pondered Silver's question before Ocellus came up with the best possibility. "The mirror! What if the shadows weren't the only thing kept in there?"

Yona gasped. "You say we got powers from mirror?"

Smolder put on a positive smirk. "Maybe it's a good thing I broke it."

"Then listen up!" All eyes turned towards Sandbar. "We made a mistake, and we need to fix it. We may not be that capable on our own, but we can't risk anyone else learning about this now. We'll have to rely on each other. We have the basics of our powers down, and I believe in Gallus' ability to fight. So, when those things come to cause destruction, it's up to us to stop them." He put out his hoof. "Together."

Yona put her hoof on Sandbar's, followed by Ocellus, then Silver, Gallus, and finally Smolder.

"Together!" They all echoed.

"Let's get back," Ocellus said, pulling her hoof back. "We don't want anyone to realize we left."

"And at this hour." Silver started back first. "I'm sorry. I let my emotions run away earlier."

"It alright!" Yona caught up fast. "We learned important things here."

"Hey, Smoulder," Gallus said with some concern in his voice, "Are you feeling alright? Your hand was hot."

Smolder looked at her hand in confusion. "I don't feel off. I feel perfectly fine."

"Are you sure?" Silver rushed to Smolder's side. "If you feel sick, you should-"

As she spoke, Silver grabbed Smolder's arm. Once she did, however, a bunch of steam came from where they touched, and Smolder yelped in pain. When Silver let go, they were greeted by a shocking sight.

Where they made contact, on Smolder's arm, was nothing but fire.

Smolder's eye was twitching. "W-what the..."

Ocellus touched Smolder's other arm... only for her hoof to catch fire. "Eeeeeeee!"

Silver rushed over to Ocellus and put her claw over the fire. More steam and Ocellus' hoof resembled burnt wood.

"Are we..."

"Made of..."

"The stuff we control?"

Gallus suddenly yanked at Sandbar's cheek. "Still feels like flesh to me." He then floated over to Yona, pinched her cheek... and got a claw full of dirt. "Uhh..."

"PUT YONA'S CHEEK BACK ON!"

Gallus slapped the dirt back on Yona's cheek, which briefly resembled dirt before going back to her cheek.

Silver floated over and pinched Gallus' cheek, earning an annoyed glare. "What? You did it to check the others. And you feel like flesh to me."

Smolder looked legitimately concerned. "Does that mean he doesn't have powers?"

"But Sandbar has air powers and he's still flesh..." Smolder put her hoof to her chin. "I think."

Sandbar rubbed his head. "We still have a lot to learn about this stuff."

"Why did you abandon us?"

"They'll be after one of us. You know that right?"

"... You better appreciate this."

"I'll be too busy mourning."

Sandbar's eyes snapped open again that night. This time because of his dream. He glanced around his room.

"What was that?"

He was too tired to think about it, though, and went back to sleep. By the time he woke up, his odd dream might as well have been a distant memory.

Chapter 3

"Pinkie..."

The whole day had been painful for Pinkie. Meeting Mudbriar had been frustrating enough as is, but finding out that he's now Maud's boyfriend was nightmarish! He was already a pain to deal with, but to think she might end up related to him was just... just...

Starlight started thinking of ways to diffuse the situation. "Uh, wait, let's all slow down and talk about this."

"Talk?" Pinkie's voice was suddenly deeper and more ominous. "What do you think I've been doing."

Starlight stepped away, sensing something was very, very wrong. "P-Pinkie?"

"Talking to others... making them my friends..." Pinkie's head was twitching. "That's what I'm all about. But him... he's impossible."

Mudbriar raised an eyebrow. "Technically, it's-"

"TECHNICALLY this. TECHNICALLY that." Pinkie started turning back to them. "Why are you so obsessive over that word?"

Starlight bit her lip. She wanted to correct Pinkie, but-

"Obsessed with."

And Maud did it anyway.

Pinkie let out a laugh. Not her usual, jolly laugh. A demented sounding one. "Even you, Maud? He got you doing it too?" Then she let out a deep growl. "This is a nightmare. A bad joke. I'm not letting this slide."

Starlight, worried about what might happen next, got as close to Maud and Mudbriar as she could and put up a barrier.

"I won't-" Pinkie lifted her right hoof, and slammed it down, causing the earth below it to surround it, moving up her hoof to the rest of her body. "-let you-" She lifted her left hoof, and slammed it down, causing the same effect. "-take her-" The earth surrounded the rest of her body. She lifted her head, her eyes glowing with a deep brown light. "-AWAY!!!!!"

"... and then he bawked like a chicken!"

Silver and Fluttershy both giggled. Smolder's account of what happened between her and Gallus was rather amusing.

"Aww. Gallus was scared of such a small thing." Silver squeed and squished her cheeks. "It's adorable!"

Fluttershy giggled as she put the empty bottle she was holding into her grocery bag. "Technically, it would have been out of shock as opposed to fear."

Smolder looked at Fluttershy dead on. "I need to ask this. You've been saying 'technically' a lot lately."

Fluttershy smacked her face. "Aw! He got me saying it."

"Who did?"

"A new colt in town. His name is-"

*POP!*

"... Mudbriar?"

Sure enough, Mudbriar just appeared in front of the three, alongside Maud and Starlight.

Starlight let out a sigh of relief. "I think we got away."

Maud, of all ponies, looked very shaken. "What happened? It's like she just-"

Silver shook her head to clear it. "Hold on, what's going-"

Smolder noticed something bad and pointed below them. "LOOK OUT!"

Starlight looked down, where dirt started to rise up around them. She teleported herself and the two earth ponies away just before it imploded.

"Where are you going?" A figure started raising out of the earth.

Starlight stepped back. "Pinkie! Please! Calm down!"

Fluttershy's eyes went wide. "That thing is Pinkie?"

"Stay back, Fluttershy." Pinkie's "face" got close to Fluttershy's, a nightmarish smile on her face. "I'm not after you... yet."

Fluttershy shrieked and shot off, dropping her bags.

Pinkie started laughing like mad. "Now, Mudbriar-"

*FWOOOM!*

Smolder shot a large amount of fire out of her mouth, completely blocking Pinkie's vision. Starlight, sensing opportunity, teleported Maud, Mudbriar, and herself away to a specific, distant location.

"AARGH! YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Pinkie swatted at her face, then looked around. "Wait, where are they?"

"Nowhere near us!" Silver whipped a bottle of water out of the bag Fluttershy dropped. "And that's fine by me!" She yanked the top off the bottle, and immediately floated the water around her.

Pinkie looked at Silver, then Smolder, who had lit up her arms and legs. "Well, aren't you two interesting." Her face twisted into an evil smile. "This outta be fun."

"And that's the difference between rays and beams. I'll be honest, I had trouble figuring it out until I got some help from-"

*POP!*

"... Starlight?"

Starlight hadn't meant to interrupt Twilight's class, but there wasn't much time to think about that. "Twilight, we've got a huge problem!"

Twilight ran towards Starlight. "Wait! Slow down! Why is Maud here? Who is that?"

"That's not important!"

Twilight was getting irate. "It's very important! And you should know not to-"

Starlight didn't have time to listen to a lecture. "PINKIE'S BECOME A MONSTER!"

Twilight's anger turned to panic. "What? How?"

"I don't know! And I watched it happen!" Starlight then cringed in realization. "Ohh, I just left Silver and Smolder with her!"

And panic turned back to anger. "YOU WHAT? Why would you leave the students with her?"

Starlight stepped back. "I wasn't thinking about them! Pinkie was-"

"Not important now!" Twilight turned back to her class. "You're dismissed, but DON'T LEAVE THE BUILDING!"

The princess and the unicorn ran out of the room.

Mudbriar did what he does best. "T-technically, we should leave if Pinkie shows up, but for now..."

An alarm started sounding, prompting the other three teachers there to rush to Twilight's location.

"All students! Do not leave the building! I repeat, do not leave the building!" Twilight moved away from the microphone as the other teachers entered the room.

"Twilight!" Rainbow was the first to speak, "What's happening? Where are Pinkie and Fluttershy?"

Twilight gasped. "Starlight, do you know-"

*CRASH!* *WHUMP!* "Pinkie's a monster! Pinkie's a monster!"

Twilight took a moment to process what just happened, then pat the yellow pegasus that landed on her on the head. "At least you're safe."

Rarity was trying to process what Fluttershy was saying. "W-what do you mean Pinkie's a monster?"

Starlight explained what happened to them as quickly as she could. By the time she finished, the others were suitably disturbed.

Applejack was the first to react. "Wait a tic, all that over Maud's boyfriend?"

"We've seen her snap before, but it was over something far worse for her," Rainbow clutched her head. "And it didn't get this bad!"

Twilight got Fluttershy off of her and stood up. "It's possible that something else is influencing her this time."

Rarity's eyes narrowed. "It's not Neighsay, is it?"

Twilight shook her head. "Unlikely. He seems like the type to plan things from behind the scenes, then make a huge blow to us, not send out random monsters like this."

Starlight had a theory. "It might be someone that can give others powers while they are in distress."

"It's too soon to say. This is the first time something like this is happening!"

"No, it's not!" Fluttershy's voice was soft, but her words were very loud. "It happened with Stygian and Luna before! If it's the same thing as those times..."

Applejack smiled. "Then the Elements of Harmony should work on her!"

Starlight noted the problem. "But Pinkie's not able to use hers."

"True, but it's still our best shot," Rarity put her hoof on Starlight's shoulder. "And we have you, in case things go wrong."

Twilight also smiled, feeling a lot more confidence. "Then let's get the Elements! Until then, none of the students can leave the school building, especially Silver and Smolder's friends."

Fluttershy nodded. "Right, because Silver and Smolder-"

"Aaaaaboooout thaaaaaaat." Rainbow Dash had a very awkward smile.

The problem with being bulky is that you tend to be slow, so faster targets can be hard to hit. The problem with using the ground as your weapon is that it tends to be hard to hit things that can fly. For Silver and Smolder, however, this was a great opportunity to test their powers, like shooting fireballs and water blades.

"Fwoom! Fwoom!" Smolder looked at her hands. "... Silver, I feel stupid doing this."

Silver shot her a jolly smile. "Keep doing it! It sounds funny!"

Smolder responded with a flat look. "... No."

Silver continued to test her powers, figuring out how to use the moisture in the air, but was very bothered by something. "Why can't I turn this into ice?"

Smolder shrugged. "Because you control water?"

Silver started pouting. "But ice is just hard water!"

A bunch of pillars of dirt shot towards them, stopping just below them. Smolder blinked at them. "Shouldn't we be focusing on saving Professor Pinkie?"

Silver scratched her head. "... I guess?"

"Will you two shut up?"

Gallus flew in out of nowhere, kicking the dirt golem in the face.

"Gallus?"

"Girls!"

Sandbar, displaying his powers over wind, flew up next to the two creatures already there.

"Hey, Sandbar!" Silver acted like there was absolutely no danger.

"What is that? Where did it come from?"

"That's Professor Pinkie." Smolder started scratching her head. "I think she got mad at someone?"

"That's our Professor?" Ocellus, having just flown up as well, gasped. "We have to save her!"

"Yak will be distraction!"

The four winged creatures and the wind commanding pony looked at their yak friend, and quickly realized something; Yona was not only the only one grounded but also the slowest of them. Fear washed over them as they watched a dome of dirt surround their friend.

"YONA!"

It was too late. She was completely surrounded, and the dome crushed in on itself. Once gone, there was no trace of Yona.

Sandbar was heartbroken. "N-no."

Gallus, however, took action. "YOU TURD!" He punched the golem in the face.

This was followed up by a pillar of earth striking it in the other direction.

"What the-" Silver shook her head to make sure she wasn't seeing things. "Did it attack itself?"

Then something even weirder happened; it got hit in the face by nothing! Followed by it getting smacked in the gut by nothing.

Then a boulder popped out of it's back. "Yona fine! Just beat up big meanie!" The definitely not crushed yak dove back in and continued beating it up from the inside.

Sandbar let out a huge sigh of relief. "She's alive. She had me really scared for a moment there."

"Wait a second." Ocellus tapped her hoof to her chin. "Five of us can fly out of her range, and the last one can combine with Professor Pinkie's attacks... Does anyone else get the feeling we got stupid lucky?"

"Yeah! We can't get hurt from up-" Smolder, while taunting about being too high to hit, accidentally lowered herself into range, earning her a pillar to the shin. She promptly fixed her height problem, then rubbed her leg. "We can't get hurt unless we stop paying attention."

Silver giggled, while Ocellus' hoof met her face.

"Alright, let's end this joke." Sandbar held up his hoof, then blew next to it. "Let's see if this works." Wind continued to spin around his hoof, going faster and faster until extended forward in a large tornado.

Once it made contact with the golem, the rocks on it started flying off, shredding it apart fast. Yona yelped as she leaped away from the golem she was just hiding in.

Ocellus grew concerned. "I think that's enough, Sandbar!"

"I-I can't stop it!"

That made the others panic. An uncontrollable tornado was far more dangerous to them than whatever happened with Pinkie.

Suddenly, he started spinning around his hoof. "WooooaaaaOOOOAAAAHHH" The tornado finally stopped when Sandbar suddenly barreled out of the sky.

Silver slapped her claws against her cheeks. "SANDBAR!"

Yona quickly softened the ground where Sandbar was about to land, saving him from serious injury. A few scrapes, but nothing major. "Yak did a good!"

Sandbar rubbed his head, then looked at the claw held out to him.

"That was pretty crazy," Gallus pulled the AC pony up to his hoofs. "Though I think you made it a bit too big."

"I completely lost control of it." Sandbar shook his head. "I got a bit careless."

"Guys! The professor!"

They all reacted to Silver's call by rushing over to Pinkie.

Sandbar spoke first, "Are you okay, professor?"

Gallus got closer than the others. "What happened?"

Ocellus pulled him back. "Hey! Give her some space!"

Yona leaned forward. "Professor Pinkie?"

"..."

Smolder was worried. "Is she-"

"It would be you brats."

The voice that came from Pinkie sent chills up their spines. Particularly Silver. "Y-you're..."

Pinkie smiled. "Hmhmhm. I should thank you for releasing me. I suppose your curiosity was my boon."

Smolder's eye was twitching. "Y-you..."

Pinkie opened one of her eyes, glowing with a dark brown light. "But now you oppose me, with the very power that sealed me. That's how heroes really are, huh?"

Yona growled at it.

"You all seem displeased. All I do is give an opportunity to those that need it."

"Opportuni-" Ocellus gasped in realization. "You can take over creatures that are heartbroken or angry?"

The deep voice laughed. "That's right. A small part of myself can send itself to those that are desperate for a way out. Through that, I can empower them-"

"Pfft!" Gallus waved his claw dismissively. "You're a small part of yourself? No wonder you were pathetic. You're gonna be easy to wipe the floor with."

Pinkie's face turned to a scowl. "Though I am just a small part of a whole. I will grow stronger with time, and with each tortured soul I grab."

"You'll grow stronger, but so will we," Sandbar asserted. "We'll be ready moving forward."

"... Tsk. Just try to beat me." A shadow separated from Pinkie's own, slithering a short distance before dissolving into the air.

They all stared at where it was for a bit before turning back to Pinkie.

Gallus was worried. "Professor?"

"Nnngh..."

Silver let out a sigh of relief. "She's alive."

Ocellus got up and turned away. "I'll get the other professors!"

Sandbar watched her run to the nearby hill, in the direction of the school, then turned to his friends. "Guys, I know that you'll want to brag, but it's best that we keep quiet about our powers, even with proof that they're useful."

Gallus shrugged. "You did the impressive thing."

Yona nodded. "Yona understand."

"Guys!"

The students looked in the direction Ocellus ran off in, and saw the rest of the professors running towards them, most wearing jewelry that seemed... off, to the students.

"That was fast." Smolder prodded Ocellus' horn. "Did you teleport while we weren't looking?"

Ocellus pushed Smolder's hand away. "They were almost here anyway."

Twilight rushed over to Pinkie's side. "Is she alright?"

Rainbow turned to Starlight. "I thought you said she was a monster!"

Starlight felt incredibly awkward. "Uh... Well..."

"She was," Smolder asserted. "Professor Fluttershy, Silver, and I were out shopping when Starlight teleported herself with two others in front of us. And then Professor Pinkie showed up as a... uh... thing, made of dirt or whatever, and tried to attack them."

"A golem?" Ocellus was not sure what to make of Smolder's description.

Smolder rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, sure. Whatever that is."

"Right after they left, Smolder and I started distracting Professor Pinkie. We were expecting you guys to be the first to show up."

Rainbow got right in the hippogriff's face. "So who did show up first."

"The other students?" Fluttershy said completely deadpan.

Rainbow's eyes went wide, then she pulled back out of embarrassment. "Right, I suppose that makes-"

"Actually." Smolder looked around. "I don't think they're here anymore."

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Someone else showed up, and started creating tornadoes." Silver looked around as well. "But I guess they left."

"So that's what I heard earlier. I thought it was a train but we were nowhere near the tracks." Applejack moved towards Pinkie. "Do you know what kind of creature they were?"

Silver and Smolder shared an awkward glance, then shook their heads.

Ocellus bit her lip. The two were weaving a believable lie, but she was worried one of the professors would see through it. She wanted to add on to it, make it more believable, but she might slip up and ruin what they had.

"I think I saw them." Gallus was either about to make or break the lie.

Though Starlight was immediately skeptical. "And when did you see them?"

"We saw Silver flying around like a maniac, so we went to check what she was doing. We stayed a good bit back, but saw the creature attack Professor Pinkie." Gallus scratched his head. "Now that I think about it, I don't remember seeing wings on them."

Starlight blinked a couple of times. "Oh. I see. Were they flying?"

Gallus gave her a half-lidded stare. "They didn't have wings."

"I can believe them flying, but that's not important." Twilight was speaking... oddly fast. "Right now, we should get back to the school, and make sure Pinkie gets any medical attention she needs. Students, I'd like for you to all go to the library right away, and wait for me there. The teachers are to wait in my office. I will address you afterward."

Starlight noticed something off. "Uh, Twilight?"

"NOW!" Twilight yelled at all of them.

The rest of them shared a look, then followed Twilight back.

Ocellus was bothered by one thing in particular. The lie Gallus told... was one that she thought of. Did they happen to have the same idea? Did he somehow catch on that she was thinking that? Did he... read her mind?

"BA-KAWK!"

They all looked at Gallus... and Fluttershy, who had his tail in her mouth.

"U-umm... Smolder mentioned you doing that, and I had to know."

Chapter 4

"Is she alright?"

The concern in Maud's voice was evident. At least, as evident as it could be for someone like Maud.

Starlight lifted Pinkie off of Applejack's back and onto the infirmary bed. "She should be fine now, but she's unconscious. We have plenty to ask her, but Twilight wants us in her office for the time being." Starlight patted Pinkie's now straight mane. "She didn't say why, though."

"You go ahead," Mudbriar said. "We can stay with Pinkie. I'll let you know when she wakes up."

"That sounds good." Applejack started out of the room. "Hopefully she ain't too upset by what happened."

Once Applejack and Starlight were out of the room, Mudbriar went up to Pinkie and pat her on the head. "How long are you going to keep pretending to be asleep."

A moment later, Pinkie let out a sigh. "You noticed, huh?"

"Do you mind if I finish what I tried to say earlier?"

Pinkie refused to look at him. "Sure. Whatever."

Mudbriar fought off the urge to start with 'Technically', and started right after that. "It's not impossible to be friends with anyone. Though it can be really hard at times."

Pinkie's ears perked up, and her eyes went wide.

"Even if we can't be friends," Mudbriar continued, "I don't want us to be enemies. I can't imagine how that would feel for Maud. So... I'll only ask you to tolerate me and my habits."

Pinkie finally turned to look at him. He held his arms open, with a small smile on his face. A tense moment later, she hugged him.

"Alright. I'll try my best." For the first time in a while, Pinkie had a genuine smile on her face.

The six friends sat around a table, only able to pass the time by watching Twilight search for something in the library.

"Uh, professor?"

"Not now. I'm concentrating." Twilight didn't even look at them.

"We were just-"

"NOT NOW!" Twilight refused to acknowledge the students any further until she found a book. "Here it is. White Curse."

Silver looked at Twilight as the alicorn floated down towards them. "What's a White Curse?"

Twilight set the book down in front of her on the table. "It's a banished power that no one knows how to get anymore. At least, no one should." Twilight flipped open the first page. "The power branded as the White Curse is attributed to one of the greatest disasters in Equestrian history."

A long time ago, back when the many races in and around Equestria lived in harmony, there were seven beings with a unique power. They were hailed as heroes, praised by those they saved and even those they didn't. This was a fact that didn't seem like it would ever change.

As time went on, however, they started to get detractors, those who claimed the "heroes" did it for little more than fame or fortune. While many knew this wasn't the case, there started to be incidents they weren't resolving for some reason, giving those that opposed them a larger following.

Then came the fateful day that the truth of the power came out. A village was destroyed. When the heroes failed to arrive, the Royal Guard were dispatched to stop the destruction and arrived to a shocking sight. The seven "heroes" were destroying the village. The guards were able to end six of them on site, and the seventh returned, for reasons unknown, only to be killed. Thus ended the existence of the power they had.

"After that day, the power they had was rebranded as the White Curse and outlawed. Should anyone be discovered with this power, they are to be... executed."

The seven of them sat there in silence.

Sandbar was the first to speak. "E-executed? As in... the guards would... kill them?"

Ocellus was terrified. "J-just for having that power?"

"The only other crime that can get one executed in Equestria is mass murder. In that case, the guards would kill them, publicly or privately. In the case of the White Curse, however, a princess would be the one to do it herself."

Silver was tearing up. "H-how many have... have..."

Twilight put her hoof on Silver's claw and smiled. "None. No one, since that day, has held the power of the White Curse."

Relief washed over Silver's face. At least that means no one was killed on an accusation of having the power.

"Professor, if I may be so bold," Ocellus said as she eyed the book Twilight brought out, "May we look into it more? We might be able to help find anyone that has the White Curse."

Twilight looked Ocellus in the eye, then sighed. "I don't want to endorse you six looking into this, but I can't do anything to stop you from researching on your own." Twilight stood up. "Unless you put yourselves in harms way intentionally. Now, if you don't mind, I need to inform the other professors of what really happened." With that, Twilight exited the library, leaving the book on the table.

Gallus grabbed the book and handed it to Ocellus. "Do you think something in this can help us?"

"Who knows?" Ocellus grabbed the book and started flipping through it. "Ways to use our powers, tools we might be able to use... Oh no."

Sandbar looked over Ocellus' shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"These images are in a different language. I'll need a book that will help me translate them."

Sure enough, the images had lines and curves that resembled some kind of language, but not one Ocellus or any of her friends could recognize.

"Ohhhh... I just realized something." Everyone turned to Smolder. "What if we get recognized?"

Their hearts sank.

Silver hid behind her claws. "If we do have the White Curse and get caught, we'll be... executed."

Sandbar turned to Ocellus. "Are there any spells that can hide our identities?"

Ocellus bit her lip. "There are, but they're too complicated for most ponies to pull off, let alone a changeling."

Yona put her hoof to her chin. "So we ask strong unicorn-"

"-And out ourselves?" Smolder shook her head. "That's not gonna work!"

Silver was shaking. "M-maybe we just need masks?"

Sandbar shook his head. "Maybe for me, but you guys are unique creatures. A simple mask won't hide who you are, especially from anyone that knows us."

Ocellus also looked panicked. "D-do we just not use our powers?"

Yona looked worried. "But what about innocent ponies?"

Smolder put her hand on her head. "What are we supposed to-"

"AAAARRRRGH!" The others leaned away from Gallus. "WHY IS THIS SO COMPLICATED‽‽‽"

Silence... Until a library assistant came up to them and spoke through gritted teeth. "Just because your homework is hard doesn't mean you get to break the big rule of libraries. Please. Be. Quiet." Just as suddenly as they had arrived, they left.

The six friends stared at each other for a moment, then started giggling, trying not to be so loud.

After her giggle fit, Ocellus sighed. "We'll work something out. I'll just take this with me, in case I can figure something out."

Silver was next to stifle her own laughter. "Don't we actually have homework?"

Smolder nodded. "Y-yeah, heh. We should probably, hehe, do it now, haha, while we're together."

Sandbar took a deep breath. "Pull yourself together first, Smolder. You too, Gallus."

Once the friends all calmed down, they started work on their homework. None of them noticing the pony nearby, and for good reason.

While six friends were studying, six more were arguing.

"What do you mean, executed?" Applejack was furious. "If they hadn't stepped in-"

"We would have!" Twilight rolled her eyes. "We had the Elements, we were on our way, we just happened to show up late!"

Starlight wasn't convinced. "Would the Elements have worked?"

Twilight motioned towards Rarity. "Even if they didn't, we did something similar to Rarity before meeting you!"

"But I wasn't going through the same thing as Pinkie! Just because it worked on me doesn't mean it would have worked on Pinkie!"

Twilight turned towards Rarity. "It's the power we used that matters, not the target! My point still stands!"

Rainbow got in Twilight's face. "But you're ignoring Applejack's point! Why does a hero deserve to be murdered?"

Twilight pushed her nose against Rainbow's. "Executed! It's not the same-"

Rainbow interrupted her by pushing back. "IT IS TO ME!"

Rarity was getting angry herself. "And you're dodging the point again! Why do they deserve to die?"

"I told you girls the whole story! I'm not going to repeat myself!"

Starlight was trying to remain calm and reasonable. "Just because they caused destruction doesn't mean the power made them do it."

Twilight glared at Starlight. "It was one of the biggest tragedies in Equestrian history, and Celestia needed to find out why it happened. She didn't make that law without thinking."

Starlight bit her lip. "B-but there may have been something else-"

"Good luck convincing Celestia of that!" Twilight started to the door. "Now, if you'll excuse-"

"No, ya don't!" Applejack lassoed Twilight's leg. "You aren't going anywhere until we're done!"

"We are done!" Twilight got the rope off of her leg, only to find Rainbow blocking the door.

Rainbow got in Twilight's face again. "If Celestia will listen to anyone, it would be you!"

Twilight got back in Rainbow's face. "She won't listen to anyone about this!"

Starlight started panicking. "Girls, please!"

She was ignored. "You won't know unless you try!"

"I don't need to try!"

"You're just going with this blindly?"

"I trust Celestia!"

Starlight continued to try and calm them down as they continued going back and forth until it turned into a match of personal insults. They kept going and going, until...

"SHUT UUUUUUUUUP!"

They mostly shut up because they didn't think Fluttershy could, or would, get that loud.

Fluttershy let out a huff. "Twilight's siding with Celestia and the rest of us don't agree with her. But Starlight is right. It's not worth getting this angry over."

Rainbow was upset but didn't want to hurt Fluttershy's feelings. "B-but if we tell on them-"

"Tell me," Twilight said. "I'll handle telling Celestia, and whoever tells me can remain anonymous."

Rarity glared at Twilight. "And what if we don't?"

"Then you don't have to." Twilight moved to the doorway. "But I can't promise that nothing bad will happen if you get found out."

With that, Twilight left. She was a good way down the hall when Fluttershy ran up to her.

Twilight looked at her and smiled. "Thanks for the help back there."

"I didn't do it for you. I didn't want everypony's friendship ruined by this. Besides..."

Fluttershy whispered into Twilight's ear.

Once she processed what Fluttershy said, Twilight looked around, hoping that no one heard what Fluttershy said. "Please don't tell anyone?"

Fluttershy refused to look Twilight in the eye. "I won't."

It was nighttime. Everything was dark. No one was anywhere but the dorms.

Except the one pony in the library, who's invisibility finally wore off. As soon as they realized this, they stood up and left the library. Once through the doors, they pulled out a slowly flashing gem. Bright enough to see, but dim enough that only they could.

"Let's see if this works."

They made their way to the dorms, as the gem flashed faster and faster. Once they stepped in front of a certain dorm room, the gem stopped flashing and simply glowed. The pony looked at the door and slowly opened it.

Inside, there were a number of books, a closet, and a bed full of pillows, blankets, and a changeling. The pony, trying to be quiet as to not wake the changeling, looked through the books.

Calculus 101, Basic Science, Simple Flying Tricks, Teaching for Students, Taming Pukwudgies (and other small yet dangerous creatures), Creating of Yak Confectioneries, Infamous Moments of Historical Revisionism, Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone... This changeling has quite the interesting collection of books.

Then they found it. The White Curse. The pony looked at the creature in the bed. "Then it is you."

They made their way out of the dorm area of the school, moving to the entrance hall, only to stop and look at one of the busts that were there. Shaking their head, they went out the front doors and walked a good distance before reaching their allies.

"It is them. They weren't talking quietly, though no one else was nearby, and one of them had the book."

"So what do we do now?"

"There's only one thing we can do..."

Author's Note

Now would be the time to mention something. I have read over the synopsis for every episode this season, and partially base the chapters for the story off of the episodes... If I can. In this case, however, I couldn't think of anything, so I made it an exposition chapter instead. There are other episodes where this will happen again, but I try to incorporate the episodes into the chapters as fluidly as I can... which was not at all in this case.

As I mentioned earlier, it should be assumed the episode happened in this universe as it did in canon. So Fluttershy did that weird thing with her personae, and Rarity fired her three times.

Also, can someone tell me if I should change the story tags? I don't feel like I need to, but I'm not sure.

Chapter 5

He looked through the six pictures. Twelve bits was a good price for them, and that colt sure seemed happy to help.

"The leader," He said, lifting the image of Sandbar, "signified by Air. You take charge, and direct your team."

"The confident one," He said, lifting the image of Smolder, "signified by Fire. You rush forward, someone beside you or not."

"The strong," He said, lifting the image of Yona, "signified by Earth. You break all binds you have, physical or emotional."

"The empathetic," He said, lifting the image of Silver, "signified by Water. You heal others, with your powers or joy."

"The intelligent," He said, lifting the image of Ocellus, "signified by Wood. Your mind is your greatest weapon."

"And," He said, lifting the image of Gallus, "the loyal, signified by..."

"Why does Ocellus want to meet us again?"

Sandbar shrugged. Ocellus had been studying that book on and off for about a week now, but apparently had nothing to show for it. The only time she didn't have it was due to a rule the library had where she had to wait a day before checking it out again, which only applied to certain books.

Gallus started floating backward in a lounged position. "Knowing her, she probably did find something. She's really smart, after all."

"She not super genius."

Gallus shrugged at Yona, still smiling. "She's the genius of our group." Smarter than you, at least.

"Hey, I need to ask," Silver said, looking around, "Have any of you been hearing weird voices from time to time?"

Smolder scratched her head. "Only while you were answering math yesterday."

"Yeah, that's why I got it right."

Smolder knocked on Silver's head. "I still don't know why you almost said 16 times 55 was 28."

"How did you know what I was going to put?"

Sandbar rolled his eyes at his friend's antics. "Guys, we're here."

Sandbar opened the door to Ocellus' room for his friends, then closed it once all of them were in. Once he looked in the room, he saw something strange. A creature wearing a superhero suit, but the outfit wasn't what was weird.

It was a creature, definitely, but he couldn't tell what kind of creature it was. It was almost definitely Ocellus, as far as he was concerned, but he had no idea what form she was in. Though, oddly, he felt like he should have.

Smolder, however, hadn't come to the same conclusion. "Wait, who are you? Where's Ocellus?"

The creature giggled.

"Don't laugh!" Gallus got ready for a fight. "Where's our friend?"

The creature laughed more.

"Yona can trample puny creature!"

The creature was in hysterics.

Even Silver was getting mad. "Stop laughing and answer us!"

"Guys, stop. You look like idiots." Sandbar walked past his confused and angry friends and pulled the creature's mask off. Once it was off, the other four calmed down.

Silver started scratching her head. "How did we not realize it was Ocellus?"

Gallus tilted his head. "I feel dumb."

"Actually..." Sandbar lifted the mask. "... I think the reason is right here." Sandbar put on the mask Ocellus was wearing a moment ago.

The other creatures (minus Ocellus) were shocked. They watched Sandbar put the mask on, so they knew it was him, but, by just putting on that mask, it looked nothing like him!

Smolder grabbed at her head. "H-HOW?"

Ocellus giggled again. "Remember a week ago? When Sandbar mentioned a spell that could hide our identities? I think that mask has one such spell applied."

Gallus rolled his eyes. "Okay, great. We have A mask that hides identities. And the rest of us?"

"Can use these." Ocellus lifted five other masks out of a box sitting innocuously on her bed and lifted them onto herself and the other friends.

Suddenly, they were able to tell Sandbar was Sandbar again. They all were able to tell who was who, for that matter.

"Wait." Silver quickly alternated between putting on and taking off her mask. "How does this work?"

Yona shrugged. "Magic."

"Well, yeah." Ocellus rubbed the back of her head. "The spell actually seems to be a scrambler spell, meaning anyone that sees someone with the mask can tell who it is, but their mind ends up unable to process that information. The spell also counters itself, meaning if the spell applies to you for one reason or another, it doesn't affect you."

Gallus took his mask off and looked at it. "So the only ones that can tell who we are are anyone with that spell on them? That's neat. Although..." He put his other claw to his chin. "This looks kinda like it should go on Silver."

Ocellus let out a nervous chuckle and gathered all the masks. "I just wanted to show that effect off real quick. I didn't worry about which went to who, but they seemed designed with each of us in mind."

Smolder got suspicious. "Who gave them to you anyway?"

Ocellus suddenly seemed very... worried. "I don't know, but I hope they are an ally." She pointed at the box the masks were in. "When I woke up, that was sitting there. Also..."

She lifted the box and dumped it on the floor. Inside were five outfits, each designed for different creatures.

They all stared at the pile in shock and wonder.

Then Gallus started to panic. "Someone not only knows who we are but also where you sleep at night?"

Sandbar looked at Silver. "Lock the door."

Silver complied, then grabbed up the deep blue outfit from the pile. "If they wanted to hurt Ocellus, they would have done so last night, when they left the box. And why would someone leave us a gift if they wanted bad things to happen to us?"

"Silver's right." Sandbar dug out the light blue outfit. "Given what happens to White Cursed, I wouldn't be shocked if someone helping them would want to remain anonymous as long as possible, even to the cursed themselves."

"I'd like to know who they are." Smolder lifted the red outfit out. "But, I can't blame them for not wanting to be known."

Ocellus tugged at the green suit she had on. "It's still terrifying to think that someone was able to get into my room that easily."

Yona grabbed the brown suit. "Maybe faculty member? Someone supposed to be-"

"Guys?" Gallus tugged at his grey suit. "Why does this fit so well?"

They all looked at Gallus, whose suit fit near perfectly to him. They all quickly put their own suits on and, sure enough, they fit them all perfectly.

Who sent these? Sandbar thought to himself.

"I don't know," Ocellus replied. "The box didn't have a name on it, and the only things in it-"

Sandbar cut Ocellus off. "Hold on! I didn't say that out loud."

Silver flew up to Ocellus, pressing her beak against the changeling's nose. "Did you read his mind or something?"

It took a moment before realization swept across Ocellus' face. "Right! That's the main thing I wanted to bring up!" She quickly pulled out the book and flipped it open. "There are several things I discovered through this book, even with some parts of it removed."

"Removed?" Smolder looked over Ocellus' shoulder. "Why would they be removed?"

"It may have been to dissuade anyone reading this from wanting the power. I didn't find anything useful about our specific powers, but I did discover a few things that may be useful." Ocellus flipped to the first page of importance. "First, what we just brought up, it seems like anyone with the White Curse is psychically connected."

Gallus raised an eyebrow but kept quiet. Psychic? Yeah right. It took him a moment to realize that the others were staring at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Yona hear Gallus talk, but not see Gallus beak move."

"That's exactly it. We don't need to talk to communicate." Ocellus got oddly excited. "In fact, when Silver and Smolder were telling that lie about who took out professor Pinkie, Gallus said what I was thinking of saying. I thought it was just a weird coincidence, but if we're psychically connected..."

Sandbar smirked. "Then Gallus would have heard your thoughts, and acted as if they were his."

"That also explains why I got that math problem right yesterday."

Ocellus gave Silver a flat look. "Seriously, Silver. 28?"

Silver put on an annoyed look. "And how did you know what I was going to put."

Ocellus shook her head and looked back at the book. "The next point I wanted to mention. Have any of you thought about why you have your element?"

Smolder shrugged. "Dragons breath fire."

Silver transformed into her Seapony form. "This?"

Gallus glared at the changeling. "Way to rub it in."

Ocellus let out a nervous chuckle. "Anyway, changelings were supposedly born from trees. All makes sense, right?"

"Except," Sandbar motioned between himself and Yona as he spoke, "Us."

Ocellus nodded. "They don't make sense. Yaks live in a cold environment, so snow or ice would make sense, and an earth pony should have earth-based powers, right?"

Yona tilted her head. "So what is reason?"

"It's based on personality!"

"Personality?" The other five echoed.

Smolder shook her head. "Wait, hold on! That still doesn't make sense!"

Ocellus held up the book and pointed at the page. "Apparently, whoever made the White Curse set it up so those that have the right personality have specific powers. For example, there's apparently a power so grand, only the most loyal of beings can use it."

Sandbar raised an eyebrow. "Loyal, huh?"

Ocellus turned the book back towards herself. "It's not immediately clear yet what their reasoning was, but they gave Air to those with leadership capabilities, Fire to those that are confident, Earth to those that are strong, physically and emotionally, Water to those that are empathic, and Wood to those that are intelligent."

Gallus peeked over her shoulder. "Are those the only ones?"

"No. Aside from whatever the loyal types get, there's also Electricity for those that are creative, and Ice for those that are protective."

"Aaaagh!" Gallus was (thankfully) more quiet than usual. "Do I just not have powers?"

Sandbar patted his buddy on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure you have something. Just stick with us and we'll figure it out together."

Gallus chuckled. "I was gonna help you guys out anyway."

Smolder smiled, then turned to Ocellus. "Was there anything else?"

"One small thing." Ocellus flipped the book to the right page. "Apparently, these old heroes had specially made weapons. The Wing-rang, Blazer Blade, Cobble Mallet, Land-Sea bow, Castor Staff, Thunder Dagger, and the Echo Shuriken. There are also rumors of an eighth weapon, but it's not named."

"Then it probably doesn't exist." Gallus went from shrugging to smirking. "Though finding those weapons would be helpful."

Yona raised an eyebrow. "Do you know where weapons are?"

"Nope. It's not like we need them." Gallus flipped his head feathers. "It would just be nice to have them."

Silver looked at her suit. "So, these outfits."

Yona put on a big smile. "We be like Hentai Rangers!"

Silver stared off into space for a second, then looked at Yona. "Sorry, what's a Hentai Ranger?"

Yona waved her hoof around as she talked. "Hentai Rangers are student that turn heroes when fight evil! Monster appear in great size, and they use power to defeat and protect innocent! They master juggle school life and hero-"

"I don't want to be a Hentai Ranger," Ocellus said weakly.

Both Yak and Hippogriff looked at their friends, who had a variety of reactions, though all told the same story.

Ocellus collapsed on the ground, Sandbar looked absolutely disgusted, Smolder's face turned red from holding back laughter, and Gallus simply closed his eyes and put his claw on his beak.

"Sentai." Gallus slid his claw down his beak, as he opened his eyes. "The word you wanted was Sentai."

Yona got annoyed. "Then what Hentai mean?"

Smolder, through soft laughter, proceeded to explain what Hentai meant in as much detail as she could, her amusement growing as the other two's faces fell with horror.

After a long, uncomfortable silence, Yona and Silver shared a look.

"Yona let friends explain thing from now on."

Silver started rubbing her head. "What was I going to say? Outfits, outfits... Right! How are we supposed to change into them at a moments notice? Or the masks, for that matter."

They all looked at each other, then their outfits.

"I..." Sandbar tugged at his outfit. "... don't know."

Smolder suddenly looked shocked, then smug. Then she burned up her outfit in an instant.

Gallus slapped his claw against his face. "Good job! We've had these for all of five minutes, and you've already completely destroyed it!"

"Did I?" Flames consumed Smolder's body once again, and her outfit reappeared.

Everyone else was confused. Except for Ocellus, who giggled. "I had her use her powers to hide her costume inside her, effectively. I had her do it because it was funny to think of you guys-"

"Thinking she destroyed it?" Silver smirked at Ocellus. "That was pretty good."

"Thanks. More importantly, Smolder doing it means..." Ocellus' body was covered in leaves for a moment, causing her outfit to disappear. "We can do it too."

"The girls can do it!" Gallus specified. "What about us?"

As he spoke, Sandbar noticed an odd jewel on Gallus' shoulder. He tapped it, causing Gallus' outfit to vanish. Gallus looked over at Sandbar, who just tapped Gallus' shoulder again, causing the outfit to reappear.

Sandbar looked at his own outfit and tapped the jewel on his outfit. "Remember where that jewel is?"

Gallus looked at the jewel and then tapped it. "I'll keep it in mind."

Silver motioned over her eyes. "And the masks? The girls can do the same thing, but-"

"Let's try something." Sandbar tapped the jewel on his outfit again, causing it to reappear, then put on the mask that matched his outfit. He tapped the jewel, his outfit vanished... but the mask stayed in place. "Well, that didn't work." He pulled the mask off and shoved it in his... leg?

Ocellus rubbed her eyes. "Wait, where... what?"

Sandbar put on a nervous smile, his ears folded back. "Hehe. Would now be a bad time to mention that I do underground gambling from time to time?"

"Oh. I get it. I caught Garble doing this a couple of times in his own games." Smolder went up to Sandbar and tugged at his leg.

Gallus raised an eyebrow. "A sleeve?"

Sandbar rubbed the back of his head. "It's good for hiding cards, in case you need to win and run fast."

Yona was confused. "Pony gamble?"

Ocellus looked suspicious. "That's oddly mature and risky."

Silver was definitely concerned. "Is that even legal?"

Gallus looked Sandbar in the eye. "Remind me to never gamble with you."

Smolder gave Gallus a flat look. "That's what bothers you?"

"Anyway, do you know if they make those for griffons? I'm gonna need one for my mask."

Sandbar lifted his leg. "They're custom made. You'd need to go to a specific pony to get it."

Gallus felt up the fabric. "Who did you get yours from?"

Sandbar pulled his leg back. "Some pony called Backstitch."

"Backstitch?" Ocellus put her hoof to her mouth. "The one with the red coat?"

Sandbar turned his attention to Ocellus. "How did you know that?"

"He's a changeling."

They all stared at Ocellus for a second, Sandbar looking particularly uncomfortable with that fact. "Uh... That's... interesting."

Ocellus started looking nervous, then instinctively transformed into her pony form. "Uh, he's working with professor Rarity these days, but he'll do jobs on the side. I'm sure you can find him at the Carousel Boutique."

*BangBangBang* "Students! Class time!"

They all cringed, then quickly hid their outfits and masks (if they hadn't yet).

Gallus quickly came up with an excuse. "Sorry! We were gambling."

The other five shot Gallus a horrified look. It took Gallus a second to realize what he said, and his face fell.

"Well don't get too wrapped up in it! Get out here!"

Smolder opened the door, grateful that it was Pinkie and not one of the other professors.

"If you kids want to gamble, that's not my problem. But Applejack won't be happy if you're late!" With that, she bounced off.

"We're going to professor Applejack's class, right?"

"Yeah. Let's get going."

Ocellus locked her door, and they all made their way to the classroom.

Inside Ocellus' room, the invisible mare spoke to the invisible stallion, "Believe me now?"

Author's Note

If anyone asks in the comments... Don't tell them. Mature enough to understand, mature enough to handle. If I need to change the warnings over that one joke, I will.

Chapter 6

Queen Novo did not want to be woken up, but one of her guards found something strange. She rushed to their treasures, expecting one to be missing, or broken. Instead, she got to the treasures to find... nothing odd.

"What did you wake me up for?"

The guard pointed at one of the treasures, lined with gems. For some reason, the gems had a pulsating glow to them. A glow they didn't have before.

"That's..."

Terramar stepped out of his house on Mt. Aries. Try as he might, he couldn't get to sleep. Because of that memory. He walked around the town as the memory played back in his head.

"This is gonna be great! I can't wait to get to Ponyville!"

"Yeah, lucky you."

"Imagine it! I'll meet Griffons, Yaks, Dragons, and SO MANY PONIES!"

"Yipee, good for you, sis."

"... Is something wrong?"

"No it's nothing..."

"But there is something bothering you, right?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"Terramar, what's wrong? You can tell me."

"What's wrong? You! You're what's wrong!"

"Huh?"

"Mom and dad do what you want! They give you what you desire! Everything they do is for your sake! And I get left in the dust!"

"T-Terramar, please..."

"It's all about you! Auntie wanted me to go to this school, but no! You had to want to go yourself, and I'm stuck living with my problems, while you get to run away! So you know what? GET OUT OF MY LIFE! MAYBE I'LL BE TREATED FAIRLY FOR ONCE!"

"Wha... I... Tha... WWWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHhhhhhhhhh......"

He got punished for what he said, and he knew he was the one that was wrong. Either way, it was the last time he spoke with his sister. He hasn't seen her since, and she hasn't written to him directly. The only way he knew she was fine was because his parents told him she had been writing to them.

But... that's fine. They'll meet again. Someday. They aren't in danger at all. Silver wasn't in danger of dying anytime soon... at all... They'll meet... someday...

Terramar rubbed the tears from his eyes. It would be fine, right? He looked up at the sky.

Just in time for something to hit him in the face.

After tumbling a bit, he rubbed his head and looked for what hit him... and found what it, or rather, who they were.

"What the..."

The other hippogriff's hind legs were raised in the air for a moment before they rolled into a seated position. Once they were facing him head-on, Terramar identified them without trouble.

"SILVER?" He got up and moved towards her a bit. "Sis, what are you-"

The moment she recognized him, she darted towards him, knocking him over with a hug. "Terramar! Terramaaaaaar!"

It took him a moment to realize she was crying, and he quickly hugged her back. "It's okay, sis. It's alright."

"I thought... I... I..."

"It's okay. It's alright."

At that moment, nothing else mattered. Silver needed Terramar to comfort her, and he was right there for her. After a while, she fell asleep, but they both held tight to each other.

"Terramar! Where are you?"

Terramar heard their father calling for him, but couldn't call back without waking Silver up. "Oh, why did you have to fall asleep."

"Terramar?" Sky Beak rounded the corner, and found not one, but both of his children, holding each other. He ran over to them. "Terramar, what is Silver doing here?"

"I don't know. I left the house to clear my head, and she just... flew into me."

"Let's get her back home, we can ask her when she wakes up."

Silver snuggled up to her pillow. Soft and warm. She cuddled her plushie as tight as she could. So comfy.

"You're doing that cuddle thing again."

"How would you know." It took her a moment to process that the voice was neither Gallus or Sandbar. "Wait, Terramar?"

Her brother giggled at her drowsiness. "Took you a moment, huh sis."

"What are you..." She looked around the room they were in. "... This isn't the academy."

Terramar let out a soft chuckle. "Nah. This is dad's place on Mt. Aries. Your room, specifically."

"Mt. Aries?" Silver looked out the window. "... So that wasn't a dream."

Terramar put his claw on his sister's shoulder. "Why did you come here?"

"Huh?"

"Was it because of our... Because of when I..." Terramar couldn't bring himself to mention it.

Though Silver knew what he was talking about. "No. I figured something else was going on with you when I was headed to the academy for the first time, but I didn't know what until Profe- er, Princess Twilight told me. And, I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I was pretty selfish when it came to our parents, huh? You never asked them for much, but I was still wrong for asking them for as much as I did. So..." Silver held her arms out. "Forgive me?"

Terramar started laughing. "You're asking me to forgive you? When I'm the one that snapped and yelled at you till you cried?" Terramar held his arms out. "I guess I can if you forgive me."

Silver lunged forward into a hug. "Deal!"

Both siblings started laughing, in stark contrast to when they last saw each other.

"Ah, you're awake. Finally." Their father was standing in the doorway. "If you two don't mind, your mother is waiting in the dining room."

Terramar was confused. "Wait, mom? I thought she didn't like to leave the water."

"She doesn't, but when she heard Silver rushed home for some reason, she had to make sure everything was alright."

Silver was smiling. "We'll be there in a second." Their father left the room, letting them work on untangling themselves from their blankets. Once they did and got out of bed, however, Silver's smile vanished. "Right. It was..."

"Is something wrong?"

"I remembered why I came back, but I'd rather not have to explain it too many times."

Terramar nodded and went with her to the dining room. While they expected their parents to be there, they didn't expect General Seaspray, or...

"Sandbar? Ocellus? Gallus?"

Gallus lifted his claw and tilted his head. "Did you think you could disappear and no one would notice?"

Ocellus looked worried. "When we noticed you were missing, Princess Twilight had us come here to get your family's help to find you."

Sandbar set his cup down. "You can imagine our shock when we learned that you were here, after spending the whole morning wondering where you were."

Hearing that made something click in Silver's head. "Wait, what time is it? How long was I asleep?"

Terramar rubbed the back of his head. "Well, you crashed into me about three in the morning, so..."

"It's one," Seaspray said bluntly.

Silver's eyes shot wide. "One? Geeze, the professors must be freaked out."

Ocellus gave an awkward smile. "Don't worry. We've already sent them a letter saying where you are."

Gallus glared at Silver. "Though that begs the question of why you're here."

"Silver, honey." Ocean Flow put her claw on the seat next to her, prompting Silver to sit there and Terramar next to her. "Is something wrong? You can tell us."

Silver took in a deep breath. There was no way for her to avoid the question. Time to take Professor Rainbow's solution... and face it head-on. "I thought Terramar had died."

Everyone else was shocked and looked at Terramar, who was staring at Silver like someone just stabbed her.

"It was just a nightmare, I've realized that by now." Silver let out a sigh. "But it felt so real."

Gallus gave Silver a concerned look. "What do you remember about your dream?"

"That you feel comfortable telling us." Ocellus quickly tacked on.

Silver hung her head and closed her eyes, only slightly opening them once she started her story. "I was in a village, a small one, with some of my friends. I knew we were there for a reason, but a platoon of creatures was there to kill us, so we were trying to escape. The wind was harsh, there was a lot of rain, the earth grew soft, and someone was screaming. I was trying to protect the others, but I heard thunder right behind me, and then... Terramar..." She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to fight back the tears.

"Silver!" Ocean flow quickly grabbed her daughter's claw and shoulder. "It's okay, Silver. It's okay."

"H-he looked me in the... eye." Silver put her head on her mother's shoulder. "And told me... "You were wonderful." After... After that... he went limp... and everything went... white. Th-that's when I... woke up."

Silence...

"Is that it?"

Gallus glared at the pony. "Sandbar! You could at least have kept quiet!"

Sandbar held his hooves up defensively. "Woah. Sorry, dude. Don't know why you got offended."

Sky Beak looked at his daughter. "As troubling as that sounded, I don't think the Terramar in your dreams was our Terramar."

The siblings looked at their father. "What?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Ocellus spoke up, "But I learned that creatures tend to name some of their young after historical figures, particularly if they're royalty." She looked at Ocean Flow. "Is that what happened with your children?"

"Silver Stream was each of us coming up with half of her name, but that is what we did with Terramar."

"The archer blessed by the ocean," Seaspray commented. "He was considered a hero of ancient hippogriffs. Reportedly fending off an invasion of Storm Beasts on his own, he caught the attention of a pegasus by the name of Sky Blitz, who was forming a team of various creatures. Supposedly, he died in battle."

"He wasn't just a hero," Sky Beak continued for Seaspray. "He was a grand role model. Keeping the children smiling and the adults comfortable in their own home. He was also called the heart of the hippogriffs."

"After he died, many fought to keep his vision alive." Ocean Flow smiled at her children. "He is why we are considered a noble race. His image never died."

Silver latched on to one thing that was said. "That team... Were they... normal?"

Her parents looked confused, while Seaspray grabbed his glass.

Ocean Flow tugged at her necklace. "Well, they were all considered heroes of their races. Except perhaps-"

"Silver."

Silver looked at Seaspray, who then splashed the water in his glass at her. She closed her eyes and held up her claws instinctively... then opened one eye to look at the water she stopped mid-air.

Her entire family was shocked.

"What the..."

"Silver?"

"How did you?"

Gallus, however, couldn't find enough claw to contain all the face. "WE HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO USE OUR DISGUISES, AND YOU'VE ALREADY BLOWN YOUR COVER!"

Ocellus slapped her hoof over Gallus' beak. "Volume, Gallus!"

"You won't have to worry about Equestria's laws here." Seaspray gently tapped the floating water. "No, they were not normal. Terramar displayed the ability to manipulate water like you just did. The other members of the team displayed similar powers." He paused when he felt a breeze inside the building.

"Powers like that, right?" Sandbar stopped the wind. "I heard about that team, but I thought they were a team of ponies."

Ocean Flow shook her head. "No. Sky Blitz was the only pony on that team. There were a number of other creatures on the team, including Terramar."

Sandbar tilted his head. "Like what?"

Ocean Flow sighed. "We don't know. We just know about Terramar and Sky Blitz. The rest of their names were lost to our history."

Terramar matched Sandbar's gaze. "Though odds are, they're still in the lore of their respective races."

"Terramar did have a heritage," Seaspray resumed. "From what we know, Queen Novo is his descendant, which means you are as well, being her niece. As such, it makes sense for you to have his power."

"Hold on one second, mister po-" Gallus quickly re-evaluated name calling someone that could probably break all of his legs without much effort. "Er, General. How did you know Silver had that power before chucking water at her?"

"My suspicions were because of her suspicions." Seaspray vaguely declared. "We gave her no reason to believe that Terramar's team was anything but normal, but she knew they weren't. The main reason I could think of is if she was interested in Terramar's power prior to knowing about him. The most likely reason for that is if she had the power herself, and looked into it, discovering Terramar's team."

Ocellus took note of Seaspray's logic. "Either you know Silver better than we do, or-"

"Both." Silver preempted Ocellus' other point. "He trained me in both weapons and combat. A lot of it was getting used to weapons and preempting opponents both before and during battle."

"So that's why she's able to figure out others so easily." Silver smiled proudly at Ocellus' words...

"While being so bad at math." Only to frown at Gallus'.

Ocean Flow, however, found it amusing. "She's always been bad with numbers. Just like her father."

Sky Beak's frown matched his daughter's. "Thanks, honey."

Seaspray looked straight at Silver. "If there's some way we can help you, just name it. I'll try, with all of my authority, to give it to you."

Silver closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them, she followed with four words. Four words that shocked everyone in the room one last time.

"The Land-Sea Bow."

Seaspray was completely shocked by her words. "Ab- The- Bluh?"

"I learned recently that Terramar is comprised of two words; Terra, meaning land, and Mare, meaning sea. Therefore, it makes sense for a weapon named land and sea to belong to someone named land and sea."

Seaspray was proud of Silver's skills at deduction, but highly nervous nonetheless. "Th-that... falls outside of my authority. I can try to get it to you, but..."

"Is that the Queen?"

They all looked out the window at the commotion.

"Queen Novo?"

"What is that on her back?"

Ocean Flow stood up. "Novo is here?"

They all headed outside to see Queen Novo, who was actually headed towards them.

"Auntie?" Silver ran up to the Queen. "Is something wrong? Did I-"

Seaspray looked at the object on Queen Novo's back. "Th-that's!"

Queen Novo grabbed the long, navy blue bag off her back, then pulled out its contents. An extravagant bow painted light blue with glowing sapphires in the wood.

"Is that..."

"... The Land-Sea Bow?"

"Why did she bring it here?"

Queen Novo held it out to Silver, who took it in her claw. The moment she did, she felt an immense energy flowing through her.

"What's happening?"

"Her eyes are glowing!"

"Is this why the Queen is here?"

A few moments later, Silver and the legendary bow both stopped glowing. She held her eyes closed, panting.

Terramar looked at his sister with concern. "Silver?"

Hearing that, Silver's eyes snapped open. She made an arrow out of water, nocked it, and pointed it up at the sky. She let it fly, causing it to turn into eight arrows that all flew up, and, once barely visible, exploded, causing it to rain down.

"That's amazing!"

"Look at that!"

"How did she do that?"

"Is she Terramar's descendant?"

"That's why the Queen brought it up here."

"Look at that rainbow!"

Silver looked up, then at the bow. A second later, it seemingly vanished, leaving a glowing spot on her claw.

"So. You've truly inherited his power." Queen Novo smiled at her niece. "Terramar was able to summon it at will. And now, so can you. It truly belongs to you."

Silver smiled. "Thank you, Aun- er, your High- Uh..."

Queen Novo giggled. "Auntie will be fine."

Silver nodded. "Alright, Auntie."

Both of them smiled at each other, then started giggling.

Ocellus realized something serious. "We need those weapons."

Chapter 7

"... Then she pulled an arrow out of nowhere, fired it straight up, and it started to rain."

Yona smiled widely. "Woah!"

Smolder also looked amazed. "With a normal arrow?"

"Not a normal one," Silver clarified, swirling her claw through the lake. "It's one I was able to make due to the bow's help. Okay, maybe not because of the bow, but once I grabbed it, I got a ton of ideas on how to use my powers in more unique ways." She held up her claw that wasn't in the water and made it bigger. "Kinda like this!"

Ocellus looked up from her book. "Maybe it's because the bow had some of Terramar's memories in it, ones that could be passed down to anyone that has his powers." Ocellus looked at the nearby tree. "I wonder what secrets the Castor Staff holds."

Sandbar looked around. They agreed that the best place to talk about their powers would be the lake. Very few ponies make their way there on a regular basis (aside from professor Dash, who had been busy with teacher and Wonderbolt stuff lately), making it safer to talk freely without anyone overhearing them. Even so, they still had to look for anyone that might hear something they really shouldn't.

After ensuring they were alone, Sandbar smiled at Silver. "It's nice to see you happy again. It feels like you're the most prone to these kinds of bad things."

Silver returned her claw to its normal size, and clapped them together. "I'll go through any amount of sorrow to make others happy! And it's not like I have Smolder's luck or anything!"

Four of them laughed. Smolder just groaned. "Thanks for reminding me."

Ocellus, however, was very confused. "I'm sorry, did I miss something?"

"Oh, right," Gallus said between laughs. "I think you were in the library when it happened. Professor Egghead had us try our hands at Bucketball, Sandbar, Smolder, and Lily against me, Yona, and some kid named Snails. Final point, Smolder headbutts the ball away from their bucket, sending it flying into the walls, chairs, other students, and even one of the professor's trophies, before hitting her in the back of the head and into the bucket she tried to keep it out of. Yona and I won because of that."

Smolder had her hands to her face the whole explanation, dragging them down one he finished while making an annoyed sound. "I still can't believe that happened. And I played Bucketball before!"

Ocellus giggled. "I think I need to understand Bucketball better to really get it, but it sound amusing."

"Oh, by the way..." Silver looked around for a second. "... Once we're in our disguises, call me Aqualine. I don't want you calling me by my real name."

The others stared at her for a moment, then collectively facepalmed/facehoofed/faceclawed.

"How did none of us think of that?" Smolder turned to her friends. "We can't go running around in disguise while calling each other by name! That'd ruin the point of having the disguises!"

Ocellus looked up and tapped her hoof to her chin. "We'll all need to think of names."

"Wind Jet," Sandbar said promptly. "If someone realizes I'm a pony, they'd think that was my actual name."

Ocellus flashed Sandbar a smile. "Good idea!" She went back to thinking. "Maybe... Everfree? Like the forest?"

"The Everfree Forest? Where the Castle of the Two Sisters is?" Silver gave a thumbs up. "Good idea! I like it!"

"Boulder made of dirt. Yak made of dirt. Call yak Boulder!" Yona smiled like she expected praise.

Sandbar decided to give her what praise he could. "That's... pretty clever."

"For you." Everyone glared at Gallus.

"Then what Griffon name be?" Yona snapped back. "You no have power!"

Gallus looked ready to argue with her, but seemingly decided it wasn't worth it. "Fair point. Call me Striker, since all I can do is physically hit things."

They all turned to Smolder, the only one without an alias yet. They were all hesitant to talk to her yet since she looked like she was deep in thought. A minute later, she slammed her fist into her open hand. "Heatnix!"

"Haha! Heatnix?" Gallus had a huge smile on his face. "That sounds so cool!"

Silver tilted her head. "Is that why you were thinking for so long?"

Smolder rubbed the back of her head. "I was just trying to remember the name of a character. I remembered that it involved heat and that it sounded really cool, but I needed a bit to remember the exact name."

Ocellus looked confused. "Doesn't that come from a franchise that wasn't well received?"

"It started out strong but got worse over time. I think the team going behind the original creator's back to make it last longer than it was supposed to was partially to blame."

Gallus leaned in close to Smolder. "Neeeeerd."

Smolder playfully shoved him. "Shut up!"

They all started laughing.

"Ahhh, I wish this was all our lives was," Silver said wistfully. "Sitting around, having fun, chatting it up... None of this fighting monsters while being hunted by Equestrian law."

Ocellus nodded in agreement. "Even without monster fighting, we still have classes, and who knows what incidents we'd get wrapped up in even without these powers."

"It would be nice to live life carefree." Gallus put his claw to his chin in thought. "Makes me wonder if we can get away with running away this time."

Sandbar raised an eyebrow. "And risk another war? No thanks."

"Nice to see you have some common sense."

All of the students looked at the new arrival. "Professor Rainbow?"

"Is this a favorite hang-out spot for you six? I'll have to keep that in mind if you all go missing again." Rainbow admired the scenery around her. "Not that I can blame you. This place is really pretty."

"Professor, is something wrong?" Ocellus went up to Rainbow. "There aren't any classes today, and there's nothing important going on today, right?"

"Do you need our help setting up the play?" Silver guessed.

"Not that." Rainbow watched them all get closer to her. "There's been a slight casting change. Twilight just told me who the new lead role is."

Ocellus gasped. "Who is it? Sapphire Shores?

"Countess Coloratura?"

"Songbird Serenade?"

"Cheese Sandwich?"

"Fancy Pants?"

"Professor Twilight herself?" Gallus' tone was significantly more flat than his friends'.

Rainbow gave them a soft smile. "Not bad guesses, but no. It's somepony is far more significant than any of them."

"Play not with Cheese Sandwich?" Yona looked upset.

"But... But..." Silver got uncomfortably close to Rainbow's face. "SONGBIRD SERENADE!"

"No." Sandbar's eyes went wide with realization. "It's not her is it?"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow but kept smiling. "And who would she be?"

"Princess Celestia?"

The other students looked at Sandbar in shock. Rainbow, however, quietly nodded.

"I mean, we listed off the cream of the crop, and you said it was somepony more important. The only pony that makes sense at that point is Princess Celestia herself."

"I'm not sure why Celestia decided to join, or why Twilight asked her, but she's the lead role now." Rainbow turned around. "Anyway, I'm off to inform the rest of Equestria about this!" With that, she took off.

Silver went starry-eyed. "We'll be acting... with Princess Celestia herself? That sounds amazing!"

Smolder lightly elbowed Silver. "I bet she's a great actress, being as old as she is."

"And dealing with idiots on a regular basis." Gallus helpfully tacked on.

That's when something crossed Yona's mind. "Smolder burn outfit by wearing it!"

Smolder put one hand on her hip and waved the other dismissively. "That won't be a problem."

Gallus raised an eyebrow. "Won't be a problem that you set things on fire by touching them?"

"We figured out how to turn down the heat on Smolder's body flames." Ocellus went from proud to worried. "Though I still have no clue on how to turn our bodies back to normal flesh."

"Let's worry about that later." Sandbar smiled. "I bet this play will turn out great!"

Sandbar removed his costume. "Well, that was a near disaster."

Silver kept positive. "At least it wasn't a complete disaster. If it was, I might not see my dreams come true."

Ocellus grew curious. "What are your dreams?"

Silver, her outfit mostly off, spun around rapidly. "Dancing!" Once she came to a stop, her headpiece dropped off, and most of the others laughed as she stared at it.

Smolder was too busy removing her own costume... "ACHOO!" ... and accidentally burning it. "Err, oops! I hope we didn't need that." The others laughed even more.

"No, but it would have been nice to keep." Rarity stepped up to the Dragoness. "A nice reminder of what happened today."

"You mean the last minute miracle? Or the mess before that?"

"Man, Gallus. You're on a roll with the sarcasm today." Sandbar dusted off his leg. "But yeah, it was a mess. They should have brought Countess Coloratura on board."

Rarity smiled at the colt. "You're a Coloratura fan?"

"Yeah. Got all of her albums." Sandbar let out a wistful sigh. "I wish I could meet her someday. That would be a dream come true."

Rarity smiled at him coyly, then turned back to Smolder. "Either way, I was hoping to fix these up in case we could re-use them."

"I can help if you want." Smolder looked at the burned parts of her outfit. "Considering I caused most of the damage to this one."

"That would be nice, although..." Rarity prodded Smolder's snout. "We should figure out a way to keep you from burning things all the time."

Smolder let out a nervous chuckle. "Lily said she's working on something, but-"

"That's something I wanted to ask about earlier." Ocellus interrupted. "You guys mention Lily from time to time, but who is she?"

Smolder was shocked. "You haven't met her? I thought you two would have met while stargazing."

"Gilded Lily. One of the younger students at the school." Gallus clarified. "She's a budding astronomat- astramama... Help?"

"Astronomer." Rarity clarified a gentle smirk on her face. "It means she studies the stars and identifies the constellations."

"Thanks, professor." Gallus took back over. "Her parents sent her here to help her become more... uh..."

Rarity giggled. "Important and influential. If you want me to handle this, I can."

"Nah, it's cool." Gallus cleared his throat. "Her own reason for coming to the school was to be around others that are as casual as she is, specifically..." Gallus started sweating, then gave Rarity a nervous smile. "Can you take it from here, professor?"

Rarity laughed a bit. "She wanted to be around the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

"Oh, them?" Sandbar said with an annoyed tone. "I remember them from when they were trying to get their fishing cutie marks."

Rarity's expression changed to one of pain. "Oh, uh. Were you the one they, uh..."

Sandbar looked mad. "My family will not let me forget what happened to that scuba tank."

Rarity looked away. "That's what I was afraid of. I can see if I can get Sweetie Belle to help pay for repairs, but-"

"Wait, are the other two Scootaloo and Apple Bloom?"

Rarity looked at Silver in shock. "Yes! Do you know them?"

"They helped my brother, Terramar, with a personal problem. From what I heard, Scootaloo loved Seaquestria, while Sweetie Belle wanted to live in-"

"DON'T SPOIL IT!" Sweetie ran in and slammed her hoof against Silver's beak. Her pointy beak, which poked Sweetie's hoof. Sweetie pulled her hoof back and waved it around. "Ow..."

"Sweetie Belle?" Rarity was shocked by her sister appearing out of nowhere. "Where did you come from?"

"We were watching the play, and Spike just let us back here to talk to you." Apple Bloom said from the doorway. "The acting and effects were great, but what happened to the costumes?"

Scootaloo popped up from behind her. "It looked like someone rolled through the dirt with them."

"Celestia." Rarity said flatly. "Of all things, Celestia herself happened."

Rarity described the events of the day to the Crusaders, who listened intently except while giggling. The students watched on. After a bit, however, Silver sent them all a thought.

Remember what I said earlier? About having a peaceful life? This is what I meant. This is the kind of life I want. And I'm sure you'll all agree with me, but I'll fight to have this kind of life one day. No matter how hard.

Author's Note

I feel like I'm forgetting something important...

Chapter 9

After the disaster that was shed building, the students figured that canoeing would go much better. How wrong they were.

"Uh, professors?"

Neither Applejack or Rainbow Dash were listening. The canoe was headed straight towards a rock.

Great! They aren't listening! Gallus thought. Now we're gonna get wet!

Most of us will get wet! Ocellus clarified. Smolder will turn to steam! We can't let her get wet!

What? Smolder's face reflected the panic in her heart. Ohno! Ohno! Ohno! Whatdowedo? Whatdowedo?

Left or right? Sandbar asked mentally, as he tried to verbally get the professors' attention. Left or right?

Yak can't swim! Yona added to the panic the teachers completely missed.

Silver looked overboard. EXECUTIVE DECISION TIME! The boat suddenly yanked itself to the left, nearly knocking a couple of them overboard.

"What in tarnation?" Applejack could only figure the students decided to go left, not knowing about Silver's power to manipulate water.

"Keep rowing! Keep rowing!" Rainbow's massive smile couldn't be missed, even by those behind her.

"Wait! Stop!" Applejack started yelling about how the path they were on was too dangerous, but the students weren't listening. They needed to get away from the water ASAP.

Silver kept the water below the canoe as stable as possible, to not disturb any of the fish below them, and they all continued to row until they hit land.

Rainbow Dash stopped the timer. "Well done! We beat the old record by two seconds!"

Ocellus sent out a thought. Don't tell them why or how.

"Yona more worried about not drowning than record."

Applejack was fuming. "Then we should have gone right to take the safer route!"

Rainbow shrugged. "Whatever. It all worked out."

Applejack opened her mouth, ready to start screaming.

"Hey, girls!" Twilight trotted up, unaware of the tension between her friends. "How are things going?"

Rainbow proudly held up the stopwatch. "Beat the record!"

"Wow! Congratulations!"

Applejack jabbed her hoof into Rainbow's cheek. "By putting the students in danger!"

Rainbow pushed Applejack's hoof aside. "No risk, no reward! I did what I had to to-"

"Err, Rainbow?" Twilight held the stopwatch back up. "This is one second over the current record. It was set last week by Soarin while he was on a camping trip of his own."

Rainbow's eye twitched while Applejack glared at her. Some of the students couldn't help but giggle.

Once she fully processed what she was told, Rainbow got mad. "Grr... I'm gonna give that stallion a piece of my mind later."

"Could you two come with me?" Twilight motioned to the teachers, who followed her.

Sandbar wiped his brow. "Well, nothing bad happened at least, right?"

Ocellus nodded. "Yeah. That's what matters."

"The Teacher of the Month wouldn't care about being the Teacher of the Month! I know Fluttershy would be thrilled to see another pony win."

Rainbow folded her front legs. "For the record, my activity was a success, while AJ's fell apart."

"Because-"

"I don't care about that!" Twilight said, cutting off Applejack. "You're supposed to be teaching them teamwork! Do I have to take over?"

"Well-"

"No! Applejack just needs to leave!"

"Maybe if-"

"Knock it off! Both of you!"

Applejack cringed. Why was Twilight mad at her? She hadn't gotten a chance to say anything!

Twilight took in a deep breath. "... Fine. You're taking the students on a nature hike. You can't possibly mess that up. And this time, the students are leading. You two will be with them to keep them safe. Any word of you two arguing, and you're both on overtime for the next month. Got it?"

"Y-yes ma'am." She remembered what happened when Pinkie got overtime. It wasn't pretty.

"B-but I-"

Rainbow jabbed Applejack and shook her head.

"... Yes, ma'am."

"Good. I'll see you when you get back with the students. Together." With that, Twilight left.

The teachers went back to the students.

"Alright, kiddies. We're going on a nature hike, and I'm in charge!"

Applejack just heard the most shocking thing out of Rainbow's mouth all day. "What? Now hang on a-"

Rainbow shoved her hoof in Applejack's mouth. "Ah ah ah. If we argue, there will be overtime, and I won't be arguing back. You're on navigation, so don't mess it up."

Applejack shoved Rainbow's hoof out of her mouth. "YOU... Fine. Lead the way."

Smolder scratched her head. Does anyone else feel like professor Rainbow just lied?

Yeah, but... Sandbar looked at Applejack. ... We can't prove it unless professor Applejack speaks up.

Applejack did some breathing to calm herself down. No one saw the disembodied shadow enter hers.

"We can still get back to school before dark if we cross that ravine and stop doubling back."

"We knew that. All part of our plan. Right, Applejack?"

"Yeah. Sure."

Rainbow gave Applejack the stink eye. "What's that supposed to mean?"

With how annoying the obvious tension was getting, the students were happier than they should have been that their teachers were finally about to fight.

"Well, you're the one that ruined the shed, you nearly got that record thing by putting the students in danger, and you're the one leading us in circles, but Twilight still thinks you have better leadership qualities than me."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Shed building was slow and boring..."

The students felt something... off.

"... The bitcacudas or whatever never bothered us..."

Something... disturbing.

"... I made you the navigator, so that's on you..."

Something from... Applejack?

"... and if you want to leave, go ahead and leave."

Was this feeling... someone getting corrupted?

Rainbow stomped her hoof down. "So knock it off! Quit being a brat!"

"... Brat?" Applejack's voice went deep, her head hanging limply. "Who's the brat here? The voice of reason? Or the one demanding that things be done her way?"

Rainbow opened her mouth to object, but quickly realized something. "AJ?"

"I was trying to avoid putting the students in danger. I was trying to teach them cooperation. But you? You disregarded that."

Gallus stepped back. "P-professor?"

"But you're the one that got what she wanted. Got your ego stroked. You got to ignore what I said, and you were rewarded."

Rainbow felt her heart sink. "A-Applej-jack?"

"And now..." Applejack raised her head to look at Rainbow. Flames were coming from her eyes. "Now... you have the gall to call me the brat? When you've been betraying the safety of our students? Betraying their lessons? Betraying our responsibility?"

The students ran off, but Rainbow froze up. "A-AJ, I-"

"No more." The flames spread across Applejack's body, slowly making her resemble a fiery version of the Pony of Shadows, burning many of the nearby trees to ash in a moment. "I won't hear another word from you! I won't let you have anything else you don't deserve!" Applejack's orange, glowing eyes met Rainbow's tear-filled magenta eyes. "BURN!"

A fireball shot out, aimed right at Rainbow. Had she been in a more stable mind, Rainbow would have simply flown off. In her state of panic, caused by her feeling like she betrayed Applejack and their students, all she could think to do was cover her head.

Fortunately, Smolder, as Heatnix, was there to punch the fireball. "Fly, you fool!"

That snapped Rainbow out of her rut, and she flew into the remaining trees of the nearby forest.

The other five rushed to the Dragon's side.

Striker fist-bumped her. "Nice one, Heatnix!"

"Heatnix? So you're using aliases now?" The fire pony smirked. "It won't matter once you're gone."

"How bout y'all get out of my way." Her voice went back to being Applejack's. "What's going on now is between me and Rainbow."

Wind Jet stepped in front of Everfree. "Well, you'll have to go through us first!"

Applejack leaned in close to him. "And if I don't want to?"

*Boom!* "You have to."

They all looked up at the orb of water, floating in the air and creating a dome of water.

"You're made of fire," Aqualine explained, holding her bow above her head. "To leave now means extinguishing your flames."

For a huge, imposing monster, Applejack looked very nervous. "And when you run out of water?"

"I won't. The water from the orb is fed by the river nearby, and once the water hits the land, it feeds back into the river. Both water sources feed each other in an endless cycle until I tell it to stop. You're trapped."

"S-so I just need to knock ya out, right?"

Aqualine turned into water and shot into the orb. "Good luck with that."

Woah! Striker thought. She thought of that pretty-

You're welcome. Everfree sent out, giggling.

Applejack let out a roar, and stomped on the ground, sending out a wave of fire. Boulder dove into the ground, Striker flew up, Heatnix yawned, and Wind Jet made a quick burst of wind to send the fire up above him and Everfree.

"You don't like that, do you?" Wind Jet taunted the pony turned monster. "You're trapped here until we beat you!"

"Or until I beat you!" A large lava tendril shot out of Applejack's back and fired a large beam of fire at Wind Jet and Everfree.

Wind Jet readied a barrier, only for a large burst of water to appear in front of him, putting out the fire fast.

I'd go ahead and douse her, but- Another beam of fire cut off Aqualine's thought, curving around to try and hit Everfree from the side, only to be blocked by more water. I'll keep her safe! Focus on beating Professor Applejack!

Not every day you get a good reason to beat up your teacher. Striker struck Applejack across the face... and was reminded of her body being fire in the form of his claw needing to be put out. "HOTHOTHOTHOTHOT!" He shoved his claw into the water barrier.

Yeah, shoving your fist into a fire is generally not a good idea. Heatnix then shot a fireball at the monster, which absorbed it entirely. Though I'm not going to be much help either. Sorry, guys.

Wind Jet sent a thought to her. Can't you do something about her fire?

He got his answer in the form of a wave of fire... that promptly turned into a ball and went right into the water wall.

I can! Heatnix sent another of Applejack's blasts of fire into herself, effectively nullifying it.

Yippee for you. Striker was significantly less enthusiastic about their discovery.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long for the beast to realize what was happening. "Messin with my fire, huh?" Applejack darted up to Heatnix. "Not if I can do something about it!" She lifted her hoof and smacked Heatnix, sending the dragon through the water barrier at high velocity.

Wind Jet felt his heart stop. "HEATNIX!"

Fortunately, she was going fast enough to not be fully put out by the water, but...

"Ooooowwww! That stings!"

Rainbow dashed to her side. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it just-" It took a moment for Heatnix to process who said that... "I TOLD YOU TO RUN!"

Rainbow looked at the water dome. "I was hoping to talk some sense into AJ, but I don't think I can get to her now."

Heatnix stood up. "Neither can I. My body is fire, so I can't easily move through water."

"Hopefully the others can handle it."

Heatnix! Wind Jet sent out a desperate cry. Are you alive?

Heatnix put her claw over her mouth to make sure she didn't accidentally say something out loud. I'm fine, but there's no way I'm getting back in there.

Wind Jet let out a sigh of relief. Well, you're alive. That's what matters.

"Take that! And that!" Boulder shot rocks out at Applejack. "And that!"

Careful, Striker! Wind Jet sent out. Don't get burned!

I'm fast. Calm down. Striker replied, zipping around in Applejack's face.

You're getting awfully close to her. Everfree noted.

How else am I gonna keep her attention? Striker continued his actions, disregarding his personal safety.

I'm starting to feel bad. Aqualine sent out. I feel like I'm not doing much.

You're doing something important. Wind Jet reassured her. Keep it up.

Literally. Boulder sent.

Wind Jet continued to try and put out Applejack's fires as Boulder shot out rocks and Striker zipped around the beast. Everfree was more or less useless at that point.

It took a while for Aqualine to notice something. Wait, where's Heatnix?

Heatnix resisted the urge to facepalm, not wanting Rainbow to learn about their psychic bond. I got launched through the water wall. How did you miss-

Oh, so you're not in the dome? Well guys, hold your breath! Water suddenly filled the dome from the top.

Boulder dove into the earth, while Wind Jet created a strong wind to bring Striker and Everfree towards him before creating an air barrier. Applejack could only watch as the dome completely filled with water.

Everfree nuzzled up to Wind Jet, while Striker ran his claw through the water.

"What are you doing?" Wind Jet asked.

"I'm looking for Professor Applejack." Striker reached his claw further into the water...

Ohhhhh, that feels good. Mmmmm.~

Striker, upon hearing that, yanked his claw back. "EWWW! AQUALINE! WHAT THE-"

All of the water poured back into the river, leaving the three creatures from the bubble, and Aqualine holding Applejack.

Aqualine smiled at her teammates innocently. "She's right here."

Boulder popped out of the ground as the others gave Aqualine a flat look, as she smiled like she hadn't said anything wrong.

"Applejack!" The heroes watched as Rainbow ran over to Applejack.

"She'll be alright," Aqualine said, leaving the hugging to Rainbow. "I made sure none of the water got in her lungs."

Rainbow let out a sigh of relief. "That's good." She then looked around, then rubbed her head as she spoke in a... somewhat stilted manner, "Uhh, but my students seem to be missing. I'm sure you six don't want to stay here too long, having an illegal power and all, but if you find my students, let them know the coast is clear."

"Will do!" Aqualine shot towards the nearby forest, followed by her teammates. Moments later, the students ran out of the forest.

"Professor!" Silver shot towards Applejack. "Is she alright?"

Rainbow chuckled. "She'll be fine." She looked over her students. "It's a shame you guys totally missed one of the most epic things I've ever seen."

"I'm sure it was, professor." Smolder folded her arms. "I'm sure it was."

"Shouldn't we get back to the school?" Sandbar looked at the sky. "It's getting late."

"The fastest way is..." Ocellus went up to the cliff edge. "Across this ravine. We should be pretty close to the school after that."

"Gallus and I can airlift AJ to the school." Rainbow looked at Sandbar and Yona. "But how are they going to get across?"

Ocellus turned into a sea serpent, and lied across the ravine, turning herself into a makeshift bridge.

"... That works." Rainbow motioned for Gallus to help her lift Applejack across the ravine, followed by Smolder and Silver, while Sandbar and Yona went across Ocellus.

"Ow! Yona!" Once the grounded pair were across, Ocellus turned back into her normal form. "You're heavy!"

Yona flexed. "Yak pure muscle!"

Sandbar giggled. "Whatever you say, Yona."

Author's Note

Since it's the first time using their secret identities, a quick reminder:
Heatnix-Smolder
Striker-Gallus
Wind Jet-Sandbar
Everfree-Ocellus
Aqualine-Silver Stream
Boulder-Yona

Chapter 10

"I'm sorry, Twilight." Applejack rubbed her leg. "I wish I could be of more help."

"It's alright." Twilight put away her notepad. "You helped me as much as you could have."

"May I ask why you didn't ask Rainbow Dash?"

"I couldn't. When she brought you back... well."

Twilight's horn started projecting a video on the ground, from her point of view. It started with her watching the students carry Applejack off, then turning to Rainbow.

"What. Happened?" Twilight asked sternly, to no response. "Rainbow Dash, what happened?"

No reply.

"Rainbow."

Rainbow Dash fell over.

"Rainbow!" Twilight ran to Rainbow's side and started looking for injuries.

"I'm sorry."

It was so soft, Twilight almost missed it. She looked at Rainbow's face. It was red, and tears were filling her eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I... I messed up... badly... I shouldn't have... I didn't mean to..."

The recording cut off.

Applejack stared at the floor for a bit after the recording cut off, then turned away. "I did say some things to try and hurt her feelings. I... I feel bad."

"It's alright. You both went through enough. I'm not giving either of you overtime. And, looking back on our discussion, between the canoeing and the nature walk, I was being unfair to you. Even if I knew, or thought I knew, what you were going to say, I should have let you say it anyway."

"It's alright. I think we all learned a lesson after all that."

"No hard feelings, towards me or Rainbow Dash, right?"

"None at all, sugarcube."

The two mares shared a hug.

"Now, your class has been put off long enough, I think. Oh, but I asked Rainbow to address something with some of the students, so they probably won't be there right away."

"Which ones?"

"Guess."

A few of the students laughed, while others just looked in sympathy. Smolder couldn't do much of anything but sit there with her face buried in her claws.

"Wow, Smolder. That was worse than the last time you played Bucketball." Rainbow rubbed the back of her head in bafflement. "I know your luck isn't the best, but that took it to a whole new level."

If Smolder wanted to reply, she didn't get the chance, as the school bell rang out at that moment.

"Alright! That's it for class! AJ should be done with Twilight by now, so head on over to her class!"

Gallus patted Smolder on the back, giving her a gentle smile. She sighed and took his claw to help her up.

"Oh, except six of you. We learned of something that needs to be addressed."

All of the students looked at the teacher. Ocellus asked the obvious question. "Which six?"

Rainbow gave Ocellus a stern look. "You're one, and that should tell you who the other five are."

"Ooooooo. Team creature is on the chopping block." Some of the students giggled at the six panic induced friends.

Once all of the students were out of the room, the last one out turned around. "May I ask-"

Rainbow slammed the door in her face, then turned to the six creatures.

"OKAY! FINE!"

Rainbow was briefly distracted by the bitter student, then turned back to the six in the room. "Pinkie let something slip to Twilight."

"P-Pinkie?" Silver started biting her claws. "Is it really that major?"

"It is." Rainbow stepped towards them. "It could cause trouble for you if you keep doing it, assuming you haven't already gone overboard with it."

The six friends collectively swallowed, awaiting something major. Their fight with Pinkie was before they had their disguises, so if she remembered something...

"Due to being classified as a post-graduate school, any students in our academy are legally allowed, in Ponyville, to gamble. The school's rules, however, prevent this from taking place on school grounds, even in the dorms." Rainbow watched the students go from panicked to confused. "What, did you think it was worse than that?"

Sandbar chuckled. "Yes, actually."

"Something that could get you expelled?"

Gallus rubbed the back of his head. "More or less."

"Somethings that could force you apart."

Smolder scratched at her head. "That would be bad."

Rainbow's smile went from amused to sly. "Something like... you being the White Cursed?"

"Would be problem if-" Yona took a second longer than her friends to realize what their professor just said.

Rainbow let out a chuckle. "When one of you told me to fly off, my first priority was to find you kids. When I couldn't, I started thinking and realized something. There wasn't much time between AJ turning into that monster, and the heroes showing up. The only way for them to know that fast is if they were there when it happened."

Ocellus rubbed the back of her head. "Geeze, professor. You can be pretty smart when you want to."

Rainbow wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult. "Uh... thanks?"

"But that means..." Smolder stepped back, her fists clenched. "... You're going to tell Headmare Twilight, right?"

The students stared at their teacher, some ready to fight, some ready to run.

"I..." Rainbow rubbed the back of her head. "... I'm not sure if I should."

All of the students made some confused noises.

"On one hoof, it feels like keeping this a secret from Twilight would be betraying her. On the other, you did save my life, so I owe you at least that much. Besides, you're just kids. If I tell her, she'll execute you. That's not something you six deserve, especially if you're doing the right thing with your powers."

Gallus scratched his head. "So... you're in a conflict of loyalty?"

"Loyal to Twilight, or loyal to you kids. At that point, it comes down to what is loyal to my personal morals, and that would be not getting children killed."

"That's fair." Ocellus tapped her hoof to her chin. "Though I really want to know the Headmare's side of things. It feels like there's a lot of information we're missing, especially since, and I did check with the librarians on this, the Headmare removed a lot of information from the book about the White Curse. I would like a more complete copy of it."

Silver put her claw to her mouth. "Wait, they saw the Headmare defacing a book?"

Ocellus shook her head. "They wouldn't have let her, or anyone, damage a book intentionally while in the library, but she's the only one, aside from me, to check it out." She let out a heavy sigh. "Which means it was probably fine the first time I checked it out. I had a copy book, I should have just used it."

Yona tilted her head. "Copy book?"

"It's an enchanted book that copies all the pages from another book. I... may have used a couple." Rainbow chuckled. "Anyway, I can see if Celestia can get us a complete copy of the-"

"I don't think she would." Sandbar interjected. "If Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight have the relationship I heard they have, then Princess Twilight probably did it on Princess Celestia's orders."

"Even if she didn't," Ocellus continued, "Princess Celestia would probably approve of what the Headmare did and wouldn't give us a more complete copy no matter what excuse we gave."

"So... no help from royalty. That complicates things." Rainbow's eyes drifted towards the clock in the room. "WHOA! You guys have to go! I didn't realize we were talking that long!"

"Huh?" Sandbar looked at the clock. "Oh, geeze! Our next class! I completely forgot!"

Smolder started towards the door, then briefly turned around. "We'll talk later, right professor?"

"Yeah! Anytime. Now get going!"

The students rushed out the door, leaving Rainbow alone. She turned towards the window... and saw a Pegasus flying away.

"Wait... isn't that..."

"Man, it's great to have a professor on our side." Gallus watched the clouds roll by.

Ocellus giggled. "Though it was pretty funny that professor Applejack thought we were gambling with professor Rainbow."

Silver stared at the water emptily. "Yeah, I guess. It's a good thing she's... honesty... or something."

The others stared at Silver, though only Smolder spoke up. "Is something wrong? You were super cheerful until just now."

Silver sat up. "... You know those times, where I feel something for seemingly no reason?... I feel depressed."

"For no reason." Gallus sighed. "It'll be alright. It's gonna pass. Just don't go emo on us."

"Besides," Smolder added with her usual hand sass, "Nothing bad is going on right now."

"Guys." Ocellus stared upwards. "Why is the sky black?"

They all looked up. The sky wasn't blue, but...

"It looks green to me!"

"Why is it pink?"

"It's red!"

"How is it orange?"

"YAK BLAME DRAGON!"

"What? Why?"

"You did jinx it."

"It's alright. I only altered your perceptions."

They all fell silent and slowly turned towards the nearby tree. There, laying on one of the branches, was a creature of indiscriminate features.

"You all know the scrambler spell, right? The one used on your masks? That's why you can't tell what I am."

Sandbar stepped in front of Ocellus. "Who are you? How did you know what we were thinking?"

The figure chuckled. A low, sinister chuckle. "Knowing what you're thinking, I have my ways."

"Mind reading?" Gallus suggested, as a master of saying the obvious answer.

"As for who I am." The figure stood up. "The one that can move as fast as lightning." He suddenly vanished, appearing on the path leading to the lake. "The genius that can outsmart any scholar." He vanished again, appearing on the water itself. "The one that can imprison any beast or monster." He suddenly appeared with his hoof lifting the chin of a very uncomfortable Silver. "And the wooer of the moon herself." He vanished just as Gallus swiped at him, appearing under the tree he was on. "But as far as you six should be concerned, I am Gold Strike."

"Gold Strike?" Ocellus held her hoof over her mouth. "... I feel like I should recognize that, but I don't know why."

"Well, you know it now. And you'd better not forget it." Gold casually leaned against the tree. "Regardless, you are the ones called the White Cursed, right?"

Gallus did not like this guy. "Nope. Never heard of them." How does he know?

"Like I said, I have my ways."

They all stared at him blankly, then Gallus rubbed the back of his head. "Right. Mind reading."

Gold let out a laugh. "You're quite the characters. So, what do you know about the Night's Embrace?"

Smolder took a nervous step back. "Only that Headmare Twilight is concerned about them."

"She has every right to be." Gold's smile faded. "They're terrorists."

They all fell silent.

"Terrorists?" Sandbar echoed. "You mean..."

"They cause mayhem and destruction in the name of the moon, so they claim. They follow the lead of Nightmare Moon-"

"And you're in charge of them."

The figure stared at the Changeling. "So you heard my name in association with... them?"

Ocellus put herself into a fighting pose. "That's what I overheard Headmare Twilight say about them. And you."

Gallus also got posed for battle, though with a smirk on his face. "So you're the bad guy!"

"So all of this is... you against me?... If only it were that simple."

"What do you-" Pain shot through Sandbar's head, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut. "Urk!"

Once he opened his eyes, he was treated to the image of Twilight sitting at her desk.

"No matter what you think of them, the Princesses are not on your side. They're after you as much as they're after me." The image changed to a strange looking Pegasus digging through some books. "Although there are those who will see to it that you're not only successful in your endeavors, but also that you survive. Such as this mare."

Sandbar then saw a group of hooded creatures, probably ponies. "And the Night's Embrace are not behind the monsters you're fighting. They have so far been uninvolved in current events, but don't be surprised if that changes soon." Then the colt saw... the EEA? "If that's not enough, there are even more parties that can mess things up for you. Such as those who would love to see the School of Friendship torn apart, rendering you six incapable of fighting those monsters."

The image then changed to a black pony with holes in her legs, horn, and bug-like wings.

"Queen Chrysalis?" Ocellus said, apparently seeing the same things Sandbar was.

"And she wants to see your teachers suffer, as revenge for being heroes themselves. An awful lot of third parties in this situation, isn't there? I may have to do something about that."

A bright flash of light forced Sandbar to close his eyes again. When he opened them, he was back at the lakeside.

"So you're gonna kill them, huh?" Gallus accused Gold of.

"No." Gold's voice was... angry? "I'm no killer."

Gallus smirked and shrugged. "Say what you will, a killer's always a-"

The sound of thunder rang through their ears, as Gold Strike appeared in front of Gallus and grabbed him by the throat. "I'M NO KILLER! HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF MURDER!"

All of a sudden, Silver, for some reason, screamed in pain and fell to the ground.

As suddenly as he grabbed Gallus, Gold Strike vanished. "If we need to fight, I'll come for you. Never take your opponents lightly. It will not end well."

"Silver?" Gallus helped Silver off the ground. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I-I don't know. I tried to grab him, but..." Silver stretched her back. "At least I don't feel depressed anymore."

"Well, that's good." Smolder put her hand to her mouth. "'Never take your opponents lightly'? Does that mean..."

Gallus waved his claw dismissively. "We don't need to worry. Those monsters have been complete pushovers so far."

"Yeah! No sweat!" Silver fist bumped Gallus. "We can take them all out easily!"

"Please, not me. Please, not me. Please, not me." Smolder quietly chanted, knowing exactly where a line like that leads.

Author's Note

And here's the chapter where you go, "Wait, what?" And no, I won't be answering most of the questions you have. Some of the pieces are already there, I won't put them together for you.

Though I do have a question for you; Is this story tagged right? I keep feeling like it isn't, but I don't know why. I'm hesitant to add the "comedy" tag, since the coming chapters are going to get... dark.

Chapter 11

"I'm so glad the Headmare let us go to the hive."

Sandbar patted Ocellus on the head. "It's an excuse for you to go home, right?"

"Though given what happened last field trip." Gallus motioned to their accompanying teacher. "I'm shocked she let Professor Rainbow accompany us."

Ocellus smiled at the Griffon. "It's because I asked for her to come with us."

"And the other teachers are very busy right now." Rainbow rubbed her head. "Besides, I would like to meet some more... Huh?"

The students all looked where Rainbow was looking. The only thing they saw was a Pegasus, flying away from the hive.

Yona scratched her head. "Who's that?"

Ocellus shrugged. "Probably just a delivery pony. Remember, Changelings are still integrating themselves into society. They're getting more things from pop culture, but there's still room for improvement."

Rainbow watched the Pegasus for a little longer, then shook her head. "Nah. I'm seeing things."

Gallus eyed his professor. "Is something wrong, professor?"

Rainbow shook her head. "I thought I saw that pony in particular recently, but it's probably just a coincidence."

Sandbar quickly grew concerned. "Professor, if there's something that pony-"

"Ocellus, why did you suddenly want to come here?"

Ocellus cringed, then looked down as all attention turned to her. "... I got a letter from the king. From the sound of it, he found something he wanted me to look at. I would have rejected, but from the sound of it..."

"Is it the Castor Staff?" Sandbar took a shot in the dark, but, judging how Ocellus looked at him, he was right on the money.

"I think so."

"Turns out to be more than that."

The creatures looked up at the black Changeling before them.

"Pharynx?"

The large changeling had a serious look on his face. "The last delivery we received had something that was out of place, and we wanted you to look at that too."

Ocellus went from worried to annoyed. "What am I, a master historian?"

"No, but you're trying to be a scholar, right? Besides, it seems like the book and staff are connected." Pharynx turned around. "Follow me."

Ocellus was taking very deep breaths, as she held the staff in her hooves.

"O-Ocellus?" Thorax was very concerned. "Are you-"

"It's okay. The staff just flooded her mind with info." Silver patted Ocellus on the head. "She'll be fine."

Pharynx went from worried to annoyed. "Why are you acting so casual?"

Silver pointed her thumb over her shoulder. "Cus it's gonna happen at least four more times."

Pharynx scowled. "Listen here, brat! I-"

"It's alright, Pharynx." Ocellus took in a deep breath, and let it out. "She's right. I just had a lot to take in from that."

Thorax put his hoof to his mouth. "Do you know why you got its knowledge, even though Pharynx and I touched it plenty before you?"

"Yes." Ocellus wouldn't be so casual about revealing this to most creatures, but she trusted Thorax from the bottom of her heart. "It's because I have the power associated with the Castor Staff. The White Curse."

Smolder quickly grasped her hand around Gallus' beak, keeping his screaming silent. While she shared his sentiments, screaming at a Changeling in front of their king was not a good idea. Then again, she didn't know Thorax that well.

"I see." Thorax then looked, almost glared, at Pharynx. "Well? Are you still going to personally execute any and all White Cursed? Knowing that one of them is one of our most innocent and necessary?"

Ocellus' eyes shot wide with fear. "W-what?"

Pharynx bit his lip and looked Ocellus in the eye. "... N-no."

"That's what I thought." Thorax turned back to Ocellus. "While I called you here about that staff- And yes, I'm letting you keep it- we received an odd book in our last shipment. It was about the White Curse."

Ocellus looked Thorax dead in the eye. "I think I know which book you're talking about."

"We have a copy of it at the school," Rainbow said, "But Twilight ruined some of the pages, so we're missing chunks of information."

Thorax pulled the book from near his throne. "Well, we don't need our copy. You can have it if you want."

"True, but I have a copy book." Ocellus pulled out a book with a patterned color on its cover. "And knowing where a copy of the book is, that the princesses don't, would be really useful."

"Right. They would probably deface your copy too if they found it." Thorax sighed as Ocellus took the book he had and touched its binding to the binding of the book she already had. "I wish I could directly ask them, but they probably would have twice as many questions for me and become very suspicious of our kind. That can only lead to bigger problems."

"Right," Ocellus said flatly as she raised her eyebrow. As much as she respected her king, she felt like there were times he was a bit too paranoid of upsetting other nations. Or other creatures, for that matter.

Thorax coughed. "Anyway, if you need some time and space to read it, I have a side room ready."

"Thank you, King Thorax." Ocellus turned to the guard. "Pharynx, please show my-"

Pharynx stomped his hoof down. "I'm not your servant!"

Ocellus shot the larger than average Changeling a look that sent a chill down his spine. "Pharynx," Ocellus resumed, her voice a bit deeper, "Please show my friends the hive while I read over the parts I need to. I would appreciate it."

Pharynx gulped. "Y-yes, ma'am."

It had been about two hours since they started their tour, but Sandbar was too worried about Ocellus to enjoy it. As they walked down one hall, he started looking into the open rooms (not daring to open any closed doors). As they passed by one, he stopped, seeing a familiar Changeling inside.

When Sandbar entered the room, Ocellus had her head on the book, like she fell asleep while reading. Again. Normally, he would just pick her up and put her in bed. This time, however, she needed to be awake. Not to mention her bed was nowhere near them.

He put his hoof on her head. "Ocellus, it's time to wake up."

"I am awake." Ocellus lifted her head. "I'm just trying to figure out what the Headmare was trying to accomplish."

"... Huh? Why? There must have been something useful that she-"

"There is, but before we get to that, I need to ask you something." Ocellus turned to Sandbar. "Why are you so protective of me?"

"What? I mean, I'm not too protective of you." Sandbar nervously stared at Ocellus' flat look. "M-maybe a little." Sweat started rolling down Sandbar's face. "I'm not that bad about-"

"Yes, you are. We may not get into battles that often, but if there's ever a threat to us, the first thing you do is step in front of me. Heck, it made you somewhat useless during the fight against Professor Applejack."

"Ocellus, I-"

"You're the first one to check on me when I get scared or even slightly injured during Professor Rainbow's class, you always watch me when I talk to someone you don't know, and don't think I'm such a heavy sleeper that I don't notice you moving me from my desk to my bed, which I would have gone to the teachers about if you weren't such a close friend of mine."

"I..." Sandbar rubbed his head. "Geeze, it is getting bad, huh? I'm just trying to look out for you, like... Just, as a friend."

"Thank you," Ocellus said as she wondered what he was about to say, "But I'll be fine. You should watch yourself a bit more. I don't want you to get hurt because you were looking out for me."

Sandbar let out a dejected sigh. "I understand."

"Well, now that we found our missing creatures."

The sound of Gallus' voice drew the pair's attention to the door, where the rest of the field group were watching them.

"Listen, outsider! You're not allowed-" Ocellus' glare quickly made Pharynx backpedal. "I-I-I mean, just because you're Lady Ocellus' friend doesn't mean you're allowed to, uh, interfere with her reading, so if you could... could... what was that word?"

"It's alright, Pharynx." Ocellus stood up. "I'm done researching."

"Before we begin, I have to ask something." Rainbow turned to Pharynx. "Lady?"

Pharynx rubbed the back of his head, smiling nervously. "King Thorax has informed us that Ocellus is to be treated with the utmost respect."

Ocellus giggled. "I was only informed of this recently myself, but because the Changelings are still trying to make a good image for themselves, any of us that can help our image is to be treated as, in the best terms, nobility. Since I'm the one closest to pony society and doing the best at giving us a good image, I'm currently above the others, to the point that the only one that quote-unquote "outranks" me is the King himself."

"I see." Silver smirked at the intimidating Changeling right beside her. "That means if Mr. Bodyguard makes you mad, say by attacking us, you get to put him through the wringer."

Ocellus gave a nice, big smile. "Yup!"

Pharynx coughed. "Yes! Exactly! Now, what was in the book?"

Yona whispered to Smolder, "He nervous."

Ocellus' smile quickly faded as she lifted up the book. "Right. The first thing I noticed was missing is odd that it was; basic history. The way the Headmare put it made it sound like the last group was also the first, but apparently there were several groups before them."

Gallus raised an eyebrow and a claw. "And that matters because?"

"Exactly. It doesn't. All it changes is the sample size of their corruption, and all that does is make the law against the White Curse iffy."

"Oh! Oh!" Silver had that look that she had a theory, and the rest of the group were ready for it to be a dumb one. "Maybe someone found a way to control the White Cursed, and they didn't want us to know it!"

Sandbar looked at Silver, baffled by her words. "And you're basing that on..."

"Nothing! Just thought of it."

Ocellus bit her lip. As silly as it sounded, it wasn't entirely impossible. "Anyway, that was the oddest thing she removed. The other things had some logic to them."

Smolder tilted her head. "Such as?"

"Theoretical powers. While the one that wrote this only had anecdotal evidence and second-hoof information, there are a number of powers listed here, such as the fire user apparently turning their body into a black, stone-like material, likely obsidian."

Gallus rubbed his chin. "That sounds cool, but why remove that? It's useless unless you have the power in the first place."

"Some of these sound tempting to have, especially to particularly selfish creatures. If someone found this and decided they wanted to use one of these powers, it would be very problematic."

Rainbow got it before some of her students. "So Twilight removed any mention of those abilities to prevent anyone from wanting the power. If you can't do anything cooler with the power than you can without, why take the risk?"

"Yak get it!"

"That means you don't get an excuse, Gallus."

"Shut up, Smolder."

Ocellus continued in spite of her friend's antics. "The most interesting part, to me, is the explanations of why each power aligns with each personality trait."

That got Sandbar's full attention. "I've been wondering about that! I feel like strength being earth is the only really obvious one."

"That, and fire being that the confident ones generally have a "fiery" personality. The others are very interesting, though." Ocellus caught a glimpse of Gallus' hopeful face and sighed. "And to get this out of the way, I still don't know what Gallus' power is."

Gallus, even with Smolder keeping his beak shut, was still screaming loud enough to frighten Pharynx.

"But whatever it is, we want to learn what it is and fast. From the sound of it, it's assigned to loyalty because it's so dangerous, only those that would never stab their team in the back should have it."

Rainbow's eye twitched. "How... dangerous are we talking here?"

"'Wipes out armies in one fell swoop' dangerous. If we can get Gallus that power, we'd be nigh unstoppable."

"You guys are convinced I'm loyalty, huh? Is that why you're always teasing me? Making me the butt of your jokes? Because you figure I wouldn't ditch you?" One would expect Gallus to be angered by this realization, but he sounded... happy? "Because you're right. I wouldn't ever betray you guys. You're pretty much family at this point."

Silver, Smolder, and Yona all hugged the Griffon, who froze up for a second before returning the favor (though not without trouble, due to Yona's size).

Sandbar smiled at the sight, then turned back to Ocellus. "Any idea what kind of element it could be."

"Oh, it's definitely not an element."

The rest of the students replied with a collective "Bluh?"

"At no point does the book refer to our powers as elements. I couldn't figure out why, but there are apparently two more powers that a White Cursed can have: The cautious types get color control, and the mechanical types get magnetism, with the implications that there may be more types of powers depending on personality."

Silver put her claw to her beak. "Wait, what does mechanical mean?"

"It means they can put things together. Like roller coasters, trains, airships, things like that." Ocellus flipped through the book. "And since I know you're going to ask, no, it's not the same as being creative. This book classifies the creative types as artistic, like actors or painters, and the mechanical types as practical, creating things that have use."

Silver scratched her head. "I... think I get it."

Pharynx stepped forward. "Actually, shouldn't we go back to Thorax? He'll want to hear this, and I don't think I'll be able to remember all of this well enough to tell him."

"Right. He would be interested." Ocellus closed her book and put it in her bag. "Let's get back to him."

As they were headed back to the king, Silver remembered something important. "Hey, Sandbar? Are you mad at me?"

That caught the colt off guard. "Huh? No. Why?"

"Well I had a dream where you..." Silver suddenly turned away. "Never mind."

Gallus leaned over. "Suffocated you while saying it was your fault?" He watched the two creatures look at him in shock. "I know... because I had the same dream."

Author's Note

*Writing writing writing* ... "This is getting long. I should split it."

Chapter 12

"... At that point, Pharynx recommended we head back to you."

"I see." Thorax smiled. "So from here on out, any information is new to your friends as well."

"Good thing," Gallus said nervously. "I kinda spaced out there."

Everyone stared at Gallus.

"Really, dude?"

Thorax coughed. "Moooooving on. What is the reasoning behind the other power and personality choices?"

Ocellus cleared her throat before beginning. "The reasoning is as follows. 'The power over wind belongs to the leader of the team. With it, the leader can always have an aerial view of the fight and can sense motion allowing them, giving them a better perception of anything around them. They can then relay this information and make decisions for their teammates.'"

Sandbar rubbed the back of his head. "Haven't had much of a chance to do that."

"'Earth is purely power, so it belongs to the strong, who can let others think for them. Similarly, Fire belongs to the confident because they will always be ready to fight, and, when used right, there are few situations that fire is completely useless in.' Basically, those two are obvious choices, possibly leftovers."

Smolder pointed her thumb at Yona. "You mean that thing that she never has?"

Yona patted her stomach. "Yak need LOTS of nutrition!"

Ocellus giggled, then went back to the book. "Continuing on. 'Ice is able to form barriers more efficiently and much farther than other powers and displays the fastest and best ability to regenerate. These traits make it more suitable for those that would take more injuries and defend others. Therefore, Ice goes to the protective types.'"

Thorax put his hoof to his mouth but remained quiet.

"Here's the first of the interesting ones. 'While it is known that loyalty gets its own power, it's very unclear what that power is. However, the last one that had this power was stated to use it to take down armies in one fell swoop. Knowing this, it can be deduced that they don't want anyone to know or replicate this power.' Meaning we have no idea what this power is."

Gallus put his claw to his head. "Which sucks for me, since we all agreed that I'm the one that has it."

"It's good for your enemies," Pharynx decided to state. "Then again, I doubt any of you would make an enemy out of anyone that isn't bad."

Ocellus cleared her throat. "If I may continue. 'Water can be used to heal others, and personality is determined by "humors", or fluids in the brain, which those with water control can manipulate. Due to these factors, water goes to those that are empathic'... Which means they understand other's emotions."

The students and Rainbow all turned to Silver.

Silver looked uncomfortable. "What?"

Sandbar rubbed his head. "Well, no offense, but that doesn't exactly describe you. If anything, you tend to be... well..."

"Oblivious," Ocellus said bluntly.

"Oh, come on." Silver waved her claw, wearing a seemingly forced smile. "It's not that bad."

Rainbow looked away. "Yeah, there are times where you just don't seem to get what's going on."

"I just..." Silver stepped back, her smile waning. "I..."

"I-it might just be that we're missing something," Smolder suggested, looking unsure of herself. "I mean, some higher being or whatever chose you to-"

"You don't believe that." Silver was glaring at Smolder, as her legs turned to water, though holding their shape. "You... None of you think it fits me." Tears welled up in her eyes as more of her body was turning to water. "I'm trying to get better, but... but..."

"SILVER!" Gallus shot over to her, quickly grabbing the now Hippogriff-shaped blob of water into a hug. "Hey, hey. It's okay. It's okay." He started running his claw through the part of her that was her mane. "Even if we don't think you're empathic, there are still plenty of good things about you. Heck, even looking at our fight against Professor Applejack, you did a lot more than the rest of us in either fight." He suddenly found himself running his claws through actual hair instead of water. "You matter. Don't forget that."

Silver, now resembling a Hippogriff again, wrapped her legs around him. "Gallus... thank you." Tears were streaming down her cheeks. The two half-birds then had a psychic conversation, but none of their friends dared to eavesdrop, allowing them privacy in a full room.

"Wait." Yona's face went from happy to confused. "Did Ocellus mention water and empathy when we first get book?"

Smolder shrugged. "She did, but we were focused on Gallus at the time."

A short while later, Silver and Gallus broke off their hug. Silver wiped the tears from her eyes. "Sorry about that. I guess I'm still sensitive about that after what Terramar said."

"If it helps," Thorax spoke up, "Those sorts of traits aren't absolutely defined, in spite of what some might think. For example, when we think of confidence, we think of self-confidence, but it could also mean confidence in others. Similarly, strength of body and strength of mind are different, but those with either are considered strong regardless. When we think of someone empathic, we think of the calm, collected types, like a therapist. All empathic means, however, is that they understand other's emotions. Therefore, it is wrong to assume someone cannot be empathic simply because they aren't calm."

Ocellus couldn't hold back a smile. "That, your highness, is why you're a much better ruler than Chrysalis was."

Thorax blushed. "Y-yeah. Let's hope we don't see her again."

Ocellus flipped through her book. "Where was I?... Right! This is the other interesting one. 'Electricity belongs to the creative types, but anyone that knows why was very tight-lipped about it. Apparently, they either don't know why, or they do know but don't want others to know. But it appears that the connection between power and personality is unknown.'"

"Come to think of it," Rainbow said, "Wouldn't electricity have been useless back then? They didn't have many of the things we use electricity for these days, so it would have been a weapon at best."

"It... sure is." Ocellus was able to think of one thing that always used electrical signals. "Anyway, both color and magnetism got short blurbs. 'Color went to the cautious, who are considered cowards. Magnetism went to the mechanical, who could use it to create machines.'"

"Wow. That's informative," Gallus said sarcastically. It did get a giggle out of Silver, though.

Thorax smiled and raised a knowing eyebrow. "Did you put your power off as long as possible on purpose?"

Ocellus blushed and rubbed her head. "Maybe. 'Wood is granted to the intelligent, as they are the most likely to understand how to use some of the finer aspects of their power. For example, using specific flowers to trigger specific assists or illnesses.' Basically, they're smart, so they automatically know everything about botany."

Sandbar smirked. "That means you're going to study botany now, right?"

"Exactly!" Ocellus smiled, hopped up, floated for a second, then landed.

Rainbow chuckled. "I'll let Fluttershy know. She'll be happy to help you with that."

"I couldn't help but notice something." Thorax looked right at the book. "It seems that the personality that could make the most use out of each power is given that power, as opposed to the personality that best matches the power."

"For example," Sandbar said, "Rather than give water, which has healing abilities, to someone who's calm and 'goes with the flow', whatever gave us our powers gave it to the one most likely to use its healing abilities."

"Oh! Oh!" Silver was waving her claw like she wanted to answer a question in class. "Or Wind going to someone likely to use it to get information and spread it."

Rainbow rubbed her head. "But I haven't seen Sandbar fly."

Sandbar floated up using his power, smiling right at his teacher.

"Woah." Rainbow was definitely shocked. "Need a teacher?"

"There's a good reason I haven't been flying much." Sandbar touched down softly. "But I can see why you like flying so much. I wish I could just use my powers without fear."

"If it helps, I don't have a problem with you using your powers here." Thorax gave the children a smile. "If you ever want to just use your powers for no reason, you're more than welcome to come by. We won't tell Celestia."

"I'm pretty sure Aunt Novo feels the same way," Silver spoke up, "So we can go to Mount Aris if we can't come here."

Smolder shrugged. "Though the hive is closer to the school."

Ocellus smiled, then bowed to Thorax. "Thank you, your highness. This visit was useful and informative."

"Of course. If you ever need help, don't be afraid to ask."

They looked at the king's image through the mirror. "So I was right. They are the White Cursed."

They closed the case the small mirror was in, put it in the top drawer of their desk, then brought out an isomorphic lock-box. Most creatures would not be able to open the box, but the owner of it could with ease. And for good reason.

They pulled a folder out of the box and removed the six pages inside. Each one depicted one of the students, and had information the School of Friendship had... and information it wasn't supposed to have.

They pulled out a quill and wrote on each of the files.

"White Cursed: Air. The leader of the team. May face issues with the more rebellious members."

"White Cursed: Fire. Closest to dying in both incidents, though that's not saying much."

"White Cursed: Water. Prone to bouts of sorrow, in spite of her usual cheer. May be caused by her powers."

"White Cursed: Earth. Liable to rushing headfirst into danger without thinking. Shown high luck during incidents."

"White Cursed: Wood. Brilliant, but fragile. Needs protection, but seems averse to receiving it."

They looked at the sixth file. They wrote "White Cursed", but stopped. "Gallus... You are loyal. Maybe as loyal as Rainbow Dash herself. In spite of that, or perhaps even because of that, I fear what will happen..." They wrote down the next five letters, then made them vanish. "... if you learn the truth."

"Direct attacker, but capable of distracting opponents. Most dangerous without powers."

"The six of you..." They put the papers back in the folder. "... are capable fighters." They put the folder in the box. "Even so..." They closed the box. "... I have to wonder..." They put the box in its hiding spot. "... what will happen..." They stood up and walked up to the window. "... if your opponent is too strong."

They watched a number of ponies, some playing, some talking, some trying to get somewhere else, but all living without a worry. "There are many lives out there, but yours... yours are unarguably more valuable than many may think, and for more reasons than many others may know." They sighed. "Please live. For your own sake... and for mine."

"Sandbar! Are you here?" Smolder scratched her head. The students split up for the last couple hours of the field trip, but it was time to go back... Except Sandbar hadn't shown up at the front door. "Sandbar!" She pushed open a door.

"Yeah, that was me."

Smolder froze up. That was Sandbar's voice, but what did he mean by-

"I was afraid of that." That voice was... King Thorax? "You've been surprisingly calm, considering this is where-"

"It's because of her. What she did... I can't forget it."

Can't forget what? Smolder wanted to look but was worried she would get caught.

"Is that why you feel the way you do?"

"Yeah. I'll talk to her about it, but... I'll need some time, though. I don't want to be too sudden about what I'm going to tell her."

Smolder's eyes went wide. Is he talking about Ocellus?

Yes, I am. "I think my friends are looking for me. It should be time for us to go."

"Ah, right. Thank you for visiting. Come back any time."

Sandbar opened the door to an embarrassed looking Smolder. "That's what happens if you don't watch your thoughts."

Smolder scratched her cheek. "... Yeah. I'll keep that in mind. Uh... I won't tell anyone."

Sandbar's smile was disturbing. "You'd better not."

Thorax watched the students leave. "If our oracle was right... you may want to say it soon."

Chapter 13 Author's Note

WARNING!

This chapter is darker than most chapters in this story! If you grow uncomfortable reading this chapter, you can SKIP it! The next chapter (13B) is literally just so you can skip this one without missing anything from the story!

It doesn't get as bad as an actually dark story, but it does get pretty dark for a story of this type.

Now that I have given you a warning that you have completely ignored, enjoy~

Chapter 13

Chrysalis was a master of deception, distrust, and control. She had deceived Canterlot, and later the entirety of Equestria and the Crystal Empire. She had come so close to victory twice, only for something small to become something bigger than she expected. There was no denying her skill at manipulation. She was very good.

Too good, as she learned the hard way.

The pink-maned, yellow creature thrashed against her bindings, but could only move her head.

"Kehehehehe..."

All she could do was stare at the mare hovering over her.

"Kehehehehehehehe..."

And the thorny vine pointed right at her.

"Kehehehehehehehehehehehe..."

The bound figure screamed into the vine wrapped around her mouth as the vine made its move. Her eyes shot wide, then rolled back into her head... as she returned to her real form; a piece of wood, stained yellow.

Fluttershy's face was twisted into a sadistic smile. "Pfffffff... Hehehehehe. Kehehehehehehehe! You stupid freak. Ahahahall you were good for was a lahahahahaugh! Kehehehehehehehehehehe! Ahahahahahahaha!"

Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness and most gentle, if shy, pony ever, was acting like a maniac. Had most creatures come across her they would have thought it was a faker, or that they were lied to. Thankfully, the students were not most creatures.

Fluttershy suddenly snapped her head to look at the six costumed creatures. "Aww, did the six of you need a bedtime story?"

Aqualine flipped her hair. "Nope! Because you're the one going to bed!"

"Ch-Chrysalis?" Everfree was shocked by what was just past the mare. "I-is she... Dead?"

"But of course." Fluttershy's smile bordered on innocent and psychopathic. "It's better for her to be gone. But don't miss her too much." Fluttershy leaned forward, any innocence in her smile gone, leaving only crazy. "You'll be joining her soon enough."

Wind Jet moved one of his front hoofs.

SANDBAR!

He moved his hoof back. Sorry.

"Is it just me, or does her body seem... normal?" Heatnix asked, ignoring the odd mental exchange.

"Compared to the others, yeah." Striker looked his foe up and down. "It's just the vines and flowers in her mane and tail."

Aqualine leaned in close to him. "You know what that means, right? Easy pickings."

Wind Jet glared at them. "Don't underestimate her. We don't even-"

"Last blow wins?"

"You bet."

Wind Jet had no time to react. The two fliers shot towards the corrupt mare.

"Cute." Fluttershy leaped up and flew off, leading the two on a wild goose chase.

"Wait! Get back here!" Wind Jet's cry fell on deaf ears, as neither of his teammates responded. "Grrr..." What are you doing?

Winning! Striker sent back.

Don't worry! We've got this! Aqualine was just as concerned as Striker (not at all).

Hold on! You're in over your-

BEEP!

What was that?... Guys?... GUYS! "What are they thinking?"

"They aren't!" Heatnix responded to her leader's question, "We had an advantage in the last two battles, but we have nothing for this one!"

"Why not fly up?" Boulder asked.

"The forest is too thick," Everfree answered. "We can see a few clearings, but most of the forest is completely obstructed to us."

"Any problems we face tonight," Wind Jet said with a scowl, "Are on their heads."

"Over here! This way! Hehehe!" Aqualine zipped out of the way of another thrashing vine.

"Can't keep up, can you?" Striker dodged another vine.

Fluttershy growled at the speedy flyers. Her attacks were too slow to hit either of them, while they were getting dangerously close to hitting her. If anyone was observing their fight, they would say that Fluttershy was fighting a losing battle.

"Wait! Where'd you go?"

Aqualine skidded to a stop a good distance behind Fluttershy. "Piece of cake, right?"

"I don't know what Wind Jet was talking about." Striker slid up next to his teammate. "This was easy as pie."

"Ready to sandwich her?"

"You bet."

Both of them shot towards the possessed mare.

Neither noticing her smirk.

Before either could react, a giant leaf lined with vines and branches appeared in front of them. The moment they collided with it, it wrapped around them, the vines binding them back to back and the branches jabbing into their legs and guts.

"AHHHH! What the-"

Fluttershy let out a hearty laugh. "Did you really think I lost track of you? The moment you all appeared, I placed a flower on each of you so I could track your movements."

Aqualine started coughing.

"And certain pollens can disrupt most forms of magic. I just took a guess and applied it to you two once I had you alone."

"What are-" Aqualine coughed. "What are you going to do? Turn us to plant food?"

"Of course. Aww, but I'm such a naughty girl. Momma told me not to play with my food... Actually, she didn't because she is a complete wuss. Either way, I'd like you two to suffer before you die."

"What do you- MMMM!?" Something wrapped around Striker's beak and neck. Given the muffled sounds behind him, Aqualine was facing the same threat.

Fluttershy ran her hoof through Aqualine's mane. "I know there are more effective ways of disposing of juveniles, but you two aren't going anywhere. I might as well make you two suffer for a bit."

The two creatures struggled as much as they could, but nothing was getting loose.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'll be going to deal with your friends. Enjoy your last breath. It's gonna be with you for a while." Fluttershy casually sauntered off.

The only meaningful thing the half-birds could do was put their claw into the other's claw.

Wind Jet was definitely angry. "Where are those birdbrains?"

Heatnix was annoyed for a different reason. "Why are we looking for the two of them? Shouldn't we be after Fluttershy?"

Everfree sighed. "Our teammates are fighting Fluttershy. We find them, we find Fluttershy."

Boulder had other things on her mind. "What wood strong against?"

Wind Jet let out a grunt. "Nothing, probably. It tends to be weak... No offense, Everfree."

Guys... Aqualine's voice was weak.

Wind Jet looked upwards as if she was above him. THERE you are! What are you two-

We can't breathe.

Everfree's eyes went wide. W-what?

She wrapped a leaf around our beaks, and there's a vine around our necks! Gallus sounded weak. She did after tying us up, so we can't move our claws at all!

Smolder was heaving. Where are you guys?

I don't know... I only see trees.

Maybe you shouldn't have run off!

Yona smacked the pony over the head. SANDBAR! NO!

Are we... spinning? Silver's voice was growing weak.

I... don't know... Gallus was growing weary.

Smolder was about to cry. We can't do anything...

Tracheotomy!

Silver thought Ocellus said something. Wh-what?

You have to make another breathing hole in your body! Below the vine! Ocellus could only hope her message reached them.

But... that... how? Gallus' voice was growing quiet.

Ocellus squeezed her eyes shut.

Silver! Use power! Yona sent out.

...

Guys?

......

This isn't funny!

.........

Silver? Gallus?

............We're breathing.

The group of four let out a collective sigh of relief.

Silver sent out a weary laugh, trying to calm her friends. I don't know how, though. It's like my powers acted on their own.

Ocellus briefly thought of keeping her secret to herself. I took over your powers for a moment. It was a desperate move, but I had to do something.

That's... clever. I feel tired, but I don't think I should sleep yet.

They were all happy that the duo survived.

All but one.

YOU IDIOTS! Sandbar's voice changed the mood drastically. We have a serious threat, and now we're down our best two fighters! Why did you do that?

S-sorry.

Apologize to anyone that dies because of your antics. Wind Jet turned towards his teammates. "Come on. We need to find Fluttershy."

"Oh, that's alright. You don't need to look for me. I can find you easily enough."

The four creatures whipped around. Standing there was their beloved teacher, looking very demented.

"I've got this!" Boulder charged forward, then rolled into a, well, boulder, attempting to smash into the Pegasus. Instead, she smashed into a tree.

"Where did that-" Wind Jet was cut off by Fluttershy's crazed laughter. "Duh. She controls plantlife."

"Well, in that case." Heatnix flew forward and shot a jet of flames at the tree. All she did was leave a few scorch marks. "Huh?"

"Did you sleep through class again?" Fluttershy moved around the tree. "Healthy plantlife has plenty of water in it. Sure, you could still burn it down." The mare caressed a low hanging branch. "But that would mean starting a forest fire. Are you sadistic enough to do that?"

Heatnix could only stand there in shock. Boulder was more active... and dove into the ground.

Fluttershy laughed. "Did you just run off?" She then dove into the tree right as Boulder popped out of the ground. The tree batted the Yak back to the ground. "Of course you didn't." Fluttershy stepped back out of the tree. "That would be too convenient for me."

Boulder got to her hooves, growling, only to suddenly cough and fall back down. She looked at her back and saw a small tree growing out of it.

"So you happen to be made of dirt. Convenient for me. After all, trees need nutrition to grow, and they don't care if it's from the earth, the sun..." Fluttershy gave Boulder a twisted smile. "Or some kid that happens to have the nutrition they need."

Boulder tried to get back up but lacked the energy to move. Heatnix tried to burn the tree up but only left scorch marks again. Fluttershy just laughed as Boulder sank into the ground.

"It looks like she just bit the-" An angry vine cut off Fluttershy's statement by smacking her in the face. "What the-" She deftly avoided another couple of swings. "What are you doing?"

"They're under my control," Everfree proudly declared. "Did you forget I was here?"

Another vine popped out of the ground and was about to strike Fluttershy, only to stop partway through.

Fluttershy glared at the Changeling. "Then I'll control your flora as well."

"That works for me." A concentrated blast of air knocked Fluttershy onto her back. "It leaves you open to my attacks."

Everfree winked at the pony. "Looks like that training is starting to pay off."

Heatnix scratched her head. "Training?"

"I'll explain later." Wind Jet watched the grown mare get back to her hooves. "We can't risk killing her. The others had a protective layer of their element, but it looks like she doesn't have that. We need to be careful."

"Then I'll leave the attacking to you." Everfree sent a vine and nuts spinning through the air like a bolo at Fluttershy, only for the mare to leap away well before it got to her.

"Then you're on support. Fair enough." The two creatures rushed forward, ready to fight.

Heatnix could only watch from a distance, her flames rendered useless for reasons she didn't fully understand. She didn't understand why Fluttershy didn't look like the other corrupt teachers. She didn't understand what her friends meant by "training". Of all the things she didn't understand, however, only one stuck out enough for her to question it.

"Why do I feel like I'm in a manga right now?"

Heatnix had no idea who was where at any given moment. Everything happening in front of her was a complete blur. She could tell when she had to dodge something, but that was about it. Whenever she thought she knew what was happening, the fighters were about two steps past her.

Up until Fluttershy fell to the ground.

Everfree and Wind Jet landed. "We have to be getting close."

Fluttershy struggled to her hooves.

Everfree started running forward. "Come on! Just a bit-"

Fluttershy suddenly reared up. "Enough!" She slammed her hooves onto the ground.

A tree stump shot into Everfree's stomach, sending her into the air, right as Fluttershy shot a bunch of branches towards her.

It was as if time slowed down, and everything went quiet. None of them could move fast enough. The target could only watch, her eyes growing wide. Her friends could only watch, their hearts sinking. Fluttershy's smile grew wide.

Once the branches pierced her body, Ocellus let out a shriek. A horrible, soul-crushing shriek. It only lasted a moment after she was pinned to the tree, but for Sandbar, even the start of it was too much. Ocellus tried to lift her head, but at this point, any movement was too much for her body.

"You're not dead?" Sandbar looked right at Fluttershy. "It's alright. That's easy enough to fix." She summoned another branch and shot it at the Changeling.

In an instant, Sandbar grabbed it out of the air with his mouth.

Fluttershy smiled. "Was that really a wise-"

Sandbar vanished.

Fluttershy's smile vanished as well. "Wait, where-"

*CRACK!*

Sandbar appeared right in front of the Pegasus and struck her across the face. Then in the gut. Then he struck her leg.

To Smolder, it was amazing and terrifying all at once. Sandbar wasn't just attacking her relentlessly, he was teleporting to do so, disappearing and reappearing at a rate that Smolder couldn't keep up with.

"Wind Jet!"

She had realized that, if he kept his beatdown up, he would end up killing the one they were trying to save.

"Wind Jet!"

But he wasn't responding to her words. She ran towards him.

"SANDBAR!"

Through all of his teleporting, Smolder somehow managed to grab Sandbar and throw him to the ground.

"SANDBAR! CUT IT OUT!"

The colt struggled against the Dragon. "Let... me... go! I'm going... to get..."

Smolder snarled in his face. "Our friends all put their lives on the line to save her! Are you going to make all of that worthless? Are you going to ruin what we worked so hard to do tonight?"

"I want..." Sandbar started crying. "I... I..."

"I get how you feel. Believe me, I do." Smolder's expression softened. "But you can't let your emotions control you right now. Revenge can wait for when there aren't innocent lives on the line." She lifted her friend into a hug. "Our friends helped us get this far. Let's finish it. Even if we're alone."

Sandbar went limp for a second, then returned the hug. "Right. I'm sorry."

Smolder broke off the hug and helped the colt to his hooves. "Good. Now come on. I think Fluttershy went this way."

"Oh, geeze, she ran?"

Ocellus stared as they rushed off. She took in a deep breath, then let it out, her eyes rolling back as she did.

Fluttershy continued to stumble as fast as she could. How did he do that? It's almost like he was teleporting... Was he? She stumbled to the edge of a ravine. The bottom was very far down. She turned around to see two creatures in hot pursuit.

Fluttershy growled and shot out three branches at them. The branches burned up mid-flight.

"I knew it." Heatnix kept her hand up. "Whatever you were doing to keep my powers from working, you're too tired to keep doing it. Give up, now."

"Let Fluttershy go. You can't win now." Wind Jet looked at the ravine. "And don't think about jumping. I can just use my wind to lift her out."

Silence...

"Ke... Kehehe... Kehehehehehehe..."

"What's so funny?"

Fluttershy continued to laugh maniacally for a while, then shot them a disturbing look. "Can you lift this out?" As soon as she said that, a tree popped out of the ground. Not a small one either; a full grown tree. Once it was out, a vine wrapped around it and the Pegasus. "Once this tree falls into the ravine, it'll take me with it. You're trying to save my life, aren't you?"

The two students froze up. Even with her cornered, Fluttershy still had a dirty move to play.

"Burn the tree or the vine, and I burn with them. And the vine is very thick. Cutting it won't be easy." Fluttershy started laughing again. "Give up yet?"

Heatnix and Wind Jet looked at each other. Their four friends were dead or near death, they pulled out every move they had, and even pulled new moves out of nowhere... And they were still about to lose?

"That's what I thought." Fluttershy talked over a sound on the other side of the ravine. "Now hold still."

Vines started weaving near their legs, winding up them without touching them.

"This will only hurt a second. Or not. I really don't know. It's not like I ever stab myself. I prefer to-" She stopped, her smile dropping, and looked around. There was a whistling sound getting louder and louder, and she didn't know what it was. She looked up... just in time for a large mound of dirt to slam her into the ground, causing the tree and all of the vines to vanish.

The two heroes looked on in shock. What just happened?

"Miss Fluttershy?"

Something started bulging out of the earth. The dirt started rolling away, revealing Fluttershy, unconscious, with her mane back to normal.

A face suddenly appeared just below her. "Professor... safe... yes?" As suddenly as they appeared, the mound and the face dropped back into the earth.

Both creatures reached towards the living earth. "Yona!"

There was no sign of her left. Tears started welling up in their eyes.

A rustling sound drew their attention behind them. A moment later, Gallus and Silver appeared from the bushes. They both looked around. There was no sign of Yona or Ocellus. Professor Fluttershy was either out or...

They both collapsed to the ground, falling into a bow. Smolder could only wonder what was going through their heads, especially with Sandbar yelling at them earlier.

"Get up." Sandbar's voice was cold. "We can't exactly feign ignorance with two of us missing."

Sandbar led the other three away from Fluttershy. A million thoughts, mostly dark, were running through his head, but one kept coming back.

Ocellus... are you alive?

Chapter 13B

Smolder followed Rainbow through the halls. The dragon knew why she was pulled aside, but not why her specifically. They stepped into Rainbow's classroom, which was devoid of all life except them. They stepped inside, and Rainbow closed the door.

"Smolder, what really happened?"

"First, why me?"

"Well, the others seemed... you didn't look as bad off as them. If you aren't comfortable talking about it now, I can-"

"No, I can talk about it. And... yeah. I don't think the others are in a good mood right now."

The teacher sat in front of her student and put a hoof on her shoulder. "So... what happened?"

Smolder took a deep breath, then began from the top. "It started as we were getting ready for bed. We were using our powers to talk-"

"With telepathy, right?"

"Huh?"

"I... read through that book. I have a better idea of what you kids are capable of now."

"Oh. Anyway, we were just chatting when we all felt something bad was happening. We realized we felt it before, during the field trip, and figured someone else was getting corrupted."

"Fluttershy..."

"She was the last one we wanted to fight, but... she nearly killed us all."

"R-really?"

"Gallus and Silver took lead, in spite of what Sandbar was telling them to do. Whatever happened at the start, we mostly missed, since the two of them led her around all over the forest. The rest of us were just... wandering for a while until they called out to us."

"I'm guessing it wasn't to say, 'we won'."

Smolder shook her head. "Professor Fluttershy was... suffocating them. She managed to bind them, and had a tight vine around their necks and leaves covering their beaks."

"H-how'd they survive?"

"Ocellus. She apparently took control of Silver's body and forced her to create a... a... tracheotomy, or whatever it's called, on both of them."

"If I'm remembering correctly, that means creating another hole to breathe through. Sounds easy to do if your body is made of water, but it's probably not pleasant if you aren't."

"I think Silver was able to heal Gallus up after they were free. Anyway, Sandbar really laid into them for that. They were our best fighters, but they got themselves taken out before we even knew what we were dealing with. Then the professor showed up."

"What happened with Yona?"

"Professor Fluttershy made a bunch of plants grow out of her, eating her nutrition or something like that."

Rainbow cringed.

"It's... as disturbing as it sounds. She was practically ineffective throughout. Eventually, I saw her... just sink into the ground. I thought for sure she had died."

Rainbow looked over her shoulder at the door.

"I tried to use my fire on her, you know, elemental advantage, but... It didn't work."

"Wait, what? How does that work?"

"Something about keeping the plants 'moist and healthy'. I don't really get it. I just knew my powers weren't working on her, and I couldn't go much hotter without destroying the forest completely. So I wasn't doing much."

"So it was Sandbar and Ocellus. The physically weakest."

"Two of the three. Silver is weaker than Sandbar, but she more than makes up for it in skill." Smolder sighed. "Which we really could have used."

Rainbow gripped Smolder firmly. "Don't linger on that. It wasn't your fault."

"There's a reason it bothers me, but we aren't there yet." Smolder took another deep breath. "Ocellus and Sandbar were shooting thoughts at each other rapidly, and attacks at professor Fluttershy."

"But Ocellus is missing."

"Because..." Smolder gulped as tears welled up in her eyes. "I think she did die."

Silence.

"What?" Rainbow's voice was completely broken.

"Eventually, that... thing, created a tree to knock Ocellus into the air and... shot a bunch of branches at her, pinning her to a tree. I... I still hear her scream of pain."

"Oh geeze. That didn't kill her?"

"No, but we checked the tree later, and she wasn't there. The monster tried to shoot one last branch, but Sandbar caught it out of the air."

"Did Fluttershy try to use that against him?"

"I think she tried, but I don't know for sure. That's when he went ballistic. He apparently can turn himself into air, but only to teleport. And... boy did he teleport. He kept disappearing and reappearing, hitting the professor fast and hard."

"That's where the bruises are from?"

"It got to the point that I had to grab him, and I'm still not sure how I did, and yell at him about letting his emotions control his actions."

"Isn't that what he usually preaches?"

"Yeah, but I think he loved Ocellus, so I don't blame him for losing it." Smolder was visibly shaking.

"It sounds like you're almost done. Can you tough it out?"

Smolder nodded. "She tried to run off, but we gave chase, and caught up to her. At that point, she was too weak to do whatever it was that made my fire useless, so I was able to keep her from doing anything to us. But... she had one last, very dirty move up her sleeve."

"Seriously? What was it?"

"She realized we were trying to keep her alive, so she bound up her wings, tied herself to a huge log, and stood at the edge of a ravine, threatening to jump with the log if we did anything."

"... How did you stop her."

"To be honest, a Deus ex Machina."

"What? Isn't that when something comes out of nowhere?"

"It is, and it's hard to say Yona didn't come out of nowhere."

"Yona?"

"Apparently, she had enough energy to pull off one last stunt and launched herself at the professor. I was completely shocked to see a massive rock come out of nowhere and smash the professor into the ground. For a second, I thought she was obliterated. Then Yona lifted her out of the earth before vanishing again."

"And that was it?"

"Almost. Gallus and Silver showed up right after that, looked around, then bowed down, I guess as an apology. I looked at Sandbar... and it was so clear that he blamed them for what happened. He told them to get up, and then we went and set up the scene you guys found."

"You couldn't exactly feign ignorance with two of you missing."

Smolder chuckled. "That's exactly what Sandbar said."

"You guys need to get stronger. You aren't all going to be there when something like this comes up, so you need to make sure the ones that are here are able to handle it."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry for pulling you aside, I needed to know. Let's get you back with the others, so you can rest."

"Yeah. I hope Gallus and Silver learned something about sticking together."

"I'm sure they did, darling."

Smolder and Rainbow looked at the door, which was wide open with Rarity standing right here.

"How long have you been there?"

Rarity giggled. "I just got here, right when you apologized for pulling her aside. I won't bother with asking what you were asking her since you wouldn't have pulled her aside if it wasn't private. I came here to ask you something, though. Have either of you seen Sandbar?"

Smolder and Rainbow stared at the unicorn. "Sandbar?"

Chapter 13 part 2

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Intermission 2

The Second Friendship Festival was in full swing. Creatures chatting, singing, and dancing. Booths set up for games. It was the biggest event ever. Even bigger than last year, when things were interrupted by the Storm King. Somewhere in the commotion, a young Dragon shared a hug with Fancy Pants, then walked back to her friends in a daze.

Gallus raised an eyebrow at the Dragon. "May I just mention something, Smolder? You are the weirdest Dragon ever."

Smolder snapped out of her daze. "Hey! What's that mean?"

"Well, you read those weird comics all the time," Gallus said, holding up one claw.

"Manga!"

"You're totally into fashion for some reason." Gallus held up a second claw.

"Well, it's-"

Gallus then pointed at Fancy Pants, who was moving towards Princess Luna. "And you have a weird obsession with that guy!"

"He does good work!"

Sandbar stepped between the two. "Actually, Gallus, you're probably the only normal one of us."

Gallus stared at the other boy in confusion. "Eh?"

"Ocellus is trying to be a scholar, while most Changelings are either fighters or artists of some kind. Most Hippogriffs are proud and are willing to fight, but Silver is humble and prefers peaceful resolutions. Yona is a goofball, but most Yaks are serious. And Ponies are hard to define, while I'm one of the most generic ponies out there."

"Of how our races can be defined as a whole," Ocellus added, "You're the only one that really fits your race. Minus the whole "friendship" thing, of course."

"Yeah, Griffons are still adapting to this whole... friendship thing."

Gallus looked over his shoulder. "Hey, Gilda... Hey Gabby!"

Gabby giggled and flew up to Gallus, hugging him.

Gilda chuckled. "Yeah, they have a sibling-like relationship."

Silver giggled. "I can tell."

Sandbar sighed. "I wish I had a chance to spend more time with my sister."

Yona (relatively) gently put her hoof over Sandbar. "You're practically Yona's brother already. We one big, weird family!"

The six friends and Gabby laughed. Even Gilda chuckled a bit.

"You're so close!" Gabby nuzzled her surrogate brother. "Hey! Can I be part of your friend family?"

"What do you mean?" Gallus patted his surrogate sister on the head. "You already are."

"Yay!"

Gilda awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. Gallus seemed... different somehow. More friendly? "By the way, do you happen to know what Dash meant by 'giving her students a special reward?'"

The students shared a look.

"No idea."

"Uh-uh."

"Nope."

Smolder put her hand to her chin. "Though that would explain why Mr. Fancy Pants came up to me."

Sandbar nodded in agreement. "Makes me wonder what the rest of us have coming."

"EEEEEEEEE!"

The others leaned away from Silver, who had her claws to her cheeks.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" With that, Silver shot off.

"Silver?" The others went after her.

"Do you have visual on the Hippogriff?"

"Visual confirmed. Go for removal." The bodyguards grabbed Silver and attempted to pull her off the pony they were guarding. Silver held fast.

"Initial removal attempt failed. Going for a second attempt."

Songbird Serenade could only roll her eyes and pat the Hippogriff on the back. "Now I know why Princess Twilight told me to brace myself."

"Silver!" The other five caught up and tried to help the bodyguards remove the energetic bird.

It failed. Silver simply wouldn't let go.

"Hello, Miss Serenade." Twilight trotted up like Silver wasn't being creepy or troublesome. "I see you're getting acquainted with my students. In a... unique way."

"Indeed. I am." The singer patted her fan on the back. "Silver? Could you please let go?"

"Oh! Sorry!" That, of all things, is what got Silver off of her idol. "I just couldn't hold myself back! When I saw you, I got so excited that I..."

As Songbird listened, she could tell that Twilight was having some influence on her students. Though Pinkie may be influencing Silver a good bit as well?

"Hey, professor?" Sandbar walked up to the Alicorn. "Did you set us up to meet with famous ponies or something?"

Twilight giggled nervously. "Did one of the other professors spill the beans?"

"Nope. Gilda asked about what Rainbow meant in her note." Gallus looked over at Gilda and Gabby, who met up with the Crusaders.

"Yeah. We set it up for most of you to get a chance to meet a famous pony you've been admiring. The exception is Gallus since he doesn't seem that interested in most of them."

"I think Rainbow made a good choice for him anyway." Applejack trotted up with a veiled pony.

Songbird Serenade took one look, then started giggling. "Are you trying to hide your identity? Because it's not working."

"You're not the one we're hiding her identity from."

The veiled pony tilted her head. "Though it doesn't look like it's hiding it all that well from him."

Applejack looked at Sandbar. Sure enough, his expression was blank, but his face was red. He approached the "mystery" mare and removed her veil.

The mare could only giggle and poke his cheek. "Hoofsie."

Sandbar suddenly started smiling like a dork. "M-Miss Coloratura. I never i-imagined that I would have the chance to m-meet you."

Coloratura giggled again. "You can just call me Coloratura. Or you can use AJ's old nickname for me and just call me Rara."

"Rara... I... like that."

Coloratura giggled... again. "You're adorable. Anyway, I'm going to enjoy the festivities. Want to come along?"

Sandbar rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, sure. I-I'd like that."

Sandbar and Coloratura stared at each other for a second, then laughed and headed off.

Ocellus was the one who giggled this time. "She seems nice."

Applejack laughed instead. "She's very nice."

"Well, since Silver slipped off with that singer mare, I'm gonna hang out with Gabby a bit more. It's not like I get every opportunity to." With that, Gallus flew off in the direction they saw Gabby in earlier.

Smolder looked at Ocellus. "Well, now what?"

"Well, seeing that Yona is running off towards that tank that Professor Pinkie is in, and I'm pretty sure Professor Rarity is waving me over to her... You get to do whatever you want!" With that, Ocellus fluttered off.

"... Great. Thanks."

Smolder let out a heavy sigh. As nice as spending more time with Fancy Pants sounded, he was a busy stallion, and she didn't want to bother with some of the ponies that flock to him. All that left was wandering the festival aimlessly. All things considered, that plan could have gone far worse.

A number of games, plenty of food, and a ton of creatures ranging from Ponies to Changelings to Dagons to Hippogriffs, all willing to chat with anyone that wants to. What she thought would interest her for a few minutes ended up entertaining her for hours and hours. At some point, she was told that one of the buildings available for the festival had karaoke and dancing, so she decided to check it out. On her way there, though...

"So it was her, and it's not a coincidence."

Smolder paused. Principal Twilight?

"We wanted to send out a Changeling that would leave a good impression. Considering what she did, I figured she had the best chance of doing just that."

Smolder glanced around the corner. Standing there were Twilight Sparkle and King Thorax.

"Yeah. She did save their lives. I'd have to say-"

"Since I answered one of your questions, I need you to answer one of mine." Thorax's tone took a rather harsh turn.

"Huh?"

"What happened twenty-three days ago?"

"Twenty-three... Uh, I went camping with the girls! That's all!"

"I can tell when someone isn't telling me everything."

Silence...

"You're talking about Chrysalis, aren't you?"

"So you do know."

"We've been keeping a threat as well kept of a secret as possible, but it does still affect things. So when she died..."

"Did you check her yourself?" Thorax's voice went soft again.

"No. Applejack and Rarity found her, then informed me after the fact."

"Do they know how to check for signs of life?"

"Huh? I think they do. Why?"

"Because Chrysalis' body has fully healed by now, and we're not letting her out of sight of at least three guards until she reforms."

"... She's alive?"

Smolder leaned a bit further... without noticing the cable around her ankle.

"Wuagh!" *Whump!*

She managed to trip while standing still. The two leaders looked at the Dragon that just fell into the scene. Once she shook her head clear, she realized that her cover was blown. "Ehehehe. Sorry for, uh, eavesdropping."

Twilight lifted her hoof, her eye twitching. "How long were you there?"

"Uh." Smolder worked to untie the cable from her leg. "Around when King Thorax mentioned why he sent Ocellus to the school. I think. It was just before the part about the camping trip."

Thorax glanced at Twilight, then back to Smolder. "So you didn't hear anything confidential?"

"No. Aside from the part about that Christmas lady."

"Chrysalis," Twilight said, letting out a sigh of relief. "And we can't go into detail about anything. Just don't mention the things you did hear."

"My lips are sealed."

As if sensing the perfect time to arrive, Silver barreled into Smolder. "So what did you hear?"

"If you're going to ask," Ocellus said flatly as she flew up, "You should at least wait until she's not next to the one asking her to be quiet."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "And how long were you two there?"

"Just got here!" Silver gave Twilight a thumbs up.

Sandbar stepped out, followed by Gallus and Yona. "We heard there was karaoke and dancing at a nearby building, so we were on our way there."

"Oh! You seperated from the celebs?"

Gallus shrugged. "I wouldn't call Gabby or Gilda celebs, but Gabby wanted to spend time with the Crusaders."

"Countess Coloratura and Songbird Serenade have to get ready for the big concert."

"Cheese Sandwich went to set up party thing."

"Miss Sapphire... yeah. We split up." Ocellus seemed oddly upset.

Thorax patted Ocellus on the head. "Well, we won't hold you up. Just don't say a word about what you heard us say, Smolder."

"My lips are sealed. Let's go have fun, guys." Smolder led the others away.

Silver was quickly curious. What were they talking about?

Chrysalis is alive.

Oh... That's interesting. Ocellus thought half-heartedly.

That didn't slip by Smolder. "What happened with Ocellus?"

Gallus leaned in close to Smolder. "That Sapphire Shores mare said some insensitive things about Changelings. Miss Rarity insists that she didn't realize how hurtful what she said could be, but Ocellus is still hurt."

"Oh."

Sandbar nuzzled Ocellus. "It's alright, Ocellus. Not everypony thinks like that."

Ocellus finally smiled. "Thanks, Sandbar."

They both missed the soft giggling behind them.

Intermission 3

It was a half an hour from the main event of the festival. The big concert At that point, most of the creatures had left for the big stage, only leaving six friends in the karaoke and dance building.

Gallus patted Silver on the back. "That was amazing, Silver."

Smolder leaned back in her chair. "You just got up there and sang your heart out. I wouldn't be shocked if you got asked to perform on the big stage."

Yona downed the last of her water. "Silver sure she want to pursue dance and not sing?"

Silver shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe I will aim to be a singer. Though I still can't believe auntie did that."

Ocellus giggled. "Yeah, that was pretty surprising. "Let me show you how to dance." And she sure did."

Sandbar looked at the stage. "It's always nice to see royalty acting casual."

Gallus smirked. "You say that like we don't live next to Princess Twilight and see her every day."

Sandbar blushed. "Well, other royalty."

Smolder continued to jab at Sandbar. "Doesn't Equestria have some of the most chill royalty?"

Yona scratched her head. "Luna seem very job focused."

Ocellus looked at the Yak in concern. "How would you know that?"

Silver placed her claw on Yona's head. "Do you need help?"

Sandbar coughed and got out of his seat. "Anyway, we should probably head out to the main stage. I know I don't want to miss the big show."

Sandbar's friends followed him to the door, and he put his hoof to it.

"You're welcome."

They all paused, then turned towards the stage, where a lone figure stood.

"Gold Strike."

The on-stage figure chuckled. "You know what I'm referring to, right?"

Yona let out a low growl. "You kill E.E.A."

He put his leg to his chest. "Moi? I thought we went over this. I'm no killer."

Ocellus stepped back. "Then how did you deal with them?"

He let out a deep chuckle. "Let's just say I convinced... someone else that it was in their best interest to end the E.E.A."

Silver summoned her bow. "How's that any different from killing them yourself?"

"Why are you worried about that? I'm helping you, aren't I?" He spoke with a dishonest tone.

Gallus got ready for a fight. "I'm guessing we aren't your only reason, right? Thunder Lock?"

The figure tilted his head. "Thunder Lock? Who's that?"

"Then how did he know my name? I never met him before then."

"Oh? So you caught my slip-up?" Suddenly, electricity sparked around him, and he had a form; A yellow stallion.

Smolder was taken aback. "Wait, that was you?"

"But of course. I'm not going to let someone else take this kind of power. Let's me influence who takes my place afterward, too. Don't want another Neighsay stepping in, now do we?"

Silver tsked. "You're getting rather reckless, flaunting your power like this."

"Who are you to call me reckless. Weren't you one of the two that nearly got your friends killed? Who nearly let Fluttershy run rampant?"

Silver's eyes shifted to the side. His words clearly hurt her.

"Besides," Ocellus spoke up, "How do we out him without revealing our own identities? He probably thought of that first."

Smolder raised an eyebrow. "Why don't we just say, 'Hey, we met a terrorist!'"

"'Terrorist? How did you get away from him? Why was he talking to you? Please step this way, we have some questions for you.'" Gold Strike chuckled. "Sorry, kiddies, but you'll have to keep quiet about me a while yet."

Sandbar smirked. "So you don't want Luna to know either?"

The older creature cringed, then hung his head, visibly upset. "Low blow, Blitz. Low blow."

"Blitz?" Ocellus noted under her breath.

"How do you even know about that?"

Sandbar flipped his hair. "I looked for your name a bit. Found a few books that mentioned something about you and her being close."

Gold Strike let out an annoyed sound. "Regardless, it would be best if you six simply avoid talking to anyone you really shouldn't about it. Though that may include some creatures you don't realize."

Sandbar was getting frustrated with the creature's vagueness. "What's that mean?"

"You'll see." With that, the stallion shaped creature suddenly turned into electricity and vanished into the microphone.

The six friends shared a look. What did he mean?

"Hey!"

The friends looked at the doorway, where Gilded Lily was standing.

"Why are you still here? The concert is starting soon."

Smolder chuckled a little. "We were just talking about some personal things. We'll be right there."

Lily looked at Smolder, then glanced at Silver, before smiling. "Alright. Whatever you say."

The friends looked at each other. Yona spoke up first. "Right. Let's get going."

"Before we do." Gallus looked at Silver. "You might want to put that away. Don't want to scare anyone."

"What? Oh, right!" Silver returned her bow to her body, then followed her friends out. Until something clicked. "Wait a second..."

Serotonin: Moderate-low. Consistent with those that are awake at such a late hour.
Dopamine: Moderate-low. They seemed to be shutting out the world around them.
Norepinephrine: Very low. They weren't worried at all.

Silver was starting to adapt to regularly using her powers to read other's emotions that way. She agreed with her friends not to use their connection except to talk, but she did get plenty of practice with her powers on them. It was tricky to remember which chemical did what, but she figured it out (with Ocellus' help).

Serotonin is the low emotion chemical, controlling sleep, depression, and inhibition.
Dopamine is the high emotion chemical, controlling behavior, emotion, and cognition.
Norepinephrine is the panic chemical, controlling the fight-or-flight instinct.

Silver was practicing with controlling these chemicals with Gallus (in private, just in case she makes a certain combination by accident), but she had no intent to do that in this situation. She needed information, and the best way to do that was to make sure the filly she was talking to was comfortable with her. No changing those chemicals. Only reading.

Silver slowly approached Lily as to avoid scaring the filly. The unicorn had her eye shoved into the telescope, so she probably didn't expect Silver to be there. At least, that's what Silver thought before seeing another telescope set up.

"Do you need something, Ocellus?"

Silver locked up. Lily got it wrong, but-

"Silverstream, then."

"How did you know?"

Lily turned around, her dopamine going up. "You two are the only ones that would approach me tonight. Would you like to look at the stars with me?"

"I'd like to ask you some questions, first."

Lily looked up at Canterlot. "Yesterday's festival was pretty good. Lots of things to buy. Plenty of games to play. So much socialization. The concert." Lily then turned back to Silver. "Though I'm guessing you didn't go around flaunting that bow of yours the whole time."

"Did you tell anyone?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

Lily's dopamine went up again. "Did you want me to?"

"Want you to or not, I would have reported someone having a bow in hand right away. Why didn't you report me?"

Lily fell silent, but Silver felt her norepinephrine going up a bit. There was only one logical reason Silver could think of for Lily to have seen that, but not tell anyone.

"You know, don't you?"

"Know what?" Lily's voice was flat, but she couldn't deny her body's natural reactions to panic.

"Don't be afraid. I just want to know how much I can trust you."

Her norepinephrine went down a little bit. "... You can trust me."

"What do you know? I won't tell anyone. I promise."

Lily looked away. Her serotonin went up. "What am I supposed to say? It's hard to talk about my situation."

"Then don't. Actually." Silver went over to Lily and hugged her. "Don't say anything else. I just needed to know if I could trust you. We can leave the details for later, if ever."

Lily wrapped her hooves around Silver, her chemical levels returning to how they were before they started talking. "Thank you. I feel selfish since you're in a worse spot than I am, but we can help each other through this."

"We all can."

The two girls broke their embrace and looked at the others as they approached.

Gallus went up to Silver and put a claw on her shoulder. "Did you think you could slip off without us noticing?"

Lily looked over at her telescopes. "I didn't plan for this many creatures."

"That's alright." Smolder smacked the bag on Yona's back. "We thought of that."

Lily looked at them for a second, then smiled. "So, we all trust each other, right?"

Sandbar nodded. "Right."

After that, the seven of them wasted the night gazing at stars. Until Starlight caught them and made them go to bed.

Author's Note

The show schedule just screwed with my plan for this story.

I read the synopses ahead of time to get a general idea of what to do with the story and make things line up with the show. Cue them moving one of the episodes in a way that makes my plan awkward. I can work with it, but I just have to figure out how. And quickly too. I thought the break was going to be larger than that.

Chapter 14

Wind Jet was heaving. He mostly avoided damage but was still worn out. His eyes slowly drifted up to the Pegasus stallion standing above him.

The stallion smiled, then held out his hoof. "Well done, Wind Jet. I'm sure you'll win most of your fights in the future."

Wind Jet took the hoof and stood up. "Thank you, sir. I think that's enough for today." With that, he stumbled into a tree.

"Aqualine?" The combat trainer said over his shoulder. "Can you do something about this?"

"Just a second." Aqualine walked over, clearly dizzy from using her powers, but better off than Wind Jet.

"If you don't mind me asking," Striker spoke up, reclined up in a tree branch, "Why are your methods so harsh?"

The trainer shrugged. "It's what I'm used to. If it's too harsh for you-"

"I've had some nasty trainers. That's how I got as strong as I am. But your methods are far harsher than anything they did. They look like pansies in comparison to you."

The trainer raised an eyebrow. "Why are you complaining, anyway? I'm not able to teach you anything."

"That just proves my point." Striker hopped down from his branch. "I'm too good for your training, and I didn't go through anything that harsh. Ergo, this level of training isn't necessary to reach my level."

"So what if you Griffons are pansies."

All five of the students looked at the trainer in shock. "EXCUSE ME?"

"I'm kidding. I've faced plenty of Griffons as strong as me, if not stronger. To be honest, it's because this is how I'm used to training my soldiers. And you kids can't exactly risk taking too much time with your training."

"That's a fair point." Wind Jet got back to his hooves. "Alright, back at it."

Smolder rubbed her head. "Are you guys still feeling yesterday?"

"Yona still feels week."

Silver looked at the Yak. "Week as in time? Or weak as in feeling?"

"What are the five of you doing?"

They all froze up, then slowly turned to look back at Twilight.

She didn't look happy. "My office. Now."

The students shared a look, then followed Twilight back to her office. Why was the Headmare so frustrated with them? They got to the office... just in time to witness Ocellus let out a huge yawn.

If Sandbar wasn't worried before, he was now. "Ocellus?"

Ocellus looked at the colt, clearly weary. "Oh. Heh. Hey, guys."

Twilight walked around to the other side of her desk. "I'm sure you all know, or at least have an idea of, why you are here right now?"

Gallus was worried he was the only one who didn't. "I-I... uh..."

"It's because of this." Twilight lifted up six files.

The six students were wide awake. Something about those files was absolutely terrifying. As if the contents of those files could rip their lives in half. Twilight opened them, one by one, and the students felt their hearts sink.

"You've been failing your classes."

Ocellus was scared. "I... How could I..."

Gallus grew irate. "You're the only one to not get an F!"

"SILENCE!" Twilight yelling was scary. Twilight using the Royal Canterlot Voice was a nightmare. "I already asked around. A certain somepony I know is in town for no apparent reason. Somepony that has apparently been seen with a small group of creatures. Is there a reason you're forgoing friendship for fighting?"

Most of them started stammering. Most of them were confused. Most of them had trouble answering the question.

Most.

"It's because of Professor Fluttershy."

Twilight looked at Sandbar in shock. "Are you blaming your teacher?"

"I'm blaming whatever took her over while she was in the Everfree Forest. We've been there for three of those incidents. Who knows how many more we end up at in the future?"

"I can shapeshift into other, more dangerous creatures, and Gallus is only helping with their training."

"Are you saying I got an F because I'm me?" Gallus felt offended.

"The others are training so they can stay safe. I don't know how they got in touch with that stallion specifically, but you shouldn't blame them for being worried about their own safety."

Twilight stared at them. The students couldn't help but worry about what kind of punishment they were about to receive.

"... Fair point." Twilight finally broke into a smile. "To be honest, I hadn't thought of the fact you six have been at most of the incidents up until now. With that in mind, it makes sense for you to be worried about your personal safety." Twilight pulled the Fs out of the files and put the files away. "I'll void these Fs and let your teachers know you need today to rest up. Now get back to your dorms. I don't want an incident because you kids passed out here."

The six friends let out a sigh of relief.

You guys are in bed, right?

Silver jumped slightly at the sound of Sandbar's voice, then realized he was talking through their minds. Yeah. Plopped down as soon as I was in my room.

Same.

Pretty much.

Yup.

You want to talk, right?

Gallus was confused. Talk about what? We dodged a bullet. What else is there to-

Sandbar cut Gallus off. We don't, but Ocellus does. Right?

Yeah. I do. A few things actually.

Something jumped right into Siler's mind. Is Gilded Lily one of them?

Yes, but you won't like this. I learned absolutely nothing.

What? That's been bothering me all week! Silver slapped her claw to her head.

I'm sorry. It seems like she's used to avoiding questions like this. I don't even know if she knows we're the White Cursed or if she thinks we have some other deep dark secret.

Silver rubbed her face. That's gonna keep bothering me.

I also have some bad news related to our powers. I was looking into where the weapons might be, but the only one really guarded was the Land-Sea Bow. We got lucky with the Castor Staff, but the others are completely lost right now, as far as I can tell.

What? No! Yona want smash things!

You can smash things without a hammer, Yona. Smolder sounded annoyed.

Sandbar got things back on track. Is there something you have good news on?

Well, I looked through some history books. The White Curse book didn't name the old heroes, so I tried to figure out who they may be.

This interested Gallus. So who are the suspects?

I've got seven maybe, four probably, and one almost definitely.

Gallus stroked his chin. Almost definitely?

Sky Blitz. Remember when we met Gold Strike during the festival? He called Sandbar "Blitz". Given what Blitz has accomplished, and his leadership abilities, I'm convinced Gold Strike was referring to Sky Blitz.

Gallus was impressed. Nice detective work.

Sandbar was also impressed but had other things on his mind. Alright, who are the four probably?

Blazer the Dragon, Castor the Abyssinian, Eshan the Yak, and Gabriella the Griffon.

Wait, Gabriella?

I think it's a Terramar situation. Like Silver's brother, you sister figure was probably named after her.

Gallus scratched his head. Oh yeah. Terramar.

Castor and Blazer are because of the Castor Staff and the Blazer Blade. Eshan's story clearly states that he left his homeland to join Sky Blitz's team.

Sandbar smiled. Not bad. And the rest?

First one is Amber Light, The Mare with the Butterfly Wings. I wouldn't be shocked if those wings came from our power. Next is Baxter, a Diamond Dog. They were apparently more civilized back then. Next is Samba Bright, The Mare that Danced with Flames. But we already have a likely fire candidate, so she might not be one.

Gallus shrugged. Who said they couldn't have more than one fire type.

True. Anyway, there was a Gargoyle named Lexington and a Zebra named Zander, but no indication that they would or could have joined. There's Lizzy the Parrot, but she sounds like she was more selfish than someone with our power should have been.

Yona thinks a Pirate would be a bad idea for hero team.

Agreed. That leaves High Power the Minotaur, and Nature Kiss the Deer. No real reason, they just sounded like they would have joined.

Gallus rolled on his side. So seven of them were on this team?

Six and Terramar. Sandbar corrected. I think Sky Blitz and your four probably choices are right. I think Amber Light is the seventh.

Gallus scoffed. My money's on Samba Bright.

Silver rolled on her stomach. No love for Baxter?

Yona think High Power. He sound strong.

Ocellus scratched her head. Who made this a competition? What do you think, Smolder?

I'm sleeping!

...

We probably should get our extra rest, huh?

Yeah.

I agree.

Night night!

Hey, Ocellus? Try not to push yourself too hard, okay?

I... Alright, Sandbar. I'll try.

Sandbar laid in bed, but his mind was barely resting. "... Soon. I'll tell her soon... Yeah. That day. That day will be perfect. I just have to survive until then."

"So, you've finally gotten combat training."

They looked over the six files they had on the students.

"Is it because you've realized your own fragility? Or was it Fluttershy? She did nearly kill some, if not all, of you. Or maybe someone important to you suggested it?"

They walked over to the window.

"And how does Lily factor into things? Is she an ally? An enemy? Or did she just happen to get involved with no reason to? More importantly, what will happen going forward? Will she be your seventh member? Or will she remain a civilian without powers?"

They looked over at the closer of the castles.

"Who else knows? How are they helping you? You can't be getting all of this on your own. Who would even be helping you? Anyone that knows the White Curse should know it's a bad thing. Did you get someone to help you without them knowing about your powers?"

They looked back at their files.

"No. That doesn't sound right. The first thing they gave you was a way to hide your identities. They wouldn't have done that without knowing you need to keep your identities hidden. They even gave you a book on the subject. Speaking of which, who defaced the one from the library? What was their motive?"

They sat down back at their desk, and let out a sigh.

"Why are so many of my questions unanswered?"

The mare flew back in from the ocean. "I'm sorry. I still couldn't find it."

Her friend patted her on the back. "That's alright. We've got time."

"It would be nice to have soon, but there's no time limit on finding it."

"We could always ask those kids to-"

"That wouldn't be wise. It'd be bad if we got associated with them."

"Do you really think we'd be executed with them?"

"I'd rather not take chances. I doubt Celestia would execute us for any reason, but I also would never have thought she would have forgotten the value of that power."

"Her weakness is that she's too trusting of others. Perhaps someone used that against her?"

"Undoubtedly. But who?"

"If I may interject, I know we can't go to the children, but perhaps we can ask the world leaders? King Thorax seems willing to help."

"... That may work."

Author's Note

I now have a Patreon! Find me at:

https://www.patreon.com/Jumpitydude

Feel free to support me. If you have the cash to spare.

And yeah, I listed off the characters from the old team earlier, but that was Celestia and Twilight. The students weren't there for that.

Chapter 15 Author's Note

And now I realize that this is probably as dark as Chapter 13. Be aware of that going forward.

Chapter 15

"What I need is for you to leave!"

Discord turned into a leaf. "Happy now?"

"Come on, Discord." Spike flew up beside them. "You know that's not what she means."

"Fine!" Discord, still a leaf, flew towards the window. "From now on, I won't try to help." The window opened, and Discord started drifting off. "At! All!"

"No!" Starlight pulled Discord back in. "I want you to never come back!"

Discord turned back to his normal form. "Aww. Is that any way to talk to a friend?"

"Guys, stop!" Spike was trying to stop a fight from breaking out.

"All you've done today is cause me trouble! And why?"

They all stayed silent for a moment.

Discord's eyes went wide. "Wait. What? You?"

"Oh. Heh." Starlight's eyes went pitch black. "I guess there's no fooling you, huh?"

Discord quickly backed off, snapping his fingers to no avail. "G-get away from me, y-you monster!"

"Wait, what's going on?"

The only response Spike got was a bolt of lightning that sent him flying into a wall, knocking him out.

Starlight smiled at Discord sadistically. "Are you ready to rejoin me, servant?"

For the first time in a long time, Discord was absolutely terrified. He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to witness what was about to happen.

...

"RUN!"

Discord opened his eyes to find Starlight staggering to her side. Not wasting the opportunity, Discord snapped his fingers and vanished.

"You little-" Starlight stared at the heroes, then chuckled. "You seem a bit short on members."

Wind Jet smirked. "They're busy. Not that we need them right now."

Starlight smirked. "We'll see about that."

What's going on? Ocellus' voice rang through their heads. Did someone get corrupted?

Striker cracked his neck. It's fine. We shouldn't need your help with this one.

If you say so. Smolder sounded a bit... out of it.

Ocellus was a bit more worried. I can get back fast if things go wrong.

Yak with Lily. Might be able to leave if needed.

Aqualine notched an arrow made of water and shot it off wordlessly. The moment it connected, Starlight's skin vanished, revealing a form made purely of electricity.

Aqualine just stared for a second. "... Uh oh."

"Do you know how water and electricity interact, dear?" Starlight shot forward faster than anything they had seen.

But not fast enough, as Striker managed to pull Aqualine aside. "Try to keep your distance!"

"I'll try, but-" She turned into a puddle of water in time for Starlight to go flying over her. "- It won't be easy when she moves like lightning!"

Striker looked at Wind Jet. "Got a plan, boss guy?"

Wind Jet shot a wide slash towards Starlight. Starlight jumped, but the wind caught her hoof, affecting it somehow. "Maybe."

Aqualine dodged another tackle. "Maybe?" She felt them sending thoughts between each other. "Don't leave me out of this!"

Starlight reared back, then went for a third tackle.

"Now!"

Wind Jet created a wind tunnel to force Starlight onto one path as he rolled onto his back. Striker hopped onto Wind Jet's pulled back hooves, then kicked when his partner did, sending Striker flying towards Starlight at the same speed.

"Wha-"

The moment Striker's fist connected with Starlight's face, her electric "skin" vanished, leaving her normal body as she tumbled away.

Aqualine giggled and clapped. "That was amazing! Nice teamwork!"

Wind Jet rolled forward to get back on his hooves. "I'm glad that worked. I thought she might be too fast." He stepped towards the grown mare before noticing something.

Her smile. There was no reason for her to be smiling right now, especially if she's unconscious. He quickly stepped back.

Unintentionally dodging Striker, who took a swing at him.

Aqualine shied back. "What the-"

Wind Jet was about to give Striker an earful when he realized that Striker looked scared.

"I... I can't move."

Starlight started cackling as she got back to her hooves.

Aqualine's fear turned to anger. "What did you do to him?"

"Did you flunk out of anatomy?" She stared right at them, her eyes as black as night. "The body runs on electrical signals. Take control of those signals, and you take control of the body. You can even do fun things like... this!"

Striker suddenly cried out in pain, although it didn't look like he was hurt.

Wind Jet grew angry. "Let him go!" We might need some back-up now!

No no no! Why did he have to fall asleep on me now? Ocellus sounded panicked. And the attendant is looking right at me! I can't do anything!

Stiker suddenly shot towards Aqualine, who turned to water and shot under him.

Wind Jet sent another wind blade at Starlight, only for her to dodge it without issue. Yona?

Market just filled up! Even if Lily look away, someone will see me!

"Isn't two on two more fair?" Starlight aimed her horn at Aqualine. "And that seems rather cheap."

Striker cried out, "Aqualine!"

The bolt hit the Hippogriff but didn't have an apparent effect.

Smolder?

Can't hear you. I'm asleep.

What? Seriously?

Striker suddenly grabbed Aqualine, as Wind Jet sent a blast of wind towards Starlight, which was faster but still easily dodged.

Striker was struggling against his own body. "Aqualine! Turn to water!"

"I can't!"

Starlight laughed. "Power off. No more turning into a puddle for you."

"Aqua- MMPH!"

"And you should be quiet."

Smolder! You can't be serious!

You guys got it.

Ocellus was just as shocked as Wind Jet. Then why is he asking for your help?

I'm sleeping. Leave me alone.

Yona stood in the marketplace. She couldn't do much of anything for her friends. Even if she got away from Lily, she would have to dive into the ground to get there in time, and she had no idea when she would get a chance to.

"Oh, Yona! Let's go over there!" Lily grabbed Yona by the hoof, then led her over to a tent.

Perfect! If dark enough, Yak can slip away!

Yona and Lily entered the tent. Unfortunately, there was a lamp that illuminated the tent really well.

Though, strangely, the lamp and a table were the only things in the tent. No merchant, no products, nothing.

Yona was baffled. "Tent is empty!"

"Yeah. I saw the merchant here leave, so I knew it would be empty."

"Why we here?"

"Well." Lily looked over her shoulder at Yona. "You need somewhere private to go into the earth, right?"

Yona blinked, then smiled. "You do know!"

Lily coughed. "You looked worried about something, so I figured that something was happening with your friends. I did read that book, and it mentioned that you're mentally connected to your teammates."

"Uhm." Fluttershy poked her head into the tent. "Is something wrong? I thought this was supposed to be empty."

Lily waved her hoof around. "It's nothing. Yona and I needed some privacy."

Fluttershy stared for a second. "Oh, okay." With that, she left.

SMOLDER! PLEASE!

Snore.

Yona cringed. "Yak need to go!"

Lily saluted her. "Then get going, hero."

With that, Yona dove into the ground and rapidly made her way to the school.

Striker slammed Aqualine into the wall. At that point, her hind legs were numb, and all of her powers were shut off. She was little more than dead weight, and Starlight was all too happy to torment Striker through her.

Wind Jet tried larger attacks, but only managed to fling Starlight around. Overall, he did little more than inconvenience her. He looked at the portraits on the wall.

Sorry, professors. He created wind currents around the portraits.

Then got hit in the face by a bolt of electricity. His body went completely numb as he fell to the ground.

"Sorry, kid." Starlight stepped over to him. "But you were about to become an actual threat to me."

Wind Jet glared up at the mare. "You could have done that from the start?"

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that." She ran a hoof through his mane, sending a wave of pain through his body.

"NO! PLEASE! NO!" Aqualine's screams drew their attention. Striker's claw was right in front of her eye, threatening to stab it. She squeezed her eye shut, only for it to force itself open. She tried to scream, only to find she couldn't.

"You don't want to miss anything, do you? I mean, I'd love to stay..." Starlight moved towards the door to the courtyard. "... but I have things to do, places to be, and plenty of ponies to torment."

"Wait!"

Starlight smiled at the colt. "I'll be back once you've started decaying."

"NO!"

*CRASH!*

In a move all too familiar to Wind Jet, Boulder smashed through the door to the courtyard and into Starlight, pinning the unicorn down while growling.

"H-hi?"

Boulder reared up, then slammed down onto Starlight, dissolving into a pile of dirt on impact. The moment she did, Striker and Aqualine both dropped, then embraced each other.

Striker's trembling claw gripped Aqualine's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Aqualine nuzzled Striker. "I'm fine. Are you alright?"

"... Y-yeah."

Wind Jet smiled, walked over to the pile of dirt, then grabbed a part of it and pulled, returning it to a yak-like shape. "Looks like our god of the machine smiled upon us again. Or rock of the machine in this case."

Boulder smiled and rubbed the back of her head. "Thank Lily. She found place for me to enter earth without being noticed."

That caught Aqualine's attention. "So she does know!"

Striker moved off of Aqualine. "She does seem like the type to reveal a secret if it's the right thing to do."

Can you hear me?

They all froze up. That wasn't a voice they heard in their minds before, but they did recognize it. Discord?

So you can. I do apologize for the trouble I caused. I'm glad you set her free, but I need to hide away.

What do you mean? Ocellus was probably missing half of the story but asked anyway.

I was one of the products of the monster that just took Starlight over. As such, it can absorb me and my memories and powers. As strong as it already is, you don't need to be facing something worse than me on a regular basis. As such, I can't risk it absorbing me back into itself.

Wind Jet realized how much Discord probably knew. What is "it"?

You don't know? It's the collective darkness in the heart of all creatures. Although, at this point, it's probably formed more by the darkness of those that are long gone.

Ocellus put a few pieces together and realized something. Is that why it's not going at us full force? Because it's collecting more of that darkness?

Undoubtably. But I have to go now. I can't risk getting caught by that thing. I hope the seven of you can resolve this on your own.

Seven? What do you mean? Wind Jet didn't get a response. Discord? Are you there?

"He's gone." Striker walked over to the team leader. "It would have been nice to get more answers out of him."

"But he leaving make sense." Boulder gathered up the remaining dirt off the floor. "If he join that darkness again, we have bigger problems."

Wind Jet sighed. "True. Let's just hope-"

"Nngh. Trixie, run. Don't let me..."

They all turned to Starlight, who was out on the ground.

"Let's get her back to the infirmary." Wind Jet turned to Boulder. "You should get back to Lily, though."

Boulder saluted, then hopped out the window. The rest of them removed their disguises and started carrying Starlight away.

Yona popped out of the dirt inside the tent where Lily was still waiting.

"Hey there. That was fast."

"Not need much time. Easy win for Yak."

"Where your friends in trouble?"

"Water conduct electricity easy."

"Oh. And rocks don't. Then it makes sense that you'd be important for that."

With that, the two of them left the tent.

"You'll talk to Silver about things, right?"

"Huh? Uh... alright. I guess she deserves to know."

Why does the hall look like a mess? Yona could practically hear Smolder scratch her head. Did I miss something?

Sandbar was not amused. You. Missed. Everything.

Chapter 16

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 16 2

"Griffon! Timberwolf! Parasprite!"

Ocellus giggled at that last one but complied anyway.

Smolder was way too giddy about seeing Ocellus shapeshift into various things.

"Is that all, Smolder?" Ocellus turned into a Yak. "I thought you had a challenge."

Smolder thought for a second, then smiled. "I have one more thing."

"Bring it on."

"Turn... into... a... GIRLFRIEND!"

Ocellus stared in shock, then turned back into a Changeling before speaking in a tone that sounded like she was whispering and screaming at the same time. "You read my diary!"

Smolder's eyes went wide, then she started laughing. "You actually have a crush on someone?"

Ocellus turned a shade of red she never had before, then turned into a mouse.

"Oh, no you don't!" Smolder grabbed Ocellus by the tail. "You're telling me who it is, here and now!"

Ocellus sighed, then ran along Smolder's arm to her shoulder, then whispered in her ear. "Sandbar."

It took Smolder less than a second to process that Ocellus had a crush on the colt that had a crush on her, then burst out laughing.

"This is why I wanted it to be a secret." Ocellus hopped off of Smolder's shoulder and turned back into a Changeling. "He's probably the last creature someone would expect me to have a crush on."

"Y-yeah. It's pretty, heh, unexpected." Smolder couldn't calm herself down.

Ocellus sighed and sat down. "I think I realized it because of my dreams."

"Your dreams?"

Ocellus nodded. "When I started attending, I started having a dream. I was surrounded by Pony shaped shadows. Some were angry, some were mocking, some were afraid. None of them liked me. But when they started throwing things at me, a knight would come and protect me."

Smolder found herself actually interested. "A knight?"

"After a while, he drove off the shadows. For a while, that was followed by us in some romantic situation, ending when I tried to remove his helmet."

"Let me guess. That changed after your near-death experience?"

Ocellus nodded. "I fell asleep while Sandbar massaged me after that. That was the first dream it changed in. That dream, I removed his helmet once the shadows were gone. And every time, it was the same colt."

Smolder smiled. "Sandbar, right?"

"I... want to tell him. I've decided that, if he doesn't ask me out during our time here, I'll ask him out after graduating."

"That sounds like a plan." Smolder knew what Sandbar was planning, making Ocellus' plan amusing.

"Please don't tell him."

"I won't, although..." Smolder looked around, then waved Ocellus closer. "I'm a little shocked that you haven't heard the rumor that-"

In her usual method, Pinkie popped in out of nowhere and shoved a bar of soap into Smolder's mouth. Pinkie gave the dragon the stink-eye, then disappeared.

Smolder pulled the soap out of her mouth wearing an expression of pure shock. "I feel like I deserved that somehow."

Several onlookers were laughing. Gallus hadn't just bit into a balloon, it was full of glitter. Yona whistled innocently.

The laughter started echoing in his head. They were mocking him. Making fun of him. Not just the onlookers. His friends. They betrayed him.

He crushed the tin dish he was holding in his claws, then glared at Yona. "What. Was. That?"

"It prank!"

"It's a prank, huh?" Gallus threw the tin down. "I'm supposed to be the victim of all the pranks today?"

The other students realized something was up and fell quiet. One even stepped out of the room.

"This third prank you victim of today."

"Third? THIRD? Which two are you talking about? Ocellus'? Gilded Lily's? Cozy Glow's? Professor Pinkie's? One of the dozens that Smolder played on me?"

Yona shrugged. "It not big deal."

Gallus may have already snapped, but he wasn't about to let that slide. "Griffon think it big deal," He said in a mocking tone. "Yak not agree? Yak not smart enough to agree?"

Yona snarled at the Griffon. "... Are you mocking me?"

"So you can talk like a normal creature. Then I shouldn't have to tell you that I was mocking you."

Yona stomped her hoof down, pressing her nose against Gallus' beak. "Do you have a death wish, bird?"

Both creatures were suddenly yanked away from each other.

"Knock it off! Both of you!" Twilight stepped between them. "I don't know what caused this, but it shouldn't result in death threats!"

"Sorry."

"Yona is the one that-"

"I don't care who started it! You're both causing trouble!"

Gallus couldn't believe what he heard. So many others victimized him throughout the festival, and now he was being accused of being the problem? How? Twilight was talking, but he wasn't listening. The moment she dropped him, he took off.

"GALLUS!"

If she was chasing him, he never noticed. He just flew off, trying to get away. He hit a wall, but it only slowed him down a moment. He had to get away.

"Smolder?" Sandbar approached the Dragon from behind. "Could you come with me?"

"In a minute." Smolder tossed a gem in her mouth.

"Soon, please."

"I said in a minute." Smolder swallowed the gem she was chewing on and went to toss another in her mouth. Only for Sandbar to knock it out mid-flight. "Wha- HEY!" Smolder got up and got right in Sandbar's face. "What was that- OW!"

Sandbar bit her hand and led her into a side room. Once they were in, Sandbar shoved Smolder further into the room before closing the door and locking it.

At this point Smolder was angry. "What is your problem?"

Sandbar shot her a furious look. "We need to talk. Leader to teammate."

"What's that supposed to-"

"Death."

Smolder was confused. "Huh?"

"Do you realize how close Gallus and Silver were to death?"

"What are you- Oh, right. Starlight. Well, they didn't get seriously injured."

"That's your defense?" Sandbar was glaring at her. "You do realize how dangerous that situation was, and not just for the three of us, right?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Sandbar moved towards Smolder. "It was in the school hall. If there were any students there, she could have electrocuted them, used them as hostages, or taken control of them like she did with Gallus. If Yona hadn't shown up when she did, Silver would have been blinded or killed. And where were you during this?"

Smolder scratched her head. "... Sleeping? It's not that big of a-"

Sandbar started walking in a circle around her. "Gallus was under her control. Silver was at an elemental disadvantage, I couldn't get close safely, and my ranged attacks were to slow to be effective. You could have hit fast enough while keeping your distance. You could have stopped her. And where were you?"

"... Sleeping." Smolder started tapping her foot nervously.

"Ocellus was out of town. Yona was out shopping with Lily, and only got back because Lily knows our identities. And where were you?"

Smolder didn't respond.

Sandbar stopped in front of her. "Sleeping, right?"

"... Yeah." Smolder's breathing grew erratic.

"You could have shown up, dealt with Starlight, then gone back to sleep in a couple of minutes. Instead, you prioritized sleep over our lives! Do we even matter to you?"

She glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Answer the question."

"I'm not losing this argument, no matter what."

In the brief silence between her saying that and Sandbar's response, Smolder remembered a specific fact about Sandbar. Something only she would know.

He was very willing to get violent.

Right after she remembered that she found herself pinned to the wall.

"There has to be a loser, huh?" Sandbar's voice got very low. "So, why does there have to be a loser, and why will it be you?"

Smolder was looking for some way to get out. "Stop! My chest already hurts!"

"Really, now?" Sandbar gave her a wicked smile. "Why don't we make that pain worse?"

Suddenly, the breath in Smolder's lungs shot out of her mouth and wrapped around her mouth, keeping her from breathing. Sandbar! Stop!

"Do we matter to you?"

Yes! You do!

"Why did you choose to sleep over helping us?"

I was being stupid! I made the wrong choice!

"Will it happen again?"

At this point, Smolder was crying. No! Never!

"So who... lost?"

I did! I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!

Smolder fell to the ground. She coughed, then took a number of deep breaths. She looked up at Sandbar, who stood right in front of her.

"You brought that on yourself, you know."

"I... I know."

"You can't force others to do what you want them to all the time."

Smolder curled up into a ball. "I know."

Suddenly, Sandbar wrapped Smolder into a hug. "You know you matter to me, right?"

Smolder returned the hug. "I... know."

In those last moments, they both realized something. No matter how bad things may get between them, they are friends more than anything.

Silver was wandering the halls with a pie perched on her back. "Gallus?" She called out to her fellow half-bird. "Gallus?" But she couldn't find him anywhere. "Where is he?"

As she passed by a doorway, however, she spotted a blue feather with specks of glitter on it. She peeked into the room.

"There you are, Gallus!"

"Leave me alone."

Silver recognized that tone. She set the pie she had on her back down and went into full therapist mode, placing herself in front of Gallus. "What's wrong."

"I'll be fine. Just go enjoy yourself."

Silver put her left claw on Gallus' shoulder. "I can't. Not while you're like this."

Gallus made a point of looking away. "It's fine. Just let it go!"

Silver stayed silent.

"I... I'm just going to waste your time. Don't worry about me."

"You know our friends made an agreement to prank you today, right?"

"I... figured." He glanced at Silver. "Were they all in on it?"

"Well, Sandbar wasn't in on it, but the rest of them were."

Gallus sighed. "Great. This is worse than when I was at Griffonstone. Who am I to them?"

Silver moved her claw from his shoulder to his claw, holding it tightly. "A friend that won't leave. They wanted a bit of fun, wanted a victim, and figured that you wouldn't leave them over it. None of us think any less of you than when we first met."

Gallus looked at her head on. "That doesn't mean you think highly of me."

Silver poked his beak with her free claw. "Remember when you sparred with three of our teachers at once? The way we looked at you in amazement? We know you're still that Gallus. The one that isn't afraid of anything." She moved her claw down his beak and along his cheek. "Even if we catch up to you in physical skill, you're still an inspiration to us."

Gallus put his claws on Silver's shoulders... and started crying. "I'm sorry. I just... looked at what I couldn't do... what you could do... and felt like I'd never get back to... being the important one."

"It's alright." Silver wiped a tear from Gallus' cheek. "It's fine to look at what isn't there, but you can't ignore what is there. Just remember that you're important to us. No matter what."

"Thank you." Gallus stood up, still holding Silver's claw. "You know, you could probably take Miss Starlight's place someday."

"R-really?" Silver's face went red. "Hehe. Thanks."

They both looked each other in the eye for a moment.

"Close your eyes." Silver's voice was low.

Gallus closed his eyes, leaned forward, and opened his beak slightly.

...

Wait.

*SPLAT!*

Gallus opened his eyes, his face covered in blueberry pie.

"Sorry! I was in on it!" Silver was already out of the doorway. "See you later, Gallus!"

Gallus shook off most of the pie. "Get back here!" He gave chase to the Hippogriff, only going off course to grab another pie. All with a smile plastered on his face.

"Hey, Ocellus."

The Changeling looked over her shoulder at the Colt. "Hey, Sandbar."

Sandbar trotted up to Ocellus' side then leaned on the same rail she was. "Is there a reason you're hiding out in the Kindness Classroom?"

"It's quiet, and I needed to get away from the others for now."

"I don't blame you. Things can get a bit hectic around here."

"It's pretty hectic right now, but at least it's not scary."

Sandbar looked at her. "You're talking about Starlight, right?"

"I wasn't there, but hearing about it made it sound like it was the scariest thing ever."

Sandbar shrugged. "I've been in a scarier situation."

Ocellus giggled. "Oh, right. Fluttershy."

"Not even that. Before I came here and met the others."

Ocellus raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

"I was kidnapped."

"Oh, yeah. That would be scary." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

His smile told her everything she needed to know.

Ocellus took a deep breath, then let it out. "You're not supposed to remember that."

Sandbar chuckled. "Twilight also thinks I don't. Miss Starlight was the one that let me remember."

"Why?"

Sandbar put his hoof on Ocellus'. "Did you know that there used to be a colt that ran around causing trouble in Ponyville? He damaged almost everything he touched, disrespected everyone he met, and never felt remorse. Even worse, his parents let him get away with all of it. He even tried to hurt a certain trio of fillies when they broke something he had."

Ocellus looked at Sandbar in shock. "Wow. He sounds terrible. Who was he?"

Sandbar looked away. "You already know him."

It took her a second to realize what he meant. "But... you're nothing like that."

Sandbar shook his head. "Not now. But back then, I was a nightmare to deal with. Dad was a deadbeat, and mom was too loving. I never faced consequences. Until the day I was kidnapped, that is. When I woke up, I thought Luna was tired of my antics, but then I heard the other victims, then the Changelings. At that point, I realized what was happening."

Ocellus swallowed. "I was right there."

Sandbar rubbed the back of his head. "I know. I don't think I would've forgotten your name, even if we never met again. I only heard Chitin say it once, but that was enough."

Ocellus looked away. "You even remember his name."

"I remember all of it. I even remember Lily's voice." Sandbar sighed. "I'm glad she forgot."

Ocellus felt her heart sink a bit. "It really stuck with you, huh?"

Sandbar moved a bit closer to Ocellus. "Why wouldn't it? That was the moment my life turned around. I started apologizing to those I hurt and started working to make up for it. I also learned that my mom went behind me and fixed a lot of the mistakes I made."

Ocellus giggled. "She sounds wonderful."

Sandbar smiled. "She really is. She kept things at a point where I could turn my life around. When I did, I had all of her support."

Ocellus bit her lip. "I wish I had that support."

Sandbar's smile faded. "Did you get caught?"

Ocellus shook her head. "I managed to make it look like I got carried away, and let you get free and knock me out. I cut one of your cuffs half-way and physically worked it until it snapped. I just cut the rest of them. Once you were all free, I grabbed you all up, took a form that could burrow, and slipped you all out of there. I got back as fast as I could, set up one of the spring punches we had, and struck myself with it, laying on the ground until someone found me. I got lucky it landed back on the table."

Sandbar looked amazed. "That had to take some time."

Ocellus nodded. "More than an hour. You remember why I had more than an hour to work with, right?"

Sandbar looked at the crowd below. "Because Chitin got carried away, giving you leverage to make him give you an extra hour to work with."

"Someone figured it out about an hour and a half after I started. At that point, I was laying there for about ten minutes, conscious but sore. They fully bought it, but I wasn't allowed into the torture rooms after that." Ocellus rubbed her head awkwardly. "Mostly because they were repurposed after Thorax took over."

Sandbar looked back at Ocellus. "That's good, huh?"

"Oh. I get it." Ocellus looked Sandbar in the eye. "You feel like you owe me your life. That's why you've been acting so protective of me."

Sandbar put his hoof on Ocellus' shoulder. "What, you mean I don't? You sure my life wasn't in danger back then?"

Ocellus stepped closer to him, almost instinctively. "We owe each other plenty. I think we can say we're even, even after-"

"What if I told you..." Sandbar moved his hoof to rest it across her shoulders. "... there was another reason?"

Ocellus' eyes went wide, her cheeks red. "S-Sandbar?"

He touched his forehead to her's. "A reason that can only be repaid in one way."

Ocellus gulped but managed to find the courage she needed. "Say it. Even if I know, you should say it."

He smiled. "I don't need words."

Ocellus' mind went hazy for a moment. Once the moment was about to end, however, she placed her hooves around Sandbar, forcing the moment to stay a bit longer. Her eyes drifted closed because she didn't need them right then. The warmth between them was something they would never forget. The happiness could only be matched by any affection between them later.

Once they broke off, Ocellus could only think of one thing to say. "I think I missed that. Could you repeat it?"

Sandbar laughed. A gentle, warming laugh. "I said, I love you, Ocellus."

Ocellus giggled in a similar way. "I love you too, Sandbar."

They shared another kiss as their friends watched from the doorway. Silver looked away to lick a bit of food off of Gallus' cheek. Gallus looked away to smile at her. None of them dared to say a word.

"Did you just want a shapeshifting girlfriend?"

"I'll be honest, that only just crossed my mind."

Chapter 17

"... meaning that love and friendship can be just as powerful as each other."

Twilight had a wide smile on her face. "Thank you for hijacking my lesson, Ocellus."

The young Changeling blushed and rubbed the back of her head. Her new lover smiled at her in a knowing way.

"Have you been "studying" it on the side?"

Twilight's tease made Ocellus really blush. Oddly, she thought she heard a muted scream through the stifled laughter of the other students.

Twilight looked at the clock. "Anyway, I think Silver and Gallus are late enough. Smolder, could you go fetch them?"

Smolder stood up. "What if they don't come along?"

There was a moment of silence after her question. A moment that started to drag, as Ocellus realized that she had heard someone screaming.

Sandbar looked at the door. "The heck?"

Smolder flew over to the door, turned the knob... then got barreled over by something light blue, which shot right towards Twilight.

"Help! I need help!"

"Silver? What-"

"Gallus won't respond! He's just lying on the floor of his room! I can't wake him up!"

Twilight's eyes shot wide. "What? Oh no!"

Twilight flew out of the room, followed by Silver, then the rest of Gallus' friends. When the got to Gallus' room, they found him still on the floor, as Silver said. None of them expected what else was in his room.

Books. Dozens of books, all about history. And piles of notes, most of which were either scratched out or ripped up.

"What in the world?"

A number of students gathered around right outside the doorway.

"Now I feel bad."

"What was he studying?"

"Holy cow."

"Golly, I hope he's fine. He still owes me five bits."

Gilded Lily glared at Cozy Glow. "That's what you're worried about?"

Twilight let out a sigh of relief. "It's nothing serious."

Sandbar tilted his head. "Let me guess; Ocellus syndrome?"

"Sandbar!"

"Nah, Twilight was doing that long before Ocellus, buddy."

"Spike!"

Silver was disturbed. "Why are you guys joking around? Gallus-"

"Spent too much time studying." Smolder shrugged. "Probably hasn't had much to eat, may not have gotten much sleep, and really should not have that many notes."

Twilight lifted the Griffon onto her back. "Silver, let's take him to the infirmary. Ocellus, Sandbar, Smolder, Yona, you four should go through his notes and figure out what he was doing." It was then that Twilight noticed the small congregation of students just outside of the room. "The rest of you! Back in your classrooms! I'll be back to mine once I've seen to Gallus."

The four creatures watched their friends and teacher walk off, then closed the door.

Smolder scratched her head. "Why would he suddenly do this? It's not like he feels-"

"Inadequate?" Ocellus said as she started sorting the damaged or crossed-out notes from the rest. "That probably is it, actually."

That confused Smolder. "Why?"

"Our combat training means his combat level went from significantly better than ours to marginally better than ours, and he doesn't have an actual power right now, unlike the rest of us." Sandbar dumped a stack of useless notes into the trash. "Our fight with Starlight probably just brought that out more, since he became a hindrance rather than a help."

"In other words..." Ocellus read through a couple of notes. "... he went from really useful to simply present."

Yona sighed as she stacked some of the books. "It's like being a strong pony only to team up with Yaks."

Smolder sorted some of the books. "Or thinking you're a really talented flier, only to go up against the Wonderbolts. It's not that he's weak, it's that we're stronger than him."

A thought crossed Sandbar's mind. "Maybe that's what he was looking for. If he learns his power and it's as strong as the book says, then he'd go back to being our strongest member."

Ocellus smiled. "I'd welcome that."

"Rambling Rock Ridge?"

Yona's friends looked at her.

"This note says, "Mallet at Rambling Rock Ridge." What does that mean?"

Sandbar sighed. "It's that mountain range just past Saddle Lake. The lake we always go to. You can get there and back in an afternoon."

"I don't know," Smolder smirked at Yona. "Yona can move pretty fast when she's underground. She can probably get it faster than we think."

Yona shoved the note into her coat. "Yona will check it out once we're done."

Ocellus held up a note. "Amber Light... wrong era?"

Sandbar held up a similar note. "Lizzy and Nature Kiss... Too recent."

Smolder looked over the sea of books. "He was looking into all sorts of history to try and get some answers."

They sifted through the notes a while longer.

Ocellus tapped her chin. "So it looks like the team was probably Terramar, Sky Blitz, Eshan, Gabriella, Castor, Blazer, and... Baxter?"

Sandbar rubbed the back of his head. "Huh. Silver was right."

Ocellus shot him a flat look. "Don't tell me you guys actually made a bet on that."

Sandbar was confused. "No. Why would we?"

Before he could get a response, the door opened, revealing Gilded Lily. "Are you guys okay? You seem to be taking a while."

"Well..." Smolder looked at what few notes remained. "The information kinda involved, well, us."

Lily opened her mouth, then realized what the Dragon meant. "Oh. And here I thought it was because Sandbar and Ocellus were getting too affectionate."

Ocellus let out a sigh. "Why does everyone think we're a thing?"

Lily smirked at the Changeling. "Because you made out on a balcony overlooking the courtyard everyone was gathered in during the Hearth's Warming Festival."

Ocellus' face went very, very red. Sandbar held back a scream that could have made the whole room shake.

Smolder scratched the back of her head. "So much for that secret."

Gallus groaned as he woke up.

"Hey, sleepyhead." Silver was resting her head on his stomach with a dreamy look on her face. "You really scared us yesterday. And for a few hours today."

"Yesterday?" Gallus' eyes shot wide as he moved to sit up. "Wait, what hap-"

Silver pressed on his shoulder, forcing him back down. "Down, boy. You did what usually happens to Ocellus. Studied 'till you passed out."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess I lost track of time. Pretty bad way to start off your Wednesday, huh?"

Silver's smile turned into a frown. "Thursday."

Gallus looked stunned. "... I, uh... knew that."

"Gallus." Silver held his claw tightly. "Did my words mean nothing to you?"

"Wha- No! I mean, yes! I mean, they did matter! It's just... I..."

Silver looked away from him.

"Wait! Don't cry! I'm sorry!"

In spite of his request, she had to wipe a tear from her eye. "Why didn't you take my advice?"

"It's just... I..."

"If I may interrupt." Ocellus stepped into the room. "What was the advice you gave him?"

Silver told Ocellus about what she said to Gallus at the Hearth's Warming Festival. Once Silver finished, Ocellus could only think of one thing to say in response.

"Would you leave a puzzle half-finished?"

The two beaked friends stared at the Changeling in confusion.

"While you're right about Gallus lacking something the rest of us have, the problem with your advice is that it assumes he can't have it as well when the truth is that he probably already has it but doesn't know how to use it yet."

Silver scratched her head. "Uh, elaborate?"

Ocellus sighed. "Your advice is good advice for other situations, such as Yona not being good with science, or Sandbar not being very strong. But the situation you used it in is like telling Applejack that she can't be a bodybuilder."

Silver rolled her eyes. "Pfft. That's dumb. She may not be now, but if any of our professors can do it-" Her eyes shot wide. "Ohhhh..."

"Exactly. Even if she's not cut out for it now, if she puts her mind to it, she would be able to do it. Similarly, Starlight isn't the best with science, but if she studied enough, she could probably be a great chemist or doctor."

Gallus raised an eyebrow. "So the puzzle analogy..."

"Maybe their puzzles are as complete as they want them, but your's isn't. Silver's advice was basically telling you not to find that missing part of yourself. It would have been better to say that we'll help you find that part of yourself."

"And it's not like you haven't helped us at all." Yona stepped up to Gallus' bed. "You were right about the mallet. It was exactly where you said it was."

"You see?" Sandbar said as he and Smolder stepped up to the bed. "You can be useful. No matter how. And you will always be important to us, no matter how finished your puzzle is."

Gallus' smile only lasted a second. "Wait. Didn't you just get here? How did you know what we were talking about?"

Ocellus smiled and rubbed the back of her head. "I used our telepathy to share our conversation with them."

Silence.

"...Pfft. Hehe. Hehehe."

Smolder felt her heart sink. "Gallus?"

"Hahaha. Hahahahaha. Hahahahahahaha." Something about Gallus' laughter was... disturbing.

Ocellus was worried she set something off unintentionally. "Gallus, are you-"

Gallus clutched his head and slammed back in his bed. "HAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA! THAT'S IT! THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT!"

The other students, aside from Silver, stepped back.

He shot back up with a terrifying look in his eye. "NO MATTER WHAT I DO, ONE OF YOU IS BETTER AT IT! FIGHTING? YONA AND SMOLDER CAN BEAT ME NOW! SMARTS? I'VE GOT NOTHING ON OCELLUS AND SANDBAR!"

While the others were clearly scared, Silver's expression was unreadable. "Gallus."

He pointed right at the Hippogriff. "EVEN SILVER CAN BRING SOMETHING UNIQUE TO THE TABLE! I'VE GOT NOTHING!"

"Gallus, stop!"

Tears were rolling down his cheeks. "I MIGHT AS WELL GO BACK TO GRIFFONSTONE AND ROT AWAY IN THE STREETS! I DOUBT GRANDPA GRUFF WOULD WANT A FAILURE LIKE ME TO COME BACK!"

"Gallus!"

"BESIDES, I-"

Silver slammed both of her claws on the sides of Gallus' head and pressed her beak against his (don't think too hard on that). His eyes drifted closed, as he put his claw on her side. On her warm, soft wing. They both blushed, realizing their first kiss was being witnessed by their closest friends. Not that it mattered much since they saw two of their friends share their own first kiss.

Once they broke it off, Silver immediately spoke up. "You were right about one thing."

Gallus finally opened his eyes to meet her's. "Huh?"

"You should probably visit your home. Just to cool your head a bit."

Gallus gave her a gentle smile. "Yeah. That will depend on what the teachers let me do."

"Um, just a thought," Ocellus said nervously, "Did my prank contribute to your... feelings?"

Gallus laughed. "Yours? Yours was the only one that really didn't bother me. That was really clever."

Silver tilted her head and frowned. "What about mine?"

Gallus nuzzled his lover. "Okay, yours too. And I got revenge for it."

Smolder scratched her cheek nervously. "Uh, I may have said and done some things I didn't really mean at the festival. I was feeling a bit out of it at the time."

Sandbar remembered something. "Oh yeah. Didn't you say your chest hurt at the festival?"

Ocellus tapped her chin. "Right. Physical injuries have been linked to increases in aggressive and sometimes irrational behavior."

Silver's head whipped right towards Smolder. "I knew that hug was a bad idea!"

Smolder held her hands up defensively. "Hey! I covered that up, didn't I? That couldn't have been-"

"That's all you did," Ocellus cut Smolder off. "It was like applying a band-aid. You covered it up, but didn't actually heal it."

Smolder's eye twitched, then she took a deep breath in and let out. "Sorry, Gallus. About... going overboard with my pranks."

Yona waved her leg around. "I'm sorry for not being considerate during the festival!"

Gallus chuckled. "It's alright. I forgive you."

"That's nice to hear."

The students turned towards the doorway. Ocellus gulped. "Principal Twilight?"

Twilight giggled. "I came in as Yona apologized. Some of the other students explained to me why you two were arguing."

Gallus rubbed his neck. "So... we're not in trouble?"

Twilight gave him a soft smile. "No. You aren't." She then looked away for a moment. "Although I have to ask, did any of you feel that earthquake a minute ago?"

The students shared a confused look before Silver answered for them. "Uh, no?"

"Huh. Alright." Twilight went up to Gallus and started looking him over, pulling out a small medical machine of some kind.

"Hey, Headmare? When would I be able to visit Griffonstone?"

Twilight looked at her student in shock. "Uh, I'll have to check, but it shouldn't be before too long."

Gallus watched the device Twilight was moving across his body. "Alright. Thank you."

"May I ask why you want to go? Especially after the trouble you caused at Hearth's Warming Eve proper to avoid going back?"

Gallus' face went red. In spite of the result of it, he forgot that little "prank" he played to avoid leaving. "Uh, I, Um-"

"I suggested it." Silver took Gallus' claw. "I figured it may be a good way to calm his nerves."

Twilight smiled at Silver. "That might not be a bad idea. Especially after what happened yesterday."

Gallus smiled at Silver, who winked at him.

"Gallus, what are you doing?"

They stared out the window in the direction of Griffonstone.

"Are you looking for answers? Do your questions bother you that much? Perhaps I should just tell you."

They turned around, at the box holding the files on the students.

"No. That would be a bad idea. Your power, if used incorrectly, could cause horrible damage, even to those that you're trying to protect. If you had Gabriella's knowledge of your power, then maybe, just maybe, I could trust you with it."

They moved to leave the room.

"For now, though, it's best you don't know."

They placed their hoof on the handle, only to pause. They looked over their shoulder at their desk. After a moment, they shook their head and left.

Author's Note

Just wondering, should I go back and rewrite the earlier chapters? If I do, I'd rewrite the first 13 chapters, but I'd prioritize making the new chapters.

Chapter 18

Rainbow scowled at Rarity. "You don't care about any of the things I like! It's always about you and your boring fashions!"

Rarity whipped her mane as she turned around. "Oh, puh-lease! You don't even give my interests a chance! You have absolutely no respect for the finer things! No respect, I tell you!"

"I guess we're just not friends anymore!"

"Oh, no, darling. It's far worse than that. Now, we're-" Rarity's eyes went wide for a moment before she looked around. "What? Who's there?"

Hearing that confused everyone nearby. Particularly Rainbow. "Uh, Rarity?"

Rarity looked at the sky and waved her hoof around. "No. You be quiet. I've had quite enough of you."

"Rarity? Are you-"

Rarity silenced Rainbow by pressing her hoof to Rainbow's mouth. "Hush, darling. I'm telling off this corruption. Now listen here, I may have liked my look as Nightmare Rarity, but it gave me serious emotional troubles. I've been to the moon before and it was rather dreary. Most importantly, I do not care for an eternal night!... What? How dare you! Why would I commit such a foul atrocity?"

The five non-pony creatures stared slack-jawed, while Sandbar contemplated what he heard. "The heck?"

"I may not be getting along with her right now, but I cannot deny that she is my friend! And we're in front of children! Do you not care for the youth? Go! Shoo! I will not have you imposing your will under the guise of my will!... There. It's gone. Now, Rainbow, I-" Rarity's eyes got wide, then crossed. "Uh... Bluh?"

Rarity had barely started to fall before Rainbow was there to catch her. "Are you okay, Rarity?"

Rarity sighed. "Yes. I just feel a little dizzy. Do you mind taking me back to my boutique?"

Rainbow smiled a little. "Sure thing."

"Actually," Twilight interjected, "Do you mind taking her to the school? It's closer, and I'd like to ask her some questions once she feels better."

Rainbow looked at Twilight, then at the mare on her back. "Is that alright with you, Rarity?"

"Yes. That's fine." Rarity rubbed her head. "Oh, I'd like a good mystery after this."

Rainbow chuckled. "Yeah, I'd like a good adventure soon."

Twilight smiled and put her hoof to her chin.

"But how?" Silver was messing up her mane. "You said that they can't resist it once it takes hold!"

Ocellus was flipping through her book. "That's what I read. I have no idea how Rarity resisted it."

Gallus clutched his head. "So how did she resist it?"

Smolder ran through her head for answers and got only one. "Magnets?"

The other five stopped what they were doing and slowly turned towards the Dragon.

"Maybe she, uh, sewed magnets into her gems and-"

"Smolder." Yona, the one always asking for help on all of her homework, looked like she lost some brain cells. "Stop."

Smolder smiled nervously. "Ehehe..."

"I heard something about Miss Rarity once." Sandbar drew the attention of the other students. "Rumor has it, she was taken to the moon, where someone tried to turn her into the next Nightmare Moon. Her friends and Luna saved her before she was corrupted and brought her back."

"Oooooh." Silver's eyes were practically sparkling. "That sounds amazing!"

"Aaaaand mostly false."

The six friends looked at each other, then turned towards the source of the new voice; a rabbit, dressed in a red and gold satin vest with a matching, ridiculous looking headdress, with flowers on its haunches, cheeks, and forehead.

Smolder's face went pale. "What the- Aren't you just a character in a story?"

The rabbit had its front legs crossed and its head held high as if it was a king. "No, but I'm not him. I took on this form so that if someone sees me, they'll think I'm him and go." The rabbit started flailing its front legs. "AAAAAAAHHHHH! GET AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T WANT TO BE A PART OF YOUR CRAZY EXPERIMENTS INVOLVING COLORS AND MATH!"

The students stared in shock, then Silver covered her beak to hide a smile. "Whahahahat?"

Smolder pressed her finger to Silver's beak. "Don't encourage him! What are you doing here, rabbit?"

"It's Lagmo! And I'm here because, uh..." "Lagmo" tapped his paw to his chin. "Why was I here again?"

The students remained quiet, hoping the odd bunny would give up and hop off.

"Hmm... Moon... Rarity..." It literally popped off the table in excitement. "Oh yeah! I'm here to tell you of the terror of NIGHTMARE RARITY!"

"Nightmare..."

"... Rarity?"

The rabbit placed its paws on its hips. "Back when Lulu first turned into Nightmare Dupe, she met the denizens of the moon, and decided, "I need a legacy! Let's corrupt these cute, innocent moon creatures!" And she did, creating the Nightmare Forces!" The talking bunny leaned forward and put the back of its paw near its mouth as if whispering. "Kinda odd, if you know why she became Nightmare Dupe in the first place."

Sandbar barely kept up with the bunny's motor mouth. "Wait, why did she-"

It suddenly pointed at Sandbar aggressively. "HEY! QUIET IN THE BACK! I'M NOT DONE! Anyway, Nightmare Dupe came back and the bearers of the Elements of Crazy Redemptions went, "BWAAAAAGH!" And Lulu was Lulu again! But the Nightmare Forces remained, ready to create a new Nightmare Moon!" The rabbit hunched over and rubbed its paws together. "So they visited the Elements of Color Nukes and went, "Surprise! You get nightmares now!" And decided Rariry would be a good next Nightmare Dupe!" It shrugged. "Must have been the voice."

Silver was completely engrossed in the story. "Ohh! This is getting intense!"

"So her friends took Lulu and hopped on up to the moon to save Rariry! But by the time they got there, SURPRISE! Rariry was Nightmare Raggedy! Then she TICKLED THEM TO SUBMISSION!" It leaned down and tapped itself on the head. "Or something. I didn't pay attention to that part."

Gallus put his claws to his beak. "Boo! Bad storytelling!"

"I SAID QUIET! Anyway, Lulu returned and warned Sunbun about what happened, and they readied for battle! That's when Nightmare Raggedy made a stupid mistake and left one little guy behind to guard the Elements of Leaky Energy! All of a sudden, BAM! They purified him of darkness! Then they rode him back and used that power to purify Rariry and the other moon creatures! Kind of a dull ending."

As much as the story was to process, Ocellus latched onto one thing. "Wait, I understand why you called them the Elements of "Crazy Redemptions" and "Color Nukes", but why "Leaky Energy"?"

"You don't know?" Lagmo's voice went low. "The Elements of Harmony are losing their power."

Sandbar's eyes went wide. "What? How? They're Equestria's greatest asset!"

"Isn't that friendship?" Lagmo laughed. "Anyway, that's another story, and I only tell one story per session. The short version is that they run off of the power you have, meaning your powers are draining the Elements of their powers."

Smolder was shaking. "No. You're lying!"

A tear filled Silver's eye. "It can't be."

"Iiiiiiit's true! By the end of the month, that super-powered jewelry will be nothing more than super pretty jewelry. And there's nothing you can do about. And don't bother trying to use your powers on the Tree of Harmony, hidden in a pit in the Everfree Forest that you have no way of sensing. That totally won't do anything."

"Hey." Sandbar stepped towards the talking animal. "Who's side are you on?"

"Well, the boss guy's always flipping sides, but I'm always on the boss guy's side. It'd be a problem if I wasn't since I'm an aspect of him."

"Boss guy?"

"You know him, don't you? AU hitter?"

Silver scratched her head. "Alternate universe punch guy?"

"No." Ocellus was shaking. "AU is the alchemical symbol for gold, and to hit something means to strike it. So this rabbit is an aspect of..."

The other students gasped. "GOLD STRIKE?"

"DING DING DING! THAT'S CORRECT! I am a part of Gold Strike! Created to-"

Gallus let out a growl. "That's it! Come here, dinner!"

"Dinner?" Lagmo leaped away right as Gallus grabbed for him. "Sorry, but I don't plan to get eaten!"

Ocellus kept her eyes on the critter. "Hey! Wait!"

"No!" Lagmo landed right in front of the door. "I won't wait! I hate waiting! I waited once, and some half-witted reptile got the better of me because of it! After that, I learned to make sure to value my time!"

Smolder cracked her neck. "And where do you plan to go? You know we'll just follow you."

"How can you follow me if you can't see me? Or anything for that matter?"

There was just enough time for the students to hear that before Lagmo let out a bright flash of light, blinding the students.

"Gah!"

"What the-"

"Have a nice trust!"

Once their sight was returned, the students saw that the door was wide open and the bunny was nowhere to be seen. Gallus shot out the door but saw no sign of the rabbit.

"Forget it, Gallus." Sandbar moved past the other boy of the group. "We need to go to Professor Rainbow, fast!"

Gallus raised an eyebrow as the girls started following Sandbar. "Why?"

"Here it is." Rainbow stepped into the cave that hid the Tree of Harmony, then turned towards her students. "But do you think it was telling the truth? That the Elements and the tree are losing their power?"

Sandbar trotted past his teacher. "We won't know until we check, right?"

The girls stepped up to either side of Sandbar. The colt held his hoof up and created a small breeze directed at the tree. The gems on the tree started glowing.

"Lagmo wasn't lying. The tree feels weak." The leader glanced at his sides. "Come on, girls. Let's see if we can power it up."

"But didn't it say-"

Sandbar held up a hoof to cut Smolder off. "I know what he said. That doesn't mean we can't try."

The girls shared a look of concern. Yona was the first to join Sandbar, holding up her hoof and creating a small twister of dirt directed at the tree. Smolder was next, holding up a finger and creating a small thread of fire. Silver held up a claw and created a small stream of water. Ocellus was last, sending out a small vine from her hoof.

The tree pulsed with light. As time went on, the pulse got faster and faster.

"It's working!" Ocellus let out a laugh. "It's working!"

Silver started laughing in excitement. Smolder started laughing as well.

"This is amazing!" Sandbar stared at the tree in amazement. "Even if we have to stop fighting, we can still help Equestria like this!"

Gallus watched in amazement. If only he could join them...

That's when it happened.

Gallus heard a sound like shattered glass. The color of everything around him was inverted. Everything in motion stopped.

He looked around. "What's happening? What's going on?"

"Gallus."

Gallus' eyes shot towards the source of the voice. The tree. He moved around his frozen friends and saw something he never expected. At the base of the tree was the silhouette of a female Griffon.

"Are you... Gabriella?"

"Yes. I am. You're troubled. Why?"

"I don't have your power."

"What do you mean?"

"I..." Gallus squeezed his claw shut and winced. "I don't know what your power is, so I can't use it!"

"... That's intentional."

Gallus flared his wings. "Huh?"

"You're not supposed to know yet. It's very dangerous. You've almost killed your friends with it already."

"I've- Tha- Wha- HOW? How could I have done that-"

"Your powers can activate emotionally. It may not be active yet, but strong emotions can cause it to activate regardless."

Gallus was stunned. Not only had his power nearly killed his friends, but his predecessor took steps to ensure he couldn't use them? "How? How do I activate my powers?"

"I hear it in your voice. Loyalty is not simply protecting your friends. It's being their sword as well as their shield. It's being there to give them your body when their's fails them. It's laughing with them when you get in trouble for their antics. Very well. I will tell you."

Gallus held his breath. What did he have to do? Kill a monster? Break the sound barrier? Go up to his friend and-

"You must find my weapon."

Gallus felt his brain stop.

"Well, it's not so much a weapon as it is a tool."

Gallus shook his head to clear the sudden haze. "What? That's it? Why would that-" Gallus' eyes went wide. "That's right. When the others found their weapon, they also got the knowledge of how to use their powers."

"That's right. I don't want my successor to use my power unless they know how."

"So where is it?"

"I would tell you, but you will find it soon enough anyway. Do not change your plans, but return as soon as you can."

"What do you-" Gallus' eyes went wide as he heard a scream. Looking around him, he was suddenly in a barn that was shaking. As the scream grew louder, the shaking got more intense.

"Return. Before it's too late."

As soon as the scream got deafening, the barn collapsed. Gallus' eyes shot open and met with Silver's tearful eyes.

"G-Gallus? Are you... alright?"

Gallus looked around. The others were staring with a mixture of shock and worry. "What happened?"

"The others were doing their thing, and you just... passed out. For no reason." Rainbow put her hoof to Gallus' head. "Are you feeling okay?"

Gallus sat up and rubbed his head. "I... I think the tree sent me a message."

Smolder's eyes shot wide. "The tree? Are you high?"

Ocellus looked at the tree. "The tree is the source of one of the most potent magical artifacts in all of Equestria. It's not a long shot to think it is sentient or at least sapient."

Sandbar held his hoof out to Gallus. "Did you learn anything about your power?"

"Yeah." Gallus took the hoof and stood up. "It's locked."

The others reacted in the same way. "What?"

Gallus shrugged. "I guess it's more dangerous than we thought. Apparently, I can unlock it by getting Gabriella's "tool", but I don't know where that is."

Yona patted Gallus on the back, nearly breaking it. "Let's hope we find it soon."

Rainbow looked at the sky. "Let's hope no one wonders where we are. Let's get back to the school."

The teacher led her students out of the cave. A minute later, another creature entered.

"The Tree of Harmony is powered by the White Curse? Why? Did the White Cursed help make you?"

They touched the crystal-like tree, causing one of the gems to react.

"No. It was the Pillars of Equestria. There's no way they would associate with the White Cursed. They should know better."

They pulled their hoof back and admired the tree.

"... I should know better. They weren't around when that power was outlawed. They probably would have collaborated to create something to protect Equestria in case neither are around."

They smiled.

"And they did."

Author's Note

Casual reminder that you can read the next chapter early at my Patreon for 20$ a month, over at https://www.patreon.com/Jumpitydude.

Also did some grammatical clean-up on the earlier chapters. No major re-writes yet, though.

Chapter 19

Gallus rested his head on his legs as he stared out the window of the train. It felt like it had been forever since he had been "home". The main reason? It never really felt like a home. It felt like a place to live until he found a home. And that home is in Ponyville, with his friends.

Why was he going back to Griffonstone again? Oh, right. Being around his friends was starting to become stressful. More and more, he would compare their feats to his shortcomings, and it would make him either sad or angry. He loved his friends more than anything, but right now? He needed to get away.

"Next stop, Griffonstone Station! Next stop, Griffonstone Station!"

Gallus grabbed his bags and got up, positioning himself by the door. The sights outside the window on the door were only familiar to him from when he first went to the school. Thinking about it, that felt like forever ago.

The train screeched to a halt. His friends would sometimes complain, but the noise never really bothered him. At least, not more than the sound of the doors sliding open. Which is odd, since he was easily bothered by certain sounds when he was younger.

Stepping onto the platform, Gallus looked left. Plenty of Griffons were "reuniting" in their usual way (bickering and arguing over the train not moving faster). Turning his head right, he saw a Gabby.

*FWOOM!*

"Oof!" Gallus started laughing as he started rubbing Gabby's wings. "Long time no see, Gabby!"

"It really has! I haven't seen you since the festival!"

"Get up, you two." Grandpa Gruff walked up behind the young girl, with Gilda close behind. "You're causing a scene."

Gabby pouted and moved off of Gallus. Gallus stood up and stared the crotchety old guy in the eye.

"Hello, Grandpa Gruff."

The old Griffon let out an annoyed sound and turned around, leading the younger Griffons away from the station. "When Gilda said you were coming back, I thought you had gotten in some serious trouble. I can't figure out why you decided to come back of your own will, especially after you practically begged me to let you stay there."

Gallus rolled his eyes. "It's just for the day. I'll be headed back tomorrow. I just needed some time away from there."

Gruff took to the sky. "Whatever your reason, you better not cause trouble here. Especially after what was found recently."

Gilda turned to Gallus as they took flight. "A group of Griffons went spelunking recently to try to bond, and they found an invaluable treasure."

Gallus' eyes went wide. "Wait, does the Idol of Boreas actually exist?"

Gilda chuckled. "It does, but that's not what they found."

Gabby took Gallus' claw. "It's something that belonged to a Griffon hero from a thousand years ago."

A thousand years ago? Gallus turned to Gabby. "Was it Gabriella?"

Gilda suddenly turned her whole body towards him. "Wait! How do you know about her? Was that letter Dash sent true? Did you actually pass out studying?"

"What?" Gruff turned around to stare into Gallus' soul. "Since when were you trying to become an egghead?"

Gallus was taken aback but remained calm. "I let something my egghead friend say get to me and decided to try and do better than her on a test. I spent too long studying, passed out in my room, and slept through the test."

Gruff squinted then turned back towards Griffonstone.

"So..." Gabby leaned in close to Gallus. "Did they let you retake it?"

Gallus chuckled a bit. "Yeah, the teachers are pretty understanding."

Gallus and Gabby continued to talk about the School of Friendship while flying towards Griffonstone, with the occasional quip from Gilda. Eventually, they landed in the middle of Griffonstone. Three of them walked for a bit before realizing Gallus had stopped.

"Did Griffonstone always look like this?"

Gilda chuckled. "We've been renovating some things. Some of us have been particularly excited by the artifact."

Gabby grabbed Gallus' claw. "Come on! You've got to see the artifact!"

The four of them walked over to a large building that Gallus was SURE was not there before he left. The walked up the stairs, entered through the doors, and went into a room that was guarded by no less than four Griffons.

The moment he stepped into the room, Gallus remembered something Silver told him the first time he went to Mt. Aris, back when Silver got the Land-Sea Bow. "The moment auntie pulled it out of its bag, I thought, "This is mine. It belongs to me"."

This must be how she felt.

The artifact belonged to him.

Gabby waved her claw in Gallus' face, causing him to flinch. "So you are awake. I was starting to wonder."

"Sorry, it's just..." Gallus looked at the artifact. It was sitting on a pillow in the middle of an otherwise empty room. "For such an important artifact, there's not much protecting this."

"Are you doubting the security we set up?"

Gallus yelped and almost fell over from the sound of another creature in the room. Even more shocking, it wasn't a Griffon. "A Dragon?"

"Name's Singe. I'm Incendia's apprentice." Singe limped forward a few steps. "Well, I say "apprentice", but it's more like I'm her delivery boy."

Gruff coughed a bit. "Incendia's a shut-in but is one of the best stone-crafters in the world. I overheard someone mention her name at the family friendship thing at the school."

Singe placed a hand on the wall. "The walls are lined with gems that block magic. And the floor is lined with quartz gems that can trigger an alarm when activated."

"And don't think flying can help you." Gilda pointed at the ceiling. "They put gems up there that can force flying creatures downward. You'd have to pull a Sonic Rainboom to not be affected by them."

"Hey, Singe?" Gabby stared at Singe's leg with an uncharacteristically vacant look in her eyes. "What happened to your leg?"

Singe shrugged. "Dunno. Blacked out for a few days a while back, woke up with a limp. Is there a reason you want to know?"

"N-not really. Just curious."

Singe cracked his neck. "Anyway, once the floor is active, there's no getting in this room without letting everyone in this building know. Not without using a long-lost magic of some kind."

Gruff raised a claw. "And there will always be two Griffons on guard at a time, as well as one last trick up my sleeve."

The dragon looked at the artifact. "To be honest, this feels like a bit much for a simple looking bell. It doesn't even seem magical."

Gallus looked at the bell resting on its pillow. "Well, think of it this way; How would Dragons react if the Dragonstone Scepter lost all of its magic somehow?"

"It still belongs to the Dragon Lord. Even if it isn't magical-" Singe suddenly smirked. "Ah, I get it. It's a cultural thing. Even if it's not significant now, it was at some point in the past."

"And this is very significant to the Griffons right now. Many of us assumed the original owner wasn't real. A fake created to be a symbol of friendship within a friendless race." Gilda smiled at the bell. "Having the Angel Bell means we have proof she existed and that gives us hope that we can be better than we have been."

Hearing that made Gallus' heart sink. He needed the Angel Bell for numerous reasons, but stealing it could result in his race regressing into selfish jerks again. The kind of creature he didn't want them to be.

"Gallus?" Gabby put her wing over him. "Are you okay?"

Gallus sighed. "Yeah. I think the train ride is getting to me."

"Alright then. Tour's over." Gruff grabbed Gallus by the tail. "Let's get you home. You'll probably just sleep the whole time you're here anyway."

"Never a dull day on this job."

"Of course not. We work nights."

The first guard chuckled at his co-worker's joke. "Fair point. At least the pay is good."

"You can say that again."

Both Griffons were told not to let anyone past them under any circumstances. Easy enough, when you're armed to the teeth. However, neither of them expected anything other than a brute force entry. Or at least, nothing as clever as this.

*Shwooooooom*

Both guards looked at the doors. "What was that?"

One of them opened the door. No one was inside, let alone near the bell. He stepped his paw inside the doorway, then stomped a few times.

"Did they install a faulty floor? Stupid-"

"It's not that. All of the stuff was tested earlier. Someone must have shut it off."

"Who would do that?"

"You have to ask?" The guard drew his sword. "Stay here. I'll turn the alarm back on and find them."

The other guard watched the first one walk away, then drew his own sword. He had to be ready.

"NO!" *CRASH!"

His head snapped to the other hallway. "Clumsy little pest!" He took off.

No sooner had he gone down the hall than the thief slipped in through a window behind him. Wasting no time, they darted through the doorway and right for the bell. As they reached for it, the gems on it started to glow, furthering their conviction. Once they had it in their claw, they stood there shaking. As soon as their mind cleared up, the snapped their claw.

"What the-" Both guards returned at the same time. "Why did you leave your post?"

"I heard the intruder from the other hallway." The guard held out a piece of a broken vase. "That clumsy moron must have bailed."

"If they were that loud-" He looked inside the room. "... No."

His partner followed his gaze. The bell was gone. "HOW?"

They both ran in, intentionally triggering the alarm to call for backup. But it was all in vain. By then, the thief had gotten home and fully hidden the bell.

Hey, Silver?

I knew you wouldn't remain silent the whole time!

Yeah, yeah. Anyway, what would you have done if you couldn't keep the bow?

What do you mean?

Like, what if you had to steal the bow in order to keep it.

If you're referring to unlocking your power, I'd ask to just touch the tool, assuming you can find it. If you can't, then slip in a touch when you can. Either way, you don't need the tool itself to get its power. You just have to touch it once.

Gallus looked at his claw. ... Yeah. I suppose that's a good point.

Why do you need to know?

No reason.

... Okay? I'll see you when you get back.

Gallus sat perfectly still for a minute.

"GALLUS! GET DOWN HERE!"

Hearing Gruff's voice caused Gallus to pick up his bags and trudge downstairs, where he found two more Griffons in the building.

"Gallus!" Gabby rushed into his arms. "Gallus! It's horrible!"

Gallus hugged the young Griffon. "Gabby? What's wrong?"

"The Angel Bell is gone!" Gilda looked more frightened than Gallus had ever seen her before. "Someone stole it!"

Gallus glared at the guards. "I thought the security there was flawless."

"The thief was more clever than any of us expected." The guards then explained the events of the night before; The system turned off, one guard went to turn it back on, the other chased a sound, and the bell was gone by the time they got back.

Oddly enough, Grandpa Gruff didn't seem all that bothered by it. "I knew someone would screw something up. I'm always the one that has to handle this kind of-"

"Grandpa! What are you saying?" Gilda practically had steam coming out of her ears. "The Angel Bell is missing!"

"No, it's not!" Gruff reached behind some things stacked on the top shelf of one of his bookshelves. "Because right back here..." He pulled his claw back out wrapped around something. "Is this!"

Everyone else in the room gasped. "The Angel Bell?"

"When I ordered the security stuff, I also had Incendia create a copy of the bell!"

Gabby was squealing softly. "That was so smart!"

Gilda just stared at the bell. "I didn't realize you could think that far ahead."

Gallus was smiling, but he was very confused. He knew for a fact that the bell that was stolen was the real one, and the one Gruff had was the fake. So why was Gruff presenting the fake as the real one? Did he make a mistake? Was he going senile? Gallus wanted to say something, but couldn't without revealing something he wanted to keep secret.

The guards shared a look. "The higher-ups are already looking into another guard to watch the controls since everything else worked right. They'll be really happy to hear about this."

Gruff tossed the bell over to the guards. "Don't let anyone get this one!"

The guards saluted before leaving.

Gilda slapped her claw on Gallus' shoulder. "Well, it's time for you to go."

Gabby gasped. "Already? But you just got here!"

Gallus rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. "Sorry. The school didn't give me much time off. I'll see if I can come back at a time when I can stay longer."

"Aww." Gabby pouted the whole way to the station.

Gallus stared out the window idly. Something felt off, but he wasn't sure what. Is it because of... He looked down at his claw.

With a flick of his wrist, the Angel Bell appeared in his claw. It was completely silent for some reason. Was it broken? Did it know he didn't want it to chime? He flicked his wrist again to make it disappear. Having an artifact like that out in the open is generally a bad idea.

"Oh, right."

Gallus got up. The car he was in was empty, but he wasn't about to take chances. He stepped into the bathroom and locked it.

Gallus!

"Just hold on, Sandbar."

He opened the window and snapped his claws.

Chapter 20

"And there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

Rainbow bit her lip. She wasn't happy about this at all. Maybe I should just wait off to the side and... No. I have an idea, and I hate myself for it.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Rainbow? You're being oddly-"

"You're wrong." Rainbow looked up with a vacant look in her eyes. "There is something I can do about it."

Lightning Dust rolled her eyes. "Come on! You're not gonna-"

"Interesting."

Lightning's eyes shot wide as she started to look around. "Who said that?"

"You're not as broken or furious as the others, but you're willing."

Scootaloo was starting to panic. "Willing? What does that mean?"

"You know the consequences. Do you still yearn for my power?"

"I do."

Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, what-" Twilight's eyes went wide as she watched a dark mist surround her friend. "What are you doing?"

"Do you doubt your friend?"

Rainbow looked at the nearby filly. "I'm sorry, but I feel like this is the best way to make you understand."

Lightning stepped back. "What is going on?"

Twilight stepped forward. "Rainbow! Stop!"

"It's too late. You might as well run now."

Rainbow looked Scootaloo in the eye. "You want to abandon your safety? Then I'll show you the result."

Twilight's heart was racing. "Rainbow Dash!"

"So you're staying? I suppose you deserve a reward."

Rainbow disappeared in the mist. "You can consider it a small gift, kid."

The mist shot outward.

"A prize for the reckless."

"He asked what I would do if I had to steal the bow to have it." Silver scratched her head. "Like, when would one of us need to?"

"Because it's an invaluable artifact that your kind feels the need to preserve at all costs?" Smolder suggested.

Silver shrugged. "Well, my bow falls under that category."

Ocellus looked up from her book. "And Queen Novo recognizes what you're doing. Griffons might not."

"And if what the Crusaders were talking about it true," Sandbar said, thinking back to his tutoring, "the Griffons might be looking for something to encourage their friendship. If Gabriella was a symbol of Griffon friendship, they would want to keep any proof of her existence."

Smolder nodded. "It'd be like me asking for the Dragonstone Scepter. Why would they trust something like that to some kid?"

Silver gasped in horror. "You don't think he stole it, do you?" Her eyes suddenly locked on to the butterfly fluttering past her face. Not because it was close, but because it looked weird. "What in the world?"

"Oh!" Ocellus recognized it immediately. "That's one of Lily's notes!"

Smolder watched it land in Yona's hooves. "When did Lily get so involved in our lives?"

"When did we get so involved in each other's lives? It always just-"

"Uh oh." The others looked at Yona. "The note says that Professor Rainbow might be corrupted."

"What?"

Silver looked around really quickly. "That way!" She suddenly darted off.

Sandbar looked at the note. "But we'd be able to sense if she was getting corrupted. How would Lily know she was-"

Their eyes all went wide as they stared in the direction Silver shot off in. They quickly rushed in the same direction, switching into their outfits on the way. Once they caught up with Silver, they were presented with a shocking sight.

When Pinkie and Applejack were corrupted, they encased themselves with their element. When Fluttershy was corrupted, she was simply herself. Starlight started out like the former and ended up like the latter. Rainbow was completely different.

Her body had grown to the shape of Celestia's. Her coat was as black as night. Her mane was made of flowing colors. With the others, they looked like themselves. Rainbow looked different. She looked like...

"Nightmare Moon?"

"No. Nightmare Rainbow."

Everfree shook her head. "What's going on? Why does she look different? Why didn't we sense her corruption until just now?"

Wind Jet glanced at Everfree. "I have no idea, but we have to do something about-"

"Scootaloo!"

Twilight's voice drew their attention to the smaller pony. There was a visible distortion headed towards her, but her eyes were on Twilight.

There was a yellow flash of light as Gilded Lily appeared in front of Scootaloo alongside a barrier that managed to stop the distortion. She wrapped her hooves around Scootaloo and they both disappeared in another flash of yellow.

Aqualine blinked. "Wait, how close was she?"

Boulder cracked her neck. "Close enough to see Rainbow get corrupted."

"Come on, girls! Let's stop her before she goes after anyone else!" Wind Jet followed his order up with teleporting into the open.

Rainbow caught him out of the corner of her eye and turned her body to face him. Twilight's eyes went wide right before she teleported.

"So you're here already." Rainbow watched as the four girls moved in behind their team leader, then tilted her head. "You seem to be short a member, though. Is he not back yet?"

"That's none of your concern!" Aqualine quickly summoned her bow and an arrow and fired it off before Rainbow could react. The arrow missed by a foot.

"You have to be completely oblivious to think that would work." Another arrow shot past her head from behind as the Aqualine in front of her turned into a small puddle. "I've watched you practice your powers. I know what you can do."

The real Aqualine aimed her bow upward and shot off an arrow. Clouds formed around where the arrow was and it started raining.

"Cute."

Aqualine drew in the rain and started to change. Her body grew, her claws shined with sharpness, and her tail became serpent-like with a blade at the end of it. All in all, she was a monstrous version of herself.

Could you turn the rain off? Everfree has me covered, but I can't do much in the rain.

In a second! Aqualine leaped up and aimed herself towards Rainbow Dash. Halfway there, she noticed something.

Something she generally pays no mind to is her ability to sense moisture in general. She's able to use it to tell where someone is, and it's amplified in the rain. The only moisture coming from Rainbow was from the raindrops that were passing through her.

Aqualine only realized what this meant after a lightning bolt came from the clouds she formed and struck her. Her form reverted as she fell to the ground, falling through the image of Rainbow, which just dissipated on contact.

"Do you remember that trick, Wind Jet?" The rain quickly stopped, and the sun came back. "Making colored smoke and forming it to create your own image?" Rainbow floated down from above Aqualine. "That's one of your tricks."

Wind Jet gulped. The last two fights were hard because the team wasn't together. Rainbow was going to be hard because she knew their tactics and could use that against them. Though he uses colored powder to color the smoke. Did she use her mane or something?

Boulder had no time to care. She dove into the ground and shot out at Rainbow. Rainbow spun out of the way, keeping her eyes on Boulder. Boulder shot rock spikes out at Rainbow, while Heatnix took advantage of the distraction to fire off fireballs at Rainbow from behind.

The fireballs hit an invisible shield as Rainbow weaved through the rock spikes, heading for Boulder. As she got close to the Yak, however, a large tree popped up between them.

The moisture from the rain is weakening your powers, Heatnix. But it's making my powers stronger. A net of vines shot out of the tree towards Rainbow, who spun again and shredded them up.

"Do you really think your usual tactics will work on me?"

The vines pieces hit the ground where they turned to sticks, then to winged snakes. The snakes flew up and started trying to bite the mare, who simply outmaneuvered them.

"There you go." After entertaining the snakes for a bit, Rainbow simply blew them away. "It's a shame it was useless."

Wind Jet looked at the Hippogriff laying on the ground. You okay, Aqualine?

Nothing hurts, but I can't move.

Relax. We'll get it from-

*CRASH!*

Wind Jet looked up. Boulder smashed into the tree, practically cutting it in half.

Boulder! Be careful!

Boulder stood up and shook off the splinters that stuck to her. Sorry! Are you okay?

I'm fine. This isn't too much of a-

*BOOM!* Rainbow had aimed a Sonic Rainboom at the tree, splintering both halves of it and sending an ear-piercing shriek through the air.

"EVERFREE!"

I-I can recover from this. She said that, but what happened to her didn't look pretty.

Heatnix took off, throwing a few fireballs at Rainbow before getting close to her. The fireballs bounced off the same barrier as before. Once within arm's reach, Heatnix whiffed a few punches before Rainbow beat her down and kicked her into a puddle on the ground.

"Did you really think that would work? You haven't been very competent so far."

Boulder shot herself up, attempting to land on Rainbow. Rainbow simply sidestepped the attempt.

Rainbow glared at the Yak. "How about you save me the trouble and give up now?"

Boulder growled, then created a dome of earth.

Boulder no! I can't help you like-

Yak got this!

Wind Jet couldn't believe he had to send this, but... Gallus!

Huh? Oh, right. Gallus didn't sound very awake.

Wind Jet pulled Heatnix out of the puddle of water, placing her on the driest spot he could find. Stay away! I don't think we can win this one!

Yeah. Sure.

The colt gathered the parts of Everfree that broke off and piled them on her. Gallus! I'm serious!... Gallus? Can you hear me? Gallus!

*BOOM!*

Wind Jet turned around in time to watch the dome dissolve. He didn't see Boulder, but Rainbow was standing in the nearby bleachers. When Rainbow kicked off of the bleachers, a scream filled the air.

"Boulder!"

"Well, fearless leader." Rainbow looked Wind Jet right in the eye. "It's just you now."

Wind Jet looked her in the eye. Her cold-hearted eyes. She wasn't going to hold back... Why should he?

He snarled and reared back. His next action was to teleport in front of the mare and land a blow on her face. She responded by striking him across the face. What followed could only be described as a rapid exchange of blows. Their powers had grown useless since all the other would have to do is counter with their own power to render any attempt futile.

As the girls watched from their incapacitated states, they were all praying that Wind Jet would win. But any time either party got the upper hand, the other would pull a cheap move to even the playing field. Eventually, however, they knocked each other away by a good distance.

They locked eyes. Both were heaving. This was it. Now or never.

Both of them created a tailwind and shot at each other. Wind Jet let out a war cry. The moment they collided, the wind they generated caused a lot of the dirt on the ground to float in the air.

Everfree looked at the point the two ponies collided at. Even with all of the dust in the air, she could see that one was still standing. They stepped forward, causing a gust of wind that blew away the dust.

She gasped. "No."

Rainbow looked at the colt that was lying on the ground and tilted her head. "You know, you were supposed to win." She stepped over to him. "I wanted to be corrupted in a way that I could remain in control so that I could help you win." Then she stepped on him, causing him to cough. "And you still lost. What does that say about you and your team? That you can't beat someone that was trying to lose?"

Wind Jet opened his eye. "Professor..."

Everfree looked at her legs, which were still torn up. Boulder struggled to get her body back to the ground, the only way for her to heal at this point. Aqualine tried to force her body to move but was ineffective. Heatnix didn't even bother, knowing any effort on her part would be useless at this point.

"There's only one of you left. Do you really think he'll win?"

"Do you think I won't?"

Rainbow looked up. There he was. Floating just above her. The last member of their team. She moved her hoof off of Wind Jet.

The last hero landed and pressed his beak to her nose. "How about you save me the trouble and give up now."

"Strong words for someone about to die." She created a blade of wind and aimed it for his neck.

Only to find herself flying away from him while he was darting towards her, quickly closing the gap that suddenly appeared between them. What the hay? She created a gust to push herself out of the way in time to dodge his attack. When did he get so fast?

He skidded to a stop, his right claw behind his back.

"Idiot!" Rainbow flew towards him. "You planted yourself in the-" He was gone well before she got to him. "Huh?" She skidded to a stop and looked around.

He had somehow moved behind her, effectively switching places with her. He moved his claw from behind his back and placed it on his hip. "What's wrong? Losing your touch?"

Rainbow growled at him, then shot towards him again. He deftly cartwheeled and backflipped away, landing with his claw behind him.

"Since when were you competent?"

The Griffon shrugged. "I got some help."

Rainbow snarled and created a small tornado around him. He looked up, completely unconcerned. Rainbow motioned with her hoof, and the tornado collapsed in on itself. The Griffon inside had vanished.

"You missed."

"WHAT?" Rainbow looked at the untouched boy. "HOW DID YOU ESCAPE?" She charged at him. "Just die already!"

He simply leaped over her. She quickly turned around and went for him again. This time, he didn't dodge. He grabbed her hoof and punched her in the gut.

Rainbow stumbled back and clutched her stomach. After a second, she noticed something that really made her mad. "Don't leave! I'm not through with you, Striker! Just because-"

"I'm not Striker." He stood with his back to her, up on his hind legs with his left claw on his hip. "Striker is someone that's gone now."

"Then who are you?"

He held out his right claw and flicked it, summoning a bell. "I'm Reverb." With another flick, the bell rang.

As if in response, the sound of four explosions filled the air as Rainbow went flying. When she fell back to the ground, she was back to normal.

Reverb smiled at the unconscious mare behind him, then flicked his wrist again to make the bell vanish. He turned back to his teammates. "You guys okay?"

Wind Jet held his stomach as he stood up. "Yeah. I think we'll be- WHAT DID YOU DO?"

Reverb shrugged. "Won?"

"Well, yes. But how? Where did those explosions come from? How were you teleporting? When did you get-"

Reverb put a claw up to his leader's mouth. "Sorry, boss guy, but I've gotta bounce. It would look really odd if I wasn't where I was supposed to be. And I'm sure Boulder will be able to to get you guys away easily. She just needs a bump off the bleachers."

Wind Jet pushed the claw out of his face. "Wait!"

"Talking can wait, assuming Everfree doesn't figure it all out before I get back." The Griffon saluted. "See ya!"

With a snap of his claws, Reverb vanished. From his perspective, he sent himself towards the nearby forest, where he bounced off the trees repeatedly. Once he found the train tracks, he bounced between the rails to travel along it. He scanned the first train he came across, but quickly realized it wasn't his. The next train, however, was his. He quickly found the window he left trough and went back in through it, returning to his normal form as Gallus.

He casually left the bathroom and went back to his seat, where he sat with his chin in his claw.

Hey, Gallus?

Yeah, Silver?

That was AWESOME!

He chuckled. Glad you enjoyed it.

Chapter 20 2

Gilded Lily stepped out into the courtyard, biting her lip. She looked up in time to see the dirt at the center swelling.

"You're clear to come up, Yona."

The dirt quickly moved out of the way, revealing five different creatures.

"Hey, Lily? Could you stick me in the river?"

Lily lifted the Hippogriff and placed her in the water.

"Oh, that feels good."

Lily looked at the Dragon. "Do you want me to stick you in the oven?"

Smolder chuckled. "I know you're joking, but that sounds like it would feel good right now."

Sandbar rubbed his head. "Hey, Lily? Where's Scootaloo?"

Lily pointed at one of the windows. "She's in that room, but I'd leave her alone. She's not taking any of this well, especially since one of the Washouts revealed that she was allowed on to get back at Rainbow Dash."

Yona frowned. "That's just mean."

Lily put her horn to Smolder's head and lit Smolder on fire.

"Wha- Wow. That actually feels good."

Sandbar stared at the Dragon. "What the heck is Gallus' power? He was teleporting around and made explosions!"

Ocellus tapped her chin as the scars on her legs slowly vanished. "I think it was sound."

"Sound? Where did you get that from?"

Ocellus' head shrunk into her shoulders. "Well he called himself Reverb, and he had a bell. His powers being sound-based also makes the other parts make sense."

Sandbar shot her a baffled look. "Okay, I get riding sound waves to teleport, but EXPLOSIONS?"

"Pressure."

Sandbar looked at Lily. "Eh?"

"Sound is basically a form of pressure. As we talk, we send a pressure wave through the air. An explosion is basically a massive pressure wave. That's why your ears ring when you're too close to an explosion."

"Do you remember those times where he had his right claw behind his back? I think he summoned the bell and rang it to create a bit of sound and held it in place to set those "explosions" up. Meaning he can ride sound, pause sound, amplify sound, and who knows what else with sound."

"That all sounds so cool!" Silver took a moment to realize the pun she accidentally made before giggling at it.

Sandbar was far less amused. "It also sounds very dangerous. I can see why they locked it before he knew how to handle it for sure."

Yona put her hoof to her chin. "Thinking about it, he was pretty loud right after we got our powers."

Smolder sat up and moved her arms and legs a bit. "Maybe that was his power leaking through."

"Scootaloo! Scootaloo!"

Lily looked at the entrance to the courtyard. "I know that voice." With that, she ran off.

"You know what that means, right?"

Ocellus' friends looked at her.

"Gallus stole the bell."

Rainbow stirred in the bed she had been placed in. "Uhh... wha..." She rubbed her head as she looked around.

She quickly realized she was in the school infirmary. The curtain was pulled around her bed, so she couldn't see anything aside from her bed and Scootaloo... Wait.

"Scootaloo!" Rainbow immediately grabbed the filly into a hug. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did anything-"

Scootaloo shoved Rainbow away. "I'm fine! It's just..." She sighed. "You were right about the Washouts. Lightning Dust told me she just wanted me on board to get back at you and was perfectly fine with me getting hurt."

Rainbow really wanted to gloat about being right, but now wasn't the time. "It's alright. I shouldn't have tried to tell you what you could and couldn't do. And making you feel like you could never be as cool as me was definitely wrong."

Scootaloo smiled. "We're still sisters, right?"

Rainbow hugged Scootaloo. "Yeah. I'd hate to lose a sister as cool as you."

They shared a smile then a laugh.

"Dashie!" Pinkie popped her head through the curtain, then rushed up to Rainbow, wrapping her in a hug. "Thank goodness you're awake! You won't believe-"

As Pinkie rambled on, Rainbow rolled her eyes and placed a hoof on Pinkie's back. After a moment, though, the gears in her head started turning.

"Hey, Scootaloo? Could you leave for a bit? I need to talk to Pinkie in private."

The other two ponies stared at Rainbow, then glanced at each other.

"Okay." Scootaloo hopped off the bed and made her way out of the room.

"So what is it? Oh! Do you want to plan a party for Scootaloo? Maybe make it a big-"

Rainbow put her hoof over Pinkie's mouth. "Actually, it's about the White Cursed."

Pinkie moved the hoof off of her mouth. "Are you loco in the coco? I don't know anything about-"

"It's alright. I know who they are too."

Pinkie paused, then looked away. "... I'm used to dealing with secrets, but this is something on a whole other level. If I let this slip, other creatures will die."

"Yeah. I know. But at least you're used to keeping secrets of any kind. I'm used to running my mouth about anything and everything."

"How did you learn who they are? And how did you know I knew, for that matter?"

Rainbow rubbed her head. "Spending too much time with Twilight, honestly. I realized something was off back when Applejack went mad, and the only way for things to fit into place was if they were the White Cursed. I realized you knew just now. I remembered what happened when I lost it, but you somehow didn't? That didn't make sense."

"So you realized that I was hiding something, and you already knew what I was hiding." Pinkie chuckled. "You're right. You have been spending too much time with Twilight."

"Did you ever talk to them about it?"

Pinkie shook her head. "By the time I got the chance to, I sorta figured that it wouldn't really change anything. Besides, if they knew I knew, then I would just be-"

"Rainbow!"

Both mares flinched and turned in the direction the voice came from. The curtain pulled back, revealing a very unhappy Twilight.

"What were you... Pinkie, get off the bed."

Pinkie giggled and hopped off the bed.

"What were you thinking?"

"I just wanted-"

"NOT YOU, PINKIE!"

Pinkie shied back. "Okay, not the time."

Twilight shot a glare at Rainbow. "Well?"

Rainbow bit her lip. While she had seen Twilight angry, it was never this bad before. "Well, you remember what happened with Rarity, right?"

"Yes, I do."

Pinkie tilted her head. "What happened with Rarity?"

Twilight turned to scream at Pinkie again but realized that Pinkie didn't actually know. "That darkness that's been possessing the faculty tried to get her, but somehow couldn't."

Pinkie whistled. "Go Rarity."

"Well, I figured the corruption was similar to Nightmare Moon, and that stuff took Rarity over in the past, so there may be a one-time possession limit."

Twilight's eyes were wide, but she still managed to raise an eyebrow. "So you took a chance on the current incident being connected to Nightmare Moon somehow, and let yourself get corrupted?"

"You remembered what Fluttershy said back when Pinkie got corrupted? Before we knew any details about this stuff? She said it was similar to what happened with Luna and Stygian. That's why she recommended using the Elements of Harmony on Pinkie."

"So you figured the rest of us would show up with the elements and use them without the White Cursed showing up?"

"I knew it would be the White Cursed stopping me, I just thought I would have more control if I was willing to let it-"

"Did you?"

Rainbow opened her mouth to respond, only to close it and look away.

"That's what I thought. Now, let me run down all of the issues we're facing because of your rather public corruption."

"Wait, what? How long was I out?"

Pinkie shrugged. "A couple of hours. Either way, you'd think ponies would write it off as another oddity in Ponyville."

"You'd think." Twilight flipped through a couple of papers she had. "The first issue can actually be tracked to a certain group of ponies, as the Washouts are claiming this is far from the first time this happened. I managed to weather that storm by claiming they had no official access to prove their claims and reminding everyone that these kinds of incidents are not one of a kind and we have ways of handling them before anything major can come of it."

"Are you gonna punish them for that?"

"We can't. Not without raising further questions. The second issue is something I have to worry about; regardless of your justification, what you did could be seen as betrayal. When I realized that, I checked on the Tree of Harmony, and the Element of Loyalty was darker than the rest."

Rainbow's eyes went wide. "Y-you mean..."

"The Elements may not work anymore. We either need a new Element of Loyalty, or you need to convince it you still deserve the title."

Rainbow bit her lip.

"The last issue is..."

"... Then I teleported to you guys, took out Rainbow, teleported back to the train, and did nothing until I got back."

Gallus' friends shared a look. He knew what they were thinking without diving into their minds.

Sandbar was the one to say it. "I'm sorry, but we can't just take your word about that."

Gallus chuckled. "Can't take the Griffon's word, huh? I get it."

"Gallus." Silver put her claw on his shoulder. "Do you feel okay? You seem... different."

Gallus rubbed his neck. "I think Gabriella left more of herself in the bell than the others did in their tools. I'm still trying to sort out my thoughts from her's."

The others looked at each other again. "Well, that will have to wait."

Silver gripped Gallus' claw. "Just close your eyes. This will only take a second."

Gallus closed his eyes, followed by the others. He didn't feel anything at first. Once he did feel something, it was more like someone was holding his brain and massaging it. A moment later, it started to hurt. Once it became unbearable, however, it suddenly stopped.

"You can open your eyes now."

Gallus opened his eyes and looked around. "Did one of you do something? My head feels more clear now."

Ocellus giggled a bit. "I kinda helped you sort out your thoughts a bit."

The others gave Ocellus either smiles or raised eyebrows (Sandbar gave her both).

Smolder coughed. "Even if you were telling the truth, you still stole the bell."

Gallus nodded. "I'll let Gruff know what I did the next time I see him and see what he wants me to do. There's probably some way for me to-"

There was a sudden knocking on the door. "May I come in?"

The students looked at the door in worry. "Uh, sure."

The door opened and Pinkie Pie stepped in. "H-hey guys."

The moment the teacher closed the door, Silver spoke up, "Is this where you reveal that you know our big secret?"

Pinkie paused for a moment, then looked right at Silver. "... Sorry, you just did something I do, and now I know why it weirds out my friends."

Sandbar chuckled. "You mean that thing where you guess something completely random?"

"Yeah. And end up being right. I know about you being the White Cursed."

Ocellus' jaw dropped. "How do you know? Did Professor Rainbow tell you?"

Pinkie giggled. "I actually knew before Dashie. I said I forgot what happened to me while I was possessed, but I remember it all pretty clearly."

Smolder raised an eyebrow. "And you didn't tell us because..."

"I wasn't sure how you'd react to knowing someone else knew. You might have- No. Not the time for that, Pinkie. Anyway, when Dashie told me she knew and you knew she knew, I felt more comfortable with talking to you about it."

Yona nodded. "I understand, but it's always nice to have someone else to talk about it with."

Pinkie took a deep breath. "Right. Onto the important stuff. Twilight brought up three things to... well, Dashie, but I was right there. One of them doesn't involve you guys, so I won't mention it, but the other two are... worrying."

Sandbar felt a chill go down his spine. "What are they?"

"The first is that the Washouts publicly declared that ponies have been getting possessed. It would probably have been written off if you hadn't had an audience for that last fight of yours. Twilight calmed them down, but that doesn't mean it won't affect what you're doing."

Gallus raised an eyebrow. "I don't see how that will affect us."

"Well, the other thing will have a more clear effect on things. Princess Celestia is freeing up her schedule to make regular visits, and she's sending out a bunch of guards to watch Ponyville at all times, with one always being at the school. There's going to be a bunch of ponies keeping an eye out for anyone that gets corrupted. And you."

Author's Note

Wow. What a reveal. This seems like a good time to plug my Patreon!

https://www.patreon.com/Jumpitydude

In actuality, I'd like to inform you that I lowered the prices of the tiers. So if you looked and thought, "That is way too high for the reward," you might want to look again and see if you would be willing to pay it now.

Chapter 21

A train ride away from Ponyville is a place called Smokey Mountains. To the west of that is the North Luna Ocean. Deep at the bottom of that ocean was a ship, larger than many had ever seen. It's not there anymore, because several types of sea creatures had attached ropes to it and pulled it up.

Two hours after they started, an Earth Pony on shore let a drop of a potion fall on her tongue, then looked out at the horizon. "There it is!"

The Unicorn next to her took the potion and let a drop fall on her tongue. Looking out, she saw the ship on the top of the ocean. Then watched it drop back into the water. "And there it goes."

The mountainous Earth Pony beside them put his hoof beside his mouth. "PULL IT TO SHORE! PULL IT TO SHORE!"

Another hour later, the ship reappeared about five yards out. Several of the sea creatures found "footing" on shore, then turned into various large earth-based creatures, like Yaks and Buffalos. Even with the extra leg power, however, they were clearly struggling to make the ship move.

Until the larger of the Earth Ponies grabbed a rope from one of them and moved the ship with relative ease.

"Woah." The Buffalo that lost its rope turned back into a Changeling. "I heard you were strong, but I didn't know you were that strong!"

The large Pony smiled and pulled. Soon enough, the ship was completely ashore. The moment it stopped moving, the other creatures returned to their default forms, filling the sky with buzzing and chatter of amazement.

The Earth Pony mare stared at the ship with stars in her eyes. "That looks amazing."

The Unicorn mare turned to the other present Unicorn. "Are we sure this is it, though? It's a ship, but I don't see anything that indicates it's an airship."

The Unicorn Stallion remained silent, pointing his horn and shooting out magic at the ship. A moment later, several feathers sprouted from the wings of the ship.

The Pegasus mare was gawking. "How did they make this kind of thing work?"

"A lot of magic, no doubt. Even he's having trouble making this thing work." The Pegasus stallion turned to his friends. "We should get going, though. We don't want to be here when-"

"Lady Ocellus! You're right on time!"

The six ponies turned inland to find seven creatures there; The White Cursed, who were gawking, and Rainbow Dash, who was smiling at them.

Ocellus rubbed her head. "So let me get this straight. We've been receiving background help from the Pillars of Equestria?"

Star Swirl adjusted his cape. "Well, yes. There are... reasons for our anonymity, but we couldn't just let you fumble about on your own."

Smolder raised her hand. "Well, you failed at remaining anonymous. And that's before you consider the Pegasi practically showed us their faces."

Flash Magus remained stern. "I couldn't hide my identity while training you. Not without looking suspicious."

Somnambula tilted her head. "When did I do that?"

Rainbow chuckled. "He's probably referring to you flying away from the Changeling hive after delivering the book on the White Curse. I noticed you flying away from my classroom after I talked to them about it, too. Did you deliver the staff?"

Somnambula nodded. "They knew ahead that they would be receiving the staff. When I heard you talk about the book, however, I decided to quickly track down a copy to give them as well. The city of Somnambula is rather well stocked in books."

Ocellus summoned her staff. "Did you find this as well?"

"That was me," Star Swirl said. "I found it as I was traveling around. I was also the one to enchant your masks and outfits."

Smolder pulled out her outfit. "Did one of you make these? They look like Rarity made them."

Mistmane giggled. "Rarity DID make them. I had them commissioned from her. I'm a little shocked she didn't find the order suspicious in some way. Though I was the one that made the masks."

Ocellus bit her lip. "That leads to the big question; Who made the delivery?"

Meadowbrook's giggle was notably more nervous than her friend's. "That was me. I used an invisibility potion during my trips to the school."

Sandbar's ear perked up. "Trips? Plural? You made more than one?"

Meadowbrook coughed. "The first trip was to figure out how valid the tip we received was, and the second was to make the delivery."

Sandbar raised an eyebrow. "And you stayed in her room afterward because you needed to prove that "tip" was valid to someone else, right?"

Meadowbrook's eyes started to bulge, her cheeks puffed out, and she started sweating buckets.

Flash also looked nervous. "I, uh, just wanted to make sure."

Ocellus put her hoof on Sandbar's shoulder. "I will admit that it was creepy, but we can trust them. You know that, right?"

Sandbar smiled. "Yeah. Of course."

Yona's tail was wagging. "Rockhoof pulled out the ship by himself, right?"

Rockhoof opened his mouth, only for a nearby Changeling to respond instead. "Yeah! It was really impressive!"

Another Changeling floated over. "We were having trouble, then he pulled it out like it was nothing!"

As the Changelings sang Rockhoof praises, gears started turning in Rainbow's head. "Hey, did you ever try farm work?"

Rockhoof gave a nervous smile. "Once. Now I'm not allowed in Appleloosa anymore."

"Oh." Rainbow could only imagine how that went.

"Guys?" Gallus floated down.

"How did it... go."

Silver was clinging to Gallus like he would vanish if she let go.

Gallus rubbed Silver's back. "I could tell you guys what was in there, but you probably want to see for yourselves."

The friends shared a look. They sent Gallus and Silver in so they could talk with the Pillars. Now Gallus wanted them to see for themselves after Silver got scared by something. What is in there?

Star Swirl decided to state his opinion. "You should go in there. They may have missed something, depending on when your friend got spooked."

"Don't worry." Gallus nuzzled Silver. "She was scared by something that won't affect you guys as much."

A worried look later, and the four friends went into the massive ship. The moment they stepped inside, they were shocked. There were eight chairs and tables set up in the room, which had to span the length of the upper floor of the ship. There were several cabinets along the sides of the room, and a few knick-knacks and toys on the tables.

"Is this a Rec Room?"

Sandbar was the first to move into the room. "If it is, it's the most run-down one I've seen. Which should be expected, considering where this ship has been."

Smolder examined some of the knick-knacks. "If we're gonna end up using this as a base of operations, we'll need to spruce this room up a bit."

Yona picked up one of the toys. "What makes you think we'll use it as a base?"

Smolder shrugged. "Our predo-... perdi-... The guys that came before us used it, right?"

"If we can move this ship or find a way to get here without drawing attention, it would make a good base. But even going to the Castle of the Two Sisters would be suspicious, especially with the guards around Ponyville right now." Ocellus shook her head. "Using this place as a base will have to be put on the back burner for now."

"Eh, that's fair." Smolder looked at the stairs leading down. "Let's see what else is on this ship." She led the other three down the stairs. "Huh?"

At the bottom of the staircase was a hallway with four doors on each side. They all looked into the first one on the right.

"Bedrooms?"

Yona looked back down the hall. "Why are there eight? There were only seven members."

"Officially." Sandbar looked in the room across the hall. "Though I don't see anything that would freak Silver out that badly."

"I know what did it." Smolder was making her way to the next set of stairs. "And it'll be obvious downstairs."

The other three shared a look before following her down the stairs.

"Wow!" Ocellus stopped halfway down the stairs. "This is beautiful."

"And familiar." Sandbar moved past her to the bottom of the staircase.

"What do you mean?"

Smolder stood next to an opened door. "Maybe this farm will jog your memory?"

"Farm?" Ocellus rushed over. "Wow! There really is... a..." She blinked a couple of times, then turned to another door. She walked over and pushed it open, fully expecting what she found inside. "There's the pool."

"Look at that." Smolder was next to a different door. "The arrows are still in place. Untouched."

Yona looked past Smolder into the archery range. "So this airship is..."

"Only one way to be sure." Sandbar went down the last flight of stairs, followed by his friends. He went past the armory and down a side path, only slowing down once he got to the third room on the left.

And there it was.

The mirror that started it all, lying in pieces on the ground.

Ocellus moved to Sandbar's side. "This is why Silver freaked out."

Yona let out a sigh. "I wonder how different our lives would be if we never came here in the first place."

Sandbar just stared at what was left of the mirror.

*Clang!* The three of them looked back at the armory, then headed back.

"Smolder? What are you doing?"

Smolder held a helmet on her horns, then chucked it aside. "I was thinking that some of this stuff might be useful to us. I mean, look at how big this pile is! How much is in here?"

Ocellus furrowed her brow. "Uh, you are aware that there are guards at the school looking for anything suspicious like pieces of armor or weapons, right?"

Smolder dug her arm deep into the pile. "Yeah, but it's not like they'll be there for-" She suddenly gasped and started shaking.

"Smolder?" Sandbar went to her side. "Are you okay?"

Smolder heaved a bit more. "So that's what it feels like." She pulled her arm out, her hand wrapped around the hilt of a sword that had gems in the handle.

Ocellus stared in wonder. "The Blazer Blade?"

Sandbar's eyes shot to the pile, and before the girls knew it, he was digging in himself. "Ow!" He pulled his hoof back after cutting it on something.

Smolder chuckled. "Yeah, it's full of sharp stuff."

"Sandbar." Ocellus was hovering over the pile, holding a gem-encrusted boomerang shaped to look like a pair of wings. "I think this is what you were looking for."

Sandbar looked at the boomerang for a second, then reached for it. Once he had his hoof on it, his body seized up. Ocellus landed next to him and placed her hoof around him. As soon as his mind cleared up, Sandbar returned the hug.

"Why did you hug me?"

Ocellus shrugged. "I just felt like it."

Smolder waited for the moment to turn slightly awkward for her before speaking up. "Okay, lovebirds, we need to get going."

Sandbar and Ocellus broke it off and giggled. "Okay, Smolder. But you do know the lovebirds are Gallus and Silver, right?"

Smolder rolled her eyes. "Very funny, Sandy."

"Hey! No! That's for Ocellus only!"

The four friends shared a laugh as they made their way back up the stairs.

"This is amazing!" Rainbow said before they had a chance to see her. "This would make for a great base of operations! Though there would be some issues with using it right now. I don't see why Silver was panicking, though."

Sandbar rubbed his head. "Well, it's because we were here before."

Smolder rubbed her arm. "Not only that, it's where we got our powers."

Ocellus looked down. "From what I remember, someone actually manipulated Silver into doing what gave us those powers."

Yona shuddered. "I still remember how creepy that moment was."

Rainbow looked worried. "What happened?"

Sandbar explained what happened that fateful day when they were hiding in the Castle of the Two Sisters. When they ended up getting their power. How they were at fault for the darkness getting out. As she listened, Rainbow's jaw went lower and lower.

"... and that's about it."

"Wow. What can I even say about that?"

"There's not much to say." Smolder yawned and moved towards the stairs. "We should probably get going."

"Not yet." Sandbar looked at the only door he never saw the other side of. "I want to know what's through that door."

"You can tell me later, hero guy. I'm outta here." Smolder walked up the stairs and presumably out of the ship.

Sandbar sighed and turned towards the door. The moment his hoof was on the knob, a thought shot through his head. Last time he was here, he didn't go through this door because Smolder told him not to.

Was that actually Smolder? Or was it the same creature that led them here the first time? If it was the latter, that means that they didn't want them to know what was through this door.

And in that case, this door is very valuable.

He opened the door.

All that was inside were empty shelves, tables, and chairs.

"... Huh?"

Ocellus looked over his shoulder. "Is this a library? Where are the books?"

Looking at it, it did look like an empty library. Where there books here before? If there were, why are they gone now?

"What is this? I wanted answers! Not more questions!" The frustration in his voice was evident.

"Hold on." Ocellus pointed at one of the tables. "There's a note there."

Sandbar rushed over and started reading the note aloud.

"I know what you're thinking. "Where are the books in this library?" Unfortunately, most of them were very outdated, so I threw them out. I wish to restock it, but I may never get the chance to.

"While I'm leaving this for you, I may as well note that by the time you're reading this, the moment of truth will be fast approaching. If you've defeated five of the six, then that just leaves the Princess. I trust that you and your team will be victorious. Otherwise, what I've done has been for naught.

"But if you doubt yourself, Sandbar, I am willing to help."

Sandbar stared at the letter. For a moment, he thought it was for a member of the old team. If so, why was his name there?

"Did it say who it was from?" From the sound of her voice, Ocellus was just as shocked.

Sandbar shook his head. "It just says it's from a friend."

While their trip into the ship had proven valuable already, the students found themselves leaving with more questions than answers.

"Celestia!"

The princess of the sun looked over her shoulder. "Twilight. There you are." She waited for her former student slow to a halt before placing a hoof on her nose. "Before you ask, I do feel like it is necessary for me to be at least partially present. I will be here from time to time when duties permit."

Twilight gently moved Celestia's hoof away from her nose. "I understand, but I wanted to ask if the guards were going to be violating my students' privacy."

Celestia shook her head. "Not without someone reporting something suspicious to them. I already had to stop a guard from barging into Gallus' room for no reason. Apparently, he doesn't trust Griffons."

"I just want to make sure this doesn't interfere with the operations of the school."

"I understand, but..." Celestia let out a somber sigh. "I'm sorry, but I can't help but feel like you're hiding something from me."

"What?" Twilight's voice cracked. "No no no! Of course not!"

Celestia bit her lip. "Twilight..."

Twilight put her hoof on Celestia's shoulder. "I gave you my word! I will report to you anything I am told! Without fail!"

Celestia stared for a second, the chuckled. "Of course. You are my faithful student after all. I'm sorry for doubting you."

"It's alright. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my own duties."

They shared a smile then went in opposite directions. After walking a bit, Celestia stopped. She also stopped smiling.

"I will report to you anything I am told."

"... anything I am told."

"... Told. Why did she say that?" Celestia started to turn around.

"Your Highness!" A guard with wide eyes ran up to her. "You need to see this!"

Chapter 22

"Really? Cozy Glow? But she was so nice!"

"I know. Apparently, it's because she was in touch with some guy called Tree Wreck from a place called Tartar Sauce."

"Are you talking about Tirek? Who's currently imprisoned in Tartarus? Now her getting expelled makes more sense."

"I also heard rumors that she stole the artifacts from the spellvenger hunt."

"Hello, oh magical Equestrian tree!" The two ponies turned towards the Griffon of the school, who looked like he was about to dump Silver and propose to a tree. "Can you tell me everything I need to know about friendship?"

"Of course, young Griffon. Do you need something in particular?"

Gallus screamed and flew back to his friends. "It talked!"

Silver bit her... beak. "What do you want? Are you here to hurt us?"

Ocellus turned into Applejack. "Slow down there, Sugarcube. I think I know what's happening." She ran up to the tree, turned around, and bucked it. An instant later, the upper half of a filly swung down.

"Lily!" Gallus got in Lily's face. "Do you know how much that scared me?"

Lily was laughing like mad. "Sorry! I couldn't resist!"

Most of the other ponies in the courtyard went on their way after a small laugh.

"Well, you seem happy today." Sandbar knew Lily could be happy, but he'd never seen her this happy before.

Smolder leaned over to Silver. "I guess she's really happy Cozy Glow is gone."

Lily lifted her upper body back into the tree, then dropped down on all fours. "Hey, did you guys notice that weird grate in the library?"

The students shared a look (aside from Silver, who was staring at Lily intensely).

"There are a few grates scattered across the first floor and outside of the school that lead to something below the school. The one in the library is the most secluded one, so if you're gonna take a peek, that's the best one to use."

Silver's eyes narrowed. "Why should we?"

Silver's friends looked at her.

Smolder put her hand on her hip. "Because it's suspicious?"

"What if it's dangerous?"

Gallus put his claw on Silver's shoulder. "That's just more reason for us to be the ones to look into it."

Yona looked around. "You know, it's a good thing not many other creatures are present. That would be an awkward way to get exposed."

"Come along! I'll show you where it is!" Lily headed off, five of the six students in tow. Silver glared and started to walk away, only for Gallus to grab her wing and drag her with them.

"Right here."

The students moved around the bookshelf. It was the very back of the library, full of books that almost no one was concerned with in this school. And there was a grate on the floor emitting an ominous light.

Smolder wasted no time walking over and removing the grate.

"What are you doing?"

Smolder was already halfway in. "Dragon. Strange magical cave. What do you think I'm doing?" With that, she dropped in.

Silver sighed. "We're really doing this, huh?" She dove in like it was a pool.

Yona tried to follow but needed a push from Ocellus to get through.

Sandbar watched Gallus follow, then turned to Lily. "Can you keep watch?"

Lily nodded.

Sandbar couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with Lily, but he didn't have a reason to distrust her. All he could do was follow his friends through the hole in the floor. As soon as he was through, a pony rounded the corner.

"What are you doing here?"

Inside the grate was a massive cavern made of blue crystals. Or at least something crystal-like. Even just standing there, they could all feel the magic flowing through the cavern.

Ocellus noticed something move out of the corner of her eye. Upon turning to look, she saw something she really didn't want to. "Ah! Miss Twilight!"

The other students turned to look. Sure enough, Twilight's figure was standing in the shadows nearby and started to approach them.

Gallus, like his friends, was shaking. "Hey, Headmare. Sorry if we're intruding. See, we found a grate, and-"

As soon as Twilight's hoof entered the light, it turned into a claw. As the rest of her was illuminated, she turned into a different creature entirely.

One that Gallus recognized. "Gabriella?"

The female Griffon giggled. "Yes. More specifically, I am her aspect left with the Tree of Harmony. I spoke with Gallus back when you went to the tree for the first time."

Sandbar looked at Gallus. "Is that why he passed out?"

Gabriella nodded. "Precisely. Now, bring out your weapons."

Silver tilted her head. "Why?"

"The tree needs to recharge. That, and I can use it to give you invaluable information."

The students shared a look, then brought out their weapons and held them out. A bright light erupted from the weapons and flowed into Gabriella. A moment later, the light blinded the students.

...

A large amount of fire flowed from the burning house into the hand of a Dragon. "How did it get this bad so fast?"

"I doubt it was natural." An Abyssinian casually examined the fire. "I believe it was caused by someone. As for who, well, that's anyone's guess."

"Why aren't you helping?"

"By doing what? Turning to ash?"

A stream of water shot between them at another burning building. "Cool it, you two!" A Hippogriff landed between the two. "Let's focus on putting out the fire for now."

"He's not doing anything!"

Gabriella, who was nearby, shrugged. "What is he supposed to do? Add fuel to the fire?"

"Hey!" A nearby Pegasus was creating tornadoes from his hooves and aiming them at the fire. "Focus on work! We can discuss pulling our weight later!"

Not far away, a Diamond Dog was shooting dirt at a fire. "Ah! It really is effective!"

The Yak standing next to him chuckled. "Yak not liar. Yak say it work, it work."

"We need to leave! Now!"

The Pegasus didn't even bother looking. "You be quiet!"

"HALT!"

The seven creatures turned towards the team of guards.

The Abyssinian sighed. "I'll handle these boys." He casually stepped towards them. "Hey, guys. I hope you don't mind, but we-"

The guard didn't wait before stabbing the unfortunate feline. Everyone else barely had enough time to process what happened before the guard flung his body into a nearby fire.

"Kill them all!"

Celestia observed the damage. "So they did all of this?"

The guard captain nodded. "They seemed crazed. I can't help but believe that something about their power affected them."

Celestia gave the guard a sympathetic look. "And your uncle?"

The guard looked past a building. "He was found over there. We believe one of them killed him directly."

"Did you get all seven of them?"

"No. One of them slipped away. Incidentally, it was their leader, Sky Blitz."

Celestia had a far-off look in her eyes.

"I couldn't help but notice that you're hesitant to refer to them by their original title. May I-"

"White Curse."

The guard blinked. "Pardon?"

"Their power is to be known as the White Curse, and the users themselves the White Cursed. They don't deserve their original title."

"Says you."

Celestia and her guards all looked at the speaker. "Sky Blitz!"

The Pegasus had a crazed look in his eye. "Sorry, Princess. I have some unfinished business here." With that, he charged at Celestia. The guard stepped between them and-

"Gah!" Sandbar was heaving. He felt something damp on his cheek. He had apparently been crying.

"Th-th-that was..."

He looked at his friends. They all looked just as shaken as he was.

Yona was biting at her hoof. "I did not need to know I could die like that."

Gallus flew up to Gabriella with a scowl on his face. "Why would you show us that? What was the point?"

Ocellus had her own questions. "Why did the guard attack them? Why did the say the White Cursed attacked first?"

Gabriella placed her claw on Gallus' beak and gently pushed him away. "I will answer one question for each of you, but only if it's a yes or no question."

The six friends looked at each other. They each had one shot at a question.

Gallus took a deep breath. "That guard wanted the old team gone, didn't he?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yes. He was part of a group known as the Night's Embrace, and he lied to Celestia to removed what he saw as a threat."

Yona was the next to speak. "Did you lend your power to the Tree of Harmony in case this happened?"

"Not this specifically, but yes. There had been incidents we were unable to help with. I didn't want Equestria to fall apart in case we were to vanish."

Smolder went next. "Are the Elements able to handle the exact same issues we can?"

"Yes, that's what they are designed for. They won't work right now, though. There needs to be a new Element of Loyalty."

All of the students stared at Gabriella. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Rainbow Dash acted in betrayal. We can't trust her."

"Are you kidding me?"

"She's the one we've been trusting the most!"

"Are you saying that one thing is enough to say she isn't loyal?"

Gabriella scowled. "She chose to betray someone. That's far from the loyalty we are looking for."

Gabriella's words only served to rile the students up more, causing more back and forth arguing, though Ocellus remained perfectly quiet throughout.

"ENOUGH!" Gabriella's voice caused a massive echo while serving its purpose of silencing the students. "I know what she's thinking! She saw no reason to stay loyal to Scootaloo!"

"Because Scootaloo betrayed her first."

All eyes shot to Ocellus, who had been quiet until then. Gabriella looked particularly shocked. "But-"

"You know what Rainbow is thinking, but if you don't know what Scootaloo was thinking at the time, you're missing some valuable context, which could include why Rainbow acted how she did in the first place. For that matter, Rainbow did what she did to try to help us, since she thought she could keep control of herself."

"There was no way she could."

"Did she know that at the time?"

Gabriella looked away.

"Or are you saying she should be loyal to Chrysalis?"

"... Heh. I guess I lost this one, huh? Alright. I'll let her continue being the Element of Loyalty. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure it was the right choice myself."

Smolder let out a sigh of relief. "That's relieving. But we still have three questions, right?"

Gabriella nodded. "Silver, Sandbar, Ocellus, you three are still able to ask me questions."

Silver smirked. "What was the power source for the airship?"

Gabriella stared at her.

Sandbar sighed. "Yes or no questions only, Silver."

"Oh! Shoot! Uh... Can we replicate the power source for the airship?"

Gabriella shook her head. "It requires something very specific, but I'm hesitant in telling you what it is. You really shouldn't think too hard on getting that thing working right now."

Silver frowned. "Aww."

"Were there eight members of the old team?"

"Yes."

Gallus' jaw dropped. "How'd you know that?"

Sandbar's expression mirrored Gallus'. "How did you not?"

Gabriella tilted her head. "Actually, that is a good question. We tried very hard to keep the number of members on our team hidden. How did you know it?"

"Well, I first thought it back when Ocellus was showing us the book for the first time. It mentioned eight weapons, but there were supposed to only be seven members of the team. I didn't think about it much after that until we found the airship. There were eight tables, eight chairs, eight bedrooms, eight anything you would only need one each of. I would have thought it was just in case, but I read the book on the White Curse again later and found that your team wasn't very sociable. No need for a spare bedroom in that case."

Yona blinked a couple of times. "Ooohhh. If they aren't sharing their things, then they wouldn't need eight of anything unless they had eight members."

"Well, eight of anything they only needed eight of. And that ignores what we heard them talk about in that vision just now." Sandbar looked at Ocellus. "Your turn, Ladybug."

Gallus smirked. "Can you ask a more groundbreaking question?"

"I think so..."

They held their head. Rainbow's corruption, the guards, Celestia... everything had just turned hectic over the last few days. And the worst of it all was-

"Well?"

-her. They looked up at the mare sitting across the desk from them. Usually, she was a close friend. In these kinds of moments, however, she was a sadistic puppeteer, knowing exactly how to manipulate them.

"Are you sending the guards away?"

"I... can't. Not without Celestia questioning something."

The mare suddenly laid herself on the table, nearly nose to nose with them. "So you're letting them do what they want, hmm?"

That look in her eyes was jarring enough as is. This close, however... "N-no! No no no! I was able to order them to-"

The mare put her hoof under their jaw and forced it shut. "I don't care about the details. Is our precious secret safe?"

It was as if the mare was forcing malice through her hoof. It was absolutely terrifying coming from-

The mare scowled. "Is. It. Safe?"

They nodded rapidly, not wanting their friend to kill them.

The mare quickly sat up, back to them. "Good. After all, I'm sure you remember our deal." She hopped off of the desk and started towards the door. "Now if you don't mind, I have to take care of a few things."

They stared at her as she got to the door. "You, of all ponies, should not make me fear for my life like that."

She smiled at them. "It's surprising what you can learn when you have the right friends. Oh, but I'm sure you of all ponies should know that, Headmare."

Yona nearly crushed her friends as they pulled her through the hole. "Sorry."

Smolder flew up behind her. "At least we're all through."

Silver covered her smile, then turned around. "Oh! Hey, Lily!"

The rest of them turned towards Lily as she stepped towards them. "What was down there?"

Sandbar got back on his hooves. "An empty cave that's apparently connected to the Tree of Harmony."

"I guess that makes sense since the Castle is right next door and apparently connected to the tree as well. That took a bit of time, though. I can tell Headmare Twilight that you were helping me clean the library and need an extension."

"No, I don't think we... need..." Ocellus suddenly let out a huge yawn. "What time is it?"

"About 1 in the morning."

Sandbar's eyes went wide. "R-really? Why aren't you in bed?"

"I'm used to staying up late. That, and I was asked to watch this place."

"Yeah. Thanks for doing that." Sandbar let out a large yawn. "Let's get to bed. We don't want to be too tired to study tomorrow."

The other students nodded and all seven of them left for the dorms.

Silver leaned in close to Lily and whispered to her, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Lily whispered back. "I'm just tired."

"If that's your story, I won't pry."

Author's Note

Trying to shake things up over on Patreon. I'm adding side material over there as the 5 dollar tier reward. Be aware that it may not stay in the rating for the story proper.

https://www.patreon.com/Jumpitydude

Chapter 23

"You sure look giddy, Twilight."

Twilight giggled. "I am! You two went to the Kirin homeland for your friendship quest, but this is my first time visiting them. I can't wait to learn about their history, traditions, and entertainment! Oh! I wonder if they have festivals going on!"

Fluttershy giggled, though more from amusement than excitement. "I think they treat every day as a festival there now."

Twilight gasped. "That sounds like fun!"

"Ah, shoot. Fluttershy, may I get out? Nature's calling."

Fluttershy got out of her seat, and Applejack wasted no time making her way to the bathroom.

As soon as she was gone, Twilight's smile faded. "I didn't want to bring this up around her, but-" Twilight noticed Fluttershy's cold expression. "... I haven't found anything about Discord yet."

Fluttershy's face immediately softened. "I guess he just doesn't want to be found right now." She giggled, causing Twilight to raise an eyebrow. "That probably means no one's captured him or drained his magic. Though it does beg the question of what he's hiding from."

Twilight stared out the window. "Probably whatever corrupted you and the rest of our friends. Hopefully, we can get rid of it before it gets too out of hand."

"Or we can let the White Cursed handle it."

Twilight cringed. Fluttershy used that voice. The voice she always used whenever the subject of those students came up.

"You do remember our agreement, right?"

Twilight took a deep breath. "If they die, you out my secret and leave for good." Twilight wasn't going to admit that Fluttershy leaving would sting far more than that secret getting out.

Fluttershy's smile twisted into one that Chrysalis would wear. "Good. You do remember."

Twilight bit her lip. "Fluttershy, when did you-"

*Bang!* "Woowee. That felt good."

Fluttershy lowered her voice. "We'll talk about this later."

Twilight nodded. With Applejack present, they couldn't exactly discuss the important things.

Applejack hopped back into her seat, then looked between her friends. "Uh, is something wrong?"

Fluttershy wore an innocent smile. "No. Everything's fine."

Twilight refused to look Applejack in the eye. "Yeah. It's all good."

Applejack couldn't help but feel like she was missing something important, but she didn't have a chance to ask before Twilight went on a rant about learning Kirin history and traditions. Applejack took it as a sign not to pry.

"Don't complain." Gallus continued to sweep the floor. "It'll just make things take longer. For some reason."

Smolder stopped wiping down the shelves to glare at Gallus. "I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking of it."

"Get out of my head."

"I figured you were thinking of it."

"Did we come in at a bad time?"

Gallus looked at Ocellus, who just came in the room. "Nah. We're just talking."

The rest of their friends stepped in, with Sandbar bringing up the rear. "Why are you guys cleaning the Headmare's office? Extra credit?"

Gallus looked down at his broom as he swept. "We tried to prank that Sludge guy and got Miss Starlight instead. When we tried to explain that we were after Sludge, she assumed that we were after the Headmare."

Smolder floated higher to wipe one of the higher shelves. "I don't like that guy. I won't be shocked if he lies to us just to get his way."

"He's definitely dishonest." Silver said as she went through the papers on Twilight's desk.

"SILVER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Sandbar's run was stopped by application of Hippogriff claw to his face.

"I'm looking for something juicy." Silver lifted up a letter.

Ocellus raised an eyebrow. "And you say Sludge is the dishonest one?"

"Hey, Tempest Shadow is coming here!"

Yona cocked her head. "Who's Tempest Shadow?"

Ocellus glanced at the Yak. "You met her once. She's the mare that found me and Sandbar after the incident with Professor Fluttershy."

Yona looked at Ocellus blankly.

"The one with the broken horn?"

"... Oh yeah. Her."

Sandbar was trying to physically force Silver to move away from the desk. "Okay, Silver! You saw Ocellus' next grade, you learned Tempest is coming to town, I think that's enough snooping!"

"No! I want something that's actually juicy!"

"Then I can get some more cleaning supplies so you can help out Smolder and Gallus."

They all paused and looked at the door. Starlight and Rarity were right there.

"... Ehehe. Well, I didn't find anything too juicy yet."

Rarity closed the door. "Are you sure you don't want to help your friends?"

Silver slowly stepped away from the desk. "Not in this situation."

Rarity lightly tugged on Smolder's tail with her magic. "By the way, I wanted to ask you about something I found in your room."

Smolder's eyes went wide. "Why were you in my room?"

Starlight sighed. "She's been doing that since we started the school. We tried to get her to stop, but it started wearing on our time and resources too much, so we had to just let it happen."

"Anyway, I found what appeared to be a superhero costume in your room."

There was a collective dropping of hearts.

Why weren't you wearing that?

It got torn in our fight with Rainbow, so I had to repair it! I only had it off of me for eight hours! "I, uh... that's..."

"Darling, I respect your decisions..."

Smolder felt like she was about to dehydrate from sweating.

"... but having a Nightmare Night costume based off of the White Cursed is not a very wise idea, especially with all the guards around lately."

The students blinked. She's not serious, is she?

Nightmare Night is so far away!

"Uh, yeah. It's not supposed to be based off of one of the White Cursed." Technically true.

"But you can certainly see why I thought that, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Starlight stepped forward. "You have plenty of time to change costumes. And you might still be able to use the one you have next time around."

"Yeah. Thanks for the advice." Are they really this dumb?

"Anyway, we should really go. Rarity and I have some, uh, business to attend to."

Ocellus raised an eyebrow. "Do you need help?" I don't think so.

"No, no, no. It's teacher stuff. Things we can't let the students see. Thank you for the offer though."

Silver waved as they left. "Okay! See you later!" They definitely know.

So that's, what, half of our teachers? Half the entire faculty if you include Spike and Starlight.

"Hey, guys?" Gallus pointed out the window at the large ice pillar in the distance.

"Uh oh."

They all switched into their costumes and lept out of the window.

Just down the hall, Starlight looked at Rarity out of the corner of her eye. "So you aren't going to talk to them about it?"

"No. They have a lot to deal with already." Rarity watched a guard walk right in front of her, then leaned close to Starlight. "And we can't just talk about it willy-nilly right now."

"True."

Within the building sat dozens, maybe hundreds, of scrolls, all with various writings and drawings. Some were childhood thought given form, some were records of the past, and some were merely transcripts. Like any building that could be called a library, everything was quiet...

Until Autumn Blaze threw the doors open. "And this is our library! The location of many of our documents, real or fictional!"

Fluttershy's ears were folded back in an effort to save her hearing. "Aren't libraries supposed to be quiet?"

Applejack shrugged. "It's Autumn."

"This is amazing!" Twilight's eyes were fixated on the many scrolls lining the walls. "I wish copy books worked on scrolls. That would make getting spares for other libraries much easier."

"We can make copy scrolls!"

"That'd be great!"

Applejack leaned over to Fluttershy. "I think her Pinkie is coming out."

Fluttershy nodded.

"You already calculated that? I've been trying to figure that out for months!"

The two mares watched as the Princess and the Kirin darted around the library talking at about a mile a minute.

"Aww! Children can be so precious!"

Just when the two understood something from one conversation...

"This is another one that I wrote!"

... they were on the next subject.

"At least, I think that's what it was called."

Applejack and Fluttershy just stared and smiled.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Autumn pretty much jumped up a ladder to grab a scroll off of a high shelf. "I have to share this one with you!"

"What is it? Another story?"

"A legend! A historical figure!" Autumn dropped off the ladder. "And a personal favorite of mine. Brilliance, mystery, style, and charm! A memorable Kirin to be sure." She used her magic to undo the magic latch on the scroll. "And his name is-"

"Autumn!"

The Kirin yelped and dropped the scroll on the nearby table.

Rain Shine laughed at the sight of Autumn's shocked face. "When I heard someone was being too loud at the library, I knew it had to be you."

"Wow!" Fluttershy was enamored by the image of the famous Kirin. "He looks amazing!"

Twilight looked at the mural on the scroll. The Kirin depicted had a bright gold coat with a honeydew mane. What stood out the most to her, however, was his bracelet. Specifically, the crescent moon charm on it.

"Now, what is he doing in those smaller pictures?"

The smaller pictures depicted him with various cages, full of creatures small and large. Though some involved lightning in some way.

Rain Shine giggled. "He was a professional trapper. He didn't ever kill anything, just relocated them somewhere they were more welcome."

"Or at least less troublesome." Autumn pointed at one of the images with lightning in it. "It was even said he could call down lightning and STRIKE down his opponents!"

Rain Shine laughed. "I see what you did there. There are also rumors that he was able to mind control the creatures. His traps weren't better designed than other's, but they seemed to catch things more reliably."

Twilight stared at the scroll. Yellow? Trapper? Mind control? It couldn't be.

Autumn pointed at one particular drawing that Twilight somehow missed. "And then there's this. He claimed that he managed to trap the moon at one point! But that's pretty absurd. I mean, do you really... think..." She trailed off as she noticed Twilight's expression.

"Is this... Was he Gold Strike?"

The two Kirin shared a look. "Yes."

Applejack tightened her eyes with worry. "Twilight? How did you-"

Twilight suddenly screamed. The other four leaned away from her, baffled by her suddenly changing expressions.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'll get this back to you, but I need it right now!"

"Twilight, what-"

"This is very important!" Twilight got right up in Fluttershy's face. "I CAN SAVE THEIR LIVES!" With that, she teleported away.

Rain Shine was very shaken up by Twilight's screaming. "Can someone explain what just happened?"

Fluttershy stared at where Twilight was just standing, then her eyes grew wide. "I think I know, but we have to get back to Ponyville right now!" The Pegasus then rushed out the door.

"What? Fluttershy?"

The others followed her out.

Fluttershy knew what Twilight was trying to do, and she wanted it as much as Twilight did. Little did either of them know that the wheels of fate are always turning. The final act had begun, and nothing either of them did could make a difference.

Author's Note

Fluttershy's not entirely in character here, I know. It'll be addressed in the coming chapters. And snooping Rarity is based on her actions in Ponyville Confidential.

Chapter 24

Aqualine perched herself on a nearby tree. Spike wasn't the hardest of opponents, but he used ice attacks, which put Aqualine at a disadvantage. Not that she minded since it gave Heatnix a chance to shine.

Spike himself didn't stand a chance. Any attack he threw was immediately turned to water, which he couldn't control. He scowled at the other dragon, then gathered all of his energy into one massive chunk of ice. He threw it forward... and could only watch as Heatnix melted the middle of it as she charged through it. One full-body tackle later, and the fight was over.

"Oh yeah! I'm good!"

"We need to split! There are guards nearby, and we can't let them find us!" Wind Jet immediately teleported away.

Heatnix turned into fire and leaped into the nearby forest. As soon as she landed, she undisguised and started brushing off her arms. "When I find that Sludge, I'm gonna-"

She paused. There were other heat sources near her. She slowly looked up.

Princess Celestia was standing right in front of her, with a guard at either side of her.

"Smolder?"

"You have to stop it!"

"Why are you letting this happen?"

Twilight shied back. The last time they argued about this, she had the advantage that the others didn't have any idea of who had that power. This time? There was no hiding it.

Tears were welling in Rarity's eyes. "Celestia will listen to you! She has to!"

"Sh-she doesn't." Twilight wanted to run, but they weren't going to let her.

Rainbow got in Twilight's face. "You're just letting a child die?"

Pinkie grabbed Twilight and pulled her nose to nose. "After she saved our lives?"

Twilight had one escape route. She teleported behind her friends, planning to run to Celestia to talk to her.

But teleporting was as far as she got before Fluttershy struck her across the face, sending Twilight to the ground.

"Fluttershy..."

Fluttershy placed her left hoof on Twilight's horn, her right hoof on Twilight's neck, and forced her right hind leg into Twilight's stomach. "Twilight. You remember our agreement, right?"

Twilight bit her lip. "I... I..."

Fluttershy's cold, heartless eyes moved closer to Twilight's. "You have one opportunity to stop this before I follow through on my threat."

"Please... I just... need to... to..."

"Hey, girls?" Applejack positioned herself near her other friends. "Do you know what's going on?"

The others looked at each other. Rainbow and Pinkie knew. Rarity knew. But Rarity didn't know Rainbow or Pinkie knew, and vice versa. As a result, they remained quiet at the moment. Meanwhile, Applejack had no clue what was going on.

Though Fluttershy clearly had a good idea of what was happening. "The clock is running out, Twilight. You should know what will happen if Smolder dies." Fluttershy got up and started walking away. "I'll be at the execution site."

Twilight watched as Fluttershy left, soon followed by the rest of her friends. She was barely able to think. Her friends were gone. She was all alone. Was this going to be... permanent? Had she lost all of her friends?

"Twilight." Celestia had approached her at some point. "Are you going to the execution or not?"

"Celestia?" Twilight's eyes shot wide as she leaped up to Celestia. "Celestia! You have to stop the execution!"

"Why?" Celestia's tone was flat.

Twilight produced a scroll, unrolled it, and forced it into Celestia's face. "Gold Strike was able to control the minds of other creatures! If his powers are not restricted to the White Cursed, then there's no need to outlaw the White Curse!"

Celestia stared at the scroll. "... Cute. I don't see how this is proof. Stop wasting my time."

Twilight's heart dropped back into her stomach. "B-but... I..."

"I do want to ask you something before the execution. Smolder is one of the White Cursed. There are five more. What are the odds that they're your other students? The ones close to Smolder?"

Twilight averted her gaze. "Just... let me stay in denial a bit longer, okay?"

Celestia continued to stare at Twilight. "So you did know. We can discuss this later." Celestia turned around. "Faithful student."

Twilight curled up into a ball. It was all going wrong. Her student was about to die. Her friends abandoned her. She closed her eyes. She just wanted to... disappear.

Rainbow kept staring at Fluttershy. The way Fluttershy was acting earlier was definitely not like her. And she wasn't corrupted since that apparently has a one time limit.

"You haven't put it together yet, have you?"

Rarity lifted Fluttershy onto Rainbow's back. Fluttershy was... shaking?

"Oh. Cruel to be kind. I think you went a bit too far, though."

Fluttershy just whimpered, tears pouring down her face.

"But why? Even if Smolder was one of them, that doesn't mean we know who the others are?" Applejack walked a few steps before realizing the others stopped. "What? Don't tell me you all know who the others are."

"Applejack. Darling. Think for a second. There are six members, and one of them is Smolder. It's not that hard to piece together who the other five are."

Applejack stared at them, then scratched her chin.

Rainbow didn't feel like waiting for Applejack to piece it together. "They're our students, Applejack. The other non-ponies and Sandbar."

Applejack's eyes narrowed. "And how did you know that?"

Rainbow sighed. "When you got corrupted, our students went missing. I thought about it, and realized that they had to be the White Cursed that just showed up."

Applejack placed her hoof to her face. "Pinkie, please tell me you don't believe that-"

Pinkie practically teleported into Applejack's face. "I saw them fighting me while I was corrupted! They didn't have their costumes yet!"

Applejack stared. "... Alright. I believe ya. But that doesn't explain why Fluttershy was acting so weirdly!"

Rainbow put her hoof on Fluttershy's. "Well, what do you think Twilight would have done if she learned who the White Cursed are?"

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Tell Celestia."

Rarity patted Fluttershy on the head. "But she hadn't. Why?"

Applejack stared at Fluttershy, then said, somewhat slowly, "Because Fluttershy was blackmailing her. Because if Celestia knew, she would put all six of them down. And Fluttershy didn't want that." She pulled her hat over her eyes. "None of us do."

Pinkie rubbed the back of her head. "Although, to be fair, that would require Twilight knowing in the first place."

"She knows." Fluttershy's voice was a near whisper. "That's why she was trying to get away back then."

Rainbow opened her mouth to respond, only to hear someone screaming nearby. "What the heck?"

The mares walked towards the screaming.

"NO! LET ME GO!" Dragon Lord Ember was struggling against five Yaks, although three of them looked more like transformed Changelings. "LET ME GO! SMOLDER! SMOLDER, DO SOMETHING!"

Smolder smiled at Ember, then hung her head. Her arms were bound behind her back, pinning her wings down as well. She was kneeling on a circular wooden platform surrounded by a foot deep moat of water. It was clear she had no intention of struggling.

"SMOLDER!" Ember felt something touch her shoulder. She looked over and was met with King Thorax's somber gaze. That's when she broke down crying, falling into his embrace once the Yaks let her go.

Ocellus watched from behind Thorax. He had already told her to be ready to flee to the hive. She wanted to save Smolder, but she couldn't think of a way to.

"What was Celestia thinking?" Queen Novo looked over the other attendees. "Why block off the public while inviting the leaders of the other races? Is she trying to create another divide? It makes no sense!"

"Auntie."

Novo looked at Silver. "We may need to escape to Mt. Aris. You can take the scenic route to meet with your friends, but your safety is our priority. We may not even stay long enough to collect your things."

Gallus was staring at the Hippogriffs intently. He was so distracted, he didn't notice who walked up next to him.

"Be ready to fly, boy."

Gallus turned to his other side. "Grandpa Gruff?"

Gruff pressed his claw against Gallus' beak. "Don't take me for a fool, boy. I know you took the bell, and I know why. That's why I had a fake made in the first place. If you're going to use that bell well, then you need to live."

Gallus looked at him. For most of his life, Gallus thought Gruff was uncaring at best. Now, even Gruff speaking in the same cold tone, Gallus realized how much he really cared. "Yes, sir."

"Bah. Ponies silly." Prince Rutherford looked like a ten-year-old at a classical performance. "They call Yaks brutes, then go and kill others."

"Y-yeah. Ponies very silly." Yona trembled both because her kins were treating her friend's death so casually and because she got used to talking like a pony, making her original dialect awkward for her.

"Well, this is a brilliant way of letting us back into society." Rain Shine knew how harrowing the situation was but simply didn't care for what Celestia was doing.

"Why wouldn't it be? Gathering angry and sad creatures of power around a child about to be killed is a beautiful way of showing Equestrian hospitality!" The only thing indicating Autumn's sarcasm was her expression.

Rain Shine giggled a bit, then looked away from the execution site to observe Ponyville.

"Sir, do we really need to be here?"

Flash Magus looked at the other guard. "I don't feel like we should be here either, but this was the Princess' orders."

"Why does she want us here?"

Flash focused on Smolder again. "No idea."

"Excuse me! Guard!" Flash looked at Rain Shine, who pointed off in the distance. "What is that?"

Flash looked. There were bright flashes of color off in the distance.

One of the other guards rolled his eyes. "It's probably just fireworks."

"If you're so sure, why not check it out?"

"I'm not missing the execution!"

Flash glared at the guard. "Then I'll write you up for insubordination."

The guard rolled his eyes. "Fine." He headed off in the direction of the "fireworks."

One of the other guards stared at him. "He wants to see this? What is wrong with him?"

"I can think of something, but I'd rather not say something I shouldn't."

Sandbar stared at Smolder as Rainbow walked up beside him. "She's accepting it. She won't fight back."

Rainbow, having let Applejack carry Fluttershy, draped her wing over his back. "Do you feel like she failed you guys?"

"No. I failed her."

"Celestia!" Novo's voice was full of fury. "What are you doing?"

Her yell drew everyone's attention to the approaching mare. Though some of them immediately took note of the mare beside her.

"Twilight?"

Rain Shine watched as the other leaders yelled at Celestia to stop the execution. "This is getting wild."

Autumn shrugged. "You can't make up this level of drama."

Celestia and Twilight simply ignored everyone yelling at them and stepped into the moat. The various onlookers fell silent as they realized their voices weren't being heard, eventually leaving Ember as the only voice still crying out.

Celestia and Twilight nodded at each other, then looked at Smolder, who was still hanging her head.

The water from the moat wrapped around their horns.

Smolder looked up just before the water hit her.

Ocellus closed her eyes.

Silver clasped her claws over her beak.

Gallus cringed.

Yona turned away.

Sandbar just stared.

A huge plume of steam rose from the platform Smolder was on.

Author's Note

There are a couple of things I want to note before anyone comments on them.

First, that small bit with Spike. What happened to him is effectively what would have happened to Starlight had Yona been there from the start. It's also effectively what happened to Applejack (Once Smolder was out of the way) and Rainbow Dash (Once Gallus showed up). Basically, it's a display of what happens when the right teammate is at the battle.

The reason it happened was to set up the last few chapters of the story. Prior corruptions were meant to be the focus of their chapters. This chapter is meant to focus on the events leading up to the execution. That's why Spike's corruption is effectively a footnote.

The other thing is Twilight and Celestia. Celestia acts out of character the whole time, while Twilight acts inconsistently. There is a reason a reason for this, and I feel like most of you can piece that reason together already. If you can't, it's spelled out in the next chapter. So don't go crying to me that they're not in character. I know.

And I'm saying this for those that haven't figured it out. Some of you may think it's obvious, but you'd be surprised at what some people won't think of.

One final thing I need to note, I've hit a point where I desperately need money. It may even get to the point where I have to stop writing fanfiction altogether. I have a Patreon account with extra content available, but no one's sent me anything. If you have any money to spare, even if I only make one dollar from this, then it would be worth it for me.

https://www.patreon.com/Jumpitydude

Chapter 25

"SMOLDER! SMOLDER, DO SOMETHING!"

Smolder smiled at Ember. It was nice to see her one last time. Smolder then hung her head and closed her eyes, ready to face her fate.

"What are you doing?"

She opened her eyes. She was kneeling in a void of darkness.

"Are you letting them kill you?"

She looked up. His true form was obscure to her, but she knew exactly who it was. "And what am I supposed to do?"

"Fight back. If not for yourself, then for your friends."

"Me versus all of them? That's not going to go well."

"Your friends will help you. And you aren't fighting all of them, just Celestia and Twilight."

"Why them?"

"You should already know."

Smolder bit her lip. "Why are you doing this? What's in it for you?"

"A lot more than you realize. Please, Smolder. If you die here, your friends will soon follow, and the future I've been fighting for will be lost forever."

"And how do I know that the others won't fight me?"

"Most are in attendance solely because Celestia summoned them there, and Thorax, Novo, and Flash Magus have a plan to save you. I told them to hold back, but if you give up I'll tell them to go through with it."

"... They want me to survive?"

He put his hoof under Smolder's chin. "And there is a way to. All you need to do is want to survive."

"How? How do I survive this? They're about to completely put me out!"

"And they can. If you're still fire."

"... Wait, that? But Blazer couldn't finish it! How's that supposed to-"

"He was too weak to finish it. But there is something that makes you stronger than he was. Than he could ever have been."

"What?"

"Friendship."

A huge plume of steam rose from the platform Smolder was on.

"SMOLDER!"

A smile spread across Twilight's face.

Sandbar could just watch...

Get ready to fight.

The moment after Sandbar heard Smolder's voice, a blade of fire shot out and struck Celestia and Twilight in the face. Everyone watching started mumbling in confusion.

"Sorry about that. I kinda lost track of myself for a bit."

Smolder's voice only added to the confusion.

"Heh. Look at you two. How long have you been like that?"

Sandbar looked at the two Alicorns. He was too distraught to notice earlier, but they were both corrupted!

"Don't worry. I'll fix this." The steam suddenly shot away from Smolder, showing her in costume, holding her sword... and completely black? "I just need a bit of time."

Celestia covered her hooves with water. "Do you expect to beat us on your own?"

"Of course not."

Thorax's eyes went wide, then he turned his head around. "Ocellus!"

Ocellus turned into a vine and shot towards the platform.

Novo shifted her eyes toward her niece. "Silver!"

Silver turned to water and shot upwards.

Gruff stepped forward. "Gallus!"

Gallus flicked his wrist, summoning his bell and ringing it at the same time, giving him a sound wave to ride on.

"Sorry!" Yona forced the earth below her upward, allowing her to leap to the platform.

All four of them arrived at Smolder's side at the same time, with Sandbar teleporting in just a moment later. All of them were in costume, not that they needed to be. Their identities were blown open, but there was more on the line than that.

The various observers wisely backed off, though Autumn had a wide smile on her face. "This is getting good!"

Just hold on, guys. A familiar voice spoke to them. I can take them out fast, but I'll need some time to get there.

Not if we take them out first! Smolder boasted.

I'll be impressed if you do.

Twilight reared back and surrounded her horn with water. Stomping down, she shot the water towards the students. Smolder stepped in front and held up her blade. As soon as the water made contact, it all evaporated.

Ocellus stepped back. Smolder, what are you right now?

Obsidian. It's something Blazer was working on before he died.

Silver noticed Celestia move towards the crowd. "Oh, no you don't!" She made a grabbing motion and then pulled back. This somehow caused Celestia to fly backwards towards them. Once Celestia was over the moat, Silver raised her claw in the air, causing a wall of water to shoot upwards. Twilight tried to pull water from the wall, but couldn't get any of it out.

How did you-

Don't know! Don't care! It's helping!

Celestia and Twilight both spread their wings and flew up. As they got to the top of the water formed wall, Gallus appeared above them.

"You're not getting out that easily." With a flick of his wrist, Gallus summoned his bell and created a pressure wave that forced Celestia and Twilight back down. Sandbar, should I come down with them?

No. Focus on keeping them inside the barrier.

Easy enough.

Once Celestia and Twilight righted themselves from their tumble, a vine wrapped around their hind legs and pulled them down. Once they slammed into the ground, several more vines wrapped around their stomachs, binding their wings to their backs.

Well done, Ocellus.

The moment the Alicorns got to their hooves, Gallus' bell dropped between them and created a shockwave that forced the Alicorns into opposite sides of the water walls. Silver increased the surface tension of the water they flew into, turning the water into trampolines that sent them right back into each other, head first.

Smolder's jaw dropped. Holy cow, you two!

Ocellus giggled as Gallus landed next to her, bell back in claw. We're all doing well.

Celestia growled and stood up.

Gallus's leaned back. Did that phase her at all?

Alicorns are tough. That's why it would be amazing if you beat them without me.

Hey! I can see through the water!

Sandbar cringed. Not a good time, Silver!

Celestia pulled her head back and drew in magic.

I got this.

She threw her head forward and shot a massive laser at them. A wall of dirt came up in front of the students, blocking the laser.

"Just die already!" Celestia cried out as she struggled to pierce her laser through the wall.

Twilight stood up beside Celestia and stared at the wall. She readied her own spell, only to cut it off when she heard something odd. She looked side to side, then looked up, but didn't see anything. She started charging her spell again.

Only for Yona to come up from below them and knock both of the Alicorns into the air. Yona quickly realized that she threw herself too hard, as the Alicorns were far below her. Thinking fast, she grabbed the entire mass of land below her and pulled. Sure, there was no way for her to actually move it, but that wasn't her goal. Her goal was to land faster.

"Smaaaaaaash!"

Twilight and Celestia both had just enough time to process what was about to happen before becoming a Yak landing pad.

"Yak strong!" Yona backflipped back to the platform, then her exuberant smile faded. Too strong?

You feel that, right? Sandbar sent to his friends. All of you feel it, don't you? That strength. This is the power we're supposed to have. I've felt it once before and didn't know why, but it makes sense now. It's because we aren't fighting for ourselves. We aren't fighting because we feel forced to. We aren't fighting because we feel like it's in our nature. We're fighting for each other. That's what our power was missing! Why we're stronger now than ever before!

Celestia and Twilight got to their hooves.

And you guys, keeping you safe, is why I can do THIS!

A spiraling wind tunnel suddenly pierced the water walling off the arena, sending Twilight and Celestia through it. Sandbar wasted no time chasing after them and slamming his hooves into them repeatedly. While they managed to swing at him a couple of times, he always teleported away at the last moment.

He suddenly slammed both of them into the ground, then created a fierce updraft to send them into the sky. He then teleported above them to create another wind tunnel to prevent them from controlling their movements. Once they were caught, he went right back to beating them down.

Everyone was completely entranced by the aerial performance. Silver dropped all of the water back into the moat. Autumn, Ember, and Rainbow Dash were all cheering Sandbar on loudly, but everyone else clearly wanted Sandbar to beat them. Though one of the onlookers was trembling.

"It's my fault. This is all my fault."

Rarity patted Fluttershy on the back. "It's alright, dear. Try not to worry about it."

"B-but I-"

"You can apologize to them once this is over."

Sandbar? Sandbar heard that voice again. Get them in the water.

Sandbar body slammed Celestia towards the moat, then grabbed Twilight by the front legs and swung her towards Celestia. Celestia hit the moat, then Twilight hit Celestia. Then a lightning bolt shot past Sandbar's head and struck them both.

"That was crazy!" Ember, who was on the edge of despair just minutes ago, was hollering with a wide smile.

Thorax wasn't bothered by her volume, in spite of being right next to her. He couldn't help but smile at what he just watched.

Rutherford led the yaks in stomping, certainly not realizing they were in any danger themselves. Novo watched them with a raised eyebrow as she clapped. Gruff stayed as stone-faced as he could, wiping off a tear that fell from his eye.

Rain Shine looked at the sky above the school. "Well, that was a show. It would have been far more fitting if the fireworks from before started now."

"Why not make our own?" Autumn lit her horn up.

Rain Shine placed her hoof on Autumn's horn. "I think we can do without them."

Even from up high, Sandbar could see two shadows move from below the princesses and disappear in the water. He teleported back to the platform, where his friends were.

"That was insane!"

"Good job!"

Sandbar only stayed upright because his friends quickly started hugging him, with Ocellus slipping in a kiss.

A moment later, someone landed on the platform with them. They kept their eyes on the two princesses.

Chapter 26 part 2

... Why am I conscious? That was the very first thing I thought after I finished my spell.

I honestly thought it would knock me out, and I wouldn't be conscious at all while I was sealed away. But I saw so many things.

I saw the union between races fall apart.

I saw the Diamond Dogs go underground.

I saw the Hippogriffs hide in the sea.

I saw Lagomorph cause incidents to keep you safe.

I saw the Kirin, my own kind, silence themselves.

I saw the Centaur kingdom become little more than rubble.

I saw... so much.

It wasn't until years after that fateful day that I sensed those with the "spark." Those that could use the same power I have. Those that could be our successors.

But... they were never close enough to work. If I gave one of them their power, that would start the time limit, and I already knew that I didn't have the luxury of wandering around freely. I didn't think of using an alias or changing my form until after I was free, and even then I had to be careful.

At first, I was hoping to get some creatures that knew not to out themselves too quickly, but as time went on I had to abandon that thought. I wanted trained fighters, but that had to be abandoned as well. By a hundred years ago, I just wanted more than two of them to be near each other.

During that time of waiting, I saw so many with that potential that I wanted to help. So many I wanted to hold. Even this past decade, I saw a Unicorn that lost her horn and her way, a Diamond Dog that wanted to break free, a Dragon that was tortured and had no memory of it, and a Griffon that just wanted a friend. But I couldn't do anything.

There was only one thing that nearly made me break the seal. Luna. When she became Nightmare Moon, I thought I had lost her for good. I thought I would never get her back. Seeing her return, I wanted to hold her. To kiss her. To go right back to being at her side.

I couldn't. I still had something I needed to do.

It wasn't until something major happened that I finally saw freedom.

The School of Friendship opened and, by pure chance, drew in six with that potential. Then things happened that led them to the Castle of the Two Sisters, where I could reach them. Silverstream had a darkness hidden in her heart I was able to take advantage of. That led to Smolder breaking the mirror, releasing me and letting the power back into the world.

You realize why I was trapped in that situation, right, Celestia? Why I needed to manipulate a group of children like that?

It was because of you.

You were the one that sent Nightmare Moon away, taking Luna away from me. It felt like I died that day.

You blindly believed in someone that destroyed the old Ponyville, making my teammate's deaths meaningless.

You listened to Ponies that wanted you to fall and never second guessed them, dividing the races and weakening them significantly and needlessly.

You're the reason all of this happened.

Princess Celestia.

...

I never blamed you for anything.

Celestia's eyes snapped open her cheeks soaked with tears. At some point during the flashback or monologue, Gold Strike hugged her and was still holding her. She returned the embrace and started crying again.

Autumn put her hoof to her mouth and giggled. "I think I picked a good idol."

Rain Shine nodded in agreement. "I think you did."

Gallus was blinking. "What just happened?"

Ocellus sighed. "I don't blame you for not understanding, because it's a little complex. Every creature's brain operates on electrical signals, and the brain sends those signals to control the body through the nervous system. If Gold Strike has the power to control electricity, then it's likely that he's able to manipulate those signals."

Sandbar put his hoof to his chin. "Ah. So he sent out electricity that basically made us part of a big nervous system, with Princess Celestia as the so-called brain."

Ocellus opened her mouth, then shrugged. "Close enough."

Silver looked at the Kirin. "Doesn't that mean he has the power to control electricity?"

Smolder finally turned back to normal. "It's kind of obvious at this point, but yeah. He has the same power as us."

Silver rolled her eyes. "Well, I knew that. After what Ocellus and Gabriella revealed, I'd have to be eating my own feathers not to know."

Gold Strike looked over his shoulder. "Gabriella?"

"She left her aspect with the Tree of Harmony. We spoke with that," Gallus pat his Changeling friend on the head as he spoke, "and Ocellus asked if you were part of their team."

Ocellus let out a nervous chuckle. "I thought some of your actions were contradictory towards your supposed intents, so when I got a chance to ask someone who knew, I took it."

Sandbar took a few wobbly steps forward. "Hey, Gold? What was that thing you sealed away?"

"... A dark entity that caused a number of problems. It created Discord, Nightmare Moon, I wouldn't be shocked if it created the Changelings, probably the Pony of Shadows, and all of those things you six have been fighting. I'd rather not talk about it right now."

"It's alright." Celestia broke off the hug and gave Gold Strike her usual smile. "I feel better now."

Gold Strike mirrored her smile, in stark contrast to his sadistic one from just minutes ago. "That's good. We've both been through a lot."

"Your Highness." Flash Magus walked over to the side of the moat. "I would like to apologize for going behind your back to help Gold Strike and his allies."

"No need. You were doing the right thing. Though I'd like to know, were all of the Pillars helping them?"

Flash nodded. "In our own ways. I can detail them later for you."

"That would be nice, captain. For now, we should prioritize figuring out who among my court and guards are part of the Night's Embrace."

Flash looked off in the distance. "I have an idea of a few of them."

Gold Strike coughed to get their attention. "I did accidentally cross some of their thoughts on a few slow nights, and it does seem like some of them, including most of those in the castle itself, are more sided with Luna herself rather than Nightmare Moon."

"So they may jump train if Luna asks them to."

"Why did you keep her in the dark about everything?"

Celestia sighed. "She doesn't need to know how damaging Nightmare Moon really was, given how much those few days got to her."

"I... suppose that makes sense."

"Does she know you're back."

Gold Strike rubbed the back of his head. "She knows, but I never approached her directly."

"Same with Twilight. If you talked to her, you could have avoided a lot of trouble."

Gold Strike raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think Twilight would have listened to me?"

"Yes."

Twilight saying it would have been one thing. Her friends would have been another. But literally everyone there? Even those that barely knew Twilight?

Gold Strike looked around for a bit. "... Ehe. Well, I... That was... I..." He suddenly flung Lagomorph off of his back. "I blame you for this!"

"What the hay?" The bunny got back on its paws and pointed at Gold Strike. "What are you blaming me for?"

"You didn't tell me she would listen to me!"

"And how was I supposed to know?"

Rain Shine bit her lip. "Well, this is an interesting case of arguing with oneself."

Gold Strike opened his mouth, only for him and the students to suddenly look off in the distance. Everyone else followed their gaze and discovered what had drawn in their attention.

Canterlot. Specifically, the dark cloud that was starting to surround it.

Thorax was the first to speak, "What is that?"

Novo stepped back. "Is that the Storm King again?"

"It's not." Gold Strike was suddenly focused. "It's the monster that has caused all of our problems. Erebus."

Silver looked over her shoulder. "Erebus?"

"The darkness in everyone's heart. It must have drawn in enough power to go at us head-on."

Celestia stared at Ocellus. "And how do you know that?"

Ocellus looked at the Princess. "Discord mentioned it. He didn't say any names, though."

Fluttershy put her hoof to her mouth. "D-Discord?"

"We need to seal it away."

Twilight gasped. "You mean you have to go back to the mirror-"

"The mirror's gone! I broke it!"

"We don't need the mirror. If there are eight of us with different powers, we can seal it away using that."

"Problem." Gallus motioned to his friends. "There are only seven of us."

Gold Strike nodded. "We need one more."

Smolder bit her lip. "But the mirror-"

"We don't need the mirror." Gold Strike lifted his hoof and a dagger popped out. "The gems on our weapons have the same properties as the mirror, so they can be used to give someone powers. The problem is finding someone with the potential."

Sandbar hopped off the platform. "How do we do that?"

"An important thing I learned about our power is that fate is more prominent with us than anyone else. Odds are, you've met someone with that potential already."

Rainbow flew over. "Then I'm probably your best bet! I've been helping them almost the whole way."

"I'd agree if someone else became the Element of Loyalty. Because you are actively an Element of Harmony, you can't use our power."

Celestia sighed. "The spark that the Elements have is inherited, so Rainbow Dash would need to have a child to lose that spark. That's not going to happen in the next hour."

Yona suddenly smiled. "Gilded Lily! She's been involved in our lives a lot, so she-"

"She doesn't have that potential. I did a scan of the school, and the only results came from the elements."

Fluttershy scratched her head. "When did you- Never mind. I can ask later.

Rainbow growled and clutched her head. "So what are we looking for?"

"Like I said, it's probably someone they've met before, even once. They need a different element from us, so they'd need to be described as mechanical, cautious, or protective. Ideally, they'd know how to fight, but that's not necessary."

Twilight suddenly let out a cry, catching everyone's attention. "I've got it! I know who can be your last member! Give me your dagger and I can give it to her!"

Gold Strike produced a leather pouch. "This would be better. It's the last of the weapons that my old team used. But you have to be sure about this. Only eight of us can exist at once."

"I'm absolutely positive! You mentioned her in your monologue even!"

The Kirin stared at the mare for a bit, then gave her the pouch. "If you're sure, then I'll trust you."

Twilight nodded and ran off.

Smolder looked back at Canterlot. "We need to hop onto a train straight to-"

"Trains would have shut off by now, but there is a way for you to get to Canterlot fast. Please step off the platform."

The students stared at Celestia then each other before flying up or stepping off (aside from Sandbar, who was already off). Once they were clear, Celestia flipped the platform over. On the side that was suddenly showing was an odd looking magic circle.

"Ah. I get it." Gold Strike hopped up on the platform. "You were going to use this sigil to send Smolder to your room up in Canterlot."

Celestia nodded. "I got corrupted when I overheard Twilight's friends screaming at her, so I had plenty of time beforehand to set it up. The only reason I didn't use it is because of my corruption."

Smolder landed back on the platform, followed by her friends. "If you didn't get corrupted, I would be up in Canterlot right now."

Ocellus was last back on the platform. "It's a good thing you aren't. This looks powerful, but one use only."

Gold Strike looked at Celestia. "Will Twilight be able to get her friend to Canterlot fast?"

Celestia nodded. "If she can't do it herself, I can help her."

Gold Strike looked back to his new team. "Then we shouldn't waste any more time. Let's get going."

The rest of the team nodded, and Gold Strike lit up his horn. The sigil glowed, then the seven of them vanished.

Celestia looked at Canterlot. "Be safe, heroes."

...

"Yak no understand."

Author's Note

I wonder how many of you can guess who the eighth member is going to be.

Chapter 27

Luna looked out across Canterlot from her tower. The guards were practically useless in destroying the shadowy figures, only able to make them back off for a moment. Many of the civilians had managed to escape Canterlot or flee into the castle, which had a barrier of light set up around it. Whatever was attacking them, the light kept it away.

Even worse, she had witnessed some of her subjects get captured by the darkness. When they emerged, they looked like a pure black mishmash of parts from various creatures. A couple even looked like smaller versions of Discord, but it wasn't likely he was involved with this.

She felt a surge of magic from Celestia's room. She rushed out of her room, down some stairs, and through a few hallways to get there. "Sister! There's something-" As soon as she could see in the room, she found seven creatures, none of them Alicorns. "You're not Celestia."

"You sure? She looks like Celestia in the right light." The Dragon pointed at the Hippogriff with her thumb.

The eldest of the seven, a Kirin, stepped forward. Luna didn't have to look twice to recognize him.

"Goldie."

"Hey, Lulu."

A moment later, they rushed to each other, kissing as soon as they could and hugging immediately after. All six students smiled at the sight, with Ocellus nuzzling Sandbar and Gallus putting his wing over Silver. After a bit, the kiss broke off.

"Oh, Luna." Gold Strike's smile vanished. "I wish we could reunite under better circumstances."

"Agreed." They broke off their hug and Luna led the team through the door. "Am I wrong in guessing that the thing attacking Canterlot is the thing you were facing off against long ago?"

"It is. And I know you want to fight out there, but doing so could risk Nightmare Moon returning." Gold Strike looked over his shoulder. "And before any of you ask, it's due to the unusual circumstance that it may be able to corrupt someone twice."

Ocellus tilted her head. "Something I did want to ask about. How sure are you of what you're saying? Because you said, "could," and, "may," as if you weren't certain."

Gold Strike sighed. "Well, for one thing, this isn't exactly a regular occurrence. It's not like Erebus pops free from the seal and attacks innocents on a regular basis. The main reason I'm not certain is because I wasn't ever the team genius. That was Castor. So all I have to go off of is what he told me. I'm just glad we had a good relationship, otherwise-"

*Thud!*

They all looked at Sandbar, who righted a vase before it fell. "I'm fine. I don't have time to take a break anyway."

Gold Strike put a hoof on Sandbar's shoulder. "Are you sure? We can't have any liabilities in this situation."

Sandbar nodded. "I'm fine."

"... If you say so."

Luna cleared her throat. "I feel like it's important to note that a number of civilians are still trapped in Canterlot. Are they gone?"

Gallus, in a move that wasn't bold only to him, pat the princess of the moon on the head. "I doubt it. It's probably like what happened to our teachers."

Gold Strike nodded. "Its corruption is still its corruption. Any harm that may come to the corrupted civilians will transfer to Erebus itself. The civilians will be fine regardless of what we do to them."

"Alright. So what's our plan?"

"We have to hold off until two creatures arrive: Our eighth member, and Erebus itself. Until they arrive, we need to be out there fighting."

Silver raised a claw. "And we're not waiting in here why?"

"The barrier should hold perfectly fine, but that doesn't mean Erebus can't trap us in here. If the darkness creates a barrier around the light one, then we're trapped."

Ocellus put her hoof to her chin. "And at that point, all we can wait on is our demise."

Gold Strike put his hoof on Luna's mouth. "And no, dropping the barrier if that happens is not an option. That would give it access to the ponies in here, adding fuel to the fire."

Ocellus looked at Sandbar, who was still wobbling a bit. "But what if we pass out on the battlefield."

"That won't happen. I didn't want to mention this, but-"

A monstrous roar came from somewhere outside the castle.

"We don't have time to talk about this! We need to go!" Gold Strike started running, followed by everyone except Ocellus.

"B-but-"

Gallus grabbed Ocellus. "Not now!"

Ocellus yelped as she was whisked off.

Gold Strike looked back as he ran. "Once we're through the barrier, split up! We can all go all out without risking each other's safety! Those things won't have an elemental advantage in this state!"

Yona glanced at Sandbar, who wasn't as wobbly as he was earlier. "What if we need help?"

"We have telepathy!"

As soon as they reached the edge of the barrier, Luna skidded to a stop and watched the others leap or fly off in different directions. "ALL UNITS! RETURN TO THE CASTLE!"

Gallus, did you-

That's the Royal Canterlot Voice.

"I REPEAT! RETURN TO THE CASTLE NOW!"

Gallus chucked Ocellus off somewhere that none of the others went. As soon as she landed, Ocellus rolled into a wooden ball that started sprouting limbs, soon becoming a wooden golem, swiping at the comparatively small creatures of darkness below her. Gold Strike, what were you about to mention? That thing you didn't want to?

How to put this... You've heard of the phrase, "Fighting fire with fire," right?

Ocellus launched a number of branches off towards the creatures. Yeah, but what does that... Wait! Are you saying that our powers come from Erebus?

Yes and no. A long time ago, there was no way for us to face this thing at all. Eventually, someone did what Rainbow Dash did, intentionally getting themself corrupted, just with more success. They refined the power they were given and turned it into- Ahh!

Gallus rang his bell to clear out the street he was on. Ahh? That's not a creative name. Gallus threw the bell behind him, bouncing it off of several creature's faces before it arced into the air and landed back in his claw.

Sorry, that thing caught me off guard. Anyway, one major benefit that you probably didn't ever notice is that we can absorb Erebus' power as well.

Sandbar blew away a number of the creatures. So it's not friendship that makes us stronger? Sandbar grabbed the creature right behind him, spun it around, and threw it into two other nearby creatures. He followed it up by teleporting near several other creatures and kicking them in rapid succession.

Friendship does make us stronger, just don't expect fights against things that aren't influenced by Erebus to go as well as your recent fights. Erebus' influence makes us stronger and our opponents weaker.

Smolder created at least eight fire pillars, three of which missed their targets. That's good to know. Anything else we need to know about this? She pulled all of the fire in towards herself into a ball, then shot it off in two large waves down both ways of the road she was on.

The only other major thing would be that our power doesn't make us immune to corruption. In fact, we become more dangerous when corrupted.

Silver sat on a building next to an inundated street. It doesn't make us more likely to be corrupted, right? Hey, stop climbing out of the water! She created a claw of water and smacked the escaping creature back into the water.

We're just as likely to be corrupted, but we have our own power stacked on EREBUS'! NO! YOU GET BACK!

Sandbar looked in Gold Strike's general direction. Uh, Gold Strike?

It's fine! It's perfectly FINE! I'VE GOT THIS UNDER CONTROL!

Silver scratched her cheek. That doesn't sound fine. She casually knocked another of the creatures back into the water.

IT'S ALL GOOD! IT'S ALL GOOD!

I got this. Yona launched herself towards Gold Strike, creating a shockwave as she landed.

Oh! Oh, thank you, Yona!

Yona looked around. What freaked you out? None of these creatures seem different from the other ones we've been fighting.

Well, it's just that there's so MANY OF THEM!

Yona whipped around and shot a rock at each of the creatures approaching Gold Strike. That was only three!

Gallus chucked a bunch of small bells he found in a department store, creating a bunch of small blasts. You don't do well with crowd control at all, do you?

Ehehehe...

Sandbar sighed. We'll have to work on that. And with you, of all creatures?

I'm sorry! I've never had to deal with more than ONE AT A TIME!

Yona smashed the creatures shambling towards Gold Strike. At least try to fight them!

Silver swept the street she was near clean of her water and moved to the next one. Ah, Gold Strike. Supreme hero, greatest of his kind. And he can't handle a couple of critters.

STOP TEASING ME!

Smolder saw something that made her fly into the air. Silver! You dolt! You sent your water my way!

Oh, uh... Sorry?

Ocellus was curled up in her wooden ball, laughing so much she cried. We're all such children.

Sandbar knocked a few more creatures to the ground. Are you alright, Ocellus?

He didn't even see the creature behind him until a vine knocked it into the air so the wooden golem could knock it away. I should be asking you that.

Gallus used his bell to clear out the area around him as he stared at the sky. Am I going crazy? Or are there faces in the sky?

The rest of them looked up. Sure enough, there were a number of faces shown in the dark clouds above them. Soon after, a claw, a paw, a hoof, and a hand came out of the clouds and brought the faces down with them in a dark mass. Then a mouth separate from any of the faces opened and let out a roar.

EREBUS!

Silver started moving towards it. How long will we last against that thing?

Minutes at most!

Ocellus leaped out of her golem, letting it fall apart. What are the odds of the seal succeeding without our last member?

Uh... It needs all eight to be stable, but I don't know if we can make it work without all eight.

Sandbar stared Erebus down. Is it worth a shot?

Gold Strike moved as close to Erebus as he dared. "... We're dead if it fails, but we're dead if we don't try!" With that, Gold Strike shot a bolt of electricity at the abomination.

This was quickly followed by a pillar of earth, several vines, a stream of water, a blast of fire, visible ripples, and a small tornado. The seven elements created an orb around the massive monster.

With another roar, Erebus started pushing back. The team of seven started feeling a ton of pressure on their bodies, and a few of them were struggling to stay standing.

Sandbar looked right at the beast. Come on! His vision started going cloudy. We're so... close...

Far behind Erebus, a horn pointed at it and shot out a beam of ice. Once it made contact, Erebus let out another roar, and the others were able to right themselves. Moments later, it let out one last cry before disappearing into a small ball of swirling colors.

Gold Strike smiled. "It's over. We're done."

The orb shot into the sky.

"Hey!" Smolder tried to chase it but only succeeded in stumbling forward.

"It's alright." Gold Strike sat down. "It's going where it should be."

"Sandbar!" Ocellus rushed over to the colt, who had fallen to the ground.

Gold Strike looked at the two lovers. "He should have been out after that crazy stunt he pulled against the princesses, but our power sensed that he needed to stay awake and kept him up. Now that the threat has passed, he can finally rest. He should survive."

Ocellus nuzzled the sleeping colt and laid down next to him.

Gold Strike looked across his teammates, who were weary at best, then looked at the two mares that were approaching. "Wait, you? You're the eighth member?"

One of the mares, the last member of the team, prodded her horn, then she smiled at the Kirin.

The Kirin shook his head around and blinked a couple of times. "Sorry, aren't you a terrorist?"

Twilight laughed. "That was a while back. It's been quite a while since Tempest has turned over a new leaf."

"Tempest Shadow." Silver didn't turn her head at all. "Servant of the Storm King. That's where I heard your name before." The Hippogriff laid down and smiled. "I'm sure we'll be good friends."

Gold Strike tilted his head. "So you're firmly on our side?"

Tempest nodded, opened her mouth... and promptly rolled onto her back.

Twilight flared her wings. "Tempest?" The princess started looking over the suddenly unconscious unicorn. "Wake up! What happened? Tempest? Are you alright? Please answer me!"

"Oh right. That's a thing."

Twilight blinked twice before looking at the yellow creature. "Eh?"

Gold Strike smiled with half of his mouth as he tightened the outside of his brows. "I kinda maybe forgot about the adapting period."

"Adapting period?" Twilight stared at him blankly for a second, then raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that you need to let your powers adapt to your bodies before using them? Why didn't you say this earlier?"

The Kirin rubbed the back of his head. "I forgot. It's kind of a good thing I forgot because we would have been dead if she hadn't used her power when she did."

The alicorn's eyelids dropped halfway down her eyes. "And how long will she be out?"

"How long has she had this power?"

"About half an hour."

"Then a day and a half."

Twilight bared her teeth. "Really?"

Gallus rolled his eyes. "Oh, no. She's sleeping for a day and a half. That's so much worse than being dead, clearly."

Twilight made a string of noises with her mouth for a bit, then let out an exaggerated sigh. "Fine. You're right."

Silence.

None of them were sure who laughed first, but they all started laughing after a few seconds, aside from the two unconscious ponies.

Epilogue

... Warm.

Cuddly.

Soft.

Warm. Soft. Cuddly.

Cuddle soft warm soft cuddle warm cuddle soft warm.

If Sandbar could live his whole life cuddling Ocellus, he would. Her soft giggling just made him feel warmer.

"Sandbar."

He rubbed his cheek against her's and then nibbled her ear a bit.

"Eep! I, uh, think he's waking up."

Waking up? Wait.

Sandbar blinked a couple of times, then moved his mouth away from Ocellus' ear. Looking up, he saw Celestia and Luna laying in front of a door, with Gold Strike between them laying his head against Luna's shoulder. A soft giggle to his right drew his attention to his friends, though not before his vision passed over Twilight and Fluttershy. Looking back at Ocellus, he only just realized that he was laying on top of her.

"Uh... Wrong time?"

The grown creatures then joined the younger ones in laughter.

Gold Strike wiped a tear from his eye. "Take it from me, kid. When you're close enough to your girl, there's never a wrong time for love."

Luna nuzzled her Kirin. "Except perhaps on the battlefield."

Battlefield? "Wait, where's our eighth member?"

Twilight pointed in the one place Sandbar hadn't looked yet. "She's right there."

Sandbar craned his head around to his left. Lying there was a grown mare with dark colors. "Wait, isn't she the one that found us in the forest after our battle with Fluttershy?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes. She is. You met her before and she was about to meet you again anyway, so fate was drawing her towards you. Gold Strike mentioned her as a Unicorn who lost her horn and her way, but it was only when Gold Strike was describing what we needed in the eighth member that I who he was talking about when he said that."

"So she knew for sure that Tempest Shadow had the potential to use our power, she would be a different element from the rest of us, and she had combat training. And to think I mentioned her without knowing she would join us."

Sandbar continued to stare at the unconscious mare. "How much is fate going to dictate our lives?"

Gold Strike sighed. "Let me put it this way. I ended up in a hospital at one point and overheard someone planning on overthrowing Celestia. I would have thought it was an odd coincidence if I didn't already know how our power acts at times."

Celestia's eyes were darting around. "You... did stop them, right?"

"That was before I got sealed away."

Celestia smiled and sighed.

Gallus was anything but smiles. "So we can talk about the big stuff now, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Then what the heck happened with the E.E.A.? Everything else I can chalk up to you faking the bad guy role, but not that!"

Everyone else gasped.

"That's right! You admitted to that!"

"Is that true?"

"You're behind that?"

Everyone was talking at once. Everyone except Gold Strike, who covered his head, his eye twitching and body shaking.

And Luna.

"SIIIIIIIILEEEEEEENCEEEEEEE!"

Half a mile away, a flock of birds fled their tree.

Luna, seeing the others silenced, placed her hoof on Gold Strike's head. "Goldie?"

The Kirin sighed and closed his eyes. "I didn't want it to go that far. I wanted Neighsay out of the way for the time being, so I sent an anonymous letter to the Night's Embrace. 'If Neighsay had his way, the White Cursed would be spread across the world.' I knew they wouldn't want that, so I knew they would do something."

Smolder put her hand to her chin. "But they reacted more viciously than you wanted them to."

Gold Strike stopped shaking. "I expected them to blackmail or kidnap him, or the entire E.E.A., maybe kill Neighsay at worst. I never thought they would just kill the entire organization."

Ocellus' face softened. "I see. So it was an attempt at manipulation gone horribly wrong. Or right, depending on how you look at it."

"Alright, that's answered. But I have something else." Celestia produced a small scrap of paper from her mane.

As if in response, Luna produced a note with a scrap torn off, took Celestia's scrap, and put them together.

To the Princess of the night.

You're still so stubborn. You haven't responded to my letters, and don't think I didn't see you scowl at me when I was in the crowd earlier. If you don't like me, well, I apologize.

However, do not think I have abandoned the thought's I have of being yours. Living life alone is not good for one, no matter what they think or desire. Yet, you value your loneliness above all else, possibly even the night itself.

Since that is how I see you, I will take what is most valuable to you.

Celestia looked at the letter. "That's why you wrote that? A cheesy love letter?"

"Cheese is delicious."

Luna started laughing, prompting Gold Strike to give her a toothy smile.

Celestia only lowered her eyebrows in response. "That's the last thing. You can control the minds of others. How do I know Luna honestly loves you?"

The eldest lovers looked at Celestia, then at each other. Then they smiled.

The Princess of the Sun turned away. "Nevermind. It's not important." Her eyes shot wide, then her entire face tightened up. "Hey! No! It is important! Don't try to-"

The Princess of the Moon and her lover started laughing.

"D-don't laugh! I want an-"

"Uh, your highness?" Fluttershy's smile was considerably softer. "I think he just answered your question."

Celestia's jaw hung open as she tilted her head. "How?"

Ocellus managed to roll over while still under her lover. "Well, think about it. If he didn't want you to think about it, why not just force it out of your mind entirely?"

Twilight's smile was more to the right of her face. "I think we overestimated what Gold Strike is capable of. When he made me kiss Fluttershy just now, it felt like my body was grabbed and forced as opposed to moving on its own."

Sandbar's ears perked up. "Wait! I missed you two getting it on?"

Everyone else looked at Sandbar.

"Er, I mean, kissing."

Everyone else roared with laughter.

"Oh, Sandbar." Yona started crying from laughter. "You should watch what you say."

"I like," Silver had to catch her breath before actually talking, "I like how it's not, "you're in love?" Or, "he made you kiss?" But, "I missed it?" Like he already knew you two loved each other."

"Well, Uh." Sandbar was having trouble keeping a straight face himself. "I happened to overhear a few particular conversations that made it sound like they were already dating."

Twilight was the first to get her laughter under control. "No. Not yet. But it won't take long for our first date."

Fluttershy rubbed her cheek against her lover. "And I know you'll make it romantic."

Sandbar looked around. "Where are the other teachers, anyway?"

Gallus wiped his tears from his eyes. "They're in the castle, helping out. There's a bit of clean-up going on, but we don't need to worry about that. We did take care of the big stuff, after all."

Celestia let out one last chuckle before looking at Gold Strike again. "So, what exactly is the limit of your power?"

"Well, I can give brief commands to others, and they usually can't tell that I sent them if they even realize that they acted strangely. I can trigger specific receptors in the mind, making them feel things I want them to, such as pain or warmth. If I'm touching them, I can completely hijack someone's mind and body, but that requires constant contact."

Smolder, at some point, had moved several of the pillows into the shape of a throne. "Is that why you're a one on one fighter? Because you can win your fights easily that way?"

"It lets me win fights with little to no risk of harming or killing my opponent."

Luna was watching Gold Strike out of the corner of her eye. "Translation; it lets him fight like a coward."

The yellow Kirin buried his red face into his hooves.

"So forcing Luna to love you for all of these years was..."

"Impossible." The exasperated male pulled his hooves down his face. "Even if I managed to do that, I would have needed to stay somewhat close to her to maintain it. Close enough that I would have needed to be in the castle the whole time."

"And it definitely would have cut off when I was sent to the moon." Luna giggled. "Though I must admit, the "trap the moon" ultimatum I made was actually his doing."

Twilight's wings shot open, as did her eyes. "Wait, really?"

Celestia's body and expression mirrored her student's. "But that's the kind of thing you would have done to get someone off of your back!"

"That's why I didn't mention that fact until now. I figured he was being overconfident and, if he succeeded, he deserved a date with me."

Luna's lover pressed his head against her neck. "And look where we are now."

Celestia's face had her usual expression. "Well, that's everything off of my mind."

Sandbar raised his hoof. "In that case, may I ask a few things?"

Gold Strike shrugged. "Shoot."

"What happened with Chrysalis?"

"I led her and her cronies to Fluttershy and let things play out on their own."

"You seem rather casual about putting other lives on the line."

Gold Strike rubbed the side of his head. "I had no idea the E.E.A. members were gonna die, Chrysalis didn't die, and I haven't really put anyone else on the line."

"What about your old team?"

"There are so many reasons I blame Sky Blitz for that."

Celestia spoke up, "You don't really like him, do you?"

"He tried to make us celebrities, he kept trying to treat us like soldiers when we weren't, his insistence on us all attending minor missions that only needed two or three of us led to Discord attempting his takeover and Nightmare Moon getting sent to the moon, and he yanked us from our homes when we had a teleport system set up so we wouldn't need to be."

"Woah, Woah, Woah." Silver was waving her claw around. "That all makes that Sky Blitz guy sound like a bad leader, but what was that about a teleport system?"

"The airship has a teleporter room in it. We used it to go on our missions before he decided we needed to actually live on the thing. It's how I led you six to the ship and the mirror in the first place."

Ocellus put her hoof to her chin. "Okay, that leads to two more questions. First, why wasn't the ship flooded when it was at the bottom of the ocean?"

"Protective wards we had in place to keep our powers from going through the ship and dropping onto some unfortunate innocent's head."

"Second question, what was the airship's power source?"

Gold Strike's expression went blank, then he looked out the window. Everyone else followed his gaze.

The airship was flying towards them.

"What? How?"

"It's flying again?"

"It's not gonna hit anything, is it?"

Gold Strike shook his head. "It'll hover a mile above us. It's barely sapient enough to not ram into things willy-nilly."

Ocellus stared at the ship, then her jaw dropped. "Don't tell me. Did you design the airship to use Erebus as a power source?"

Gold Strike's mirthless smile told the others everything they needed to know.

Twilight's eye was twitching. "I'm sorry, but are you really using the monster that caused so much despair, tried to kill us all, and caused nearly every incident past and present as a battery?"

"We made the airship energy inefficient on purpose."

Twilight's jaw hung open, then hoof met face. "That means yes."

Celestia pat the yellow creature on his back. "It's the same logic as keeping Discord in our garden. It's better to keep that kind of thing somewhere you can monitor and react to it rather than somewhere secluded, where it can get out without you knowing until it's too late."

"I think that was the ship builder's logic. We used to keep it on a pedestal in a safe house, but someone nearly destroyed it, meaning we needed to make a new base of operations that isn't as easy to get to. We had a Magnetism Guardian at the time, and he decided to use Erebus as a fuel source while building the ship to keep it as weak as possible and somewhere we could keep track of it without it possibly getting loose."

Everyone else looked between each other and Gold Strike.

"What?"

Silver was the one to talk, "I'm sorry, but Magnetism... Guardian?"

Gold Strike blinked twice, then lifted the right side of his mouth. "Oh, right. You wouldn't know. Before we were called the White Cursed, we were referred to as Guardians, and our power was called the Guardian's Blessing."

Author's Note

And that's that. White Curse is over.

I was planning on taking some time off of writing, but I started a story for National Pony Writing Month over on Equestria Daily, so I might take a break after that.

Thank you all for your support.

The Best Gift Ever

"Are you sure your parents will be okay with this?"

Sandbar held Ocellus' hooves in his. "They're pretty relaxed. They should be alright with it. As long as we spend the next Hearths Warming with them."

"If you say so." She slid her body a bit closer to her lover. "I'm really glad we don't have to hide anymore."

Sandbar wrapped his hoof around her shoulder. "Yeah. It's really nice to just be open about our powers now. Have you seen what Silver's been doing around the school?"

Ocellus giggled. "Have you seen what Yona and I have been doing?"

"All over the place. It's really beautiful. The three of you are making a real difference in the area."

Ocellus' cheeks weren't as red as they usually would be. "Well, it's not very noticeable at the moment because of the snow and Silver can't exactly be in cold areas anymore."

"Oh, right. That." Sandbar did not want to think about what had happened a week after winter started.

Ocellus placed her hoof on his cheek. "Let's not worry about things right now. Silver is safe, after all."

"Y-yeah."

Ocellus closed her eyes halfway. "Let's just relax right now."

Sandbar closed his eyes halfway. "Sure."

They both closed their eyes the rest of the way and kissed. It was just them and their affection. Nothing could take that away. Not even the two creatures standing nearby that Sandbar could sense the breath of. The two that were watching the couple. Them and their child. The two that were most definitely not ruining the moment. Most. Definitely. Not...

Sandbar's face scrunched up as he broke off the kiss.

"Sandy?"

Sandbar looked over his shoulder with a scowl... only for his expression to completely shift when he saw who was watching them. "Mom? Dad?"

His little sister waved at him. "Hi!"

"Sorry for interrupting, Sandbar." His father rubbed the back of his head. "You certainly got my level of passion."

His mother giggled. "We figured you would want to spend your time with your lover this hearthswarming, so we figured we would surprise you by greeting you at the station there. I guess we didn't realize how soon you would be leaving, though."

"Wait, I never mentioned dating Ocellus to you guys. How did you know?"

"Let's just say, one of your teachers is a bit too passionate about passion."

Sandbar sighed. "Darnit, Rarity."

Sandbar's mother held her hoof over her mouth as she watched the Changelings singing. "They have some... interesting traditions."

"Wait 'till you see what they do with their gifts. Or the punch."

His father scratched his head. "So you knew that they do this before coming here?"

"I not only knew that they did it, I know why; They took Princess Twilight's instructions a bit too literally."

"That... explains a few things. And makes me worried about what they do with the punch."

Sandbar's head suddenly snapped to the side, his eyes pointed back. He turned back to the changeling crowd and locked eyes with Ocellus. The student stepped out of the circle and approached her lover.

"You felt that too, right?"

"Yeah. I don't know what it was, though."

Sandbar's sister reached her front legs out to Ocellus as Sandbar's parents shared a look.

"Is this something about your powers?"

Sandbar nodded. "We should probably check it out, just in case."

Ocellus nodded and followed Sandbar out of the room. "Your sister is pretty cute."

"Yeah. She is. I haven't been able to spend much time with her, though. She was born about eight months before the School of Friendship opened, and I spent six of those months fixing up my mistakes around town. That left me with two months free before school started, and she spent most of that time with my dad in the town he works at."

"Not with your mom?"

"Mom's job requires her to be out of the house a ton, and we had no idea when I'd be able to stay at home reliably. It was cheaper to simply have her go with dad since he spent less time working than mom did. The sad thing is that Gallus spent more time with his surrogate sister than I did with my real sister."

"Do you want to spend more time with her?"

"Yeah. That would be nice. Anyway, did you have a reason to bring that up?"

"Um, well." Ocellus' cheeks turned red. "I was thinking, uh, later in life, when we're older, um, I would like to have a daughter."

Both of them stopped as Sandbar looked his lover in the eye. "... Even if we have to go through twenty sons to get one?"

The female's cheeks went darker. "I'm serious!"

"Heh. I know." They resumed walking. "But I understand. I would be nice to have a child someday. And imagine if we're the first pony and changeling couple to have a child. If that happens, well, Twilight only gets to touch them if Fluttershy's there."

Ocellus giggled. "I'd agree to that."

The two rounded the corner, then stopped in their tracks. A few yards away was a door of pure light.

"That wasn't there before."

The pair walked up to the doorway.

"Ocellus?"

The duo turned around. Everyone else was standing there, with Thorax at the front.

"What is that?"

"I don't know, but you guys should stay back. We can't be too reckless until we know what-"

There was a sound like someone hitting a chime against a wall. They all looked at the door of light, which was showing ripples. Another sound rang out, accompanied by ripples.

Sandbar used his wind to push everyone, including Ocellus, back. "Stay back!"

A third sound, with some sounds of whimpering behind the empowered lovers, before something finally happened.

Two small boxes popped out of the doorway. Sandbar and Ocellus looked at each other, then at the boxes. One had Sandbar's name on it, the other had Ocellus'.

The couple immediately recognized the writing on the boxes. "Gold Strike?"

The kirin stepped through the portal. "Hey, guys! Oh, uh, didn't mean to interrupt your holiday. I figured I had a good bit of time before meeting with Luna and Celestia, so I should try to open the gateways that we used in the old days. Of course, the changeling hive wasn't exactly a place we wanted to have a portal to in the old days, so I had to create one that leads here instead. Not the easiest thing to do, since I wasn't the one that created the initial-"

Sandbar pressed his hoof against Gold Strike's mouth. "Hold on! Did you not think to warn us that you were doing this at all?"

Gold Strike moved the hoof off of his mouth. "How would I?"

Telepathy.

"... Oh, right. We can do that."

Thorax found himself chuckling a bit. "Are you telling me that the oldest and wisest member of your team forgot about one of the main powers that all of you have?"

The kirin rubbed the back of his head. "Ehehe... Yes. I'm not too used to using it since I wasn't in a lot of situations where it was useful."

Ocellus picked the box with her name on it up with her hooves. "Really? It was very useful to us."

"Well, I fell out with most of my last team, and I had to go solo for quite a while after coming back. Though it's still embarrassing for me, of all Guardians, to forget about one of our powers."

Sandbar's dad leaned towards Thorax. "Am I missing something here?"

"Their powers allow them to communicate to each other through telepathy. Gold Strike forgot about that, leading to the situation we're in now."

Gold Strike watched Sandbar pick up his gift. "Please don't put that in the exchange. That's not what they're meant for."

"Oh yeah! When's the exchange?"

"Well, I think we're done with carols, so let's do the exchange now."

The changelings started cheering as Ocellus gave her gift to Sandbar.

Sandbar's mother watched her future daughter-in-law walk past her. "I'm curious about the exchange."

Sandbar fumbled with the boxes a bit. "Yeah, it's, uh, interesting. You gonna stick around, Gold?"

"Nah. I've got to open up other portals right now before I meet up with Luna again."

"Is one of them going to be in Ponyville?"

"I plan on setting one up near the school. That'll save on train fares. And I will let your parents use it. Just hold their hooves while going through. Non-Guardians can't use it without a Guardian with them."

A seagull pecked at the ground a bit, only to fly off at the sound of magic. Several hippogriffs stepped out of the water.

Terramar turned to his sister. "That was a pretty amazing display you put on earlier."

Silver laughed. "Thanks. But can I say that being in water is super weird now? Like I step in the ocean and my mind went, "Woahhhhhh!" I could feel where every sea pony was at once! I could tell what they were doing! It was like I was hugging all of them, and they were all hugging me! Endlessly!"

Terramar blinked. "Wow. I kinda want to know how that feels now."

"Silver!"

Their father was perched atop a nearby rock, eyes locked on to Silver. As soon as the siblings saw him, he flew down and grabbed his daughter in a hug.

It took Silver a moment to process why he was acting like this. "Oh, right. I haven't met you since I got here."

The father grasped his daughter's shoulders firmly and looked her in the eye. "I just heard you were here! And I heard you were frozen solid!"

"Not completely. It was just three of my legs, half my face, and most of my body. I was fine after I thawed out."

"Don't act so casually about it! You could have died! Why did you even start to freeze?"

Silver rubbed the back of her head. "Well, it's winter time in Equestria, so they make it cold so that there can be snow."

Sky Beak blinked a couple of times. "Snow?"

Silver giggled. "Little pieces of ice that are white and fluffy. It's so pretty. You have to see it sometime!" Her eyes briefly went wide, then she folded her ears back. "Oh, but I guess I can't show you, huh?"

Terramar tapped his chin. "Quick question; Why didn't this happen last year?"

"I think I was just indoors a lot more last year. I spent a good bit of time cleaning up the school, thank Gallus for that, so I didn't spend more than a few minutes outside at a time. I guess it felt a bit strange when I was, but it wasn't as bad as this year since I was trying to help some other students by sitting outside with them."

"So you've been in the cold more."

"It doesn't help that one of my big clients right now is our newest member, who is made of ice."

Terramar giggled.

"What's so funny?"

"I never expected you to use a word as big as 'client'."

Silver looked her brother in the eye with a cold, hard stare. "I know big words. Like... dog."

Her family, as well as a few nearby griffs listening in, started laughing. Silver smiled herself after a bit. She could clearly sense the happiness in the others.

"Okay, okay. We should get back to Hippogriffia to set up for tomorrow. You two had plenty of fun with your mother, right?"

As the group started flying upwards, Silver paused and looked to her side. As the others headed up the mountain, she flew along the coastline to look for whatever she felt. Which didn't take long, as it was just around a bend.

She landed in front of the glowing doorway. She stared at it for a moment, remembering when she first got her powers and the portal she went through. She reached towards the portal... and saw a claw come through. She responded in panic, grabbing the claw and yanking on it.

"Yeow!" Gallus flopped onto the ground, his body still halfway through the portal. "Uh, hi Silver."

Silver let out an excited chirp, then pulled Gallus all the way through for cuddles and kisses. Gallus just rolled his eyes before closing them, unable to say anything. They held their position for a while.

Gallus suddenly started struggling and screaming into Silver's beak. Silver wasn't about to let go, though. She was going to get as much of her Griffon as she-

The sound of a cough somewhere behind her made her realize why Gallus started panicking. She broke off the kiss and turned around. Behind her was just about every Hippogriff and Seapony she knew, including her aunt.

"Uhh... So much for that surprise."

The first to react, oddly enough, was Novo, who started laughing. Most of the others followed suit, causing a chorus of laughter. The only exception was her father, who simply narrowed his eyes.

"If you mean figuratively, we're too young for that. Twilight would bust our heads open. If you mean literally, I prefer less sapient meat. I get fewer complaints when I do."

Sky Beak's expression stayed stoic, though his mouth did tighten a bit. "Are you royalty?"

"Nope. Not even sure where you got that idea from."

"And what would your parents say if I asked them?"

"If you ask them, let me know. I'd love to meet them for once in my life."

Sky Beak's expression finally changed noticeably, his eyes going wide and the corners of his mouth dropping. "Oh, uh... I didn't know you're an orphan."

"Yeah, it doesn't come up a lot. I just learned to live with it."

As the grown Hippogriff made odd noises with his beak, his children made a simultaneous sound from a table about thirty feet away as if they tasted rancid crab at the same time.

"The heck?"

The male Hippogriff chuckled. "I think their mother let slip who we were worried Silver would try to date."

"Mooom!" Silver clutched her head. "Why would you think that?"

Terramar pulled his tongue back into his beak. "Even if she asked me out, I would have turned her down!"

Ocean Flow chuckled. "S-sorry. All I can say is that you two had to get your wild imaginations from somewhere."

"But both of you?" Gallus, did dad tell you a joke?

"I may have told your father some things that-"

Silver suddenly whipped around in her chair, glaring at her lover. "GALLUS! HOW COULD YOU?"

This outburst confused her family, but Gallus was too busy laughing to be afraid. "Come on. It's silly."

Silver placed both of her claws on the back of her chair. "You made a joke about me kissing my brother, of all creatures!"

"Aren't you curious how good of a kisser he is?" Gallus punctuated his statement by puckering his beak (somehow).

All four family members reacted differently. Terramar glared at the Griffon. Ocean Flow bit her beak- lips- whatever, as her cheeks lifted. Sky Beak blinked a couple of times. Several spectators mirrored the parent's reaction, with a few of them laughing a bit.

Silver, however, had the most notable response. "You little- THAT DOES IT!" She kicked off of her chair and shot straight at Gallus.

Gallus sidestepped and grabbed her claw. Silver barely processed what had happened before Gallus was kissing her again. A couple of blinks later, and Silver closed her eyes, letting out a soft moan.

Sky Beak let out a soft chuckle. "She gets that from her mother. Anyway, I think you'll be a fine lover for her. Now, let's eat before the chefs decide to stop cooking."

"Smolder."

The Dragon popped another gem into her mouth before turning around. "Hey, Singe!"

The male Dragon limped up to the female. "You actually know the guy that got through the security I set up?"

Smolder swallowed the gem in her mouth. "Yep. Pretty close friend of mine, too."

"Did he actually kill the guards?"

"No, he just tricked them away from their posts after turning the security system off. Then his caretaker-"

"Convinced the others that the fake I made was the real bell, right?"

Smolder stared at Singe.

"Heh. That look says everything. I thought it was odd that they had me make a replica if they were going to have me install all of those security systems and put the real deal on that pedestal anyway. So who helped him?"

"No one. I think he knocked out the guard in the security room, paused a powerful sound wave next to the switch to turn it off later, whatever that means, made some noise that he also paused, then positioned himself outside the window next to the room with the bell in it."

"Did he turn off the security, sending one guard away-"

Smolder threw the gem in her hand on the ground. "How do you always know these kinds of things?"

Singe shrugged. "I'm just good at guessing."

Smolder grunted then picked the gem up off the ground. "Well, you obviously know what happened, so-"

"DON'T EAT ME!"

Smolder shrieked and dropped the gem. The gem rolled for a bit, then started laughing.

"Yona! What the heck?"

A statue of a Yak rose from the ground before shaping itself into Smolder's Yak friend.

Singe blinked a couple of times. "How did you do that?"

"Oh, that's easy. We're made of the stuff we control."

"You two are... made out of..." His eyes moved between the girls. "So your body is nothing but fire?"

"Yup." Smolder popped another gem in her mouth. "Can be useful or inconvenient, depending on the situation. Anyway, how did you even get here, Yona? Even though you travel fast, you can't go that far."

"Come on! I'll show you how!"

The classmates took a few steps together before Smolder noticed something. "You coming, Singe?"

"Nah, I don't think this involves me."

"... Okay." Smolder walked off with Yona a few steps ahead of her.

"Is Singe your brother?"

"Nah. He's just a friend. My only friend before I went to school. Heck, he might be the only reason I was chosen to go to the School of Friendship."

"Huh? Why?"

"Well, a few years back, he went missing for a while. Most of us thought he hid away to think up challenges for the other Dragons in his group. Then he came back with a busted wing, a limp, and amnesia. His old group ditched him when it became clear that he wasn't able to keep up with them anymore."

"Did you ever find out what happened?"

Smolder shook her head. "My best guess is that he hurt his head pretty badly, but there isn't a scar on his head like there is on his leg. Anyway, I saw him off on his own. I told the other I was hanging with him because he was weaker. I said it was because he couldn't get away if he betrayed me. But to tell the truth, I just felt bad for him."

"You always had a soft spot after all, huh?"

A year and a half ago, Smolder would have immediately denied it. Even now, she would have denied it to most creatures. But her friends weren't any creatures. "Yeah, I did."

Yona smiled. "So what does this have to do with you going to school?"

"I guess Dragon Lord Ember noticed that we were friendlier than other Dragons. Once the call for students from all races went out, she went right for us. She didn't want Singe being mocked for his injuries or for Dragons to come off as too weak, so she picked me over him. He was reluctant to let me go until she got him in with a sculptor named Incendia. She never seemed to hate him, so we both agreed to it. You won't believe how upset he was when I didn't come back that one holiday."

"You two sound really close. Would you date him if he asked?"

Smolder suddenly stopped in her tracks, her eye twitching. Her head whipped left and right for a few moments before she spoke. "Are we going the right way? You were going to show me how you got here."

Yona looked around a bit. "... Oops. I think it's this way."

"Are you sure this time? Or are we going to walk around aimlessly until we find it."

The pair walked around for a few minutes, Smolder hoping that Yona forgot her question. Eventually, the glowing doorway came into view, with two creatures standing in front of it.

"Do you even have a trick?"

"... No. I just..." Gold Strike let out a sigh. "It never gets easier."

"Singe? Gold?"

The boys looked at the girls as they approached.

Singe smirked and let out a soft sound. "You know, it's sad I wasn't looking for this thing and got here before you two."

The Kirin's eyes were locked onto the Yak. "Yona, I stood here so you could sense me out. You were walking in circles for a bit there."

"Hehe. Yak forgot."

Smolder pat Yona on the head. "Yak is so nervous she reverted speaking patterns. Anyway, what were you two talking about?"

The boys looked at each other.

Smolder let out a low growl. "I know those expressions. You're both thinking, "I don't want to tell her," right?"

Gold Strike looked from one Dragon to the next. "I'll tell you some day. Not today though."

The female Dragon rolled her eyes, then went over to the portal. "So is this some kind of teleporter thing?"

"It is. It leads back to the airship, but only Guardians and anyone accompanying them can go through. We used them a lot in the old days."

Smolder put her hand through the portal for a moment, then pulled it out. "How many of these things are working?"

"I've got one near the school, one in the Crystal Empire, and one in each of your homelands now."

"Is that it?"

Gold Strike moved up next to Smolder. "There are plenty more that can be made, but I only plan on making one more for today."

"Where to?"

The Kirin smiled.

Luna leaned on the balcony as the snow fell around her.

"Snow at night. And here I thought seeing you couldn't get better."

The princess looked over her shoulder as her lover approached. "You find plenty of things beautiful."

"None more than you." Gold Strike kissed his lover and closed his eyes.

They held their kiss for at least a minute before Luna pulled back. "Are your teammates doing well?"

Gold Strike nodded. "Sandbar and Ocellus are probably swimming in fruit punch right now, Gallus is spending time with Silver and her family, Yona's getting to know Smolder's old friends better, and Tempest is with her old friends in the Crystal Empire."

"She reunited with them?"

"She went to visit one and they ran into the other while walking around. The funny part is that he didn't know Tempest is a good girl now, so he went to the Crystal Empire to hide from her. They somehow held a nice long conversation before he recognized her. She made fun of him for that one."

"Was it the horn?"

"Definitely."

The lovers shared a laugh.

"Will she be staying on the ship?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. She hasn't made up her mind, but it's not like the ship needs someone on board at all times."

Luna looked to the sky. "Perhaps we should go inside. The cold can be nice but I want to be warm right now."

"Fair enough."

Luna put her hoof on the Kirin's nose. "And before you ask, I haven't seen her today. I don't know how she's doing."

Gold Strike laughed. "Really, Lulu? Did you think I-" He blinked a couple of times.

"Here's your cocoa, your highness." The Pegasus placed the tray on the table in the room.

"Thank you. You can take your break now." Luna watched the Pegasus float off before noticing her lover's expression. "Is something wrong?"

"Refresh my memory here. A collar means they're serving a sentence, right?"

"Correct."

"And the color of the collar depends on the crime they committed, right?"

Luna sighed. "Yes, it does."

"Red and black is the worst, right?"

"Goldie, don't worry about it."

Gold Strike finally looked at Luna. "But that was a little filly. Why would she have a red and black collar on?"

Luna turned to the door and let out a sigh. "That was Cozy Glow."

"Cozy-" His eyes went wide as he looked at the door. "She's the one that attacked the school?"

Author's Note

Reminder; I will start work on the sequel once I've hit my 15$ Patreon goal and, at earliest, once I've finished my next Patreon based project. I can't give a good estimate of when that will be, especially since I haven't even uploaded the first chapter of my next project yet.

https://www.patreon.com/Jumpitydude

Either way, please enjoy your holiday.

Chapter 1

"Stairs are awesome! We don't have anything like 'em underwater 'cause you know," Silverstream turned herself into a sea pony as she spoke, "no way to climb 'em!

The rest of the students, realizing why Silver was so enthusiastic over something so common, let out a collective, "Ohhhh."

Silver turned back into a hippogriff. "This place has everything! If only my family back home could see it..."

"But it is a bit dreary, is it not?"

The six students dropped what they were doing, and looked around.

"Hm hm hm. Don't bother looking for me. I'm not exactly... present."

Smolder yelled at the sky, "Then how are you talking to us?"

"Psychic connection, dear Smolder. And before you ask that's how I know your name."

"How do you know my name?"

Gallus face-clawed.

"Regardless, I know a much better place for you to be. It can help you all stay together for the rest of your lives.

Sandbar looked up and spoke, "Where is it? If it's real."

"It's real. Just step back into the castle."

The six of them looked back at the castle. Silver, having just been on the stairs leading to the door, immediately opened them. Upon looking in, she gasped and shot through the door.

"Silver?" Ocellus rushed to the door as fast as she could, the others right behind them. "What did you see?"

They shoved the doors open and quickly realized that Silver wasn't there. Almost as quickly as they noticed the strange, glowing doorway.

"What is that?"

"The door to a new future."

The five remaining creatures shared nervous glances, then went into the doorway.

Just outside, the Pukwudgies were raiding their food, then sleeping on their pillows. And that's all the teachers found.

"There's the stuff Sandbar got," Twilight observed, "But..." She looked around. "... Where are they?"

"Excuse me." The Pukwudgies hissed at Fluttershy. "We're not here to take your food or beds, we just want to know something." She waited for the critters to calm down. "We just want to know if you've seen some creatures around here, including another pony."

The Pukwudgies looked at each other, then pointed at the castle.

"Oh, thank you! You can go back to what you were doing." Fluttershy flew up to the door, and looked inside, followed by her friends.

"Well, they were here," Starlight said in response to seeing the books on the stairs. "Question is if they still are."

They all split up, but their efforts were in vain. After all, they didn't know about the magical door that was there.

"OHMIGOSH YOU GUYS! STAIRS!"

The five students weren't sure what was more baffling; the immense beauty of the place they were in, or the fact Silver was too focused on the stairs to notice herself.

"Look at all of this."
"Who made this?"
"Is it really alright for us to stay here?"
"Why does a place like this exist?"

"STAIRS!"

"Hold on, Silver," Smolder flew up next to her excitable friend, "Have you checked what's up the stairs?"

"Umm... No?"

"Then let's check! Come on!" Smolder shot up to the upper floor, followed closely by Silver.

Gallus looked around a bit more, then realized something. "Do we have food here?"

"YAK FOUND FARM!"

The other three still there rushed over. Sure enough, there were apple trees, carrots, wheat... anything they could need or want to eat! The room was lit like the sun, with a timing device visible at the back that likely turned the lights off at night.

Sandbar couldn't believe his eyes. "This is nuts!"

"No! This is farm!" Yona said, oblivious to what he meant.

"Guys!" Smolder flew back down. "Bedrooms upstairs! Eight of them!"

Silver popped up from behind her. "Own bathrooms, own showers, walk-in closet! EEEEEE! It's like a luxury motel!"

"Hotel," Smolder corrected her.

"Silver," Ocellus called from the doorway she was looking through, "You like swimming, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Then you'll want to see this!"

Silver flew up by Ocellus, then nearly blew out their ears again. "A SWIMMING POOL!" She suddenly shot towards it, transforming right above it, squealing the whole time. "POOL! POOL! POOL! POOL! POOL!"

Sandbar smirked at Silver. "You have fun."

"Guys! Check this out!"

The creatures not swimming headed over to Gallus, who opened the door to...

"An archery range?"

Sandbar grew skeptical. "This is out of place."

"Watch this!" Gallus had picked up a bow, and drawn an arrow.

*Tak*

And nearly missed the target. Not the bullseye, the target itself.

Smolder laughed. "Let me see that."

Gallus handed the bow over, his pride clearly hurt. Smolder drew her own arrow, and let it fly.

*Tak*

It wasn't close to the bullseye. Better than Gallus' shot, but still not close.

"Did you have to aim for the same target?"

Smolder looked completely baffled. "... I was aiming for the one next to it."

"Wait a second," Gallus said incredulously, "Does that mean you missed? Worse than I did?"

Smolder rubbed the back of her head and blushed. "Ehehe..."

*TakTakTak*

They looked back at the targets and found two bullseyes and one that barely missed.

"So, I should explain." The other creatures turned to the one that made the amazing shot. "General Seaspray made sure I knew how to handle certain weapons in case of emergencies."

Ocellus blinked a couple of times. "Silver? You made that shot?"

Silver rubbed her head and chuckled, blushing the whole time.

"You know, there's still downstairs."

Gallus looked up. "Oh, you're still watching us."

Smolder shrugged. "Well, you heard him. Let's check out the basement."

Sandbar followed the others out of the room and noticed something. "There's still another room up here."

"We can check it out later," Smolder called without turning around.

Sandbar sighed, then followed behind them down the stairs headed... down.

"R-really?" Smolder was taken aback. "What the heck?"

The basement looked like an armory. Weapons, outfits for various creatures, and half-finished projects were scattered all over the room.

Smolder, Gallus, and Yona immediately started digging through the stuff, seemingly without purpose.

Ocellus hung back, looking around the room. "What is this place?"

Sandbar looked at his friends and noticed something. "Where did Silver go?"

The other four looked around for the hippogriff.

Smolder shrugged. "No idea."

None of them realized Silver went to a room not far away.

"Well," Gallus said, rubbing the back of his head, "She couldn't have gone far."

"Yeah! No worries!" Yona cheerfully said as she tried on a helmet that was clearly not large enough for her.

Sandbar, aware of what typically happens in horror stories, looked down the hallway that branched off.

"R-really? What the heck?"

Silver looked at the armory, curious if she could see anything she could recognize.

"Don't worry about that, Silver. I need your help."

Silver's ears perked up. "What do you-"

"That hallway."

Silver looked down the only hallway that she could see.

"The third room on the right holds what I need you for, young warrior."

Silver, somewhat unconsciously, moved down the hall, into the third room on the right. Inside was the oddest thing.

A mirror.

Nothing else, just that mirror.

"A mirror?"

"Touch it. That's all I ask of you."

"But..." Silver's eyes glazed over. "Why?"

No response.

"Why do I... n... need to... touch..."

As Silver spoke, her head started spinning. She slowly walked towards the mirror.

"We can't rely on others!"

"A... auntie?"

"They will only betray us when it's convenient for them!"

Tears welled up in Silver's eyes. "D-don't... say..."

As she stumbled forward, more words from her past filled her head.

"She's a complete idiot! She'll be killed the moment she leaves the water!"

Words of distrust.

"Don't let Silver know. She'll probably run off after that stupid myth."

Words of abandonment.

"I don't care if she's related to the queen. She's dumber than a box of rocks."

Words that broke her heart.

"Trust me. I can free you from your pain."

Silver reached towards the mirror. "P-please."

"Silver? Are you here?"

Sandbar checked the rooms as he crossed them. An infirmary, a bathroom, a room full of chemicals, another bathroom, a room full of furnaces...

Then he got to the third room on the right.

"SILVER!"

Hearing Sandbar shout, the others dropped the various armor and weapons they had (save Smoulder, who kept a tight grip on that small hammer), and ran towards him. Entering the room Sandbar and Silver were in, they saw something horrible.

Sandbar was pulling on Silver, who was pulling against the mirror.

And the shadowy thing wrapped around her front leg.

"Help!"

They didn't need to be told twice. Ocellus turned into a Bugbear, and wrapped her claws around Silver's stomach and pulled. Gallus and Yona grabbed the shadow covered leg and tried to yank it free. Smolder dropped the hammer she had, grabbed Silver's other claw, and pulled.

Tears streamed down Silver's cheeks. "Help me!"

"We're not letting this thing- urk- get you!" Gallus slashed at the shadow, only for it to move away enough to bare some of Silver's coat, then immediately cover it back up.

Smolder looked at the mirror, then at the shadow, then back at the mirror, then finally at the hammer sitting by her feet.

"The more yak pull... Rrrgh... the more it... pull back!"

"Just hold on, Yona!" Ocellus dug her stinger into the ground as far as she could. "We'll get her free! Just keep-"

"Smolder!" Sandbar yelled, "What are you doing?"

The others looked at Smolder, who propped herself between Silver and the mirror. "I'm not... letting this thing... take her... without me!"

Silver could only stare at her friend. "S-Smolder?"

Smolder smirked. "Besides... from here... I can do... THIS!"

She whipped her tail, wrapped around the hammer, towards the mirror. The moment the hammer made contact, the mirror shattered. A horrible, unnatural scream echoed through the room as the shadows finally let Silver go. The six friends tumbled away from the mirror.

Smolder quickly crawled up to Silver. "Are you okay?"

Silver quickly wrapped Smolder in a tight hug. "Thank you! Thank you all so much! I... I..."

Their relief was short lived.

There was a sudden explosion from the mirror, knocking them all further from it and each other. When they all looked up, there was a large, oozy mass of shadows. A pair of glowing dots that seemed to be eyes stared at them until the mass shot through the ceiling without breaking it.

Silence.

Silver was the first to speak. "I'm sorry."

"We really screwed up." Sandbar started helping his friends up.

Smolder stared at the broken mirror. "I guess breaking it was a terrible idea, huh?"

Gallus patted Smolder on the shoulder. "You didn't know. None of us did."

Ocellus looked around the room. "We should probably leave here."

"Yak don't want friends to get possessed."

They all made their way back to the doorway they came through. Unaware of the figure watching them.

"What do ya mean they don't know anything else?"

Fluttershy cringed. "Th-they said they last saw the students enter the castle, but none of them saw the students leave."

Rainbow flew up next to Fluttershy. "What if they're lying to you?"

"Th-they don't have a reason to! They don't eat meat."

Rarity looked back at the door. "But we checked the entire castle. They weren't anywhere in there."

Pinkie decided to handle the situation in a way only Pinkie could. "They probably found a secret room to have a super duper exciting party in without getting bothered!" The other ponies stared at Pinkie. "What?"

Twilight sighed. "We checked all the secret rooms we know about, and there aren't many we don't. If we don't find them, the other leaders will start a war!"

"War?"

The teachers turned back to the castle, where the students were standing in the doorway all of a sudden.

Rainbow jumped on the obvious question, "Where were you guys?"

Smolder rushed forward. "What was that about a war?"

Silver flew up next to Smolder. "Are we really that important?"

Starlight trotted up to them. "Apparently. They all want you guys to come back, or they'll go to war!"

Ocellus was incredulous. "E-even Thorax?"

"... Actually, no. He's not threatening war, but he may not get a say."

"Unless we get back!" Gallus turned towards his friends, "Come on! Let's go!"

All of them started to run or fly back. Except for Applejack.

"So, any chance I could-"

The Pukwudgie hissed at her.

"Never mind! Enjoy!"

She then ran to catch up to the others.

Author's Note

I think it should be obvious, but in case it's not; If a scene isn't shown, it happens the exact same way as in canon.

Chapter 8

Celestia smiled as she looked over the theater from the seats after the play was over. "Fluttershy is quite the actor."

"You have no idea." Twilight thought back to when Fluttershy was asked to watch one of Rarity's locations.

"I'm sorry you weren't able to be the lead actress, Celestia." Starlight put her hoof on Celestia's shoulder. "Maybe someday, after you get enough practice, you can be the star in your own performance."

"Yeah, maybe someday. For now, helping with this one is good enough for me," Celestia said dreamily, looking at the stage. Then she sat up straight. "Before I head back to Canterlot, I want to know something."

Twilight smiled at her mentor. "Of course! Anything!"

Celestia looked at Twilight, her smile gone. "What's bothering you?"

Twilight's own smile fell. "Huh?"

"I can tell something is bothering you." Celestia put her wing over Twilight's shoulder. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."

Twilight wanted to remain quiet, but couldn't say no to Celestia's gentle smile. "There is something I didn't report to you that I should have. Not long after opening the school, something happened to Pinkie Pie."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "She wasn't hurt, was she?"

"No." Starlight waited for Celestia to turn towards her before continuing. "She became a golem and went on a rampage. She's completely back to normal now, though."

Celestia clearly did not expect that. "A golem? That hasn't happened to any pony, or creature, for that matter, in a long time. Not since..." Realization spread across Celestia's face, as she slowly turned towards Twilight. "What stopped her rampage?"

Twilight knew Celestia already knew, but responded anyway. "From what my students described, someone with the White Curse."

Celestia stared at Twilight for a moment, then turned away. "I see."

Starlight jumped on the question swirling through her mind. "Why did you make the law so strict? It seems excessive, given that only seven ponies-"

"I think," Celestia interrupted, "You two deserve to know the truth." She cast an illusion spell, causing seven creatures to appear on stage. "The heroes... I hate to say it, but I've forgotten what they were originally called. Either way, they existed for a long time, with a history stretching back to the time of the Pillars themselves, possibly before then. There were two groups I know of, each having seven members. The group from the time of the Pillars, as Starswirl introduced me to them himself, and the group from a thousand years ago."

"Why is it always a thousand years?" Starlight wondered out loud. "Was that one year that hectic?"

Celestia giggled. "This was more like 985 years ago, but a thousand is easier to say and remember. Either way, you were wrong about one thing. They weren't all ponies. In fact, the only pony in the group was their leader, Sky Blitz." The pony on the stage pulled out a boomerang and struck a pose. "He was also the one to control wind. The others joined him to form the most powerful team they could." She motioned to the other six creatures on the stage, each one pulling out a weapon and posing when she said their names. "Blazer the Dragon, Baxter the Diamond Dog, Terramar the Hippogriff, Castor the Abyssinian, Gabriella the Griffon, and Eshan the Yak."

Twilight put her hoof to her chin. "Terramar is the name of Silver's brother."

Starlight stared at Baxter. "They had a Diamond Dog?"

"Diamond Dogs were more civilized back then, and Silver's brother was likely named after this Terramar. They were considered heroes, some even to this day. But..." Celestia took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "Here's the part where I doubt telling you this..."

Twilight looked at her mentor, worried. "Celestia?"

"It wasn't the power that caused them to go mad." The creatures on the stage vanished into black smoke, replaced by one, ominous figure. "It was... him."

Starlight felt a chill go down her spine. "Him?"

"Gold Strike. The leader of the Night's Embrace, a terrorist sect, bent on following the example of Nightmare Moon."

Starlight and Twilight looked at Celestia in shock and spoke in unison. "TERRORIST?"

Celestia somehow kept her composure. "They were known to cause destruction anywhere they could, in the name of their 'true' princess. The day before the incident, I received a short letter from him. 'I will take what is most valuable to you.' That's all it said."

Twilight's eyes went wide. "So that's why..."

"I didn't outlaw the power because it turned the former heroes into criminals. I outlawed it because someone has, or at least had, the power to take control of them. I did it so they wouldn't have a living super-weapon causing destruction."

Starlight thought of something Celestia likely hadn't. "What if a child gets this power?"

"They can't. It has to be a trained warrior, and they would need to be an adult. Older than any of your students, at least," Celestia said, not knowing how wrong she was.

"What if something happened that forced you to kill someone that young?" Twilight expected her mentor to snap at her over the implications.

Instead, Celestia looked at Twilight in shock, then back at the stage, then shuddered. "I-I'd rather not think about it."

"S-sorry." Twilight looked at the stage herself. "Although, if we take out the Night's Embrace, then we wouldn't need to worry about them taking over the White Cursed, right?"

"I already did." Celestia stared at the figure on the stage. "At least twice. But they keep coming back, and I don't know why." She started tearing up and buried her face in her hooves. "I just don't know how."

"What if it's because someone you trust is a part of-"

Celestia glared at Starlight over that implication. "Of course it's not! I wouldn't trust them if they were. Members of the Night's Embrace tend to announce themselves rather proudly, and I am not an idiot. I've investigated them fully, and none of my most trusted have shown any signs of being parts of the Night's Embrace."

Twilight looked at the image on the stage. "The White Curse could be very useful to have on our side, but if someone, especially a terrorist, could use it against us, then it's not worth the risk. What should I do about the ones that exist?"

Celestia looked at Twilight. "If I tell you, then you aren't acting like a princess. As far as I'm concerned, you're the one that should handle this."

"Why do you leave so much to Twilight?"

Celestia waved her hoof dismissively. "Because you're only aware of half of the incidents that need to be handled."

Twilight looked lost in thought. "Do you mind if I keep quiet on how I plan to handle this?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "You can, but I'd be very suspicious of what you're planning."

Twilight looked Celestia in the eye, then turned away and sighed. "I'm not going to hunt them out yet. They haven't shown themselves to be a threat to any innocents, and we only have one incident they were involved in. Heck, as far as I know, it may be someone trying to emulate their powers without actually having them."

Celestia smiled. "That's a fair point."

"I don't have much information, and, to be honest, I hope I don't get any more. Because if I don't, then that means it was a one-time incident, and we don't have to worry about it going forward."

Starlight had one small question. "And if a White Cursed starts causing trouble?"

"... I'll do what I have to."

Celestia patted Twilight on the head, shocking the latter. "While I can't officially endorse your plan, I personally believe you're making the right choice." She leaned towards Starlight and whispered. "That's why I trust so much to her."

Starlight gasped. "Wait, what are the odds of Gold Strike having a descendant?"

Celestia chuckled. "Not a bad question, but the odds are almost none. He only ever had eyes for Lu-" Celestia suddenly slapped her hoof over her mouth. A syllable too late.

"Were you about to say... Luna?" Twilight was incredulous. "Did he fall in love with Luna?"

Celestia giggled nervously, then changed the image on the stage, making it resemble a movie. "I actually did know Gold Strike personally, before he joined Night's Embrace. He was a trapper by trade, and one of the most capable I ever knew."

The images started changing to reflect the tale Celestia was telling them, Gold Strike shown as a yellow creature resembling a pony. "The first I heard of him, he had trapped a Dragon. A younger one, sure, but it was still a dragon. He brought it to my castle to ensure it got back to the Dragon Lands, and that's when he first met Luna. If I didn't know better, I would say meeting her was his sole motivation for bringing the Dragon to us.

"After that, he started sending her letters. Long, romantic, and a bit tacky at times. The last one was about him claiming that she valued her loneliness too much, and he would change that, or something along those lines. In response, she brought him to the castle to personally chew him out. I only heard the tail end of the discussion, but I remember it clearly. 'What will it take for you to leave us alone?' 'If your heart is too much, then how about your friendship?' 'If you want either, trap the moon, so-called, "Master of his craft." Now leave, before we have the guards vacate you by force.'

Starlight tapped her chin. "'Trap the moon?' Why does that sound familiar?"

Twilight's jaw dropped. "That's where the phrase came from?"

Celestia giggled at Twilight's amazement. "I don't think she expected him to treat that as a challenge, but he did. Less than a week later, a guard led Luna to the front door, while I followed out of curiosity. He waited to open the door, but when he did, we found something shocking." The image on the stage showed Gold Strike at the steps of the castle, the sisters in the doorway, and between them...

"A bucket?" That's all Starlight could see, and she was right.

"It was full of water and showed the moon's reflection. I still remember his smile as he looked at Luna and said, 'Does this count?' She agreed to a date, and their love blossomed from there."

Twilight looked at Celestia. "She fell in love with him?"

"It was rather shocking. She was always so distant from anyone that approached her, and he tore down that wall in a moment. Figures. The "Master Trapper" trapped the heart of a mare once thought to be heartless. And thus the phrase "Trapping the Moon" was born. Performing a feat thought to be impossible."

Starlight went back to the darker topic. "So he joined the Night's Embrace... because he loved Luna?"

"That's the only reason I can think of. His love became corrupt, so he went to the dark side with her." Celestia then floated up out of her seat. "Regardless, I'll leave this incident up to you! Here's to no more monsters, curses, or annoying bureaucrats headed your way!" She saluted her student, then flew off towards Canterlot.

Starlight smiled at Twilight. "I know you can handle this. And I'll help you any way I can."

"Thank you." Twilight got up and started towards her castle. "I'll trap this moon, no matter what it takes."

Luna took one look at the letter and knew what it was. "Thank you. You're dismissed."

The guard saluted her, and left, closing the door behind him. Luna opened the letter and read its contents.

To the Princess of the night.

You're still so stubborn. You haven't responded to my letters, and don't think I didn't see you scowl at me when I was in the crowd earlier. If you don't like me, well, I apologize.

Since that is how I see you-

The rest was torn off.

Luna folded the letter again, put it against her head, and cried.

"Goldie..."

Author's Note

Nope. Not forgetting anything.

Intermission 1

"Are you sure? I can stay and protect-"

Twilight put her hoof on Tempest's shoulder. "It's alright. We can handle ourselves. Go on your way. I'm sure there are plenty of things you'd love to see."

Tempest gave Twilight a soft smile. "Alright. But if you need my help, don't be afraid to ask. I can put things off if I need to."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Tempest stepped on the train with her few belongings. When she turned around, she gave Twilight a slightly wicked smile. "And you better have gone on a date with them by the time I get back!"

"FIZZLEPOP!"

Fizzlepop Berrytwist managed to catch a glimpse of Twilight's beet red face as the doors closed.

"What was that I heard?"

As if Twilight couldn't feel more humiliated, Rarity had arrived at just the right time.

"Nothing! You heard nothing!"

Rarity squshed her cheeks. "Is our little Twilight learning about love? How adorable!"

Twilight started waving her hooves around defensively. "No! No! I don't know where she got that idea from!"

"Perhaps... is it..." Rarity whispered a word into Twilight's ear.

"Do not tell anyone!" Twilight went from embarrassed to angry at breakneck speeds. "Don't you dare tell anyone."

Rarity was quickly regretting her decisions. "Does that mean I was right? I think I would have been better off wrong."

"If you tell anyone, I'll... I'll douse you with Zecora's shampoo!"

That got to Rarity, who made a quick decision. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my- AAGH!"

Twilight watched Rarity rub her eye in pain. "Yeah, I've done that before. Not pleasant. Anyway, what are you doing here? We need to be back at the school fast."

"So you didn't forget."

"How could I?" Twilight was starting to shake. "With the old members wiped out entirely, who knows what the new E.E.A. Chancellor is like? He could be worse than Neighsay! He could try to destroy the school!"

"Twilight."

Twilight started nibbling at her hooves. "He could try to off the students! Who knows what will happen then? How would I report that to Celestia?"

"Twilight!"

"What if he tried to kidnap them? How would we even-"

Rarity yanked Twilight's mane. "TWILIGHT! Now you're just going completely absurd! Calm down! There's no way he'll be worse than Neighsay!"

Twilight took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly. "You're right. I'm overreacting. Again. I just need to calm down and-" The princess suddenly slammed her nose into the nose of a nearby stallion. "WHAT IF HE IS WORSE!"

Rarity lifted Twilight's whole body. "TWILIGHT! LEAVE THAT POOR STALLION ALONE!" Rarity lowered her friend to the ground slowly. "I share your concern, really, but all we can do is play things by ear. Besides, they said they were going to try avoiding anyone like Neighsay, right?"

"... Yeah. I guess there's just been a lot on my mind lately." Twilight shared a smile with Rarity, then noticed something. "Oh, hehe. Did you need something, sir?"

Rarity turned to look at who Twilight was talking to. For some reason, the stallion Twilight had scared was following them.

"Um, yes. See, I-"

"Are you looking to help with my school? I hope I don't disappoint you, but I'm not looking for any new faculty members."

"Uh, Ma'am?"

Twilight stepped towards him. "Oh! Are you looking to enroll someone? We'll always take a new enrollment."

"Er..."

Twilight's face was uncomfortably close to his. "Who is it? Oh, unless it's you. Though you're a bit old to attend."

"Eep!"

Twilight's nose was pressed against his. "I mean, we'll still take you, but-"

Rarity yanked Twilight away. "TWILIGHT! Control yourself!"

"Right. Sorry." Twilight cleared her throat. "So, what do you need, sir?"

The stallion shakily lifted up a golden badge. "I'm the acting E.E.A. Chancellor, Thunder Lock."

Twilight felt her heart shatter into a million pieces.

Ocellus fell halfway onto Sandbar's back, and rolled off onto the ground, to the amusement of her friends.

"Well," Gallus said between laughs, "We know who's worst off after last night's studies."

Silver lifted Ocellus onto Sandbar's back. "Does the ladybug need a nap?"

Even Ocellus had to giggle a bit at her fumble. "Why did you guys start calling me ladybug?"

Yona gave Sandbar a cocky smirk. "Ask Sandbar. He start it."

Sandbar blushed a bit. "Well, it fits."

In truth, Sandbar was trying to think of an eventual pet name for Ocellus if he managed to get with her. He slipped, said it out loud, and the others (aside from Ocellus) wouldn't stop saying it themselves. He knew darn well they were taunting him over it.

Ocellus nuzzled Sandbar's mane. "Well, I think it's cute." She was the only one that couldn't see Sandbar's face go completely red.

"I hope you six aren't headed to the school."

They all turned around.

"Lily?" Smolder landed next to the filly. "What do you mean by that?"

Gilded Lily sighed. "The acting E.E.A. Chancellor is at the school now. I don't know if he'll be as spiteful as the old one, but I'd steer clear of him if I were you."

The creatures shared a look. Gallus spoke up first. "Do you know what happened to the old one?"

Lily shook her head. "I asked the Headmare, but she dodged the question, even when I said my uncle wanted to know."

Smolder put her hand to her chin. "Is your uncle a big deal?"

"Well, he's-" Lily's eyes suddenly went wide. "I mean, no! No one important! Just my uncle!"

Silver whispered into Sandbar's ear. "It's Fancy Pants. That guy Smolder can go on about."

With that, Sandbar suddenly understood why Lily would keep that a secret. Smolder had a very odd obsession with the stallion.

Lily stepped away from the suspicious dragon. "Anyway, I should get going."

"Back to your friendship lesson with Cozy Glow, right?"

Lily shot the smirking griffon a dirty look before rushing off.

Sandbar looked at Ocellus. "Well, I don't know how much longer Ocellus can stay up. Let's just try to avoid him and make our way back to the dorms."

They all headed back to the school, though a few with bated breath. Would they be able to dodge him? Was he really that bad? Was he even still there? Gallus was the first to get to the door to the school...

*Whoosh!*

"BWAK!" The door nearly smacked him in the face.

"Oh! S-Sorry, Gallus!" A yellow stallion rushed past the students. "I'm so late. I have so much to do."

Gallus glared at the stallion as he ran off. "Who was that?"

"That was Thunder Lock," Twilight responded. "He's the acting E.E.A. Chancellor, and I'm a little sad you didn't get to really meet him."

Silver smiled at the Alicorn. "Is he nice?"

"So much better than Neighsay." Twilight giggled. "Pinkie even slipped that we had non-pony students, and he said he wanted more schools to do that."

Sandbar looked over his shoulder. "He sounds like a chill guy."

Smolder smirked. "Thunder Lock, eh? And he was shockingly nice?"

Twilight was unamused. "You may face some extra homework in your future." She looked at Sandbar's back. "Uh, is Ocellus alright?"

Gallus patted the Changeling on the head. "We stayed up late last night to study. She said she went to sleep right after we finished, but it's pretty clear she didn't."

Ocellus giggled. "Sorry."

Sandbar sighed. "Let's get you to your room, bedbug. You really need to stop doing this."

Most of the students walked off to the dorms, leaving Twilight and Smolder behind.

"Bedbug?"

Smolder chuckled. "Sandbar has a crush on Ocellus. Ever since the rest of us put that together, we've been teasing him about the nicknames he thought up for her. It's usually Ladybug, but he changes it from time to time."

"And when did you find out?"

"After the Everfree Forest incident. He was giving her a massage, and we tried to tease him while he did."

"Smolder!" Gallus called back. "You coming or what?"

"Be there in a second!" Smolder waved at Twilight. "Sorry. I should get going."

Once Smolder flew off, something clicked in Twilight's head. "Wait. Does he... No. He couldn't possibly remember. I wiped his memories of that. And there's no way it was Ocellus. That would be too much of a coincidence to be true... Though... it's not impossible. Maybe Thorax set it up that way?" Twilight shook her head. "And it's not like they have to be connected. He may just have a crush on her."

"Are you monologing again?"

Twilight yelped. "Spike! Don't sneak up on me!"

"It's easy to do when you aren't paying any attention. What's connected to what?"

"Sandbar has a crush on Ocellus, and I think it has to do with then."

Spike scratched his head. "Then? When was then?"

"I mean... the time we met Sandbar before we made the school."

"Did we meet him before-" Spike gasped. "You mean then? Do you really think he remembers?"

"I don't know. He's not acting like he remembers. At least, he certainly doesn't seem traumatized by it."

"Do you think it was Ocellus?"

"No idea, but I can see if Thorax knows at the festival."

"Oh yeah! The festival! When is that again?"

"It's two weeks from now. I lined it up that way so that the students can relax right after the big tests."

"There's a reason the students love it here."

"There's a reason the Crusaders wanted to go here instead of their normal school."

Twilight and Spike laughed and headed off to handle their duties.

Author's Note

Hmm... What could Twilight and Spike be talking about?

Since we're in the mid-season break, and the chapters follow the episodes, I'm going to make three intermission chapters, then continue when the show does. It won't be every week, but I will be working on something else during the break as well.

Chapter 26

"How long until they wake up?"

"They're Alicorns. They should wake up pretty quickly."

Twilight squeezed her eyes. She heard voices, but couldn't make out who was talking. She rolled off of whatever she was on top of and fell into the water.

She opened her eyes. Water? Why am I in... oh, right. I remember.

"Twilight!"

Twilight looked over in time to see Fluttershy rushing towards her. Once she got to the moat, Fluttershy tripped and pretty much stumbled into Twilight.

"Twilight!" The only part of Fluttershy's face that was dry was the part pressed hard against Twilight's chest. "I'm sorry! I... I..."

Twilight put her hoof on the back of Fluttershy's head. "It's alright. You blackmailed me because you didn't want me to get our students killed, right? Because you were worried that I would tell Celestia. I don't blame you. I've been pretty bad about blindly doing what Celestia tells me to do in the past. But this... Even if you hadn't blackmailed me, I probably would have stayed silent about it. The most I can be upset at you for is putting more stress on me than I needed." Twilight pulled Fluttershy into a tight hug. "I don't care how much trouble I got in, I wasn't about to tell on our students."

"And I don't blame you for that."

A white wing wrapped around the mares. They forgot who they were right next to.

"I had my own suspicions about who it was, but I kept quiet about it so I wouldn't have to hurt a child. If I learned earlier that you were keeping quiet to keep your students safe, I would have gladly turned a blind eye." Celestia nuzzled her precious student. "It's what anyone with a heart would have done. The only thing I have to be upset about is that you didn't trust me, and I can't blame you for not trusting me in this situation."

Twilight smiled. Fluttershy, however, had to wonder about something. "If you didn't want to kill Smolder, why did you set up the execution like this? Especially inviting all the world leaders?"

Celestia looked at the other leaders. "I... actually didn't. I'm not sure who did it, but I didn't want anyone else to be here. Just a few essentials. As for the execution itself-" Celestia's eyes went wide as they locked on to the platform.

Twilight looked over herself. Her students were up there, but there was someone with them. "Chancellor Thunder Lock? What are you-"

That's when it clicked.

He had a gold coat and a honeydew mane. He was wearing a bracelet with a cresent moon charm.

"Gold Strike?"

The "pony" pulled in his legs, then extended them as lightning hit him, replacing his appearance with that of a slender Kirin. He held his head high as he smiled at them, his violet eyes seemingly looking through them. "Hello, princess."

Autumn fanned herself with her hoof. "Wow. I didn't realize he was that hot."

Rain Shine herself felt a little flushed just looking at him. "It's a real shame he's taken."

Celestia quickly got to her hooves and pushed Twilight and Fluttershy back. "What are you doing here?"

"You were about to put down someone I happen to like. Why wouldn't I show up?"

Silver tilted her head. What is he doing?

Ocellus bit her lip. I think I know.

"Angel?" Fluttershy had no idea her pet rabbit was nearby until it hopped on to her back.

"Do you think I'll let you take control of the White Cursed again?"

Twilight gasped. "That's right! His mind control isn't limited to the White Cursed!"

Celestia looked at Twilight. "What? Right! That scroll!"

"Aww, you found documentation of my tricks? How sad for me?" Gold's tone defied his words.

Celestia glared at him. "So you won't deny it?"

"No point. My powers worked on smaller creatures and have only grown stronger with time. By now, I may even be able to control you, princess."

Celestia scowl intensified. "Then why haven't you?"

Gold Strike gave her a sinister smile. "I have my reasons."

"Don't play games!" Celestia raised her voice at him. "I'll have you know that I have decades, nearly a millennia, of knowledge that you couldn't possibly-"

"Lagomorph!"

At Gold Strike's command, Angel bounded off of Fluttershy's back, spun around in the air, then landed on Gold's head looking completely different. "Tada! The adorable genius has returned!"

Smolder's jaw dropped. "Him again?"

Gold Strike pointed at the stylized rabbit on his head. "Lagomorph here is my aspect, meaning that while I was dormant and unable to do anything, as you seem to have realized, he was able to learn and adapt in my place. He knows about the Elements of Harmony, Discord, the Crystal Empire, the Rainbow Power, and even the Pillars of Old. And his knowledge is my knowledge."

Fluttershy's ears folded back as her pupils shrank. "Angel? Y-you... you were..."

"Sowwy, Fwattasai! I do like you a lot, really, but I'm part of Big G here, so I have to be on his side."

"I created Lagomorph as a contingency, in case something happened to me, but he was invaluable in making sure I stay with the times. Even with the order to watch you specifically."

Celestia's eye twitched. "You... you had him watch me?"

"Yeah, that was the order, but I got bored after a long time and decided to stick with someone else. Conveniently, she ended up being close to you anyway."

Gold Strike let out a low laugh. "There's a certain part of me that makes fate dictate my life more-so than others. I guess that passed on to you."

"Fifteen years." Fluttershy held her hooves to her mouth. "He was with me for fifteen years."

Twilight bit her lip. A rabbit should not live that long. Did Fluttershy never think that was odd?

Celestia was grinding her teeth. "And you did this... because of Luna?"

Autumn leaned towards Rain Shine. "I think she's getting mad."

Rain Shine raised an eyebrow. "What was your clue?"

Gold Strike looked at his fellow Kirin with a lopsided smile. "D-do you two mind? You're getting distracting."

The pair of female Kirin shared a look, then shrugged.

Gold Strike sighed and turned back to Celestia. "There was something other than Luna that influenced my actions. If you knew the truth, you wouldn't blame me for what I did."

Twilight stepped forward. "What is that truth?"

Celestia put her wing in front of Twilight. "Don't bother. He's probably lying."

"What's this?" Gold Strike bent down, his smile unwavering. "Are you unwilling to hear me out? Am I that much of a monster in your eyes?"

"I have no reason to trust you, you murderer!"

There was a reaction in Gold Strike's tail, but he remained straight-faced regardless. "So you won't listen to me? That's fine. You just have to listen to your student."

"What?" Celestia turned around at Twilight, eyes completely wide.

Twilight stepped back. "I-I don't know what he's talking about! I can't look through time!"

"Though not for reasons you'd think of fast, there is a way to see the past."

The mares looked at the new arrival. "Zecora?"

Gallus scratched his head. "Wait, who?"

Yona leaned over. "One of the Headmare's friends. I think."

Twilight looked at the potion that Zecora had. "That's... is that the potion from the Plunder Vine incident?"

"It is." Gold Strike had laid down at some point. "I asked her to bring it as soon as she could. You remember the spell to trigger it, right princess?"

Twilight levitated the potion in front of her. "I think it was..." Twilight cast dark magic on the bottle, turning it from purple to white.

"There you go. Just take a sip and then tell Princess Celestia why I'm doing what I'm doing."

"It's really that simple, huh?" Twilight moved her lips towards the potion.

Then the potion zipped away from her.

"Huh?" Twilight noticed where the potion went. "Celestia?"

Celestia's eyes were locked on to Gold Strike. "What are you planning? Why are you letting her learn the truth?"

Gold Strike just smiled at the princess.

"It's alright, your highness. Just let me drink it so I can tell you what I want to."

Celestia looked over her shoulder at Twilight, who promptly put her hoof over her mouth.

"Wha- Why did I-"

"Gold Strike!"

The Kirin giggled. "Did I slip up there? Oh well, it's not like anyone else can drink it and tell you the truth."

Yona, be ready to mind link.

Yona looked at Ocellus. Huh?

What do you mean, Ocellus?

If he's about to do what I think he is, we'll be immune to it, but we really should see it.

Celestia started laughing.

Gold Strike's smile quickly faded. "What's so funny?"

Celestia's laughter intensified.

Gold Strike stood up. "What are you laughing at?"

Celestia's expression was a smile similar to what a lunatic would have. "It's hard to think you didn't realize this, but someone here can drink this potion without you manipulating them into lying to me!"

Gold Strike opened his mouth, then his eyes went wide. "No. Don't you dare."

Celestia brought the potion to her own lips and tilted her head back, lifting the potion up.

"No!" The Kirin leaped off the platform.

"That's too much!" Twilight removed the potion from Celestia's lips.

Once Gold Strike touched the ground, a wave of electricity shot out, and everyone's vision went white.

Celestia blinked a couple of times. "This is... Ponyville. Back before it was destroyed. It's odd to see it like this again."

Celestia looked around a bit. "It's the dead of night, so most of the villagers should be asleep at home right now. If I'm looking at the past, then this might be the night that it was destroyed. What does this have to do with his motives? Or does the potion pick a random point in history and Twilight just got-"

She cut herself off when she saw someone wearing a fancy scarf. "Bamboo Tower?"

She rushed over to her old advisor, who seemed to be looking around for something. "Bamboo! I'm so sorry. I did everything I could for your family, but I wish I could have saved your life. You were always so vocal against the White Cursed, and I should have listened to you."

Bamboo veered behind a building, and Celestia followed. "You were right about what they ended up being. I should have appreciated you more. You... You... What are you doing with that match?"

As Bamboo tried to light the match, Celestia looked at what was just in front of him. A pile of dark powder, with a line leading away from it. A sudden light caught her attention just before her advisor dropped it into the powder.

"NO!" Celestia tried to catch it with her hooves, but the match just passed right through them. Celestia watched the powder ignite, then quickly followed the fire as it zipped away. Just when she rounded the corner, something terrifying happened.

A string of explosions, causing several buildings to fall and a number more to light on fire.

Celestia looked back at the arsonist. "You-"

Another blast came from the building they were behind, causing a large chunk of debris to land on the criminal.

"Good! You deserved that you-" Celestia stopped as she realized what was about to happen.

"What the heck?"

That voice. That was Sky Blitz! Celestia stepped back into the main street to see the seven-

She stared with wide eyes and a lowered jaw. There were the seven members she knew of, but there was someone else.

Gold Strike.

"Get these fires out! Look for survivors!" Sky was barking out orders as several of them rushed forward. The last one to move was Castor, who just walked forward casually.

Gold Strike ran forward until he got close to the building Bamboo was behind. He looked past the building for a moment before following the steps Bamboo took earlier. Celestia rushed behind the building again.

"You!" The Kirin stood over the crushed pony. "Did you do this?"

Bamboo started giggling.

"Answer me!" Gold Strike grabbed the stallion by the scarf. "What did you-" He paused as he saw something. Celestia couldn't quite see it until it was lifted in front of the Kirin.

It was the emblem of the Night's Embrace.

Gold Strike stared at the emblem, then at the arsonist. "I should have known. You were always at odds with our team. Why else would you be."

Bamboo still had a smile on his face. "It's better than that. My nephew was recently promoted to captain of the royal guard. He also got some of our members in as well."

Celestia gasped in horror. Several of her current guards were part of bloodlines that lead back to the days of Nightmare Moon. How many of her own guards were aiming for her downfall?

"And they're all on their way here right now." Bamboo laughed until he coughed, then went limp.

Gold Strike dropped the emblem and went back towards the main street. "We need to leave! Now!" He stopped before reaching the main street.

"HALT!"

The Kirin took a step back, then another, before turning around and running. Celestia stayed behind just long enough to see a guard pick up the emblem and hide it on himself, then she ran after Gold Strike.

Once Celestia caught up with Gold Strike, he was sitting in a small clearing. Crying. When she tried to walk towards him, he suddenly looked up, then got to his hooves. Celestia followed his gaze upwards and saw what he was looking at.

The moon.

"LUNA!" He cried out. "WHAT DID I DO? WHY DO I DESERVE THIS?"

Celestia bit her lip and started to cry. For all these years, she felt like she was the only one to miss Luna so badly.

"LUNA! PLEASE COME BACK! PLEASE!"

But, for all these years, she never realized one important thing.

"LUNAAAAAAAA!"

Gold Strike was just as good at hiding his true emotions as she was.

She walked over to the sobbing boy and placed her wing over him. "I'm sorry, Gold Strike."

"Why did you abandon us?"

Celestia looked behind her. Sky Blitz looked like he was about to tear Gold Strike apart. Looking back to Gold Strike, she saw that he was glaring behind him.

"You should have helped us, you coward!"

Gold Strike turned around. "You were the one that suggested we hide our numbers. I was just following your orders, leader."

"Don't act like that. I'm the one in charge, and if I say you're wrong-"

"You're a terrible leader. You have that power because you were able to command a team of guards without issue. Our team was far from a team of guards."

"But you only needed to obey me!"

Celestia bit her lip. As a leader herself, she knew that the leader often needs to adapt to who they're leading, not the other way around. If your only justification for a choice is "I'm in charge," then you really shouldn't be.

Gold Strike rolled his eyes. "They'll be after one of us. You know that right?"

"Then you get back to that place and-"

"They'll realize that you're still alive. You've practically been the face of our team. If I go back, they'll wonder what happened to you and still look for you."

"I just need time to make a new team-"

"And they'll die as well. Celestia will listen to her guards and her royal court before she listens to us, and they want us dead. I have a way to seal it away without anyone else here. I just need the guards to stay away from me.

Sky stammered out a few sounds, then let out a cry of frustration. "You better appreciate this, you coward!"

The Pony ran off as the Kirin turned around.

"I'll be too busy mourning."

"Big G!"

A rabbit, far less fancy than it was in the present time, bounded up to him.

"Lagomorph, I need you to watch over Celestia for me. Keep the Night's Embrace from harming her, no matter what it takes."

The little rabbit's eyes fell. "What are you going to do?"

Gold Strike took a deep breath. "Something drastic. I don't want Celestia to fall to those monsters while I'm gone."

"Goldie!"

Gold Strike put his hoof on Lagomorph's head. "It's alright. I don't plan on dying. Do your duty, little solder."

Lagomorph held his expression for a second, then tightened his eyebrows and saluted before bouncing off.

Gold Strike watched his familiar leave, then turned into a bolt of lightning and shot into the sky. Celestia spread her wings to follow him, only to suddenly find herself on a ship. She looked around and saw a lightning bolt headed for the ship. She stepped out of the way of it.

Once it landed, Gold Strike formed back into a Kirin and rushed into the ship. Celestia wasted no time following him through the ship down to the bottom and into a specific room. The Kirin slammed his hooves into a mirror, which rippled at his touch, and started saying something in an odd language.

As he chanted, the mirror gave off an odd light and the walls were immersed with a dark fog. Neither of those deterred Gold Strike, as he continued speaking seemingly incoherently.

Moments later, the light grew more intense, and the dark fog started going into the mirror.

Gold Strike's eyes started glowing. "Veni mecum, Erebus!"

There was one final massive flash of light that completely blinded Celestia.