Mlp Ninja-go: The Tournament of Elements

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Invitation
Chapter 2: Only One Can Remain
Chapter 3: Versus
Chapter 4: Ninja Roll
Chapter 5: Spy for a Spy

Chapter 1: The Invitation

Deep within the jungle, Nindroids were spotted as they have taken control of an area of that jungle. As one passes by some flowers, In the middle of them, a single eye blinked. Soon the owner of that eye quickly moved before one of the Nindroids was quickly pulled down and vanished. Another one was kicked when somepony swung his way before two more were kicked down.

The rest were struck down by shurikens, pulled away from behind as a white silhouette flew over the last one’s head before kicking him down.

Lloyd panted as he rushed further into the jungle. He soon came across a cave with lasers blocking his way. He quickly and carefully maneuvered between them before lasers beams were shot him. Approaching were more Nindroids, Lloyd dodged the laser fire and blasted them with his light energy.

He turned to see more coming. “NINJA, GO!” he yelled, doing Spinjitzu, punching and kicking the robots caught in his Spinjitzu Tornado before flinging them against the walls. He then turned to see a large boulder coming straight at him. He ran and grabbed a rope, tied it around his waist, and jumped down a hole with a beam of light pulsing in it.

He stopped falling just a few inches from the floor when he looked up, seeing the Golden Armor of Disaster, except it had a more platinum appearance. He swung closely to it but just when it was in reach, it vanished as he slouched in disappointment.

“You got closer than I thought you would,” Lloyd turns to see Borg, Wu, Cozy and Celestia, revealing the mission to be a virtually simulated training exercise. "But then again, I didn't think you'd be quite so rough on my security droids,” Borg mentioned as he looked towards some of his destroyed droids.

"If I can't steal the Golden Armor, I'd be surprised if anycreature else could,” Lloyd said as he pushed Borg's wheelchair. "It's secure, but where is the real one, along with the Elements of Harmony?"

"Some secrets are best kept safe,” Borg told him as Wu walked up to Lloyd.

"Lloyd, where are the other Ninja?” he asked. "I asked for all of you to take part in this test."

"Uh, they, uh, they really wanted to be here, but they, uh…" Lloyd stuttered as he tried to come up with an excuse. "All had other plans."

"We understand perfectly well,” Celestia spoke up. "The loss of a friend can affect those who live on, in so many different ways."

"Yes, especially when that friend is Frost,” Borg added. "I haven't heard word from my assistant Pixal or Gear since his memorial. It's all heartbreaking,” he said, bowing his head in guilt.

"If we dwell too long on what's missing, we fail to see what can be gained,” Wu told them. "The absence of Frost will either tear you six apart or bring you closer together."

“So, what you’re saying, it’s up to Lloyd… and to them,” Cozy concluded.

Celestia nodded and turned to Lloyd. “Lloyd, see if you can convince your friends that you must carry on… without Frost,” she said with some regret.

Lloyd sighs. “I’ll do the best I can,” he says, looking down. “But it won’t be easy.”

“The greatest lessons never are,” Celestia told him.

"Most Ultimate Extreme Ninja Challenge Ever!" a crowd of creatures cheered as Thunder wearing a game show host outfit with his mane done up walked out, in front of an obstacle course.

"I'm Thunder Crack, Equestria's most lovable Ninja, here before the Gauntlet of Humility to see who will be Equestria's next hero and whose dreams will be gone…” he spoke into a microphone before he paused for a dramatic effect, “in a flash!”

He tossed away his microphone before he concentrated and used his lightning power to lift himself off the ground. He then flew his way over to the first platform where a mare in a jumpsuit was seen standing. Another microphone was tossed to him, which he grabbed as he turned to the crowd. "I'm here with Jewels, tireless mother of four, pillar of Trottingham’s PTA, and returning contestant.” He then turned to the contestant. "Tell me, Jewels, after being humbled by the Gauntlet the first time, what makes you think this'll be any different?"

“Because Ninja never QUIT!!!” Jewels yelled in determination as Thunder winced from the feedback.

He then chuckled. “Okay, Jewels. Start the Doomsday CLOCK!!!” he declared as the timer started.

Jewels started moving through the Gauntlet. She got past the ropes, moving onto the rollers. She started running and dodging the boxing gloves. She had almost reached the end… until a boxing glove punched her off and onto the ground. The crowd and Thunder gasped as the show host rushed to Jewels who got up and simply laughed while rubbing her head. “I got further than last time.” The crowd cheered Jewels for her good try.

Later, Thunder was in his dressing room, as he sighed into his mirror and turned to a photo of him and the others. “Ninja never quit, huh Frost?” he asked, looking at Frost in the picture.

“The team needs you now more than ever.”

Thunder jumped and looked behind him to Lloyd. He gasped, “How did you get in here?!”

“Teleportation spell Twilight gave me, and you are wearing the make-up Rarity gave you,” Lloyd states with a smirk.

Thunder brushes him up while showing him a make-up plate with Rarity’s symbol on it. “It’s concealer, a time-ordered tool of the Ninja,” he states before frowning. “And what do you mean ‘team’?! I refuse to fight beside Landrush! There’s nothing you can say to get me back with that mare-stealing, black-hearted, rock-pounding-”

“Thunder, you know Landrush isn’t interested in Aqua and she still thinks of you,” Lloyd reminded Thunder as the blue stallion sighed and went back to his mirror. “You don’t belong here Thunder, this isn’t you. You're the Master of Lightning, not the Master of Lighting.”

Thunder looked down sadly. “You know where I’ll be if you change your mind,” Lloyd told him before teleporting away.

Thunder then puts on some concealer before looking at himself, and then throwing the brush at the mirror and marching out the door.

In Fillydelphia, Gaia was at a garden party on behalf of her mother, wearing a green gown. A waiter offered her a drink. “Thank you,” she said, taking the drink and sipping it.

She then turned to an ice sculpture and sighed sadly, reminding her of the Master of Ice. She looked down with a sad look before going out to the patio for some air. She then looked up into the sky, thinking about how things could have been different.

"You know, it's okay to talk about your feelings.”

She gasped sharply and turned around quickly, seeing Lloyd on the roof with her. "Oh, it's just you…” she said, not sounding too happy to see him. "What is it that you want, Lloyd?"

"The team needs you now more than ever,” Lloyd told her before he jumped down from the roof and landed next to her. "Look at you, Gaia. You used to hate this lifestyle before you became a Ninja. You're the Master of Life. Running wild and free. If Landrush were here to see you like this-"

"Don't you dare bring him up near me!" Gaia scolded him. "It was obvious he didn't feel the same way when I told him my feelings, so I want nothing to do with him!” she then frowned and looked away. “In this life, where my path is chosen for me, I never have to feel the pain of losing ever again.”

"He never said he didn’t like you, and even if he did, he's still your friend. And you are losing something important in this life, Gaia: your freedom,” Lloyd reminded her as the mare took a sip of her drink. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me.” Lloyd then threw down a smoke pellet and vanished. Gaia let out a frustrating sigh before she looked back at the ice sculpture inside. She then furrowed her brow and trotted to the exit.

In the Whitetail Woods, some lumberponies were hauling some wood while Landrush was swinging an ax on some branches.

"The team needs you now more than ever,” Lloyd told him as he was hanging upside down by a rope.

“I thought I was good with a scythe,” Landrush starts before striking the branch. “Turns out I’m even better with an ax!” He strikes the branch again and sighs. “I’m tired, Lloyd. Tired of skeletons, tired of Serpentine, tired of Samu-Taurs and Darklings, tired of Nindroids, tired of… Thunder.” He then looked down at his co-workers. “Out here, nocreature knows who you are, nocreature expects anything from you.”

“But what would Frost expect?” Lloyd asked. “You’re the Master of Earth, Landrush. You don’t belong in trees. Your hooves should be planted on the ground. You can’t hide who you are.” He then flipped down next to Landrush.

Landrush just sighed. “Well, maybe being in the trees is the only way I feel like I can be with…” he said as Lloyd knew who he was talking about. “Never mind. Anyway, sorry Light bulb, but this is my life now,” he said holding up his ax.

Then one of the stallions standing on the logs noticed the crane dropping another close to him as the others started to come loose. “Oh, cracked stem! She’s falling hard!” he warned the other lumberponies.

Landrush saw the logs rolling to towards them as he jumped down quickly and used his powers to stop them.

The lumberponies all cheered for Landrush. “Who is he?” one asked.

“Not one of us,” another answered as Landrush sighed and decided it was time to leave.

He then looks up to see Lloyd. “If you change your mind, Landrush, you know where I’ll be,” he told him before taking flight. As he left, Landrush remembered a promise he made long ago, a promise he vowed to never break. He then sighed and continued walking.

In a biker bar, many creatures (including a number of Serpentine) gathered around a pit where a Hypnobrai host, Mezmo, was seen in the center. "Welcome to the Yang Slither Pits Final!” he declared to the crowd. "In the left corner, we have Trail Blaze, the Flaming Shogun!” he just turned to Trail, now wearing a red, yellow, and black wrestler outfit and a red mask over his face.

"And in the right corner, we have Kruncha!” he pointed towards him, who was getting a little message from Nuckal.

The crowd cheered as this was going to be an interesting fight before the bell dinged. Kruncha was then pushed forward as he approached Trail. "NINJA, GO!" Trail declared as he did Spinjitzu and easily defeated him by scattering his bones.

"Didn't your mama ever warn you not to play with me?” he asked with his hooves crossed.

“No,” Kruncha winced as the bell rang and the announcer walked to the center.

“Victory of the Slither Pit, and undefeated Champion,” he started, raising Trails foreleg. “Trail Blaze, the Flaming Shogun!”

Trail then pulled away and stormed off. “The ‘Red’ Shogun! RED Shogun!” he corrected while kicking Kruncha’s head.

Nuckal then picks up one of Kruncha’s hooves. “Some fight that was!” he stated.

“Let’s get out of here!” Kruncha suggested only to see Nuckal stroking his hoof and laughing. He then kicked him in the face. “You said to go down in the first!”

“I said ‘Don’t be the first to go down!’” Nuckal corrected him as he dragged his partner’s pieces away while kicking his head.

At the drink stand, Trail was slurping down some cider.

“You shouldn’t drink so much cider.”

Trail looked around for the voice until Lloyd appeared beside him. “It’s filled with a lot more stuff you’d rather not find.”

“Oh, it’s you,” Trail said dully before turning away.

“The team needs you now more than ever,” Lloyd tells him, placing a hoof on Trail’s shoulder.

Trail just scowls and shrugged him off. “Who says the Light Ninja needs a team?” he asked bitterly. “You seemed to be holding down the fort on your own.”

Lloyd shook his head. “I get it, Trail. You’ve run out of bad guys to fight out there, you gotta come to place like this,” he said, gesturing to the bar. “But where’s the honor in that? Where’s the Master of Fire?”

Trail then turns to Lloyd. “It’s the Red Shogun now! And where’s the Master of Ice, huh?! He’s gone! But I’m still here,” he states before looking down sadly. “Who care about honor? It should’ve been me. I should’ve taken the Over-”

“You always thought you should’ve been the one,” Lloyd interrupts him. “First it was being the Light Ninja, now this. When are you gonna start thinking of someone other than yourself?”

Trail did not answer and then turned to see Lloyd was gone. “If you change your mind, you know where I’ll be,” Lloyd said from somewhere. Trail stood there for a moment, before pulling off his mask and leaving it on the table.

"All right, troops! Let's go over our training again and see if any of you have learned from last time!" Flash ordered as he marched in front of some armored Royal Guard pony recruits. Twilight and the Serpentine Kids watch from the sidelines as he picks up a spear. "Sentinel Star, you're up! Rule number one?!"

"Yes sir!" a unicorn mare picked up her own spear for combat against him. "Keep your guard up when facing an enemy!"

"Good!" Flash lunged forward and Sentinel blocked his attack with her own spear. “Rule number two?!”

"Keep your center balanced!” she pushed him back before he used his spear to stop himself.

"And rule number three?” he asked before she had a look that tells that she was trying to remember. Flash then spun his spear around to cause a mini tornado that pushed her into a pile of leaves. "You're always forgetting the last one."

“Always expect… the unexpected… sir-ohhhhh…” she said dazedly before collapsing.

Flash sighed and turned to the rest of his guard. “All of you keep practicing, I need to rest for a minute,” he ordered as the guard saluted and grabbed their training gear. Flash then walked away as Twilight looked at him, no longer seeing the stallion she loved in him.

Flash returned to his office, took off his helmet and placed it on his armor stand. He turned to the picture of him, the Ninja, Mane Six and their friends after their first battle with the Overlord. Next to it was a picture of himself but younger, with his brother First Base, their mother, and an amber stallion decked in obsidian and gold armor, his coat slightly scratched up, and a mustache and beard of the same mane color as him.

He sighed and moved to grab his helmet, only to move his head out of the way of a throwing knife and turned to Lloyd standing at the doorway. “The team needs you now more than ever.”

Flash just gave an unimpressed look. “You missed,” he said before turning back to his helmet.

“So that’s it? You're just gonna spend your time here, staying here and waiting for danger to come instead of going out to stop it. Of all the ponies I expected to quit being a Ninja… you are the most surprising one I’ve seen,” Lloyd remarked as he walked in.

“You’ve managed to do just fine without me or the others,” Flash told Lloyd as he looked at his helmet.

Lloyd frowned. “Look, I got a good left wing, but without my right wing I can’t fly,” he stated.

“You get a prosthetic wing, then you can fly,” Flash told him simply.

“Well, maybe I don’t want a prosthetic wing,” Lloyd argued as Flash groaned. “Come on Flash, what happened to ‘Ninja never quit’? ‘No Ninja left forgotten’, huh?”

“Clichés,” Flash said, rolling his eyes.

Lloyd rolled his eyes as Flash took a sword. “Come on, dude, stop being this guy. Be that other guy!” he said, grabbing Flash’s sword before he snatched it back.

“What ‘other guy’?!” Flash asked frustratedly as Lloyd grabbed his helmet.

“The guy who was born to be a Ninja. The guy who soared through the skies, afraid of nothing!” Lloyd remarked as Flash pulled his helmet away as Lloyd then grabbed his shield. “The guy I looked up to when he was the Master of Wind!” The two pulled on the shield before it slipped and Flash managed to grab it and placed it down firmly. “Come on! Where’s that Flash Sentry?” Lloyd asked with a frown.

Flash had a crushed look on his face. “That Flash Sentry… died with Frost Gear,” he said sadly.

"Look Flash, I miss Frost too, more than anything,” Lloyd told him. "But I know that all this won't fill that painful void in your heart. If you ever change your mind, you know where I'll be,” he threw down a smoke pellet and vanished before Flash let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair.

Just when he was about to get back to work, Twilight entered the room with a concerned look on her face. "How much did you hear?” he asked.

"All of it,” she answered before she walked over to him. "Flash, I'm a little worried about you. You're not acting like your usual self ever since… you know."

"Look, it's not that I want to be a Ninja again, it's just…" Flash closed his eyes shut. "I can't stand the thought of losing anypony close to me, especially you and the Kids."

He went towards his family photo, picking it up in his hooves as he looked down on it. “I spent my whole life trying to follow in my father’s hoofprints, to one day become Captain of the Royal Guard like he was. But then Wu shows up, telling me I have to be a Ninja, a Master of Wind! And then everything happened: Garmadon, the Serpentine, the Dark Island and Frost,” Flash continued as Twilight looked at him sadly.

“And during each of those things, I wasn’t strong enough to make a true difference, and our last battle got so bad Frost had to give up his life just to save us. And now… now I’m just worried about the next time we face something like that. Because, what if…” Flash trailed off as his eyes turned wet. “What if I can’t protect you?” He then takes some shaky breaths and covers his eyes while tears slide down his face.

Twilight looked at him tearfully before walking behind him and hugging the back of his neck. "I know how you feel,” she whispered. "Nightmare Moon, Tirek, Chrysalis, Sombra, everything that my friends and I had faced, I was so afraid of failing and losing those I cared about. I knew that if I slipped up just once, everything we all cared about would be gone in an instant. But the difference between you and me… is that I’d never let the loss of a friend get to me and keep me from my other friends."

She then turned to leave before she stopped and looked back at him. "I think you should go and see what Lloyd wants to talk about. And I'm not telling you as your marefriend, I'm ordering you as your princess.” She then let him be as he let out a sad sigh. He then gave one last look at the photos before he took off the rest of his armor and went out the door.

Flash was seen walking through the park of Equestria City. Ever since the Golden Master incident, it was no longer the high-tech city it had once been, instead opting for a balance between nature, magic, and technology. Flash walked up to the statue of Frost, moss having grown overtime. He saw a couple of birds flying down and resting on the shoulder of the statue before Frost's Falcon flew down and cawed at them to make them go away. "Really miss you, pal,” he said to the statue before he continued onward, having paid his respects.

The sounds of festive music could be heard as Flash made his way to a noodle house where above the door was a large animatronic bearded male unicorn statue, holding a bowl of rainbow noodles. "There's only one Master Chen's Equestria's number one Noodle House,”a recording played as he entered the restaurant.

He looked around. “Flash! Back here!" Lloyd calls as Flash approacheed him.

He was then surprised to see the other Ninja there too. “Gaia? Guys?” he said as they turned to him.

"Oh, you too?" Landrush asked, leaning on his hoof.

"Great, full party,” Trail huffed.

Gaia scowled. “The little scoundrel deceived us all."

"Just hurry up and take a seat,” Thunder told Flash.

Trail noticed some food and tried to grab some, only for Lloyd to stop him. “We talk first, then eat,” he said.

Landrush sighed as he turned to Flash. “Seriously, do you know what kinda restraint I had staring at all this noodle goodness?” he asked. “You’re late."

Flash just sighed and took a seat next to Trail and Landrush. “Just make this quick,” he said.

"I know without Frost things have been different, but we have to move on,” Lloyd told them. "The reason I brought you all here is because…” he scratched the back of his head, knowing what he's going to say next is not going to make them happy. "Maybe we should add someone new to our team?"

"A new Ninja?!" Trail exclaimed.

"Are you crazy?!" Thunder shouted at Lloyd.

"I knew this was a bad idea!" Gaia shouted.

"Never in a million years!" Flash scolded Lloyd.

"Come on, Frost's irreplaceable!" Landrush shouted.

"I didn't mean replacing Frost, but defending Equestria will be difficult with just the six of us," Lloyd tried to explain before looking down. “Look, I cared for him too, but now it's time to care about this team,” Lloyd explained to them.

"Maybe without Frost, there is no team,” Trail told him before he looked away with his hooves crossed.

“At last, something we agree on,” Gaia stated as Flash, Landrush and Thunder nodded. Lloyd looked down in defeat.

Then, the door opened as a trio of punk ponies, led by one with a black mohawk and blind eye, walked in.

Thunder saw them. “Oh, don’t look now, but we got trouble,” he told the others.

The three punks walked up to the cashier and he immediately handed them all the cash he had. But the leader gestured to him to give more, but the cashier shrugged, indicating he did not have any more. The three then grabbed him and put him on the food bar, blocking the food riding on it.

“Okay, now they’re our problem,” Landrush stated as they got up and marched towards the laughing punks. “Excuse me, it's not polite to touch somepony’s food!” Landrush stated with his forelegs crossed.

“I’d listen to him if I were you,” Flash warned. “He’s not nice to be around when he’s hangry.”

One of the punks tried to deliver a punch to Landrush before he quickly caught it in his chopsticks. He then taunted the three punks to come after him before that punk tried to kick him. Like before he caught it in his chopsticks before he made the punk turn around. He then dodged another punch before he made a goofy smile on the punk's face with his chopsticks. Trail and Flash then got onto the conveyor belt to deal with the other two punks just as the first one made the conveyor belt go a little faster.

Trail and Flash started kicking food at the two punks. “All right, I admit. We make a good team,” Flash confessed.

“Right back at ya!” Trail said as he kicked another dish at one of the punks, but he dodged at it flew towards Landrush still fighting with the leader.

He saw the food and grabbed it with his chopsticks and ate it. “Mm, everything’s better on a full stomach,” he said, eating the food flying by before the leader smashed a plate. “Hey! I was gonna eat that!”

Landrush then threw the leader on to the conveyor belt and he fell down face first in a bowl of noodles. The other two punks chased Flash across belt, until he kicked one causing him to tumble into his buddy and they crashed on the leader. “Bon appétit!” Flash quipped as he jumped off the punks and over to the others.

“How can you walk away from this?” Lloyd asked as the leader lifted his head to show sushi stuck to his eyes and carrots in his mouth. A filly saw him and screamed in fear before her mother frown and whacked the punks with a plate, scaring them out of the restaurant…or so it seemed until the Leader shot the Ninja a smirk before rushing out after his cronies.

“Hey! Get back here you scoundrels!” Gaia demanded as they rushed after them.

But when they got outside, they were shocked to find they were gone. “Where’d they go?” Trail wondered as they looked around, but then cough sight of table with candles, six fortune cookies and scroll with the image of a familiar cutie mark on it.

“What’s this?” Lloyd wondered as they walked up to the scroll.

Once close enough, they were able to recognize the mark. “Frost’s cutie mark,” Trail gasped.

“What does it say?” Landrush wondered as Lloyd took the Scroll in his magic.

His eyes widened when he read what was on it. “It says… he’s alive,” he tells the other Ninja as they gasp in shock.

Flash the realized something. “I don’t think those thugs were delivering a message to the noodle house,” he started. “I think they were delivering a message to us!”

"But what does it mean when it says ‘He's alive"?" Thunder asked.

"Yes, we all saw him blown up,” Gaia reminded them.

"Hey, I'm just telling you what it says,” Lloyd retorted.

"Why would those thugs lead us here?" Trail asked.

"You know, this has to be a cruel joke,” Landrush spoke up, "and I'm not laughing."

"Look,” Gaia pointed out the six fortune cookies. "I think this was meant for us as well."

"Fortune cookies?" Thunder asked as they each took one. "Very peculiar."

"Should we?" Lloyd asked before Landrush already ate his.

"Uh, you do realize there's a fortune inside, right?" Flash asked Landrush as he broke his cookie in half and showed the small piece of paper inside.

Landrush let out a loud gulp after hearing that. "Oh, so that's why they're called that,” he said as the others broke their own fortune cookies and took the fortunes out.

"As clueless as ever,” Gaia sighed before they looked at their fortunes.

“Listen to this,” Lloyd says as they turn to him. “‘Master Chen has personally invited you to participate in his tournament of elements.’”

Landrush blinked. “Hold on, are you telling me, that Mister Chen, the same guy whose been filling my belly with delicious goodness, is actually Master Chen?” he asked.

Flash then read his fortune. “‘It is a large competition where you will meet those like you who have been gifted by the Elements of Equestria.’”

“‘You will all compete where no two fights will be identical in nature, ’” Gaia read her fortune.

“‘Secrecy is of the utmost importance, tell no one or suffer the consequences,’” Trail read his next.

“‘If you ever want to see your friend again, meet on the Manehattan pier at Midnight, and leave any weapons behind,’” Thunder finished as they all turned to each other.

Then one by one, their fortunes poofed out of their hooves. The Ninja turned to Landrush, who remembered he ate his fortune and then let out a yelp as his fortune exploded in his belly. He then belched out some smoke and turned to his friend with a grin. “At least I know I was invited,” he joked as they all laughed.

Lloyd then looked concern. “You don’t think-”

“I know, this sounds just too good to be true,” Flash answered.

“Yeah, this could be a trap, a lie to lure us into an even greater plot,” Trail theorized.

“Yeah, but what if it’s not?” Thunder argued. “What if Frost really is alive?”

Lloyd turns back to the scroll. “The Tournament of Elements. I’m starting to think that this Master Chen makes more than noodles.”

“Indeed. If what this says is true, is it possible that there are other ponies, or other creatures, out there with powers like us?” Gaia questioned as she conjures up some leaves in her hoof.

“If there are, why haven’t Wu, Garmadon or the Royal Sisters ever told us?” Landrush wondered.

“Come to think of it, we never really wondered why we even have these powers in the first place,” Flash said as the Ninja realized he was right. They had spent so much time practicing to control their power that they never thought about where they came from or how they got them. “But I think this Master Chen could give us some answers.”

Trail nodded and turned to Lloyd. “You can forget about bringing in a new Ninja, Lloyd. Let’s go see about an old one,” he said as they all nodded and then left to prepare for this tournament.

Meanwhile back at Garmadon’s Monastery, Garmadon and Luna approached, Aqua, Wu and Celestia looking over some blueprints.

Garmadon hummed, recognizing the design. “Are you planning on rebuilding the Destiny’s Bounty?” he asked.

“Indeed,” Celestia confirmed. “With the materials Dr. Borg provided to us, this new Bounty will be much stronger than the original.”

“I’m thinking of renaming it the Harmony’s Bounty,” Aqua added. “Of course, we could use some help.”

“We’ll see if Lloyd’s up to the task,” Luna said as she and Garmadon left to Lloyd’s Room.

In his room, Lloyd was packing up for the tournament before he walked over and was about to grab a weapon to take with. He suddenly stopped when he remembered that the invite said to bring no weapons or entrance will be denied. He then heard a knock at the door before Garmadon and Luna walked in. "We were just on our way to help Aqua and the others restore the Bounty,” Garmadon told his son before Luna noticed he was all packed.

"Are you going somewhere?” she asked him.

"Uh yeah, the guys and I are going fishing,” Lloyd lied to them. "Team building exercise."

"Hm, good to hear the team's back together,” Garmadon mentioned with a smile.

"Dad? Our elemental powers…" Lloyd spoke. "Are there others out there with powers like us?"

"Why would you ask?" Luna asked with a raised brow.

"No reason. It was just on my mind,” Lloyd explained before both Garmadon and Luna noticed a noodle box with a very familiar symbol on it. A symbol they knew all too well about. "See ya,” he told them as he picked up his bag. "Early bird catches the worm.” As soon as he left his room, Garmadon and Luna noticed that he did not take his fishing rod with him.

They both gave one last look at the takeout box on the floor as they both had a very angry look on their faces. "Chen,” They both growled.

Meanwhile, Flash had on his old Master Gi as he was all packed. Just when he was about to head out, he bumped into Twilight and saw Applejack standing next to her. "Oh, usually I'm the one bumping into you instead of the other way around,” Twilight giggled.

"What's with the getup, partner?" Applejack asked as she noticed he was in one of his old Ninja outfits.

"Oh this? This is…uh, just for a team building exercise me and the others are doing…” he lied to them. "We figured we needed it to help rebuild our little team…" Applejack raised a brow in suspicion as she noticed him sweating a little. "Well, gotta get going!” he quickly ran away from them, leaving Twilight confused.

"What do you suppose that was about?" Twilight wondered.

Applejack furrowed her brow. “I don't know, but let's grab the girls and find out,” she suggested as they trotted away.

At the Manehattan pier, the Ninja arrived each wearing different robes. Trail wearing his first suit, Thunder wearing his ZX suit, Landrush wearing his Dragon suit, Gaia wearing her Stone Armor suit, Flash in his Master suit, and Lloyd still in his Techno suit.

When they arrived, they saw how they each wore something different. “Gah, I told you we shouldn't have worn them,” Thunder complained.

"If this is a tournament, we can't afford to let any of the other competitors know we're working together,” Flash told him as he looked at the different creatures surrounding them. "Do you guys think every creature here has powers like us?"

"When I asked my dad and Princess Luna about it, they got really suspicious," Lloyd told them. “Like there is something they're keeping from us."

"You told them?!" Gaia exclaimed quietly.

"The fortune cookie said ‘Tell no one or suffer the consequences,’” Landrush reminded him.

"Don't worry, we're cool,” Lloyd assured before they turned to see a steamboat chugging into port. Once the boat stopped along it, a gangplank was lowered onto the dock as a black-maned mustached indigo unicorn stallion dressed in red and purple walked out. Standing next to him was a crimson-maned dark purple unicorn mare wearing the same outfit but with the colors reversed.

"We don't know yet if this is a trap,” Flash whispered to the others as all the competitors got in line to climb aboard. "Wherever they take us, we have to stick together."

"Watch your step, madam,” the stallion said as he and the mare stepped aside and let the first competitor climb aboard.

Said competitor had an orange hood up before she turned to look at the others. Trail was in awe at the site of a red-maned, amber unicorn mare before he had a dopey smile on his face and sighed.

"We can't let anything distract us,” Gaia whispered harshly to him. "You hear me, Trail?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah,” Trail responded. "Uh, got it. Whatever you say.”

The mare up front turned back and walked on board with the other competitors following close behind.

"Master Chen will be charmed to see you've accepted his offer, Ninja,” the mare said as Thunder walked forward. "A Master of Spinjitzu shall fare favorably in his tournament."

"Hey, we're not here to fight,” Thunder assured the two. "We're here to save a friend."

"Don't be so petty, Master Thunder,” the stallion told him before he pulled out a pair of nunchucks from Thunder's bag. "Everyone here has something to fight for."

"Chopsticks. I'm a big eater,” Thunder said with a nervous chuckle before the stallion threw the nunchucks into the water. Thunder let out a loud gulp before the two gestured him to climb aboard.

"Lloyd, wait!" Lloyd heard his father call out before you turned to see him, Luna and the Mane Six have arrived. "If you get on that boat, you may never return."

"Garmadon? Girls, what are you doing here?" Flash asked when he saw them.

"We were here to see what's really going on before we ran into them,” Twilight explained before she gestured to Luna and Garmadon.

"Boys listen to me when I say, Master Chen is a dangerous stallion who should never be trusted,” Luna warned. “Whatever he promised you, do not believe a word of it."

Twilight approached Flash. “Flash, I don't know what's going on, but I can't shake this feeling you’re walking into a trap,” she said. “Please, come back with us."

Flash shook his head. “I'm sorry, but we have to. He says Frost is alive and-"

"Frost is alive?!" the girls shouted in shock.

The sound then caught the attention of the mare and stallion as they turned to Garmadon and Luna. "Lord Garmadon, Nightmare Moon. It's been a while,” the stallion said when he saw them.

"Oh brother, I think you mean Sensei Garmadon and Princess Luna now,” the mare smarmily corrected the stallion. "Although… I guess we should just call her ‘Little Luna’ from now on, considering she retired. It's so hard to remember with those two."

"Dark Grimoire and Charm Binder,” Garmadon spoke in a harsh tone.

"Y'all know those two?" Applejack asked them.

"In a way…" Luna responded before looking back at the two. "I'm surprised that you two and Chen are still around, after all these moons."

"It's a wonder what one can do with an immortality spell,” Charm said before she used her magic to pull out what looked to be an old page that was ripped out. "Did your teacher need this? No, I didn't think so,” Luna gritted her teeth after seeing that page.

"Well, I can see that Master Chen still has playing fetch for him, like the dogs you are,” Garmadon snarked as the simply huffed and walked back on deck.

"We have to go dad. This is about Frost, it's about family,” Lloyd states. “If we're ever gonna be whole again, we need to get on that ship."

"Last call. Are you in or out?” Grimoire asked.

"We're leaving with or without you,” Charm told him as Lloyd boarded the ship.

Garmadon sighed. “If we can't stop you, son, then we will join you,” he said as he, Luna and the girls approached the ship.

"Terribly sorry, Sensei, but no room on the ship,” Charm said with a disdainful smirk as they retracted the plank, “for you or her Highness~”

Luna simply raised a brow. “No room, hmm?” She then flipped over the gap, landed behind two stallions, and bucked them into the water before creating a bridge for Garmadon and the Mane Six.

Charm looked quite surprised before turning with a slightly intrigued smirk. “Oh, I stand corrected. We have room now.”

"Of course, Master Chen will have concern if we bring along… uninvited guests,” Grimoire told them, eying them suspiciously.

"Hey, tournaments need spectators, right? Plus, having royalty in the crowd would be like a real treat for Chen," Rainbow told him.

"Either way, we're not here to compete," Garmadon assured before holding Lloyd’s shoulder. “Only to look out for our interests."

Grimoire simply raised a brow and turned. “Let's ship out!” he ordered as the boat left the pier and sailed out to sea.

The group decided to look around the ship, watching as many creatures from far and wide were harnessing their own Elements. They could see a Yak with big metal horns ramming a barrel as he juggled it into the air. A Whitetail Woods deer hovering above the ground with a few crates hovering behind him. There was even a short earth pony playing a guitar as they could see reverberating wavelengths every time he played. They then looked over at Grimoire and Charm walking by with three goons behind them.

"You both know them and said their names are ‘Dark Grimoire’ and ‘Charm Binder’,” Lloyd said to Luna and Garmadon.

"Don't be fooled by their attire or their looks,” Garmadon told them. "They are twins, brother and sister. Masters of the dark arts, and Master Chen's number two and three respectively."

"Huh. I thought Master Chen's number two and three with an egg roll and fried rice, and a spicy noodle bowl with pepper crisps,” Landrush joked.

"That page Charm showed off, was that some spell that Star Swirl made?" Twilight asked Luna.

"An immortality spell,” Luna spoke up. "He spent months trying to perfect it before we found out it was stolen. To think that Charm would steal such a valuable spell and was able to perfect it."

"On another note, why haven't you two or Wu and Celestia ever told us there were others with powers like us?" Trail asked the two.

"Because there are some things we don't want you to know just yet," Garmadon answered. “You twelve and Frost were led to believe you were special, yet you never questioned where your powers came from."

"Um, are you implying that I'm not special?" Thunder asked in insult.

"Well, we're asking now, so please tell us,” Gaia asked.

"Every competitor on this vessel is a descendant of an original Elemental Master,” Luna told them.

"Elemental Master? Who were they?" Lloyd asked.

"They were the guardians of your grandfather, the First Spinjitzu Master,” Garmadon answered. “Each endowed with an elemental power that has been passed from parent to child for generations."

"Wait, so if that logic also extends to us, does that mean…?" Flash trailed off in realization.

"Indeed, Flash. Each of your powers were inherited from one your ancestors as well,” Garmadon told him. “Yours in particular, came from your father"

Flash's eyes widened. “My… my father was the Master of Wind before me?"

"Well… not exactly. Your father, and every pony on his side of your family, were descendants of the first Master of Wind, even though they never showed their ancestral power,” Luna explained. "But sometimes an Elemental Master can pass on his or her powers to some creature they’ve deemed worthy, such as Frost for example."

"If that's true, then Aqua would’ve inherited power too,” Trail realized. "But she’s never shown that she can do what I can."

"Now that I think about it, my grandfather was able to get past miles of jungle with ease. Meaning he was the Master of Life before me," Gaia spoke up. "But how come I inherited his powers but my mother did not?"

"To answer your question, Gaia, sometimes elemental powers can skip a generation, or the power that sleeps within you needs a little push to be awakened,” Luna explained. "It happened to you when you were a filly."

"As for your sister, Trail, can't she?" Garmadon asked with a raised brow. "Like Luna said, power lies in all of you. It only needs to be awoken."

"Yes, but unlike the six of you, the fighters here serve no master and have managed to unlock their own True Potential,” Luna told them before she gestured to a Diamond Dog that looked to be wrapped in bandages while he was wearing sunglasses. "For example, that Diamond Dog, Pale Hound, is a distant relative to the Master of Void. Watch closely, and you'll see how he and his ancestors stayed hidden all these years,” They watched as that Diamond Dog suddenly vanished before their eyes.

“Whoa,” Pinkie gasped before blur zipped right by them. “Whoa!”

The blur revealed to be a white Griffon with red highlights along his wingtips and head feathers, wearing sunglasses and a tracksuit. “Then there is Grieval Turner, Griffonstone’s ‘Galloping Griff’,” Garmadon continued as Turner did some moves, “and grandson to the Master of Speed.”

“Come on, you can’t lay a claw on me!” Turner boasted zipping around the Ninja and Mane Six and around the boat. “I’m faster than fast, swifter than swift! Where I run, I bring home the gold! Medals, that is!”

“Master of Speed?” Thunder scoffs. “That’s not an element.”

“What a show off,” Rainbow brushed off.

“So says the Master of Lightning and the self-named ‘Fastest Pony in Equestria’,” Luna snarked as they walked past the two.

“Oh snap, she got you there!” Landrush joked.

Applejack then noticed a green, brown-maned unicorn, wearing medieval like clothing, twirling energy in his hoof. “Who’s that?” she asked.

“Maximum Powers,” Luna answered, “descendant to the Master of Energy, who was one of the strongest Elemental Masters in existence.” As the others moved on, Applejack continued staring at Maximum before he glanced at her and then she blushed and moved her hat down and continued walking.

The group then rested on the top floor and Trail noticed the orange mare leaning against the rail. “And uh, who is she?” he asked.

“We don’t know. Most of the creatures we’ve never met before,” Garmadon told him. “But they will all be gunning for you.”

"You are Ninja. You serve with honor,” Luna told them as the Yak with the metallic horns walked over to the mare. "Here, that means very little.” Trail noticed that the Yak was pestering the mare and would not take ‘no’ for an answer.

"Well, maybe honor means something to me,” Trail said as he made his way over to the Yak, who noticed the pony approaching before he growled and stood his ground.

"It's okay. I can handle myself,” the mare told Trail.

"This not pony business,” The Yak growled at Trail. "Yah-Karlof cold. Yah-Karlof just wants pony cloak!"

"You look like you got enough body hair… and fat,” Trail joked as he gestured to Yah-Karlof’s heavy coat and physique. "Why not just leave the gal alone?” the mare was surprised by this before she looked away.

"Yah-Karlof not fat! It all muscle!” Yah-Karlof told Trail. "Yah-Karlof use muscle to smash red pony!"

"Ha, I'd like to see you try,” Trail taunted him in a smug tone.

"Save it for the tournament, Trail,” Luna spoke up.

"Red pony not think Yah-Karlof afraid. Yah-Karlof mighty Yak Master!"

"No, you don't think much at all, do you?" Trail asked sarcastically before he was picked up by Yah-Karlof. "Ohh! Just jump in whenever you feel like it!"

“Red pony say Yah-Karlof not smart?” Yah-Karlof demanded.

Applejack furrowed. “I’d say Yah-Karlof is at least smart enough not to start somethin’ he can’t finish,” she said before approaching him and grabbing his hoof. “Now why don’t you do the smart thing and put my friend-WHOA!”

Yah-Karlof then knocked Applejack away, and caused her to crash in Maximum before punting Trail away. “Oopsie. Guess Yah-Karlof not smart,” he mocked.

Applejack growled and readjusted her hat. “Why you!” she growled not realizing she was on top of a very annoyed stallion.

“Get off me, you bumpkin!” Maximum demanded as pushed Applejack off him. He then stood up and brushed his coat. “Typical country folk, no manners.”

Applejack snorted in anger. “Take that back!” she warned.

“You presume to give me orders?” Maximum asked her as they stood ready for a fight.

The Mane Six and Ninja did not appreciate Maximum and Yah-Karlof’s behavior to their friends, and were about to jump in but Garmadon and Luna stopped them. “Trail and Applejack started this, they can finish it,” Luna told them.

Trail got back and glared at Yah-Karlof as the Yak scrapped the ground. “Fire!” Trail said launching fire balls at Yah-Karlof but the Yak blocked them with his horns before banging them against a nearby metal pole, the vibrations traveling along his body to increase his size and encase him in metal. Trail gasped before the Yak charged at, waving his horns trying to skewer him.

Back with Applejack, she narrowed her eyes at the green unicorn. “You think you can say what you like about us farm ponies? Well, here’s my answer for ya!” she snorted and charged at Maxillian but he dodged her. “What the--?” She tried to buck him, but he dodged her legs, before grabbing one and flipping her his head and kicking her away himself. “Ugh, nice shot,” Applejack groaned.

“I wish I could say the same of you,” Maximum said as Applejack growled.

Meanwhile, Trail continued to dodge Yah-Karlof before Yah-Karlof managed to slam him down to the deck. He then knocked him into the air and over to the back of the ship. As Trail set up and rubbed his head, he saw Yah-Karlof coming towards him before he rolled out of the way just as he slammed his hooves down. He then blocked each of Yah-Karlof's attacks as best he could before he was pushed to the edge. Then took a stance before he stepped aside just as Yah-Karlof lunged forward at him.

Trail chuckled as he thought that was easy before Yah-Karlof grabbed his leg from beneath and pulled him down. They continued to fight as Trail released a fury of blows to his chest before he knocked him back to the railing.

With Applejack, she was still on the offensive, but no matter what she did she could not land a single hit on Maximum. She growled in frustration. “Would ya stop dodging and start fighting back already!” she said.

Maximum glanced at her. “If you insist.” He then struck her in the face before sweeping her off-balance and unleash a barrage of punches to her, charged by his powers. And in almost slow-motion, he gave her a powerful energy-charged ax-kick, knocking her down to the lower deck.

“Applejack!” Twilight yelled in worry.

“I’ve never seen Applejack like this before,” Rarity said in disbelief.

“It’s a shock to see Applejack pushed so far back before,” Flash added before looking at Trail. “And Trail’s not having an easy time either.”

Trail lit his hoof on fire as he and Yah-Karlof trade blows before he knocked the Yak on to the ship’s paddle wheel where they continued their fight until Yah-Karlof punched Trail onto the lower deck next to Applejack as Yah-Karlof and Maximum moved to finish the fight while the two looked worried.

“Enough!” Grimoire ordered.

“Save your energy for the Tournament, you’ll need it,” Charm told them as Yah-Karlof’s metal coat disappeared and he walked away.

Applejack sat up. “Whoa nelly, I ain’t never been hit like that before,” she said in shock as she felt her cheeks warm up. “It was kinda nice.” She then noticed her hat was missing.

Maximum presented Applejack with her hat. “You fight well for a country mare, impressive,” he said as Applejack took her hat back.

“Thank ya, kindly,” she thanked before Maximum walked off.

The amber mare then walked up to Trail. “I’m sorry if I was cold to you earlier,” she said as she helped Trail up, the stallion not noticing red energy flowing from him to her. He smiled as the mare walked away.

"If you all would join us at the front of the ship, for we have arrived at our destination,” Charm said before she pointed forward and they could all see a large island just up ahead. "Welcome to Chen's Island.” As they were all looking out into the distance, Grimoire went behind some crates and took out a walkie-talkie.

"Master Chen, Garmadon and Luna have returned,” he whispered into the walkie-talkie. "Not only that, but so is the Princess of Friendship and the Council as well. They said they would be spectating the tournament and will be looking out for their own interest."

"Interesting,” a stallion's voice uttered. "You worry too much, Grimoire. Be more like your sister. Everything will work out. Just wait and see.” The stallion speaking into his walkie-talkie then turned it off.

Grimoire had a glare on his face after the call was cut. He then glared at Garmadon and Luna as they were looking at the island. "We swore to never return,” Garmadon spoke.

"You know, you should never swear,” Thunder pointed out. "It's a sign of weak verbal skills."

"If Frost's on that island, we'll find him,” Lloyd assured his friends. "We have to,” They now know their goal, find Frost, and rescue him. Even if they have to fight through all the Elemental Masters just to do it.

Meanwhile on that island, inside what would look to be a palace dungeon was a purple-cloaked unicorn stallion stepping in front of a dungeon door. "I hold all the cards,” he said with an evil chuckle. Soon that chuckle turned into a maniacal laugh as inside is a familiar unicorn droid chained up, only his entire form is now showing all metal. Not only that, but he had the emblem of ice on the left side of his chest. It was clear that this was not any ordinary unicorn, but the Master of Ice, long thought dead, Frost Gear as he opened his eyes to reveal glowing ice blue eyes.

Author's Note

I apologize for not doing the bonus chapter in the previous story, but you'll see who fixed up Frost in this story. I promise

Chapter 2: Only One Can Remain

The Ninja, the Mane Six, and other competitors for the tournament watched as they approached a large building with two Serpentine painted on the front.

"Whoa, look at that,” Landrush gasped in shock.

"Awesome,” Rainbow breathed out.

"Let Yah-Karlof see!" Yah-Karlof says, shoving Trail aside.

Trail grunts, "Do you mind?!" he asked as the two got ready for another fight.

But they're attention was drawn away to the sound of ponies in maroon robes doing punches and chanting. The steamboat soon reached the pier.

"Welcome to Chen's Island!" Charm greeted as she and Grimoire walked off the ship. "The Tournament of Elements welcomes its many brave competitors and its visiting royalty, both current and former,” she said, a bit snidely at Luna as the mare scowled a bit.

"Master Chen will be pleased you've both returned," Grimoire says to Garmadon and Luna, "Sensei Garmadon and Little Luna."

"The pleasure is all ours, Grimoire,” Garmadon said plainly.

"I'm sure it is,” Grimoire replied as he and Charm walked away.

"Definitely feeling some tension between the four of you,” Thunder whispered to Garmadon and Luna.

"Yeah, and how is it we're on an island we've never seen on any map?" Fluttershy asked.

"And care to explain how the face of Equestria's most popular Noodle House is secretly assembling an underground fighting tournament?" Landrush added as the rest of the competitors got off the boat.

"Master Chen used to be a friend,” Luna explained to them. "Now he's a traitor. During the Great War, Chen turned against his own kind and sided with the treacherous snakes."

"The battle you two, your sister, and Uncle Wu fought together in?" Lloyd chimed in. "He was an enemy?"

“He used the power of deception and rumors to divide the Elemental Masters,” Luna explained as they walked to the gates, “And if that wasn’t enough, he also turned the other creatures of Equestria against both ponykind and one another, escalating the violence to nigh unstoppable proportions.”

“It was only by a miracle did we manage to defeat the Serpentine and draw the kingdoms’ borders. In a deal for his surrender, Chen was to spend the rest of his miserable life here on this island in exile,” Garmadon continued. “Little did we know, he stole Star Swirl’s Spell of Immortality, and over the centuries built his criminal empire, using his noodle business to fund his army.”

“Wait! So all the money I’ve been spending on noodle goodness was being used to help a traitor build his underground crime world?!” Landrush asked in shock.

“Really, that’s your biggest issue right now?” Gaia asked him as he shrugged.

Twilight frowned. “Well, Chen might’ve divided the ancient Equestrians once upon a time, but he won’t be so lucky against us,” she declared.

Trail and Applejack then noticed the orange mare and Maximum approaching. "Please, ladies first!" Trail said as he quickly pushed the others aside.

"Ya can go first, I don't mind at all Maximum,” Applejack quickly told him with a smile.

"That is very kind of you, but please call me Max,” Maximum told Applejack as they walked past them. The orange mare smiled at Trail when she walked past him.

"Fire will melt her icy heart,” Trail whispered with a goofy grin. "Just wait."

"Applejack, darling, are you feeling all right?" Rarity asked as they all continued to walk to the palace.

"Of course, I am. Don't know why you ask,” Applejack said as Rarity looked at her with a raised brow.

“Right,” she said with a light roll of her eyes. While she could tell Applejack wasn’t lying, she could sense there was something going on that even she was not aware of.

The group then approached the gates, “This is a big island, Frost could be anywhere,” Landrush told his friends.

“Are we even sure he’s on this island?” Rainbow asked.

Flash shook his head, “No, but if there's a chance he is, we have to take it,” he told them. “So everypony, keep an eye out.”

“Both eyes, ready and watching!” Pinkie said, pulling her binoculars.

Then the gates opened, as Grimoire and Charm led the group down a purple carpet path to the sides, more ponies in robes banged on drums chanting tribal language.

“So, this is the house that noodles built,” Thunder joked as he laughed and marched proudly, “Ha! Always wanted to go to a red-carpet event.”

“More like a purple carpet event,” Gaia corrected after seeing the color of the carpet.

“On this island, we are strangers and Chen lives like a king,” Luna told them. “Here, he is totally self-sufficient. Any way on or off this island is with his permission. And the way to obtain it is to earn it.”

"You never told me about this place,” Lloyd told his father. "How do you and Luna know so much about this island?"

"Because before Chen was our enemy, he was our Sensei,” Garmadon answered as he pulled down the back of his robe to reveal a snake tattoo on his back.

They then look towards Luna as she lifted up the veil around her neck to show she bore a similar one. "It was one of many things we regret in our past,” Luna mentioned before they all went inside.

Inside, the group and the competitors were all sitting around what looked to be a throne room and waiting for further instructions. "You never told us you two had a Sensei,” Twilight whispered to Luna.

"When we were your age, Garmadon and I sought out a darker means of guidance, after his father and the Pillars disappeared,” Luna whispered back. "He taught us to win at all costs, no matter who we hurt. It wasn't until you and your friends saved me, Twilight, did I learn otherwise."

"And it wasn’t until you saved me, son, that I saw the light,” Garmadon told Lloyd as the younger stallion smiled.

"Uh, apparently, he also never taught either of you to have a sense of humor,” Thunder mentioned.

“Yeah, lighten up!” Pinkie jumped in, “We’re in an underground fight club! It’s supposed to be fun!”

Then one of the guards struck a gong as they all turned their attention to the front. Then as a gramophone played music, Grimoire and Charm stood to either side of the front.

“All rise, for Master Chen!” Grimoire and Charm said in unison as a large chair was lowered down with a dark purple stallion with a black mustache and sideburns sitting on it. He was wearing a black cape, red robes with gold and purple details, and on his head was a hooded Serpentine skull with a fake purple snake hanging in it.

“Welcome, one and all, to the Tournament of Elements! Now everycreature can all DIE--!” he exclaimed as the doors slammed shut and they all gasped before Chen leaped to his hooves. “-rect your attention to me!” he finished while laughing as Grimoire scrunched his face and placed a hoof to his head while Charm rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Garmadon and Luna sighed in aggravation. “We forgot to mention he has a penchant for theatrics,” Garmadon whispered to his son.

“And an excessive one at that. Some things haven’t changed, it seems,” Luna added with an eye roll.

"Hee, hee, hee! Never before have so many Elemental Fighters been under one roof,” Chen continued as he stepped down and walked around. "I see Master of Fire, Earth, Life, Shadow, Wind, Speed. Even a prophesied Light Savior and Ruler of Equestria have graced us with their presence,” he said as he looked at Lloyd and Twilight before he looked at Garmadon and Luna. "And a pair of former pupils have returned.”

He then pointed towards the gong with the snake symbol on it. "This symbol before you is for the Anacondrai, fiercest Serpentine warrior to ever roam this land. Its creed: ‘Only one can remain’."

A soldier then hit the gong again before the center of it started to part ways. They all looked at the gong and could see behind it are brackets for each round of the tournament and who they would be fighting.

"Good, looks like we're each in our own bracket,” Flash whispered to the others. "We won't have to face each other for a while."

"Then we better find Frost before that happens,” Lloyd whispered before Chen continued.

"Behold, a Jadeblade!” Chen gestured to Grimoire who was holding a Blade made of a jadelike metal. "Here, it represents life. Obtain it, move on. Allow your opponent to take it, loser. The rules are simple. Every match will be different. No two fights will be the same. Your powers will keep you in the tournament. Use it or lose it!"

"Hm. What Yah-Karlof win?" Yah-Karlof asked Chen rather impudently.

"Win and stay on the island, my metal-horned friend,” Chen answered. "Win it all, and you'll receive fortunes beyond your wildest dreams!... Also, a lifetime supply of Master Chen noodles! Hee-hee." He then turned to the Ninja. “But! Nocreature is here because of noodles. You want the glory of being called the greatest warrior in the world!!!”

The Elemental Masters all applauded in agreement, but Twilight frowned in suspicion. “And what happens when they lose?” she asked.

Chen turned to her with a grin. “‘Lose’? Who here likes to lose?” he joked as he and the Elemental Masters all laughed, but Twilight just grew more suspicious as Chen did not answer her question. “Now please, enjoy my island. It's a super fun happy place. Hahaha. Fun time on me!” he laughed while Pinkie scowled in suspicion.

“That’s totally not a friendly laugh,” she whispered to her friends.

“You will now each be shown to your rooms,” Charm announced as she stomped her hoof. Out from the doors came several black maned ponies, with white and red face paint and kimonos which made it hard to tell which of them were mares or colts. They walked over to the Elemental Masters.

“Oh great, just what we need,” Rainbow complained. “A bunch of creepy clowns.”

“Not clowns, Kabuki,” Luna corrected. “Chen’s jesters and personal servants.”

Each Kabuki stopped in front of each Elemental Master before they took each one and guided them away. "Yeah, well, whatever they are, I don't like 'em,” Landrush said as they were being led to the upper floors and separate rooms. "So much for staying together.” The only ones that did not get led by a Kabuki were Garmadon, Luna and the Mane Six as they were still on the ground floor.

"Always be ready!" Garmadon called out to them. "Never lose focus!"

"What?!" Trail called out as they couldn't hear him. "What did he say?!"

"I don't know! Something about, uh, mucus?!” Thunder guessed as they were being led to their rooms.

"Your Fire Suite, Master Trail,” the Kabuki that led Trail told him as they stopped in front of a door and she opened it. Inside, Trail saw that his room is in his colors as his emblem is printed on a carpet on the floor. Not only that, but there are also a couple of paintings of himself hanging on the wall.

"Are you kidding me?! Ha!" Trail exclaimed as he was amazed by his room. "Fire!" He sang as he ran to the center and looked around his own room. "Whoa. So handsome,” he complimented after seeing a painting of himself. He then slid open a couple of doors and walked out to a patio and saw the view of the island. "I could get used to this."

“It’s all right, I guess.” Trail whipped around to see Rainbow looking around the room casually, “a bit too much red in my opinion. Maybe I can ask Chen to add some rainbow in here.”

“Hey! What are you-” Trail tried to ask.

“Letting myself in. Like or not, me and the girls are gonna need a place to stay, while we're stuck here,” Rainbow told him as she joined him on the balcony.

Trail sighed and then turned to see the orange mare on the balcony next to them, with her hood off it was shown she had a red mane in a ponytail. Trail smiled dopily at her as she turned to him.

“Heh, looks like we’re neighbors,” Trail said coolly, “I’m Trail Blaze, Master of Fire.” He then lit his wings ablaze and winked at her as Rainbow rolled her eyes.

The mare smiled amusedly, “Topaz, Master of…” She stopped and turns to Trail with a smirk, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Trail just stared dreamily at her, and Rainbow looked at his wings, “Um, Trail, your wings?” she said.

Trail turned to his wings and realized they were still burning, “Ow, owowowowow!” he yelped, flapping his wings frantically to put them out as the two mares giggled.

Thunder and Pinkie were brought into Thunder’s room which was blue with electrical systems and devices around, “Every device within your room has been configured to interact with your own electrical system,” the Kabuki told Thunder as she closed the door.

Pinkie and Thunder looked at each other as Thunder tried making some static and then a huge television popped up from the floor.

“WOW! Now that’s a TV!” Pinkie yelled in amazement, then they saw a pair of controls appear as they both nodded and took the controllers as they sat on Thunder’s bed and started playing video games.

Gaia, Rarity, and Fluttershy were brought to a green-colored room with a peculiar mixture of a greenhouse theme from the exotic hanging plants being magically self-cared for, and a nobility theme from the intricate marbling and fine fabrics being strewn about. "Wow, these are the rarest plants I've ever seen, I’ve only ever read books about these,” Gaia mentioned as she was bewildered by the plants.

"Not only that, but it appears Chen left a little present here,” Rarity said as she levitated what looked to be a new ninja outfit for Gaia. It was sleeveless and had each of the ancient Equestrian symbols for each of the Ninja with Gaia's on the right chest of it. "He must have commissioned somepony to create something this divine, because after seeing his attire, I would never like to meet his personal tailor."

"Why don't you try it on, Gaia?" Fluttershy asked before Gaia took the suit and did Spinjitzu. She then replaced her old Gi with the new as she had her mask over her muzzle.

"Looking good,” she complimented herself after she looked at herself in the mirror.

Flash and Twilight looked around his room which was yellow and oddly resembled the old barracks at the castle.

“Heh, gotta give it to Chen, he can at least give you a good room,” Flash commented before turning to Twilight as she was sitting on the bed, looking deep in thought, “Hey, you okay Twi?”

“Oh yeah, it’s just, I’m wondering about something,” Twilight told him, “Garmadon told us that you and the other Ninja were all descendants of Elemental Masters,”

“And?” Flash asked.

“Well, I’m just wondering if, could me and the girls also be descendants of Elemental Masters too?” Twilight wondered as Flash looked intrigued by this question as well.

“I don’t know Twi, but for now, let’s just focus on finding Frost, okay?” Flash told his marefriend.

Twilight smiled. “Okay,” she said as the two shared a kiss.

Meanwhile, Landrush was laying on his bed in his own room but his bed appeared to be made of mostly stone. He grunted as he tried to get comfortable on it but with no luck. "A stone bed? Come on,” he complained as he sat up and bumped his head on the lamp above him. The lamp itself appeared to be a switch as a wall in front of him parted and he saw something that made him gasp.

He went over and saw shelves filled with his favorite foods. "Chen's Noodle House? Three Ingredient Sizzling Rice, Snow Pea Custard Apple, Mu Shu Wu Shu?!" he exclaimed before he began to chow down on some noodles. He then slurped up some noodles before he saw his favorite dessert with widened eyes. "Cake!" he then cheered as he continued to chow down on his own feast. "Score!"

A Kabuki leads Applejack to a room which is green with a few energy lines on the walls. She looked around and knew this didn't belong to any of her friends before she bumped into Max. "Oh, sorry about that, Maximum,” She apologized as he helped her up.

"It's all right, and I told you before: call me Max,” he told her. "I am glad that Kabuki honored my request to have you here. I suppose you consider this my apology for what happened on the boat."

"All water under the bridge, partner,” Applejack assured as she looked around the room. She then noticed a small photo on his nightstand of himself and a filly with a brown coat and yellow mane on his back. They seemed to be standing in front of a potato farm in the picture as she wondered something. "Hey, who's that in the photo with ya?"

Max turned to the photo and frowned slightly. "My younger sister, Minimum Powers. We live with our Aunt and Uncle on a small farm in Canterlot," Max answered. "And she’s the reason I even entered this tournament.”

Applejack looked at him with confusion. “Whaddya mean?” She asked.

Max then looked very ashamed, “It was all because of a foolish decision I made that she’s suffering,” he said sadly, “That’s why I’m hopeful that when I win, I’ll be able to truly help her.” Applejack looked at him in concern and wondered what happened to his little sister.

Meanwhile in Lloyd’s room, Lloyd had already put on his new Gi, “Yeah, this is sweet!” He laughs before looking behind him and seeing the picture of him and his friends, staring at Frost in particular, “Don’t worry, we’re gonna find you pal,” Lloyd promised.

Outside the temple, both Garmadon and Luna were shoved out by Grimoire and Charm. “While Master Chen was more than accommodating to our uninvited royal guests, since you two weren’t invited, I’m sorry to say there’s no room for has-beens in our Master's temple,” Charm said mockingly at them.

The two just frowned. “Fine, we’ll just stand guard,” Garmadon said. “We wouldn't want anything to happen to them.”

Luna then leaned forward with her eyes narrowed. “And don’t think we’ve forgotten you and your brother love to use dark magic. Therefore, we strongly advise you to not feed that vice, you snakes,” she snarled.

Grimoire merely raised a brow. “Now why would we want to cheat the Ninja?” he asked before he slammed the door at them.

A sudden fanfare was being played over the loudspeakers before Chen could be heard through them. "Fellow fighters, hidden around my Island are enough Jadeblades for every participant except for one,”As every competitor in the palace heard him, Luna and Garmadon took this opportunity to climb over the wall to get back inside. "The one who returns to the Palace Arena empty-hoofed loses!"

Thunder and Pinkie Pie were in a hot tub in his room as they heard Chen. "The tournament begins…" A ram suddenly burst into the hot tub room and surprised both Thunder and Pinkie, "now!"

"Now?!" Thunder exclaimed in shock.

Then a gray ram with white horns walked in, “This place could use a little more space,” the Ram said. “Thunder, Master of Lightning… meet Ramerak, Master of Null!”

He reared up on his back legs and then fired a blast of null energy at Thunder and Pinkie. The two of them went and dodged each blast being thrown at them, seeing that each blast had not destroyed anything, but rather erased them. As if the hit spots were never at all. They both learned quickly they did not want to get hit with null energy.

Thunder shot a bolt of electricity right at Ramerak and electrocuted him to the floor. As he recovered from that attack, he could see a Jadeblade up on the ceiling. Thunder saw it too as Ramerak got up and used his power on Thunder.

Lloyd, Flash and Gaia exited their rooms just as Chen can be heard over the loudspeakers. "May the best fighter win,” he let out a maniacal laugh just as the other competitors started looking for Jadeblades. "Also, the Council of Friendship and the Princess are forbidden to help in any of the fights, considering they're just spectating. Hoo-hoo! Now have fun!"

"He didn't see anything about helping finding a Jadeblade,” Rainbow remarked as she saw something near the roof. "Trail, heads up!" Both him and Topaz looked up and saw something.

"Is that–?" Topaz started.

"A Jadeblade?" Trail finished as he and Topaz looked at each other.

Back inside, Lloyd, Flash and Gaia saw a Jadeblade in the statue. The small stallion, Pale Hound, and the Whitetail Wood Deer rushed towards it but got tripped up by each other.

“Hey,” Lloyd said as he, Flash and Gaia rushed towards the Blade but then Gaia was tripped by a gray Kirin.

“Oof! Hey!” Gaia retorted, turning to the Kirin as he jumped over her and towards the Blade. She then looked under a chair and saw another Blade, “Huh, my lucky day!” She said, grabbing the Blade.

Flash and the Kirin were locked in battle before he turned into smoke and disappeared, “Huh?” Flash said before the Kirin appeared behind him and punched him in the face.

Back outside, Trail and Topaz looked at each other for a moment before Topaz made the first move. "That one is mine!" she declared as she jumped over and pushed Trail down. She then jumped up to the patio above her room as he got up.

"Hey!" Trail called out before he jumped over to her.

"Stop!" she yelled out as she tried to stop him from going up.

"You stop! Unh!" Trail grunted as he pushed her back, only for her to fall off before he quickly grabbed her by the leg.

"Help me!" She pleaded before Trail tossed her up, as a mistake as she used that moment to get up on the roof and take the Jadeblade.

Trail gaped in shock, “Sorry hot stuff,” Topaz apologized with a grin as Rainbow face-hooved herself.

Trail then heard grumbling and looked down to see Yah-Karlof stomping into the courtyard. “Grrrr… where Yah-Karlof find Blade?” the Yak growled as Trail smirked.

“Two birds with one stone,” he said before flying down.

Applejack and Max walked out and saw the fight between the other masters. “Looks like the games have already begun,” Max commented before he noticed a Jadeblade across the room, “There you are,” he said before rushing towards the Blade.

Landrush then walked outside, his cheeks puffed up a bit as if he was about to get sick. “Can’t fight on a full stomach,” he moaned before he saw a Blade on the lower levels, “Oh-ho-ho, Sweet!” he said before walking towards it.

As the other competitors fought, Grieval noticed Landrush going for a Jadeblade on one of the lower levels. Just when Landrush was halfway there, the speedster griffon pushed the other competitors off him before he made a dash for the Jadeblade was going to grab and took it. "Ha! Too slow, rocky colt,” Grieval bragged.

"Hey!" Landrush complained. Meanwhile, Max was about to get a Blade before a very light green cloud of poison gas got him by surprise. A mare with a yellow-green coat and bright green mane came out of a room with a smirk on her face before she ran towards the Jadeblade.

Back in Thunder's room, Thunder was pinned down by Ramerak as he had the Jadeblade. Thunder had to think of something quick before he did a little spark and turned on the TV. The Space Ranger movie quickly caught Ramerak's attention. "Ooh, Space Ranger,” Ramerak said with amazement. Thunder quickly took this opportunity to roll away from him and use his towel to whip the ram right in the flank. Ramerak yelled out in pain as he dropped the Jadeblade and Thunder quickly caught it.

"Ha, ha! I love my room!" Thunder cheered before he quickly grabbed his new ninja suit and headed out with the Blade.

Back with Lloyd and Flash, they had managed to get the other Elemental Masters off them. But then just as a gray Hippogriff with a black and white mane tried to attack Lloyd from behind, Flash pounced on him.

“Lloyd, go for the Blade!” Flash told him. “I’ll cover you!”

Lloyd nodded and made a break for the Blade, but Grimoire and Charm had other ideas. “Seecore,” Grimoire chanted as his horn and eyes glowed with dark magic.

Then suddenly, the dragon on the carpet Lloyd was standing on grabbed him, “Wha-Hey?!” Lloyd said as he tried to break free.

Garmadon and Luna made it back into the palace and noticed Grimoire and Charm using their dark magic. "Of course, they wouldn't play fair,” Luna growled as they raced over and tackled both of them to the ground. With the spell broken, Lloyd got his leg free and pushed back one of the competitors before he saw his father and Luna tussling with Grimoire and Charm.

"Hurry, Lloyd, you must not lose!” Garmadon told his son as he struggled to keep Grimoire down. Lloyd kicked back one of the competitors before he grabbed the Jadeblade. Meanwhile, Flash struggled against one other competitor before he noticed a Jadeblade on the ceiling.

"Okay, no more Mr. Nice Guy!" Flash grunted before he used his power to blow away the one he was fighting before he flew up towards the ceiling. Meanwhile, Max was tussling against the mare that gassed him with poison as they struggled to get the Jadeblade.

He was about to give in before he remembered his reasons for coming here. "HRGH, No! I can do this! I must do this!" he grunted before he released a blast of green energy at the mare flinging her back. He panted and grabbed the Blade.

Down below on the first floor, Landrush was dogpiled. Soon he got out of the dog pile as he grunted while pushing off the other competitors often. "It's mine!" he declared as he walked towards a Jadeblade on the floor before he clutched his stomach in pain. "Oh, stomach cramps!"

The Master of Void took this opportunity to turn invisible and run towards the Jadeblade. Just when Landrush was about to pick it up, he saw it float in the air and moved away from him. "Hey, stop! Stupid Blade,” he complained as he tried to chase after it. He then felt punched in the face as the Blade moved farther away from him. He then realized it wasn't the Blade as he punched a nearby pillar to cause some dust to fall on Pale Hound. "Ha, ha, ha! NINJA, GO!" His Spinjitzu knocked back the Master of Void while the Jadeblade was thrown in the air. He quickly stopped and grabbed the Blade before he held his mouth as if about to get sick. "Ugh! Okay, that was too fast."

Back in the throne room, Grimoire places Gaia's Jadeblade into the statue with the others, "Only two Jadeblades remain,” he declared.

"And only three competitors,” Charm added. "Who will be next to arrive here with a Blade?"

The doors then slammed open as Landrush raced in, “Wait! I got one!” He yelled.

“Landrush!” Flash said in relief.

“You made it!” Thunder said with a smile.

“Thank goodness,” Gaia added in relief before Landrush noticed which creatures were still missing.

“Where’re Trail and Rainbow?” Landrush asked as the Ninja and the Mane Five realized the Element of Loyalty and the Master of Fire had not returned yet.

Charm then took Landrush’s Blade and placed it on the statue. “Only one Jadeblade remaining,” Chen announced.

Twilight then noticed something else. “Uh, guys? Yah-Karlof isn’t here either,” she said as they all knew that could only mean one thing.

Out in the courtyard Trail and Yah-Karlof stared each other down with a Jadeblade between them. Trail lit his wings on fire and Yah-Karlof, scrapped his horn on the ground, turning metal before giving a bellow and snorting.

They continued glaring at each other, waiting for one of them to make a move, “Get on with it already!” Rainbow yelled from above impatiently as the two charged forth, trading blows, trying to beat the other and make a break for the Blade.

Yah-Karlof knocked Trail down and was ready to stomp him flat before the pegasus pushed him back with his fire. The two masters fought on as the Jadeblade was flung into the air.

Soon the doors to the throne room opened wide as Yah-Karlof walked in with the Jadeblade on his horn. “Haha! Yah-Karlof win! Mighty Yak beat puny red Fire pony!”

All of the other competitors cheered for his victory while the rest of the Ninja and the Mane Six looked concerned as they already lost one of their own. However, Yah-Karlof's victory was short-lived when the metal covering of the horn holding the Blade came loose and fell to the floor.

“Wha?” Yah-Karlof said in surprise.

Trail came from behind him with a screwdriver in his hoof, “Sorry, looks like you had a screw loose!” he quipped before snatching the Blade and flying over to the statue and placing it with the others. The competitors cheered for Trail while Topaz had an impressed smile on her face. Trail smiled back as he felt his heart beating just by looking at her.

Rainbow then flew in. “I would’ve grabbed it but, you know, rules,” she told her friends as she landed next to them.

"We have a loser!" Chen declared as he gestured to Yah-Karlof.

"No fair! Red fire pony cheat!" Yah-Karlof argued as he reattached his mental back to his horn.

“I did what I had to do,” Trail said in defense.

“That is not how you win,” Garmadon firmly said.

“That was considered cheating, Trail,” Luna added with a stern look.

“Fine. Yah-Karlof lose,” Yah-Karlof said, accepting his defeat as he gave a look. “Yah-Karlof never want be on stinking pony island! It not good as Yak islands!”

Chen seemed to look apologetic. "Oh, I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy your stay,” he started as he moved a hoof behind his back, and gave a subtle signal to Charm. "I guess this worked out for the best. This is… GOODBYE!" Charm pressed a button on his throne and a trapdoor opened underneath Yah-Karlof, which he fell through as he was screaming to the bottom.

The Ninja, the Mane Six, and the competitors all jumped back in surprise. Garmadon and Luna sighed in aggravation. “Perhaps we should've warned you that Chen also has a love for trapdoors,” Luna griped.

“As you can see, lose and you are out,” Chen announced while gesturing to the challenging board as one of his goons removed Yah-Karlof’s bracket picture and crushed it in his hoof. “Break any rule, you are out! Never bite the hoof that feeds you… Master Chen delicious noodles! Now rest up! Tomorrow the tournament will recommence,” he announced as one of his ponies bang a gong to end the meeting.

A little bit later, the group were seated in sets of tables as they were in a dining hall having dinner as Landrush and Pinkie enjoyed the food.

“Hah, at least the chow’s good,” Landrush commented with a smile.

"How does this guy make the best food on an island?! It’s incredible!” Pinkie excitedly cheered as she ate her food as fast as she usually does.

"How can you both eat after what we just saw?!" Twilight scolded the two.

“We don’t even know what was waiting for Yah-Karlof at the bottom!” Flash reminded them.

"I know and it's killing me!" Thunder spoke nervously. "What's under the trapdoor?! What happens when you lose?!"

“Easy, you three,” Luna said softly.

“Don’t think about it,” Garmadon told them.

“It’s all I think about,” Thunder pointed out. “I moved on. I feel guilt.”

“These are not good feelings,” Fluttershy pointed out after what happened to Yah-Karlof.

“You think you three feel bad? Imagine how I feel,” Trail said, knowing that it was his fault for what happened to Yah-Karlof when he stole his win. “Our mission is simple. Tonight, we find Frost and get off this crazy island.”

“We only came here to find our friend, so we shouldn’t be here any longer than we have time,” Rainbow added in agreement.

“And just how are we supposed to do either of that?” Landrush questioned. “You heard Chen. Break a rule and we’re out,” he reminded them.

“Landy’s right. Chen’s not gonna let us roam around the island just like that just to find our friend,” Gaia said in agreement while feeling a little worried. “And I don’t wanna know what’s down that trap door, thank you very much,” she added.

“I feel we can all agree on that,” Rarity said in agreement with Gaia, not wanting to know as well.

“Then it’s a good thing we’re Ninja,” Trail said with determination.

“He’s right, y'all. Chen didn’t account for us being stealthy, so he won’t know about us snoopin’ around,” Applejack pointed out.

“That is true, we are so good at stealth that not even Chen would know,” Flash said in agreement.

“Then that settles it,” Trail said with a smile. “Meet me in my room at midnight,” he told his friends before Pale Hound walked up to them while holding his lunch tray.

“You mind if I join you?” Pale Hound asked them.

“Disappear, pal!” Thunder yelled rudely while pointing his chopstick at him. “This is private,” he added.

Pale Hound then used his powers to turn invisible while his lunch tray was still visible while the others are looking at him weirdly.

“Uhh,” Thunder sighs as he shakes his head. “I know you’re still here. I can see your lunch tray,” he pointed out before Gaia just bonked him on the head. “Ow! Hey!”

“What’s gotten into you?!” Gaia scolded before giving Pale an apologetic look, “I’m terribly sorry about him, good sir. Please join us.”

“That’s okay, I think I should just sit somewhere else,” Pale Hound said with a smile as he turned visible again. “And don’t worry, he’s probably just worried about the next contest after seeing Yah-Karlof going down that door,” he added as he walked off to sit somewhere else to enjoy his lunch.

“Hmm…” Thunder said in suspicion as he watched Pale walk off.

“Wow, Thunder. Gaia was right. You were really mean,” Landrush commented.

“How am I supposed to know if we can trust him?” Thunder said in defense. “See what this island is doing to me? It’s corrupting me! It has to stop!” he dramatically said before he got hit again, this time by Applejack. “Ow! Will you ponies cut that out!” he called out as he rubbed his head.

“Thunder, we’ve only been here for a day and we’re already making more enemies than friends,” Applejack pointed out in annoyance as Max walked by with his lunch tray. “Howdy, Max,” She greeted him with a wave.

“Good evening, Applejack,” Max waved in response with a smile. “Quite the absurd first challenge which escalated quickly,” he commented.

“I hear ya, partner. Feel bad for Yah-Karlof though,” Applejack said in sympathy.

“Well, I truly hope he is all right. Regardless, he would’ve been quite a challenge so perhaps it’s best that he was eliminated,” Max added.

“I can agree with you there,” Trail commented, knowing that Yah-Karlof was a tough opponent.

“Well, I’m off to enjoy my lunch. I’ll see you all in the morning,” Max said before walking away.

“See ya,” Applejack waved to him with a smile.

The group turned to the cowgirl in curiosity. “It seems at least one of you has made a friend in the tournament,” Luna said with a small smile.

“Indeed,” Garmadon said in agreement with a smile as well.

“How did you make friends with Max, Applejack?” Twilight asked in interest.

“Well, I got to know him and he seems to be just a guy who’s trying to win for somepony important to him,” Applejack started with a thoughtful look. “He isn’t that one who’s up for glory and fame like the others.”

“I still don’t trust him or any of them,” Thunder said before giving a look. “I’ll see you ponies tonight,” he said, getting back to the topic of finding Frost and getting off the island.

Later that night, Trail and Rainbow were checking their new tournament outfits, Rarity made copies of the suits for the Mane Six so they could fit into the tournaments so they would not feel left out. Trail’s was red while Rainbow’s was cyan.

“Oh yeah, looking good,” Rainbow said before looking at the clock. “Oop, it’s showtime.”

The two ponies rushed up to the balcony as they looked down and saw Chen’s guards patrolling the palace. The rest of the Mane Six and the Ninja stealthy appeared from the room and landed on the balcony, first Lloyd, Landrush, Flash and Gaia while the rest of the Mane Six flew down quietly as they all entered Trail’s room.

Trail and Rainbow then saw Topaz coming out, which made them flinch as they looked up and saw Thunder jumping down. Not wanting Topaz to see them, Trail panicky pushed Thunder over the balcony as he gave a startled yelp as he was flipped back. Rainbow look at Trail in shock at what he just did as Topaz heard the sound and turned to them.

“What was that you said, Trail?” Topaz asked in confusion.

“Uh, I said…” Trail stammered while Rainbow gave him a weird look as he looked up. “...w-w-what a beautiful night,” he lied nervously.

“Really?” Rainbow whispered with a brow before she flew to see Thunder hanging on the edge for dear life. “You good, Lover Colt the First?” She asked.

“Har, Har,” Thunder whispered sarcastically. while Topaz looked at Trail in confusion at what he said. “Ha, ha. Aw, come on,” he added, finding that Trail is still lovestruck.

“What do you guys think happened to Yah-Karlof?” Topaz asked in curiously.

“A question everycreature is asking, now they’re even more worried about losing,” Rainbow answered with a shrug.

“Well, I feel horrible,” Trail honestly said in guilt. “If I had known what would happen-” He trailed off.

“You did what you had to do to stay in the tournament,” Topaz assured.

“She’s right, Trail. Besides if you had lost, you would’ve ended up like Yah-Karlof, whatever that might be,” Rainbow added in agreement as Thunder still held on.

“And I’m sorry if I was cold to you earlier, Trail,” Topaz apologized, clearly eager to make amends.

“Psst,” Thunder quietly spoke, trying to get Rainbow and Trail to help him.

“Maybe it’s good to have friends here,” Topaz continued.

“Trail! Rainbow!” Thunder whispered harshly.

Trail and Rainbow looked down at him. “Thunder, would you stop making noise?” Trail whispered back with a look.

“Just hang on a little longer,” Rainbow whispered, knowing that they need to get Topaz out of sight so she doesn’t find anything suspicious.

“Trail, you have asked about my power…” Topaz was cut off when Trail looked at her with a nervous smile.

“Uh, yeah, oh, it’s so cold out. Brr,” Trail said as he rubbed himself while pretending to shiver as Rainbow played along.

“Y-yeah. They should, uh, really make sleeves for these suits if you’re gonna have a midnight brawl,” Rainbow played along while shivering slightly.

“Better call it a night. Come on, Rainbow. Heh, heh,” Trail said as he quickly walked back inside while Rainbow followed, leaving Topaz confused.

“Oh, okay,” Topaz said uncertainty. “Sorry to have bothered-” she trailed off when she saw them enter the room as the slide door opened again as Trail poked his head out.

“Oh, okay. Good night,” Trail said as he gave a nervous smile and chuckle.

“Come on, lover colt.” Rainbow’s hoof grabbed Trail’s shoulder as she dragged him back into the room as the door closed again.

Topaz shrugged as she entered her room as her door closed.

Once the coast was clear, Trail opened the door again to see Topaz was now gone as he rushed to the balcony and flew down to help Thunder. “You and Rainbow had to leave me hanging, huh, Romeo?” Thunder sarcastically asked.

Rainbow flew in and helped Trail out. “Oh, quit complaining. You would’ve done the same if it was Aqua,” She argued.

“That’s not…” Thunder trailed off as he thought for a moment before he sighs. “Okay, you got me there,” he said in defeat as the two landed on the balcony.

Once the three were inside Trail’s room, they saw their friends relaxing as Landrush was lounging on a lounge chair, while Gaia sat and the end while Lloyd was sitting on a chair next to them while the rest of the girls and Flash were looking at Trail’s room. Gaia’s suit was forest green, Landrush’s suit was black, Flash’s was amber yellow, Rarity’s was pearl white, Applejack’s was rusty orange, Pinkie’s was a hot pink, Fluttershy’s was greenish yellow and Twilight’s was royal purple.

Landrush is eating something as Thunder looks at Trail’s room. “Whoa-ho-ho-ho. Nice digs,” he commented.

“I know,” Landrush said with a jealous look. “His room is so much nicer than mine,” he complained.

“Gotta say, they really went for the fire vibes for your room, Trail,” Twilight commented.

“This place is smoking hot, literally,” Pinkie joked with a chuckle.

“Look, chocolate-covered shell peas,” Landrush said as he bent down at a bowl filled with chocolate covered peas. “I love these,” he said happily.

“Did somepony say chocolate?” Pinkie asked excitedly as she rushed towards Landrush. The two of them started to chow down on the chocolate before they raced over to Trail's bed.

“Oh, and look how soft your pillows are,” Landrush commented as he gave a sigh. “Man, mine are made of rock. What a crock,” he complained.

“Hey! I used to sleep on rocks too!” Pinkie complained before realizing, “Actually they were pretty uncomfortable so that’s not really helping my point.”

"Okay, it was almost impossible to get here,” Flash pointed out as he paced around in front of them, reminding them of their mission. "Chen really has this place locked down for the night."

“No kidding. This place is swarming with guards,” Thunder added.

"I don't suppose any of you have any ideas on how we search the island for Frost, do you?" Rarity asked as she looked amongst them.

"We travel by shadow,” Gaia answered. “Cover every square inch of this place until we find him.”

They were so distracted by each other that they didn't see Landrush stretching back and hitting something on the wall. The bed then suddenly flipped with him and Pinkie still on it.

“That’s a bad idea. The island’s massive, it would take us forever to search every corner,” Twilight pointed out.

“We’ll need to split up,” Thunder suggested.

“No, dividing is what Chen wants, we stick together,” Lloyd protested, reminding them what Garmadon, and Luna told them.

"Well, how the hay are we gonna search the place?" Applejack asked before the bed flipped back up as Pinkie and Landrush held on to it.

“Uh, guys…” Landrush started as he and Pinkie recovered.

“This bed is, uh…” Pinkie trailed off.

"Okay, we get it! You like my bed!" Trail shouted with annoyance.

“Will you two stop playing around?” Flash asked with a brow.

Pinkie and Landrush looked at each other with smirks as they turned to their friends. “We think we know how we can search the island,” Landrush said with a smirk. Then a few moments later, the Ninja and the Mane Six were laying on Trail’s bed together.

“Okay, I feel ridiculous,” Lloyd commented.

“Ooh-la-la. You’re right. The pillows are soft,” Rarity sighed as she relaxed.

“And so comfy too,” Fluttershy added with a relaxing smile.

"Is this a joke?" Twilight asked Pinkie Pie and Landrush as she sat up to look at them.

"One of us must've done something to trigger it,” Landrush protested. “I was laying here, then I stretched…” He then stretched back as his head moved the pillow he was laying on hit a small button on the wall.

And then the bed flips away as the group yelled in surprise before the bed was flipped around as they saw a hidden passage as the pillows fell to the floor as the Mane Six and Ninja gasped in shock as they held onto the covers.

“Ooh! Secret passageway!” Thunder gasped as they dropped down, “Cool.”

The ponies with horns then glowed their horns for light as Trail also brought out his fire element for more lighting.

“Nice work, you two,” Trail said to both Pinkie and Landrush. “Maybe Frost’s not on the island, but in it,” he theorized.

“You're right, Chen might be holding him captive down here,” Twilight added in agreement. Then they hear some grunting sounds as they look around.

"Do you guys hear that?" Rainbow asked before they looked up to see two eye-holes in the wall over.

"Oh, secret peep holes. Ha, ha!" Thunder left before he climbed up and looked through said holes. “Super cool!” He added. "Sounds like someone's fighting on the other side of this wall."

“What do you see? Who’s fighting?” Landrush asked curiously.

Thunder looked through the holes and saw it was Topaz’s room while the mare was training inside. “It’s not a fight, it’s Topaz’s room. And it looks like she’s training,” he answered.

"Topaz?!" Trail asked as he quickly put out his fire as he climbed up to Thunder. “Let me see! Let me see!”

The others gave Trail a teasing look. “Oh, looks like Trail’s got hots for her,” Landrush said with a teasing smirk.

“The dude is crazy about her,” Rainbow commented with a slight chuckle.

“No, she’s competition,” Trail denied it. “I just wanna know what powers we’re up against,” he reasoned as he then tried to move Thunder from the peeping holes.

“Wait your turn,” Thunder complained.

“We can at least share,” Trail argued as he looked through one of the holes as he saw Topaz doing a one hoof pushup.

“Guys, this is an invasion of privacy,” Lloyd pointed out.

“And it is not nice to eavesdrop on somepony,” Fluttershy added.

"Her room doesn't reveal anything about her power,” Trail said as they looked around the room through the holes they were looking through. Then when Topaz stood up, she lifted her hoof as fire then appeared on her hoof as her horned glowed red.

The two stallions gasped at what they saw and turned to each other.

“What? What did you see, partner?” Applejack asked.

“She’s… fire,” Trail said in shock and worry.

Gaia however looked unconvinced, “I’m not so sure,” She said before jumping up and pushing Thunder out of the way, “Let me see,” Gaia then looked through the holes. “Wait, she’s doing something,” She called out. After Topaz diminished the fire in her hoof, she then brought out a pot filled with dirt as she then planted a seed in it. “Looks like she’s just planting some seeds right now, nothing out of the-”

She cut herself off when she and Trail then saw Topaz’s horn glow green and then from the pot grew a vine plant. “Oh my stars,” Gaia gasped in shock as Trail went wide-eyed.

“What is it now?” Flash questioned.

“She grew a plant from a seed in a pot by using my element!” Gaia called out in shock.

“She’s not just Fire, she’s also, Life,” Trail breathed out stunned and shocked.

"Wait, what?!" Twilight question. "Is it even possible to use two elements?

“Lloyd once did all six elements,” Thunder pointed out.

"Only because he's the grandson of the first Spinjitzu master,” Flash added.

“Wait a minute, if we’re all descendants of Elemental Masters…” Lloyd starts as he theorizes that Topaz might be related to Trail and Gaia if she can use both Fire and Life like them.

Landrush gave a laugh as he started hopping and pointed at Trail. “Trail’s heart is on fire. Trail’s heart is on fire. Trail’s heart is on fire,” he sang playfully.

“Can we please just keep moving?” Trail said, wanting to end this childish thing.

“Yeah, we got to find Frost and get out of here. This place is filthy,” Rarity said in agreement.

Landrush picked up the chocolate bowl that fell with them as he walked up to the others as they walked down the passage as he and Pinkie ate some chocolate peas.

“Huh. It’s like a maze down here,” Flash commented as he led the group, “Good thing you’re leaving a trail back to Trail’s room,” he said to both Landrush and Pinkie.

“We’re what?” The two ponies asked if they turned and saw some spilled peas they dropped as it left a trail back to Trail’s room.

“Oh, yeah, we meant to do that,” Landrush said, in truth, they didn’t mean to but found it effective to know their way around.

And then they climbed/flew down a passage below as they soon found themselves in a cave like tunnel as they continued onward before Lloyd and Twilight spotted something in front of them as both placed a hoof in front of Trail as he and the others stopped.

“Everypony stop!” Lloyd called out as he bent down and inspected what looked like a trigger wire.

“Looks like Chen placed booby traps,” Twilight said as she examined the wire.

“Ha, ha! Booby traps. Even cooler. Ha, ha!” Thunder excitedly said as Twilight and Lloyd gave him a look. “Or, I mean, kinda cool. I mean, they’re totally not cool, you know, ‘cause they’re dangerous,” he quickly corrected it.

“Nice save there,” Rainbow commented with a brow.

"We better watch our step from here on out,” Flash told them.

"Hey wait, do you guys hear that?” Trail asked as they heard what sounded like marching coming from around the corner. "Everypony be quiet,” they quickly hid behind some rocks before they saw some of Chen's goons walking down the catacombs. They then got a little crazy idea as they saw twelve more coming by before they quickly pulled them and knocked them out.

A little bit later, the twelve ponies are now disguised as Chen’s goons, wearing the snake skulls and armor they wore. They are in a secret hidden chamber with a giant snake passage in front of them as Chen’s goons keep chanting rhythmically.

Pinkie and Landrush were then licking some of the chocolate they put on their faces to make it look like tattoos to blend in with the others. “Would you two stop licking your tattoos!?” Flash whispered harshly.

“It’s chocolate,” Landrush said in defense.

“We can’t resist the flavor,” Pinkie added. Those two really loved chocolate.

“Sshh!” Lloyd hushed. “Just shove it and try to fit in,” he whispered to them.

“Just do what these creeps are doing,” Twilight added as they saw Thunder trying to follow the chanting as they followed along as they tried to mimic the chanting.

Then walking in were Charm, Grimoire and Chen as their soldiers immediately bowed down as the Mane Six and Ninja did the same once they saw them bow to them. Then walking in was a white female Abyssinian wearing goggles on her head and overalls with a tool belt around her waist, with a snake like staff in her paws as she gave it to Chen.

“Your staff, sir,” she said with a hint of disgust.

“And you're certain it will work?” Chen asked her as he took the staff.

The Abyssinian nodded, “I tested it out on your ‘mechanical guest’. It works,” she said before looking away and muttering, “unfortunately.”

The Mane Six and Ninja heard what she said. “Mechanical guest?” Applejack repeated.

“Could she mean…?” Gaia asked hopefully.

“Frost!” Fluttershy gasped silently.

“That means he is on this island and is being held captive,” Flash whispered as the others looked in shock.

“At least we know he’s alive,” Landrush stated.

“I’d like to test it for myself,” Chen said as he turned to his minions. “Bring out the loser,” he announced.

Then from the corridor behind them, came four goons dragging a metal-covered Yah-Karlof with them. “Unh! Get hooves off Yah-Karlof! Yah-Karlof wish he never sign up for Nasty Tournament,” he grunted to himself before they forced him to kneel before Chen as the goons started chanting yet again. "What Snakey Ponies chanting for?" he asked in confusion.

"They're chanting 'Only one can remain'!" Chen declared as Yah-Karlof looked in confusion while the Mane Six and Ninja watched from behind as they were having a bad feeling about this. “Like I said, use it or lose it,” he said as his four goons held Yah-Karlof down again.

Chen then pointed his staff at Yah-Karlof as ice started shooting out from it as it hit Yah-Karlof. He gave a growl of pain from the shot as Chen gave a smirk while the female Abyssinian looked away in guilt. Yah-Karlof's metal coat cracked and felt apart as his power of metal was siphoned out of him and went into Chen’s staff.

Chen’s goons let go of Yah-Karlof as he fell to the floor, greatly weakened as the Mane Six and Ninja were shocked at what they just saw.

“He’s stolen Yah-Karlof’s power of Metal,” Trail whispered in shock, feeling even worse for what he did to the yak.

“And did you catch what he did before? He used Ice,” Rainbow added.

“That means they must have already stolen Frost’s power of Ice too,” Landrush added with a glare, now angry that Chen stole their friend’s element and for what he did to Yah-Karlof.

Yah-Karlof got up and looked at his hooves. "What…Where Yah-Karlof Metal go?!” He asked as he tapped his horns against the ground, but he couldn’t feel his power anymore.

“Yar-Karloff Metal? Oh, well, to explain in your Yak speak: it Master Chen Metal now,” Chen revealed as held up his staff before he felt the power of metal course through him as his whole body turned metal. "But now I will let you go…" he started with a small smirk.

“Really?” Yah-Karlof asked hopefully.

“...To the factory!” Chen finished with his hooves raised.

Yah-Karlof was shocked by this as Chen’s goons grabbed him by the fur as he was dragged off with his legs kicking. “No, no! Snakey-Ponies let Yah-Karlof go! No! No!” He yelled out desperately.

The Mane Six and Ninja watched them take Yah-Karlof away as Landrush turned to Gaia as he gasped. “Gaia, your face…” He pointed out.

Gaia gasped as she touched her face and saw the chocolate melting from her hooves. “Oh, my face? All of our faces! The chocolate’s melting,” She pointed out in slight panic.

The others then notice their chocolate tattoos are melting as well as they all gave worried looks. Chen, the twin lieutenants, the female Abyssinian, and Chen’s goons then notice them as well.

“Who are they?” One of Chen’s goons questioned while pointing at them.

Chen then immediately recognized them, “Intruders!” He called out as the heroes immediately stood up and made a break for it. “Stop them! They must not escape!” He ordered as Chen’s goons then started chasing after them.

The heroes then ran through the tunnel while passing Chen’s men they knocked out and tied up after taking their costumes. The group looked back and saw the goons chasing them before Landrush tripped over the tripwire and fell to the ground. They then looked back and saw a wall came down and blocked Chen's men from coming after them.

“Yes!” Trail cheered but it was short lived as they saw giant axes coming out from the walls, “Oh no!”

“Everypony! This way!” Flash ordered as they ran as fast as they could as the axes came down faster and faster until they ducked into a small cave.

They all took a breath of relief, “That was close,” Landrush said as they all took a moment to catch their breath. Their rest was short-lived when they heard the shaking sound of a rattlesnake’s tail.

"What's that sound?" Gaia asked nervously before they looked down and saw a very large purple Anacondrai Serpentine below at them as it hissed at them while rattling its tail like a rattlesnake.

“Another Anacondrai!?” Twilight asked in shock.

“Or is it a giant Rattlesnake?!” Thunder asked.

“I think it’s both,” Fluttershy squeaked frightfully.

“That has got to be the second biggest snake I have ever seen!” Trail yelled out in shock, as the Serpentine only came second to the Great Devourer.

"Whatever the hay it is, we got to run!” Flash shouted as the Serpentine then launched itself towards them with its fangs open.

The heroes yelled in startled as they started climbing as they went through a small hole as Rarity and Thunder was behind them as they crowded at the end of room as the snake tried to bite as them as it only succeeded in getting some of Thunder’s pants and some of Rarity’s tail as they crowded together. The large Serpentine snapped at them to try and get more as Trail's elbow pressed a switch behind them and they all screamed as they fell back into his room and onto his bed.

The Serpentine gave a roar before the hatch closed, cutting it off as the heroes took their breath.

“Are we…?” Trail asked to make sure they were alive.

“Looks like it,” Rainbow answered.

“Yeah, but barely,” Lloyd added.

“Just by a hair,” Fluttershy mentioned while trembling.

“That was something I don't wanna go through again,” Flash commented.

“Agreed,” Twilight agreed.

“Did we just,” Landrush tried to speak but groaned in pain.

“Found an emergency exit? Eeyup,” Applejack answered as she pulled out her hat.

“Chen clearly took very extreme measures to ensure nopony ever thought about snooping around his island,” Gaia stated.

“Meaning we can’t search the tunnels for Frost without that slithering beast making a meal out of us,” Rarity added.

"Yeah, so, no more sneaking around,” Thunder stated as he stood up, “From now on, let's just follow the rules."

“No matter how stinky they are,” Pinkie complained.

“Uhh, we may not have found Frost, but at least we know for sure that he’s on the island,” Trail said as he and the others stood up after Thunder. “And we also found something just as important. This tournament isn’t about glory. It’s about Chen stealing all of our Elemental Powers,” he added.

"But why is he stealing our Powers?" Flash questioned as he sat up. “What is he planning to do with all of them?"

“I don’t know,” Twilight answered with uncertainty, “but if we’re gonna find out, find Frost and stop that plan, we have to play by his rules to stay ahead of him. Agreed?” She asked her friends.

“Agreed,” they all said with a nod.

Applejack looked away in concern as she remembered Max telling her his reasons for coming here but now she knew he came here only to be lured into a trap. “Maybe we should tell Max and the other fighters about this,” She suggested to her friends. “If they knew this Tournament was one big trick then maybe they could help us out.”

“I don’t think it would be a good idea, Applejack,” Lloyd said to her.

“Why not? They have to know,” Applejack pointed out.

“I don’t think they’d believe us, given how Chen likes to play creatures against each other. Not to mention, we don’t know if any of them are on Chen’s scheme,” Lloyd reasoned. “Just saying it out could ruin our chances at stopping Chen and finding Frost, and we’d end up with our powers taken,” he added.

“Nocreature can get involved in this. Let’s see if we can figure this out on our own,” Twilight stepped in, “If things go sour, then we tell the other fighters, but until then, nothing about what we found leaves this room.”

“Understood,” everypony but Applejack agreed in unison as the farmmare looked away.

“Max will not like this one bit,” Applejack muttered, knowing that if Max found out the tournament was a fraud on his own, he would be devastated. She knew she had to say something.

“Good thing we weren’t spotted. That was close,” Landrush commented as the others walked off Trail’s bed.

“Yeah, too close,” Thunder commented as he turned to the back and noticed that a piece of his suit was taken where the Serpentine tried to bite him.

“Far too close,” Rarity added as she showed them her tail that a piece of her tail hair was missing. “That snake has no respect for boundaries or fashion,” she said in slight irritation.

Back in Chen’s chamber, the Serpentine has the pieces of Thunder’s suit and Rarity’s tail in its mouth as a couple of hooves grab them as Charm and Grimoire examine what they found.

“Mm. Good work, our pet,” Charm said while petting the Serpentine. The Serpentine gave a hiss as it nuzzled its masters.

“Yes, yes, we do know who the imposters are, don’t we?” Grimoire asked as he petted their Serpentine as well. “Thanks to you, we now know who they are,” he said.

“And soon… they will pay for their intrusion… with their lives,” Charm added as she and her brother and pet snake looked at the pieces as the Serpentine’s tail started rattling. Now the Ninja and their friends were in for a real fight.

Chapter 3: Versus

Harsh winds blew just outside a wooden cabin with a light on the second floor. Inside said cabin was a few machines and gizmos lying about as a white female Abyssinian sat next to a workbench while typing something on a laptop that looked like it was made from different parts. Next to her would look to a very damaged android pony with only one leg and its exoskeleton exposed while there was a glowing circle on the left side of its chest.

The female Abyssinian kept typing on her laptop before she smiled when she stopped. “Well, that should do it,” she said while giving a nervous look. “Though I hope this works,” she added in concern as she pressed enter on her keyboard.

Just then, the android pony’s eye started flickering and its remaining limbs shifted as its eyes brightened up in icy blue color. Not only that, but something appeared on her laptop screen. She took a closer look and saw what looked to be something walking through the snow and could guess it was the android pony. "Is this your memory or something?" She wondered before she saw the android pony fall into a cave when the ground gave in.

She could hear rattling chains coming from inside the cave before a big glowing ice dragon made of metal came out of the shadows. This caused her to quickly jump back before she noticed the Android Pony moving its hoof frantically like it was scared. She quickly turned off her monitor and went over to it. "Whoa hey, calm down! It's okay!" She told it before it looked at her. "Boy, you must be a very sophisticated robot if you're able to have dreams like that."

“It was only a dream?” the android pony asked as there were the sounds of static in its voice.

“Yes,” the female Abyssinian said softly, “But it’s over, and wow, that dream must’ve been something,” She commented. "Anyway, let's get introductions out of the way. My name is Rivet, what's your name?" The android pony looked at himself as he couldn't remember its name. "I take it you can't remember, huh?

“I… I don’t…” The android pony said, while trying to remember, but having trouble, “I-I don’t know what happened.”

“I think your memory core must’ve been damaged,” Rivet theorizes with a concerned look. “But how, I don’t know… You look like you just got out of an explosion when I found you." Suddenly, she felt a cold air blowing from an open window, causing her to shiver. "Man, it's the middle of summer yet a blizzard just happens to roll around? Super weird." She quickly went over and closed the window as she looked back at the damaged android pony. "Don't worry, I'm very good with mechanics and stuff. I'll be able to fix you, but I don't know how long it will take."

“Frost, are you still there?!” another female voice said as it turned to a window next to it and saw a Falcon. "Frost! If you can hear me wake up! You need to wake up"

Frost quickly opened his eyes and gasped, and found himself still chained up in Chen's dungeon. “It was another dream," he said to himself.

“It’s amazing you dream,” A female voice said from another cell as Frost turned and saw some lights flickering behind it. “I’ve always wondered what it’s like. You’ve always been special,” she said as Frost looked around.

“Where am I?” Frost asked before turning to his cell window, “Who are you?”

“I’m Pixal, friend,” Pixal explained, revealing that she had also been captured by Chen. “And you’re in danger and have to get out of here. Your memory drive is out of sorts and your elemental power…"

"Elemental power?"

"You're a Nindroid, Frost. A Ninja," Pixal told him as Frost rattled the chains on his front hooves. “And your friends are here to save you. As well as your mother. But your mother has been captured and your friends can't do it all. You have to remember who you are."

"Friends? My mother?" Frost repeated.

"Remember, Frost." Pixal continued. "You saved your friends and then a new friend found you and rebuilt you. There are things about you that you don’t understand. That you have yet to discover.” As Pixal spoke to him, Frost saw a couple of spiders crawl through a crack in the wall with clear confusion. "But if we're ever going to get out of here, you have to remember."

Frost thought for a moment before a bright smile appeared on his face. "Pixal," he spoke with realization and hope. "We are… compatible?"

"Yes, Frost. Yes, we are," Pixal replied.

Back in Equestria, Wu, Celestia, and Aqua are in the Samurai X cave while passing Aqua some tools she might request while working on the Harmony’s Bounty they are repairing.

“Sure, Thunder’s cute and funny, and I’m always laughing around him, but everything’s about him, and he never takes me seriously,” Aqua said while tightening a screw in, ranting about her ex-coltfriend while Celestia and Wu have grown bored that they fell asleep while standing. “More light, please.”

That got Wu and Celestia awake as they lit up their horns, “Right,” Wu said as Celestia nodded. "He never takes you seriously."

"Then there's Landrush," Aqua continued. “He's handsome, and I suppose I connect with him on a deeper level, but everything's so serious with him, not to mention, Gaia is in love with him, know what I mean? Socket wrench."

"Young emotions are… complicated,” Celestia commented as she passed her a tool.

"Celestia, these are needle nose pliers,” Aqua pointed out when she saw the wrong tool. "I asked for a socket wrench. And could you both at least try to impart some wisdom?"

“No way. We’re not sticking our hooves into that beehive,” Wu shook his head while Celestia did the same in agreement.

“Ruling Equestria was already a challenge, but relationships are something we do not cross,” Celestia stated just as Spike, Starlight, the Young Six, the Serpentine Kids, Sombra and Misako entered the cave. "Any word?"

"Nothing," Misako sighed. "It's been days and still no word from Garmadon, Luna, the Council, or the Ninja. I'm worried."

"As am I and the rest of us,” Wu said as the others nodded in agreement.

“This is really concerning. Usually, they never stay gone for this long,” Spike said in worried. “Usually, Twilight and the girls would leave a note, but they've never been this gone before.”

"Discord is searching high and low for them, but has found no trace of them," Sombra added. "It's like they just disappeared."

"We called out to our homelands, and they haven't found them either," Smolder spoke up. "Where can they have gone?"

"Perhaps it's time we broaden our search," Celestia suggested.

"But how?" Ocellus asked.

"Well, then it's a good thing I made a mobile base in case the Destiny's Bounty was ever out of commission," Aqua mentioned as she walked over to the main computer and started to type something. The floor opened slowly as something rose up from under it. "I call it… the D.B. Express!" she announced as a large six-wheeled vehicle with blades on its side rose up as Aqua frowned. "Mm, not married to the name."

“Find my family, Aqua,” Misako urged.

“And our friends,” Sombra added.

Aqua nodded as she jumped into the D.B. Express. But before the hatch was closed, Spike and Smolder joined in, which surprised Aqua. “Whoa! What are you two doing?” she asked.

“What does it look like? We’re coming along,” Smolder said with her arms crossed.

"Yeah, you think you can just show off an awesome vehicle like this and not let us have a joyride in it?" Spike asked sarcastically.

Starlight rolled her eyes and hopped in too. “In that case, I better come with you, just to keep an eye on these two,” she said to the blue unicorn while gesturing to the two dragons. "Now punch it, Aqua!"

Aqua just shrugged before she revved up the vehicle. "We're on our way!" She exclaimed before she drove out of the cave.

“Wherever they are, at least our brother and sister are there to guide them,” Wu said to the worried group, giving some comfort that Garmadon and Luna were with them.

“This is my husband we’re talking about. And that’s what worries me,” Misako said in worry since her husband Garmadon may have been reformed, but she was not sure if he was that much of a guide yet.

“And Luna may be a good guide, but she sometimes doesn’t have all the answers when it comes to, well… guidance,” Sombra added in agreement, having the same feeling as Misako since Luna is not that much of a wisdom guide at times.

Silverstream then looked at Ocellus, Yona, and Sandbar with curiosity. "So, how is this whole double dating going on?" she asked as the three gave her a look.

Back on Chen's island, all the competitors were lined up in the cafeteria for some breakfast. The Master of Sound got his meal, “Next!” the lunchpony called out as Garmadon and Luna walked up next. But the lunch pony shook his head at the two. “Uh-uh, none for either of you!" he told them as they sighed.

"There's a valuable lesson here, young ones,” Garmadon told Lloyd and Twilight. “If you and your friend turn your back on your first evil teacher in an effort to go straight...” he started before he and Luna moved away.

“Expect in the future to not be served creamy biscuits,” Luna said with her head up in pride before muttering with a slight pout, "Even though they're my favorite...”

"Well, I know what we are being served," Lloyd mentioned as he and Twilight were next for their breakfast. “A whole bunch of horseapples,” he muttered.

"Yeah, this isn't a fighting tournament. It's an alibi for Chen to steal every competitor’s elemental powers," Twilight whispered to the others, “but we still don’t know why he’s doing this,”

“Isn't it obvious? Chen wants to take over Equestria,” Trail muttered as he and Flash were next to get their breakfast. "I don't know what it is, but our home has had a string of bad luck.”

"I'm not so sure,” Flash spoke up. “From what Garmadon and Luna told us about him, he must be planning something even bigger.”

“What could be bigger than taking over Equestria?” Rainbow questioned as she went next.

"Perhaps, taking over all of the lands that are connected with Equestria?” Gaia told her as she and the other girls went next. “Probably for revenge for being banished here in the first place."

"Whatever he's up to, we have to find a way to stop him," Landrush mentioned as he and Thunder were next.

"And may I remind us, we still don't know where Frost is,” Thunder told the others as Landrush and Gaia did a double take as instead of his new Ninja suit, Thunder was wearing a blue robe and sleeping mask on his head. "Which is why we all need to take care of our first rounds to give us more time."

“Thunder, what in the world are you--” Gaia tried to ask but Thunder waved his hoof in front of her.

"Don't look at me. I've already moved on," Thunder quickly said.

"Your opponent got himself kicked out." Landrush corrected him as Thunder laughed in response.

"Ha, ha. Either way, it's my day off," he told Landrush before he looked at the lunch pony. "Extra creamy biscuits. And don’t skimp," he said as the lunch pony gave him a stack of creamy biscuits as he walked up next to Landrush.

“Taking a day off?” Landrush asked in surprise at what Thunder just said. “And here I thought a Ninja never quit.”

“And I used to think a Ninja wouldn’t steal your marefriend!” Thunder retorted as he was still mad about the 'Perfect Match' thing.

Landrush growled. “Thunder, how many times do I have to tell you I did not--?”

“But I bet you were planning on it!” Thunder yelled, cutting off Landrush before he could say anything.

"Whatever you have to say to each other, say it now, because harboring grudges hurts no one but yourselves," Garmadon told the two before it could get out of hoof.

"He's right. You should be preparing to find your next opponent, not each other." Fluttershy told them.

“What grudge? I already dropped it,” Landrush stated with his head up.

“Well, I dropped it first!” Thunder countered.

"Did not!" Landrush argued as he bumped Thunder.

“Did too!” Thunder countered as he bumped Landrush back. Landrush bumped back, which caused the two to bicker and Thunder to spill his tray.

Twilight then used her magic to pull the two apart and levitated them both in the air. "Enough! Both of you need to either talk it out like grown-ups or don't talk at all!" She told them with a stern tone. "Remember why we're here, and don't let this little dispute get in the way of that!” She then set them both down before Landrush looked at Gaia.

"Hey Gaia, about--"

"I just want to be friends!" Gaia quickly told him before he could finish and then walked away while trying to hide her pain.

"Oh, uh okay…" Landrush said with his ears dropped down.

"This tournament will test them, at their best and their worst,” Luna told the others. “Either find a way for them to make peace, or neither of them will move on." Just as she finished, the sound of a gong was heard as Chen's voice spoke through the speakers.

"The Tournament of Elements continues. Fun time! Would the following Masters please make their way to their assigned arena?” Chen said over the PA before listing the elements,“Speed, Gravity, Smoke, Null, Mind, oh, and last and hopefully not least…"

"Huh, maybe we all get a day off," Thunder assumed before the last element was called.

“Fire!” Chen finished, which made Trail gasp as he turned to Topaz, who gave a worried expression. “Remember, only one can remain.”

“Okay, is this ‘only one can remain’ thing gonna be his catchphrase?” Rainbow asked in annoyance.

“I think so, darlings,” Rarity said with a shrug. “And it looks like it’ll become tiresome after a while.”

At an arena, the competitors were cheering while one of Chen’s minions banged on the drums. Turner, the Griffon Master of Speed, and the Whitetail Deer Master of Gravity stood in front of a large peach tree with a Jadeblade at the top.

In the second arena, the Unicorn Master of the Mind and the Ram Master of Null prepared to fight in front of a large rock with a Jadeblade at the very top of it.

And in the last arena, Trail and the Kirin Master of Smoke stood on a bridge over a lava river as they faced each other, waiting for the first strike. At the center of the bridge, a Jadeblade was placed, waiting for somepony to claim it.

In the first arena, Chen spoke up, “Turner, Master of Speed, versus Gravitrope, Master of Gravity!” he called to the two competitors, “Fight!”

Turner then superspeed to the tree while Gravitrope flew up in the air. Turner weaved through the branches of the tree as he made his way up to the blade at the top. He stopped and was shocked to see the deer flying past him, manipulating gravity to carry him up. Turner was not going to let that stop him as he ran up a branch.

"Grey Psyche, Master of Mind versus Ramerak, Master of Null!” Chen spoke next as Grey and Ramerak glared at each other, “Fight!”

Grey then used his mind powers at Ramerak, which he felt coming as Ramerak talked in a foreign tongue.

Lloyd gave a scoff, “They call this a fight?” He questioned since there wasn’t a physical punch.

Garmadon gave his son a smirk. “Wait for it,” he said.

Grey kept using his powers on Ramerak as he saw a vision of him being hit by Ramerak’s surprised null attack, which made Grey jump and dodge each one as he started climbing the mountain. Ramerak gave a roar and jumped after Grey as the Master of Mind turned and saw the Master of Null coming at him.

“Trail, Master of Fire versus Fallen Ashen, Master of Smoke!” Chen started as Trail put on his mask while Ashen, the gray Kirin, gave him a challenging smirk and chuckled. “Fight!”

Trail then started running to the Jadeblade, but then the Kirin grabbed the rail and did a spin, which caused the bridge to wobble. Trail struggled to keep his balance as he nearly fell off the bridge while the blade fell on a piece of rock near the lava. Ash then grunted as he charged forward while Trail moved under the bridge.

"Come on, Trail, you can do it!” Flash cheered from the sidelines as the two competitors reached the center of the bridge.

Trail then burst from under the bridge as he was about to kick Ashen in the chest. Ash then quickly turned into a puff of smoke right before Trail could land his kick and pass right through him. Ash reformed and laughed at Trail before he threw up a puff of smoke right at him. Traill grunted after that attack before he charged forward and traded blows with Ashen.

Trail was knocked back as he broke the planks on the bridge before he hung onto the edge of it as he looked at the lava down below, which the crowd started cheering as Chen clapped his hooves in excitement while Charm and Grimoire gave pleasing smiles. But those like the Ninja, the Mane Six, and Topaz, they gave worried looks at Trail, hoping he would survive and win this challenge.

With Grey and Ramerak, Ramerak gave a cry as he grabbed onto Grey’s leg, which the Master of the Mind retaliated with giving Ramerak a mind blast, which knocked him to the ground.

“Never underestimate the power of the mind,” Luna advised the others. Grey kept giving Ramerak a mind blast as was about to deliver a kick. Ramerak quickly rolled out of the way before using his power to grab hold of Grey as it grabbed his horn and his legs.

"I didn't see that coming," Grey grunted as he struggled to get free.

“In creature vs nothingness, nothingness usually wins,” Lloyd commented with a smile as Ramerak gave a chuckle as he still held onto Grey.

With Turner and Gravitrope, the two were still in the tree as they each gave each other punches while Gravitrope was having trouble finding Turner due to his superspeed.

“What, can’t keep up?” Turner asked as Gravitrope looked at him as the Griffon ran around the tree. “I’m over here. Can’t catch me,” he called as he moved closer to the tree.

Gravitrope gave a yell of frustration as he flew up, but then Turner tail-whipped him back and hit him with a tree branch. Gravitrope then focused his powers as he levitated some leaves.

“This doesn’t look good,” Turner said uneasily before Gravitrope then started hitting him with the leaves, as Gravitrope laughed at him as he kept peppering Turner.

Ashen was trying to knock Trail into the lava as he threw smoke bombs right at him. Trail dodged a couple of them before the plank he was holding on broke and he was holding on for dear life. "Whoa!" he shouted as he saw it was a long drop into some lava.

Topaz quickly covered her eyes with worry right before Trail swung himself back onto the bridge. "NINJA, GO!" Trail shouted as he did Spinjitzu while Ashen jumped back from the attack.

Trail tried to give a punch at Ashen, but he turned into smoke, and passed through the fire pony, and did a back kick, which knocked Trail back with a kick.

“Come on, Trail. Use your power,” Lloyd urged.

Trail then summoned some fire to his hooves. “Fire!” He exclaimed, shooting fireballs at Ashen, who turned into smoke and dodged each one as some hit the planks on the bridge.

With Grey and Ramerak, Grey still struggled to get out of the ram’s grip as he looked up and saw the Jadeblade, but before he could think of a way to get it, Grey did a mind blast at Ramerak, causing him to clutch his head in pain.

Grey saw his chance as he kicked the ram back and jumped on the rock pillar and quickly grabbed the Jadeblade and took it out of the rock, “Yeah!” Grey cheered as he held his blade high.

“Winner!” Chen announced before turning to Ramerak. “Loser!” He then pressed a button, causing a trapdoor to open under Ramerak. The ram yelled as he fell into the hole, while his picture was removed from the brackets and Grey's was moved forward. "Master of Mind moves on."

Turner zipped through the branches of the tree as Gravitrope tried to get a lock on him. He then spotted the Jadeblade at the top, using his power to hover it over to him. Turner quickly intercepted, grabbing the blade and holding it up high. "Yeah!" Turner shouted as the competitors cheered for him.

"Winner!" Chen declared before he gestured to Gravitrope. "Loser." He pressed a button to open a trap door which Gravitrope was hovering too high above to fall through. Chen then pressed another button to make a sandbag fall on top of Gravitrope, weighing him down through the trap door.

"Whoa," Turner gasped when he saw that. "How many buttons does that pony have?" he asked himself.

"Master of Speed moves on," Chen declared as the brackets changed.

With Trail and Ashen, Trail continued to throw fireballs at Ashen while the Kirin kept on turning into smoke to avoid the flames. This makes Trail grow frustrated as he throws two fireballs at him which Ashen easily avoids by turning into smoke before he charges right at Trail. Chen then noticed Grimoire and Charm about to use their magic before he stopped them. "Ah-ah! No magic," he told the twins. "I'm enjoying this."

Ashen then jumped and grabbed Trail from behind, but the Fire Ninja then threw another fireball directly at the bridge, breaking it in two as the two competitors jumped onto some pillars as they look at the Jadeblade as they gave each other challenging looks.

Ashen and Trail then exchanged blows as they threw punches and kicks over the Jadeblade, knocking each other back as Ashen jumped back to the Jadeblade, but Trail then charged at him, shooting a fireball. Ashen turned to smoke to avoid it but Trail used this chance to phase through him and take the Jadeblade before landing on one of the pillars.

“Winner!” Chen announced as the crowd cheered for Trail, while Grimoire and Charm gave disappointing looks. “Loser,” he said to Ashen, who looked down in defeat. “Master of Fire moves on,” he finished before he pressed a button, making Ashen fall down into a trapdoor with a yell as the brackets changed.

In the main room, Chen is sitting on his throne as he, Grimoire, and Charm watch the Kabuki dancing around and waving some fans as Chen laughs at this while his loyal servants turn to him. “Master, it was the Ninja and the Royals who snuck into our ceremony,” Grimoire reminded him.

“And they have learned of our plans, yet we allow them to move forward?” Charm added before lighting her horn. “Please let us use our sorcery to ensure they do not interfere a second time.”

“We’ll use both of your magics in time, but not now,” Chen said to them, which put the two siblings in the loop. “Not when there are other ways to whittle them down. Perhaps it’s time to switch things up.” Chen gave a maniacal laugh.

Charm and Grimoire understood what their master was saying as they joined in on the laugh while the Kabuki kept entertaining them.

A little later, the Ninja and Mane Six arrived at the brackets and saw the remaining elemental masters muttering amongst themselves. "Hey, what's this all about?" Flash asked as they walked up to the crowd.

"You all might want to see this, but you are not gonna like it," Maximum told them with concern.

"What do you mean by that?" Thunder asked before they gasped in shock when they got a good look at the brackets. The pictures of both Thunder and Landrush were moved so that they were next to fight each other.

"No. He can't do this," Landrush argued.

"He already did," Twilight said with concern.

"You and Thunder have to fight next, which means one of you will lose your power," Gaia retorted.

"Ah, but why does it say I have to fight Landrush?!" Thunder asked nervously. “It didn't say that before! I'm not ready to fight! It was supposed to be my day off," he complained.

“I tried to warn you, but you never listen,” Landrush said firmly. “Talk? Yes. Listen? Not so much.”

Just then, Grimoire and Charm walked up to them with smirks, “Is there a problem here?” Grimoire asked.

“You two cheated!” Pinkie accused while pointing a hoof at them. “You changed the brackets!”

"Oh, did we?" Charm asked innocently while not bothering to hide her devious smirk. "Our mistake."

"Well, good luck with your fight," Grimoire told them before they walked off as one of Chen’s minions gave a laugh. As they walked off, Garmadon and Luna came up to the group.

“I see you have reached a rather precarious situation,” Luna said to the younger ponies.

"What do we do?!" Lloyd asked his father and Luna. “They can't fight each other. We came here to become whole, not fall further apart.”

"You can't undo what's been done," Garmadon told his son. "Our only advice is to be at peace with it.”

“Peace!?” Thunder asked in disbelief. “One of us has to lose! Oh, my gosh. It’s totally gonna be me! Landrush’s got super strength and what do I have? Quick! Tell me! WHAT DO I HAVE?!?” he demanded in a panic.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Twilight told Thunder before she slapped him in the face. "And don't listen to Garmadon. We just have to find Frost, get off the island then none of you have to fight."

"Twilight's right." Rarity agreed. "Plus, your fight isn't until tonight, so we still have time to figure out what Chen's up to and stop this."

“But how do we find Frost, with all the traps and the large Serpentine in the walls?" Fluttershy asked with concern.

"I think I know just the unicorn who can help us, and I think he already knows." Flash suggested, knowing of one Elemental Master who could be an ally.

It was nighttime at the courtyard as the Ninja and Mane Six walked up to Grey, who was sitting on a rock while meditating. “We need your help, Grey,” Lloyd started before Grey spoke.

“You think I can get close enough to Chen to read his mind, so you can find your robotic friend and not have to fight,” Grey said with his eyes closed.

“Don’t forget…” Trail tried to speak but Grey continued.

“You still need to know what Chen’s up to because he’s hiding something,” Grey finished.

"Whoa, how do you know what we're going to say to you?" Pinkie Pie asked with amazement.

"I'm Grey Psyche, Master of the Mind." He reminded her. "And yours is a very complex one as it has a bunch of rainbows and gumdrops, along with a bunch of other sweetness flocking around. Which explains so much about you," he said while pointing to the pink mare. “And by the way, Landrush thinks Thunder won't last long in the fight."

“Pfft. You think that?!" Thunder asked with a glare at Landrush.

"Well, you just said it yourself!" Landrush defended.

“But you didn't have to believe it!"

"Don't be offended, Landrush," Grey spoke up. "Thunder here thinks you're the least valuable Ninja."

“You don’t say!” Landrush growled as the two ponies than started fighting each other again before Gaia broke them up.

“Hey, we came to you to ask for your aid, Grey, not to expose our secrets and cause further division among us!” Gaia told the Master of Mind.

“Oh, then perhaps you would prefer me to say how you’ve always admired Landrush for his good heart and how you know he will win because of how much of a hunk you think he is, which by the way is quite a lot?” Grey asked with a brow.

Gaia became stiff and blushed in embarrassment at what Grey just said as the group all turned to her in surprise, which made Landrush and Thunder stop fighting as they looked at her, while Landrush looked even more surprised by this. Gaia face then turned red in embarrassment, “Um… Uh… I… Um… That’s… That is private information!” she stammered as her eyes blazed with anger and got ready to pounce on Grey.

But then Twilight stepped in. “Alright, thank you, Gaia. I will take over,” she said firmly as she turned back to Grey while Gaia pouted. “We need your help, not to make things worse, for us or yourself,” she said.

“But why would I help, your Highness?” Grey asked. “They're competition. The sooner your Ninja are out, the better for me.”

“If you want what’s best for you, just look into my head and you’ll see what this tournament is all about, and why you will regret coming here,” Twilight suggested seriously.

Grey then used his powers to look inside Twilight’s head, which showed the memory of Chen stealing Yah-Karlof’s powers with his staff, which made Grey shocked by this as he stopped reading Twilight’s mind.

Twilight saw his reaction as she nodded at him, “Yeah, that’s what this tournament is really all about. And it’s only a matter of time before Chen steals your power too,” she stated firmly.

“So, are you in?” Flash questioned.

Grey thought for a moment, knowing that they were right and if he lost, he’d lose his powers too.

In Frost’s cell, the Ice Ninja struggled to free his hooves from his chains as he gave a sigh.

“Frost, you’re built differently,” Pixal said to him from the other cell. “You have to search deep within yourself,” she advised.

Frost thought for a moment before he looked at his right forearm, which opened a compartment from which a shuriken-like saw came out, cutting the chains.

“Yes, that’s it! You’re remembering,” Pixal said, having heard the saw cutting.

“Tonight’s fight is gonna be epic,” one of Chen’s minions spoke from the hallways, which Frost heard as he turned to the door. “Who do you got? Thunder or Landrush?”

“I’m a Landrush pony. Never like the color blue,” his friend answered, which made Frost nervous as he looked at his saw. “What’s that grinding sound?” he asked. Frost quickly stopped cutting and retracted his saw and closed his eyes as one of Chen's men looked through the door and saw Frost still chained up. "Heh, guess I was just hearing things. Come on, let's go."

Frost opened his eyes as soon as they left before he heard Pixal spoke up again. "It's not safe. I suggest you break out when everyone's at the big fight."

"You mean, we must break out," Frost corrected. “Not only that, but we must find my mother and Rivet, the one who rebuilt me, before finding the others."

"Yes. Of course." Pixal replied, sounding a bit worried.

In the Kabuki changing room, the Kabuki were either getting dressed or putting on some makeup. Grey was hiding behind some ranks as he tiptoed to Chen, who was getting dressed with two Kabuki helping him.

“Not so tight,” Chen said to the Kabuki.

Grey was about to get close to Chen, but Charm appeared behind him. “This floor is restricted,” she firmly said, which startled Grey in the process.

“Charm. I was just leaving,” Grey said nervously.

“I saw you speaking with the Ninja and the Princesses,” Charm said suspiciously. “It’d be a shame if the other fighters were to find out you were… aligned with them,” she said threateningly.

“Of course not,” Grey lied with a smile as he placed his hoof on his head, “I’m the Master of the Mind,” he told her as he read Charm’s mind without her knowing. “I’m smarter than that.” He slowly walked backward as he exited the room before Charm suspects anything else.

A little bit later, the crowd is in a big arena as they are either cheering or chattering about Landrush and Thunder’s match as the Jadeblade is in the middle of the arena as Chen comes in and sits on his throne.

Thunder is in a cell door with Trail and Flash standing by. Thunder is punching or bucking on a punching bag with Landrush’s picture on it, venting out his aggression on him.

“Think it’ll be an easy fight?!” Thunder said to himself as he kept punching Landrush's picture, “Well, I’ll show him!” he exclaimed with a few more punches before he backflipped and shot lightning at the punching bag, vaporizing it as he gave a laugh.

Thunder walks up to the remains of the punching bag before he sees Landrush’s picture, which is slightly burnt but still intact as he feels concerned and guilty about fighting him. Even after all that has happened between them, he doesn’t want it to come this far.

With Landrush’s cage with Gaia and Lloyd, he was punching his own punching bag with Thunder’s picture on it as he did a kick, but the punching bag swung back, hitting Landrush from behind, knocking him to the bars face-first.

Lloyd and Gaia cringed at that before Landrush turned around and did Spinjitzu as he destroyed the punching bag, but once he stopped, he saw Thunder’s picture lying on the remains as he gave a concerned look, sure he was annoyed at Thunder, but he never wants to hurt him.

Grey then ran up to Thunder’s cage as they saw him. “You’re cutting it close,” Trail commented to Grey.

“So, did you get into Chen’s head?” Flash asked.

Grey painted to catch his breath from the running he did around the palace to get to them before giving them a defeated look. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t get past Charm,” he told them.

“Good,” Thunder said as they turned to them, “Then we can finally put our feud to rest… gladiator style,” he declared before a hoof smacked his face. “Ow!”

“You really need to let this go, Thunder,” Flash said in annoyance.

“But I did see something,” Grey said with a small smile, which got the three's attention. “For a brief moment, I saw inside Charm’s mind," he said as he saw a vision from reading Charm’s mind as she and Grimoire looked through a spellbook. “The powers Chen’s collecting, they’re for a spell.”

“A spell? For what?” Trail asked.

“I’m not sure, but it’s in their spellbook, on page 149. I also learned that it’s not just powers that Chen is taking. Apparently, he’s also been taking magic from the losers, which I suspect means he needs both Elemental Powers and magic for his spell to work.”

“Wait, so not only Chen is stealing powers, but also magic as well?” Flash asked in shock, as did the others.

“Yes,” Grey said as he gave a defeated look at the Ninja. “I’m sorry that it’s not enough to stop the fight. I wish I could’ve done more,” he apologized as Thunder gave a sad look.

“It’s okay. You’ve done what you could,” Trail said while putting an assuring hoof on Grey’s shoulder as Flash turned to the others and shook his head at them, letting them know that the plan didn’t work much.

Lloyd and Gaia let out a sign before they turned to Landrush. "You don't have to say it," he assured the two as he got the gist of it. "It was inevitable we were gonna have to face each other. May as well be Thunder. This fight's been a long time coming."

"Well, I'm not at peace with this, but that doesn't mean you still can't find peace with each other." Lloyd told him before he looked at Gaia. "And that goes the same for you too. We don't have control when we fight, but we do have control how we fight. Thunder’s not your enemy, Chen is. Remember that."

"Wu once said the best way to defeat your enemy is to make them your friend,” Gaia reminded Landrush.

“Yeah, but how are you supposed to defeat your friend?" Landrush asked before the bars lowered as a sign that the fight was about to start.

Fanfare began to play as Landrush and Thunder put their masks over their muzzles as they glared at each other. The others went up into the Stadium seats where Luna and Garmadon sat.

Before she joined them, Gaia turned to Landrush and hugged him. “Be careful,” she whispered before she quickly joined the others.

"You tried your best. The rest is up to them," Garmadon told the others as they sat down.

“I hope they can see that too,” Lloyd said in worried as they all looked down.

“Let the tournament continue!” Chen called as lights shined on the respective Ninja, “Thunder, Master of Lighting versus Landrush, Master of--” He was cut off when Landrush and Thunder started charging at each other and firing each other with their powers as they dodged each one.

Thunder shot a bolt of lightning at Landrush as Landrush dodged and sent rocks right at Thunder. Thunder flipped back to dodge the rocks before he stood tall and glared at his opponent. "Ha, ha! That's all you've got?!" he challenged Landrush. "Least valuable Ninja!"

"Eat dirt, Blue-belle!" Landrush shouted before he sent a wave of rocks and dust right at Thunder. Thunder quickly flipped over the attack before shooting electricity right at Landrush as he blocked it with his power.

"Oh, Grimoire, go get me popcorn!" Chen ordered as he clapped his hooves. "This is turning out better than I anticipated!"

In Frost’s cell, he finally manages to free himself as he cuts the bars to Pixal’s cell. “Hurry, Frost. Before they come back,” Pixal urged.

Frost finally managed to cut the bars and went through the hole. “I’m through. Now let’s get out of here,” he said to Pixal as he entered the cell. But what he found on the other side shocked him to the core. Parts of Pixal were scattered around as there was a monitor on a small table which was the only thing that was lit up. "Pixal?" He walked over to the monitor to see her on it with a sad look on her face. "You're… You're…"

"Scrapped," Pixal finished what he was about to say. "I know, but I couldn't tell you. Not when you needed to get out of here. Sadly, this is where my journey ends, but not for you." Frost looked at her book that was placed next to the monitor and held it while he looked down with a sad look. "Frost, you must go alone. Find your mother, Rivet, and your friends. Stop Chen. I know you have it in you and you don't have to worry about me." Frost looked at her and couldn't bear to be away from her again. "I will always be a part of you." Frost then looked at her chip that was plugged into the monitor and got an idea.

"You're right. You will always be a part of me," he told her before he reached for the chip.

"Frost, what are you--" Pixal was about to ask before he unplugged the chip and the monitor turned off. He then reached behind and plugged the chip in the back of his head before he closed his eyes. When he opened them, Pixal appeared in his head and was amazed by this. "Frost, you've taken my neural drive and inputted into your processor. You're ingenious!"

"Not ingenious. Upgraded, thanks to Rivet," Frost corrected as he made his way out. "I'm sure there will be other surprises about me we'll find out together. But until then, let's both get out of--"

"Frost, behind you! Initiate evasive--" Pixal tried to warn him, but it was too late as Grimoire used a taser when Frost turned.

Frost fell to the floor after he got shocked as Grimoire turned to the guard, “Next time, maybe it would be best to tie up the Nindroid with chains thick enough that he couldn’t cut through,” he advised one of Chen’s guards, who nodded in agreement as they looked down at the Nindroid.

Back with the fight, both Thunder and Landrush unleashed a barrage of their elements as they tried to get one over the other. "Stronger than you thought, eh?!" Thunder asked as he managed to push Landrush back a bit. "That's your betrayal flowing through my veins!"

"I'm looking forward to the peace and quiet when you're out of the tournament!" Landrush exclaimed as they tried to push more of their Elemental power against each other. Soon Landrush pushed and knocked Thunder to the ground as the crowd cheered. He then stopped to realize what they were doing. "What are we doing? I don't want you out. You're not my enemy, Chen is." He pointed towards Chen who was enjoying a bucket of popcorn.

Thunder got up, “Oh, sure, lower my guard by pretending to be my friend, then swoop in to steal the prize!” He said as he brought out his lightning while Landrush brought out his earth element, “Typical Landrush maneuver!”

“I never meant to hurt you, Thunder,” Landrush said, shutting off his powers as Thunder walked up to him. “If I knew it would destroy our friendship, I’d take it all back,” he said.

Thunder stopped as he gave a solemn look at Landrush. “Well, if we’re being honest, I was upset about losing Aqua, but I take the blame for that, for not believing that you don’t like her that much. I was more upset about losing you," he said to him with much regret. “We used to be good friends.”

“The best! Right?” Landrush asked. “We should’ve been honest with each other, instead of bottling this up.”

“Agreed,” Thunder said in agreement before remembering the fight they were in. “But how are we supposed to stop fighting? We can’t both win,” he reminded him.

“Well, maybe we can draw it out till they call it a tie,” Landrush suggested, having an idea. “Quick, attack me. But not hard.” They both then charged at each other and started to attack, but not as hard as they did when they started fighting.

"Ah, what is this? Pattycake?" Chen asked as he was a bit disappointed that the fight went a little soft for him. “I'm bored!"

"Then why don't we make it more interesting by releasing the toys the good doctor and our feline friend made for you?" Charm suggested which peak Chen's interest.

"Oh, good idea. Release the Condrai Crushers!" Chen declared as he pressed a button on his throne. Thunder and Landrush turned to the door as four vehicles that looked all snake-like came into the arena as they circled around the two Ninja with spinning blades on the front.

Thunder and Landrush stood back-to-back with each other. “I got your back,” Landrush called out.

“And I’ve got yours!” Thunder called before one of the vehicles came at them.

“NINJA, GO!” They both did Spinjitzu as they dodged the vehicle, and the driver groaned in frustration.

The driver then turned straight, “Huh?” he asked before he hit a wall, which caused him to fly out and hit it face-first.

“Ah, they’re working together,” Luna said with a proud smile as the others all smiled at their friends finally working together again. “Great work, ponies,”

“Yeah, we do listen to you and Dad every once in a while, Luna,” Lloyd said to Luna with a small smile.

“They’re finally over their grudge. And I’m happy for them,” Gaia said with a proud smile, glad that Landrush and Thunder put their feud to rest.

“I wouldn’t count our apples yet, they ain’t out of the woods yet,” Applejack said in concern, since now the two are in another obstacle in their way.

The Condrai Crusher kept circling the two Ninja as Landrush then ran up and slammed into the ground, creating a ramp which caused one of the Crushers to fly up. Landrush grabbed the tailpiece and slammed it into another Crusher as they hit the wall.

The last driver growled before he charged at Thunder, who jumped up and onto the crusher as he electrocuted the driver, who whimpered in pain as the crusher and blades stopped before they could hit Landrush as the driver fainted from the electricity. The crowd cheered at their performance as Thunder and Landrush shared a hoof bump with each other.

"Enough!" Chen called out with anger. "I know what you are trying to do! If neither of you will win, then both of you will lose!" He then started to press multiple buttons on his throne as a bunch of trap doors started to pop open all around Thunder and Landrush. The two of them backed up as the trap doors were closing in on them. They quickly jumped out of the way as more trap doors were popping up.

Chen continued to press multiple buttons as he had a grin on his face in hopes one of them would fall through the trapdoors. Landrush then got a good eye at the Jadeblade at the center of the arena before he turned to Thunder. "We can't both lose!" he exclaimed. "Chen's right, there can only be one!"

"And it should be you!" Thunder told him. "You and I both know I'm lucky to have even made it this far! And Gaia needs you more than me! You take the Jadeblade!" Landrush then made his way over as he flipped and jumped over the trap doors to the center of the Arena. He then climbed up the pole where the Jadeblade rested before he picked it up and threw it over to Thunder which got him by surprise.

"Winner!" Chen declared as he pointed to Thunder before he gestured to Landrush. "Loser. Master of Lightning moves on."

Landrush went to the floor as he took off his mask and looked at Thunder. “Aqua’s yours, Thunder. I should’ve told Gaia how I felt," he said as Thunder looked at Landrush, seeing he sacrificed his victory for him. “Win this thing" were his last words before Chen pressed a button on his throne and a trap door opened up underneath him as Landrush screamed and fell through.

"Ah. About time," Chen complained before walking away. The rest of the Ninja, the Mane Six, Garmadon, and Luna looked down with defeat as one of them may have won, but they've lost one of their own.

"Landrush may be gone, but he did not lose," Garmadon assured the others. "Let what he did here today be a lesson for us all.”

"Know thy enemy, but more importantly, know thy friend," Luna recited with a smile to the others. "He fought like a true Elemental Master of Earth."

Gaia frowned and looked down sadly, wishing she had told Landrush while she still had the chance, “You should be proud of him, Gaia,” Fluttershy comforted with a wing over the earth Pony’s back.

Gaia gave a sad smile. “I am,” she said, proud of Landrush for choosing Thunder over victory.

Back in Equestria, Aqua, Starlight, Smolder and Spike drove through the Badlands while the blue unicorn looked through the binoculars while the other three latters looked through the window before they saw Frost’s Falcon flying by.

“Hey, look, it’s Frost’s Falcon!” Spike called out, which caused the others to look up as the Falcon landed on top of the D.B. Express.

“Why did you call us here?” Aqua asked.

The Falcon squawks, pointing its beak to the monitor of Equestria. “I think it wants us to see something,” Starlight guessed.

“But what exactly?” Smolder asked before Aqua pressed the button, making the scanner search Equestria before it turned to the edge of it and pointed to an island far from Equestria. “Hey, what’s that?”

“It’s Frost’s beacon. Coming from somewhere off the coast,” Aqua said in surprise, as did the others.

“Wait, Frost?” Starlight asked in shock, “But that impossible.”

"But how can it be Frost's? We saw him blow up,” Spike pointed out.

"But if Frost is there…" Aqua trailed off before she contacted Wu. "Sensei Wu, come in? This is Aqua, do you read? I think we may have found the Ninja and the Council, along with Frost Gear,” she said as the D.B. Express kept driving through the Badlands.

Chapter 4: Ninja Roll

It is a rainy day on Chen’s Island as Chen speaks through the speaker while Trail is outside, looking around before trotting off to another part of the palace.

“Topaz, Master of Amber,” Chen spoke through the speakers.

“...versus, Soundwave, Master of Sound!” Chen declared while Topaz held up a spear with a Ninja hood up while Soundwave, a blind Earth pony with star-shaped glasses and an odd afro mane, played his guitar, creating soundwaves, hence his name. “Fight!” he announced.

Topaz stared at Soundwave while spinning her spear while Chen clapped his hooves in excitement. “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a Jadeblade by its toe!” Topaz called as she turned and threw her spear to a vase, which showed a bow and arrows as she ran up to them.

Soundwave then played his guitar as he searched his surroundings until his sound-vision (an evolved form of echolocation) spotted a red figure, which is Topaz, who ran to a pillar as he walked around. While he was not looking, Topaz fired the arrow at him.

But Soundwave ducked and ran up as he hopped onto the arrow on the pillar. He then played a high note, which created a soundwave at Topaz, who covered her ears as she ran out of the waves as they broke the vase while the remaining Ninja, Mane Six, Garmadon and Luna covered their ears until it stopped.

“The Master of Sound’s gotten stronger since the last time we saw him,” Garmadon commented.

“He's certainly gotten louder, I’ll give him that,” Luna added.

“Well, could he please not be that loud? It’s hurting our ears,” Rarity complained as she rubbed her ears.

“Rarity, Soundwave needs to do that so he could know his enemy’s movement,” Twilight pointed out. “From what Garmadon and Luna told us, he’s completely blind.”

“Indeed, his powers are for more than just attacking his opponents or rattling their focus. Sound is how he always knows where he’s been and where he’s going,” Luna explained.

Soundwave walked around as he played his guitar again. Topaz was hiding behind a vase as she tip-toed behind him and she touched her hoof on his shoulder before she hid again when Soundwave turned.

Soundwave then went up to a broken vase and sensed three shurikens in it as he quickly grabbed them and turned to where Topaz is as the two opponents faced each other and Soundwave threw the shurikens at her. But Topaz quickly dodged them with a side flip as she landed on her side.

Trail then arrived as he walked past the other fighters. “Excuse me,” he said while sliding across them. “Excuse me,” he said again before he started stepping on the Elemental Masters’ feet. “Uh, don’t mean to block your view. Just passing through,” Trail tried to make as little intrusion as possible, although he could not help stepping on their legs as he went past them. He managed to cross as he sat next to the others. “Sorry, all these temples look the same,” he explained, having gotten lost in the Palace since most of them are identical. “Did I miss anything?”

Rainbow chuckled. “From the looks of it, you didn't miss anycreature’s tootsies,” she joked, pointing to the groaning fighters.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be sitting together,” Thunder said in concern. “I mean, the more they think we’re a team, the bigger targets we put on ourselves.”

Fluttershy gasped at what Thunder just said before giving him a firm look, “Thunder, don’t say that!” she firmly said.

“Yeah, we are a team!” Lloyd said in agreement. “Sure, we lost Landrush, and still can’t find Frost, but we’re a team. Just smaller,” he explained.

“All the more reason to stick together,” Applejack added.

“Well, we shouldn't get too comfortable,” Gaia advised, “After this battle, it's only a matter of time before Lloyd, Flash, or I have to battle next.”

“And something tells me that Chen might either change the brackets or sic a tough opponent on us,” Flash said with a serious look.

Trail then saw the battle. “Topaz’s fighting?” he called as he stood up and saw Topaz fighting Soundwave as her horn glowed red and launched a fireball from her hoof as Soundwave blocked it with his guitar, but it caught on fire as he panicked.

“What has him so excited?” Garmadon asked curious about Trail’s behavior.

Pinkie chuckled, “He’s had a crush on Topaz until he found out they and Gaia might be related,” she said with a cheeky smile.

“Why Gaia also?” Luna said in confusion.

Topaz's horn glowed green as she created a vine whip as she grabbed Soundwave and swung him to a wall.

“Because of that, she can use Both Fire and Li--” Flash said but was cut off when they saw Topaz’s horn glow yellow and suddenly, Soundwave was picked up by a small tornado and spun around.

The Ninja and Mane Six gasped, “The Element of Wind?” Rarity asked in shock.

“She can use three different elements?!” Thunder exclaimed.

"Is she--" Flash was about to ask before Luna spoke up.

"The reason behind why she can use your Elements, is because she is the Elemental Master of Amber, the power of natural mimicry,” she explained while gesturing to Topaz. “She can replicate the Element of any Elemental Master she has touched. Meaning, you three were touched beforehoof, thus she is now able to replicate Fire, Life, and Wind."

"So we're not related?!" Trail asked excitedly.

“Oh boy, here we go again,” Thunder said in annoyance, seeing that Trail’s crush was reignited with this info.

Topaz’s horn then glowed gray as she moved her hooves like she was strumming a guitar, creating a loud sound that shattered another vase, revealing a blow dart. Soundwave flipped and caught it and blew the darts at Topaz, who dodged them with a chuckle as she did a cartwheel, which punctured the wall as a gust of wind entered the room.

Soundwave looked around as the wind made his sound vision hazy as he only saw blindness as Topaz ran behind him and broke another vase, revealing the Jadeblade. “Soundwave inferior, Topaz superior,” Topaz said smugly.

“Yes! Go, Topaz!” Trail and Rainbow cheered as the audience cheered for her as well.

"Winner!" Chen declared as Topaz held up the blade before gesturing to the depressed Soundwave. "Loser. Master of Amber moves on," he said before Soundwave fell through the trapdoor. “And now, onto the next round, the next two fighters are… Maximum Powers, Master of Energy, versus Gaia Boreal, Master of Life!”

"Oh dear…" Gaia sighed before looking at Max. "Well, looks like one of us is going to lose," she said nervously as she remembered what happens to the losers when they lose.

"Best of luck to you," Max told her before walking off. "And hope I don't lose control again…" he whispered to himself in a concerned tone.

"If you do lose this, Gaia, find Landrush and tell him we'll do everything we can to get his and the others' powers back," Flash whispered to her.

"Oh, thank you ever so much for the word of confidence," Gaia told him sarcastically.

“Sorry,” Flash apologized sheepishly as Gaia shook her head and continued her way.

“I hope Max goes easy on Gaia,” Applejack said nervously.

“Why is that, Applejack?” Rainbow Dash asked in confusion, as did the others.

Applejack sighed, “Because what he said is true, he's got a big reason for coming here,” she said, knowing what Maximum could do from what he told her.

The battle took place in the jungle treetops with the Jadeblade wedged in a large stump in the center. Gaia had already put her mask over her muzzle as Max took a battle stance with a large claymore sword and his knight visor down.

“Gaia Boral, Master of Life, versus Maximum Powers, Master of Energy!” Chen called out as all the other competitors watched from the sidelines. "Fight!"

With that, Gaia had already used her power to summon a couple of vines around her hooves and use them to swing around. Max, on the other hand, used his power to help speed up his charge as he ran up a tree.

The two elemental masters raced to the Jadeblade as Gaia kept swinging while Max jumped across treetops and landed on each branch before Max blasted Gaia. She quickly swung to avoid the blast as she used her powers to create a leaf shield from Max’s attacks as she kept swinging.

Max then charged his sword with Energy and sliced it through Gaia's shield and her vines as they both fell to a lower branch. Gaia shook her head before being kicked away by Max as he made a dash for the Jadeblade. Not wanting her power taken away like the others, Gaia quickly used her powers to create a thorny root wall in front of Max.

Max skidded to a halt, “What?!” he remarked in shock before he started using his sword to cut through the roots, but made the mistake of turning his back on Gaia.

“Gotcha!” Gaia yelled as she launched multiple vines at Max, wrapping around him, causing him to drop his sword, “Terribly sorry, darling, but I believe that is mine,” she smugly remarked with a smile and mane flip as she lowered the thorn wall and walked to the Jadeblade.

Lloyd turned to his friends. “In the battle of Creature vs Nature, nature usually wins,” he said, seeing that Gaia had this in the bag.

"I wouldn't say that when it comes to battling the Master of Energy," Garmadon said as he noticed Max struggling against the vines.

"No… I… I have to win!" he grunted to himself as he felt his power building up inside of him as his eyes glowed, “I… must…WIN!!!” he yelled as his head shot up and with an enormous burst of energy freed himself before he shot out like a rocket straight towards Gaia.

Gaia saw this and was unable to react in time as Max knocked her off the branch she was on. Gaia gave a scream as she fell to the ground, “Oh, what in the name of-” she moaned before she looked up and gasped as Max surprisingly did not go for the blade, but for her instead.

Max fired a barrage of energy orbs right at Gaia as she got up and did her best to avoid the orbs.

“Ooh-hoo-hoo! Now this is exciting!” Chen said as he clapped his hooves gleefully.

"What's gotten into him?!" Flash exclaimed as he and the others were shocked at what Max was doing. "Is he trying to kill her or something?!"

"No, it's not his fault," Luna said fearfully. "It seems he is still not fully in control of his powers."

“Wait, what?!” Twilight asked in shock. “But before we arrived at the island, you said that every Elemental Master here in the Tournament unlocked their own True Potential!"

"We did, but every Master still has challenges and trials to overcome. Unlocking your True Potential is not the end of a Master’s progress, but merely the beginning,” Garmadon explained as he looked to Max as he punched Gaia up into the trees. “The Master of Energy’s power is tied to their emotions. Their state of mind casts a different effect on their abilities, including their control over them.”

“So… what you’re telling us is, Max is like some kind of completely unstable, living super weapon?!” Thunder questioned sarcastically.

“Close, but accurate,” Garmadon said with a nod.

“Seriously?!” Thunder asked in shock as did the others before Gaia was flung towards them before she hit a tree face first, which the others cringed.

“That’s gonna leave a mark,” Applejack commented as Gaia slid down to the ground with a painful groan.

"This is not my day…" Gaia moaned in pain before she felt Max land behind her and grabbed her tail, “Oh no-no-no, not the taAAAILLLL!!!” she yelled before Max jumped away with his hoof gripped around her tail.

Max then quickly threw Gaia into the air as he jumped high, and powered up his back hoof. He aimed right at Gaia's head with a powerful axe kick, sending her crashing to the stump where the Jadeblade sits. Gaia crawled her way to it before Max gave a rageful roar as he dove down to her.

The others gasped as Chen looked excited.

“Gaia, move!” Twilight yelled.

“Oh, I can't look!” Fluttershy whimpered as she covered her eyes.

Applejack held her hat. “Max, please! Snap out of it!” she said.

It looked like Max was about to deliver a finishing blow before a vision of his own sister ran through his head. Max gasped as he quickly stopped using his powers before he landed in over Gaia, giving off a wave of force as he took some deep breaths and looked to the blade before taking it.

“This battle is over,” he said stoically before he helped up Gaia. "Sorry I lost control… again…"

"What do you mean 'again'?" she asked before Chen shouted.

"Winner!" he declared Max before he gestured to Gaia. "Loser." He then pressed a button on his throne to open a trapdoor under Gaia, as she screamed and fell through.

The Ninja and Mane Six bowed their heads as another Ninja had been defeated. “First Landrush, and now Gaia?” Trail said sullenly.

“But now we have two friends to look for Frost,” Flash encouraged.

“I hope the Tournament of Elements has entertained you as much as it has me," Chen told the remaining fighters. "To thank you, I wanted to give everycreature fancy jewels and untold shiny things." The contestants cheered with excitement as they saw him hold up a basket full of gems, jewels, and other shiny things before they saw Chen’s face beginning to sour. "But then! In yesterday's battle, Master Thunder and Landrush tried to undermine me by teaming up and refusing to fight each other! And that made me very upset.” He stood up while still holding the basket as the competitors glared at the Ninja and their friends. “For their insubordination, all of your fancy quarters will be taken away, and tonight everycreature must sleep together in the chow house,” he declared before his tone returned to its calm, jovial state. "That is all. Thank you, you can go."

The remaining Ninja felt hundreds of daggers being shot at them as the other competitors glared at them. "Well, is it hot in here all of a sudden or something?" Flash asked nervously as Trail hit Thunder.

"Nice one, Thunder," Trail growled with a glare.

“Whoa, easy, Romeo,” Thunder retorted while returning the glare.

“Don’t worry about them,” Lloyd reminded them all. “We aren’t here to make friends, just to save ours.”

"Yes, but your exclusion of others has only made enemies," Garmadon told his son and the others.

"Beware how you treat those around you, for they will treat you the same," Luna added as the others felt it was going to be a long night.

In the underground dungeon, Landrush was in a cell as he peered through his door window, “You can take my suit and power, but you’ll never take my super strength!” he called as he grabbed hold of the bars as he tried to break them open, but could not as he fell on his back. “All right, so you got that too,” he said with his hooves crossed, now knowing he lost his strength after his powers were stripped.

The door opened as he heard a familiar voice and saw Gaia, wearing the prison suit like him, tossed into the cell before the door closed, “I hope that horrible snake swallows you whole!” Gaia shouted while shaking her hoof.

"Gaia?!" Landrush shouted in shock at seeing her. "You lost too?!"

"Yeah, and here's a little word of advice: Never make a Master of Energy angry. You won't like them when they're angry,” Gaia grumbled before she realized who was in the cell with her, and then beamed. “Landy!” she cheered before galloping and jumping on Landrush. “I love you! I love you! I love you!”

“W-What?” Landrush asked in surprise with a slight blush as Gaia kept hugging him.

“I was so worried when you lost! And I was scared I would never get the chance to tell you how I felt!” Gaia declared with tears before she realized this was not a good time for a love confession and backed away from him. "Sorry, I got really excited when I saw you. But the others want you to know that they're going to do everything they can to get our powers back. For now, let's find a way out of here and find Frost."

Soon the cell door opened and both Masters of Earth and Metal saw Charm and Grimoire by the door. "What, you're letting us go?" Landrush asked the twins.

“Of course not,” Charm said with a smirk.

“Both your presences are required in the factory,” Grimoire explained.

“The factory?!” Both Landrush and Gaia cried out as they turned away.

“Lock us up for all we care,” Landrush said with his hooves crossed.

“Because we’re never going to lift a hoof for either of you, you despicable--” Gaia trailed off before the guards grabbed her and Landrush and dragged them out of the cell as they yelped.

The two Ninja were dragged to a big door, they entered a room, which happened to be a noodle factory with different creature workers in prison uniforms and some machines that make the food. “A noodle factory? Ha! Why didn’t you say so? Ha-ha-ha!” Landrush cheered as he was like he was in a dream that came true for him while Gaia was surprised by this.

“You have a noodle factory underneath this island?” Gaia asked the twins with a brow.

“Why, yes. How else did you expect Master Chen to run a noodle empire?” Grimoire questioned.

“Other than the Tournament, the noodle factory is where Chen made the best food for his Noodle House,” Charm explained while gesturing to the factory room. “We make them, they get shipped off to Equestria by boat.”

“This is my kind of place!” Landrush cheered as he ran up to a noodle machine as he inspected it. “Look, Gaia, that’s how they make the noodles.” He then ran up to another machine. “Oh, and that’s the dumpling machine!” He went up to another machine that was making fortune cookies. “And is that how you make fortune cookies?” he excitedly picked one up and turned to a worker next to him. “You know there’s a fortune inside those, right?”

"There's only one rule,” Charm spoke up as Landrush was about to eat the cookie. "No eating the merchandise!"

“They’re not for eating. They’re for making and packing,” Grimoire explained as he walked behind the door. “Charm, how about I keep watch while you check on our technician? See how she’s doing with Rivet helping.”

“Of course, brother,” Charm nodded before she left and closed the door.

“No eating the merchandise?!” Landrush asked in shock while looking at the fortune cookies, going to work at the very place where he could not even eat them, “How cruel can this place be!?” he cried out as he ran up to Grimoire, “You’re evil!” he cried out.

“Yes, but that’s how business is,” Grimoire said with a neutral look.

Gaia walked up to Landrush and placed a comforting hoof on him. “Come on, Landy, even back in Equestria, there are some things that creatures can’t do in a business like this,” she said.

“Seriously?! Oh, ponyfeathers,” Landrush groaned in disappointment as the two walked up away from Grimoire and the guard as he was about to eat the cookie he picked, but the guard quickly caught it and ate it.

“Mm. Yummy,” the Guard said as he enjoyed the cookie.

"Really? We can't eat the merchandise, but they can?!" Gaia complained before they walked next to Yak-Karlof. “Oh, hi, Yak-Karlof.”

"Earth and Life ponies not worry. After while, not so bad," Yak-Karlof told them. "Since ponies new, Yak-Karlof show ponies how to chop noodles." He gestured to the conveyor belt and they saw noodles riding on it. He then pulled down a lever which made a chopper chop the noodles before lifting it up to let it continue.

Gaia and Landrush looked at each other with a shrug before the Earth Ninja grabbed a switch over them and he tugged it, but it released a bag of flowers from behind them as it got a worker. “Not that one,” Yak-Karlof said with a dull look. Gaia then turned to the switch on the converter belt as she pulled on it and chopped some noodles. “See? Chop. Now ponies no make trouble,” Yak-Karlof advised as Landrush got another switch as he started chopping with the two next.

“Wow, this is just sad,” Gaia commented with a dull look.

“Well, I for one don’t like following rules,” Soundwave said as he was next to the three while moving the noodles to the converter belt. “The minute you tell me the coast is clear, I’m busting out of here,” he said to them.

“Even if blind pony get past snaky ponies and dark magic ponies, there still big labyrinth, guarded by very big snake,” Yak-Karlof reminded Soundwave as he kept chopping.

“My name's not Blind Pony. It’s Soundwave,” Soundwave corrected, “And you may have already lost hope, but not me and not my buddies, Gaia and Landrush. Am I right?” he asked as he turned to his right.

“Actually, Soundwave, we’re on your left,” Landrush pointed out.

“You’re facing the wrong way,” Gaia added with a brow.

“Oh. Heh. Hey, you both moved on me,” Soundwave said in slight embarrassment. “Heh. Sneaky Ninja,” he commented as they kept chopping noodles.

Gaia glanced at Landrush, “Who do you think this technician is?” she asked him.

"No idea, but I did hear some commotion clean down the hall from my cell," Landrush whispered to her. "My guess is one of them has to be that white cat lady we saw giving Chen his staff."

"Okay, but who's the other?" Gaia wondered as they continued to work.

In a workshop with many parts and tools lying about, Rivet was struggling to tighten a bolt on a vehicle while Dr. Gear, who was wearing a welding mask, worked on welding something together. Rivet stopped when she heard something break before she looked at the wrench she was holding and saw it break in half as she let out a huff. "That's the fifth one this week," she complained before the door to the workshop opened.

"How's the new surprise for tomorrow’s match coming along?" Charm asked as she walked in and closed the door behind her. Rivet slammed the wrench down as she glared at Charm.

"We can't work with such inferior equipment!" she complained before gesturing to an engine in the corner of the room. "That engine is like a hundred years old while your tools break every five minutes! We need exact parts! Durable tools! We can't work miracles with this kind of equipment!" She then tossed the broken wrench at Charm's hooves.

"I concur with her!" Dr. Gear spoke up as she pulled up her welding mask. "If you want us to get this thing to work, we need actual working equipment and components!"

"You both better make do with what you got, or that mechanical Ninja of yours will be scrap metal!" Charm threatened before she walked up to Rivet. "Your T-screws." She levitated three thin screws over to Rivet. "It wasn't easy to get these, you know. Some of our soldiers don't even know what half of the things you need even are."

Rivet continued to glare at her before she inspected the screws. "Only three? We need six," she told Charm.

"Six?!"

"We can't make it work with only three T-screws," Rivet explained.

"Do you have any idea how much these parts cost?" Charm asked rhetorically. "We have bills to pay. We pay for the outfits for our grunts. These things don't come cheap!"

"Do you want us to make these vehicles or not?" Rivet asked with a raised brow. "You get us more T-screws and better equipment, then you'll get your vehicles."

"Fine!" Charm grumbled in annoyance. "But you both better get working!" She soon mumbled to herself as she walked out. Rivet then heard Gear let out a sad sigh before looking over to her.

"Hey doc, you okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine. It’s just that I hoped I wouldn’t have to be forced to make weapons and vehicles again,” Dr. Gear said sadly. “This is something I have hoped to never get caught up again.”

“I’m sorry this had to happen to you,” Rivet said in regret. “I shouldn’t have dragged you into this.”

“No. It was my doing,” Dr. Gear assured her. “When I heard that my son was alive, I wanted to bring him back so badly that I would do anything to see him again.”

"Well then, let's make sure he doesn't get scrapped again," Rivet told her with confidence before she used the three screws to pick a lock on the shackle around her ankle.

"What are you doing?" Gear asked before Rivet unlocked her shackle.

"Starting my escape plan," Rivet told her before she pulled out a small device from her pocket. "It may take some time, but once I get this hologram projector up and running, we can escape and find your son."

"How long have you been planning this?"

"For a while now, I stayed up late just to make this," Rivet told her before she looked at the device. "The only problem is, getting the holograms to look realistic so they won't suspect anything."

"Well, maybe I can take a look at it," Gear told her with a confident smile.

In Equestria City, outside of Chen’s Noodle House, some of the snake ponies are stacking some supplies into the trucks while in an alley, the D.B. Express is spying on them while Aqua, Starlight, Spike, and Smolder spoke to Wu on a holographic phone.

“And you say the noodle trucks disappear at night,” Wu said after what they explained to him. “But where did they go?"

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Aqua said.

“So far, we only got that, but not much else, which is weird since these trucks kept disappearing at night,” Starlight commented with a suspicious tone.

“Seriously, where do they go after going to a noodle house?” Smolder questioned in annoyance as the trucks then started moving.

“Perhaps if we follow them, they can lead us to more answers,” Spike suggested.

“Good idea, Spike,” Aqua said in agreement as the others nodded before turning to Wu. “We’ll report more when we uncover more.” She turned off the communication to Wu as his hologram disappeared. “Initiate replicate software,” she stated as she pressed the button.

The D.B. Express then transformed into a replica of the Noodle Trucks. “Wow, Aqua! That’s awesome!” Smolder exclaimed in awe.

“Thanks. They’re not the only ones who can disappear,” Aqua said as she started driving.

In the Noodle House, Dareth, and surprisingly the Washouts, are inside as they talk to the cashier. “What do you mean he discontinued the Puffy Potstickers? They were my favorite,” Dareth called out.

“And they’re my favorite too! Nopony knows that! NOPONY!” Short Fuse yelled out angrily as his hooves slammed on the countertop.

“It’s true. They are his favorite,” Rolling Thunder said dully.

“Do you even know who you’re dealing with?” Dareth questioned the cashier.

“Yes, Master Dareth,” the cashier replied before he looked at the Washouts. "And you three are the nutjobs who were kicked out of the Wonderbolts Academy."

“Okay, don’t rub it in or you'll get your snout swollen,” Lightning Dust warned as she sighed. “Is there a way to get them back on the menu? Because my friend here really needs his Potstickers,” she questioned dully as Short Fuse huffed and snorted.

“Well, if you ponies have a problem, take it with them,” the cashier said while gesturing to the trucks that were leaving.

Dareth and Short Fuse then rushed out of the shop as Lightning Dust and Rolling Thunder sighed in annoyance as they followed them, “Wait! Come back!” Short Fuse yelled.

“We need our Puffy Potstickers!” Dareth cried out next.

“Boy, these two have a problem with these Potstickers,” Lightning Dust said.

“We only came here for food, not for getting one of them back on the menu,” Rolling Thunder said in annoyance. “We should’ve kept going and gone out for pizza.”

“You and me both,” Lightning Dust said in agreement as the two mares followed the two stallions as they followed the trucks.

At the Palace, some of the competitors were sleeping on tables with blankets and pillows while others slept on old bunk beds. The remaining four Ninja were still up and had worried looks on their faces as Thunder let out a sigh. "Couldn't sleep either?” he asked Flash and Lloyd as they got out of bed.

"Not when we still have to get Frost, Landrush, and now Gaia back," Trail whispered when he jumped down from his bed. Lloyd let out a grunt as he stretched his back a bit.

"Speaking of backs, these new beds are the worst," Lloyd complained. "All right, let's do--" The lights suddenly turned on as the sounds of a small gong were being played over the intercom.

"Quick, back to bed," Flash told the others before they quickly jumped back into their beds.

Just then, Charm and Grimoire came in with a few of Chen’s minions while one of them was banging a gong, which got everyone up, “Good morning, fighters,” Grimoire called.

“Oh, that’s right. It’s the middle of the night,” Charm said with a mocking smirk.

Just then, Chen’s Cultists started going to everycreature’s legs as they placed something on them. “Hey, what are you doing?” Lloyd asked.

“Do you know what time it is?” Thunder complained.

“What are you putting on our legs?” Flash questioned.

“Roller skates?” Trail asked in surprise as he rolled across the floor, trying to keep his balance as the other Elemental Masters all had roller skates on their feet too as they skated around the room. Trail lost his balance as he skated in front of Topaz. “Whoa, aah! Ugh,” he groaned as he fell on his back while Topaz gave a small smile and helped him up. “Thanks,” he said with a smile.

Lloyd skated around as he gave a knowing look. “Let me guess, another one of Chen’s impromptu battles?” he questioned in annoyance.

“Oh, roller skates,” Thunder said in excitement, not bothered by this as he skates around perfectly, “I love roller skates!” he cheered as he did a twirl and landed on his hooves perfectly.

“Well, at least one of us does,” Flash said with a brow at Thunder. “You think we should be getting used to this by now,” he commented.

“Did I ever mention I once played first in the mother-son Skate-Off? Heh, heh,” Thunder chuckled as he skated across the table, jumped off, and landed on his hooves. “I should have never admitted that,” he said as he faced Pale Hound.

“Weirdo,” Pale Hound said to Thunder.

“Master Chen wants everycreature in the Royal Arena,” Grimoire called out with a small smirk.

“We wouldn’t be late if we were you,” Charm advised.

“If most of us have already fought, why are we all in skates?” Topaz questioned the twins in confusion, as did the other masters.

“Only two of you will be fighting, but the rest of you will have a chance to affect the outcome,” Grimoire explained to them.

“Who’s fighting?” Turner asked in excitement. “Tell us now,” he urged.

The twins walked back a bit as Chen’s minions ran out of the room, “The Light Ninja versus the Master of Form,” they said in unison as the door closed on them, which made the Elemental Masters mutter in shock at this while Lloyd was confused.

“Master of Form? Who’s that?” Lloyd asked Trail next to him.

“You haven’t heard?” Trail asked in surprise before placing a hoof on his chin. “I hear she can look like anyone, almost as good as Changelings. She’d be right under your nose, and by the time you figure it out, she’s already discovered all your weaknesses, then it’s game over,” he explained while skating around Lloyd before placing a hoof on his shoulder. “But you’re the Light Ninja, what weakness could you have?” he asked.

Before Lloyd could say anything, Flash rolled in and knocked Trail back, “Hooves off!” he told the red pegasus.

“Flash? What are you doing?” Lloyd asked in shock.

“Yeah, Flash? Why did you do that?” Trail asked innocently.

“Drop the act, you’re not Trail,” Flash said with a serious tone. “I know my friends very well, and he’s not a good skater like Thunder,” he said as Thunder cheered as he jumped across the tables. “And also, Trail is over there,” he pointed behind them as Trail clumsily skated to them.

“Skates,” Trail started.

“Trail?!” Lloyd asked in shock at him seeing two Trails.

“Why did it have to be skates?” Trail questioned before he tripped headfirst as his friends watched him.

“See?” Flash said to ‘Trail’ with a look, “And since you’re good at skating, you’re not him, Master of Form,” he said.

‘Trail’ looked shocked before he was a little impressed and transformed into a female hippogriff, with a dark purple coat and hot pink claws and wearing what looked like a pearl shard necklace but with some other magical gems surrounding it. "Guess I can't fool a Royal Guard-slash-Ninja," she said as she skated around them. "I guess you're too smart for me,” she had a mischievous grin on her face as she skated away from them.

"Thanks, Flash, I almost gave away my weaknesses," Lloyd thanked as he rubbed his back.

"Yeah, we gotta be careful around her,” Flash mentioned right before Twilight bumped into him. He quickly turned to see she was wearing roller skates but was not doing very well. "You okay, Twi?"

"Yeah… just not a big fan of roller skates…" Twilight mentioned before Flash helped her up before she saw Lloyd trying to stretch out his back. "You okay, Lloyd?"

"Yeah, my back is just sore from these so-called beds," Lloyd complained before Twilight smiled.

"Good to know," she mentioned before she rolled away.

"Hey guys," a familiar voice called out from the opposite direction of Twilight and both Flash and Lloyd did a double take when they saw her and the girls walked in. "Why are you wearing roller skates?" Twilight asked.

"Wait, you were just… and then…" Flash stuttered in confusion before he heard the other Twilight tackle before she shapeshifted back into the Master of Form.

“Watch your back, Light Ninja," she warned Lloyd as she skated away before a magic laser struck her in the back. “Ow!” she yelled in pain as she turned and saw Twilight glaring at her with her horn glowing.

“Watch your own while you’re at it,” Twilight said as she brought her horn close to the Hippogriff’s throat. “And never get close to my coltfriend, in my form, again.” Her warning was received immediately as it made the Hippogriff gulp in fright and skate away from the angry princess.

"Dang, I love that mare," Flash muttered with a dazed smile at Twilight.

In the underground noodle factory, the imprisoned workers were still working while Gaia and Landrush are sorting the noodles as the guard gives a burp after eating some as he walks out of the room. Soundwave heard the door creak, which made him realize that there were no guards there.

Soundwave smiled as he ducked under as Gaia and Landrush turned and saw Soundwave sneaking around the factory, using his hearing to hear where the guards were as he rolled across the floor, they were about to join him, but Yak-Karlof stopped them.

“Eh… Make noodles, not trouble,” Yak-Karlof advised the two Ninja as Soundwave kept out of sight of the guards.

Soundwave then quietly moved a cart to the exit, which he stopped at the front door, but as he opened it, Grimoire came walking up to them. Landrush tried to warn him, but Yak-Karlof covered his mouth while Gaia looked in shock at what the Master of Metal was doing.

Soundwave turned before he sensed Grimoire in front of him as he turned to the three while Grimoire held him, “Hey! Not one of you could’ve warned me?!” he questioned as he tried to break free.

"Make an example of him while teaching him a lesson," Grimoire told the guard that dragged Soundwave away. "Take him to play with our pet serpent. And if he tries it again, he'll be feeding our pet next time."

"What did he mean by 'feeding'?" Gaia asked worryingly.

Yak-Karlof grunted at the thought. “Yak-Karlof not make trouble, Yah-Karlof make noodle.” He pulled a lever, which was the wrong one as a bag of flour fell on Landrush and a bucket of orange sauce on Gaia.

“Yah-Karlof!” Gaia yelled in anger at being covered in sauce.

Yak-Karlof looked at them and flinched at Gaia’s look. “Uh, sorry.” He sheepishly went to the right switch and continued to chop noodles.

“I’m so not into this dumpling dump after all,” Landrush said, now starting to dislike being in a noodle factory.

“That makes two of us,” Gaia said as she wiped some sauce off her. “Oh, I'm so in need of a shower after this.”

“Ditto,” Landrush said in agreement, “I hope the others are faring better than the rest of us.”

The competitors were soon seen rolling their way towards the next round while Trail was struggling to keep balance on his skates. "I don't like the looks of this," Lloyd whispered to the others.

"Don't worry, we got your back," Trail assured Lloyd before he fell on his back when he lost his balance.

“Well, most of us,” Flash commented as they all skated into the Royal Arena, which had been made into a skating rink. They turned to Chen, who was skating toward them.

“Welcome to my favorite event,” Chen spoke as he stopped in front of them, “Thunderblade!” he called.

“Hey, I know this game,” Turner said with a smile, feeling familiar with this game. “It’s just like--” He tried to speak but Chen cut him off.

“No, it’s not like that!” Chen interrupted, feeling insulted and defensive. “This is my game, I made it up! Fully original!” He picked up a Jadeblade. “A Jadeblade for you, Lloyd, Master of Light.” He tossed Lloyd a Jadeblade and a green helmet before he pulled out another Jadeblade. “And another for Shelly Shifter, Master of Form. Where…?” he looked around for her before one of his henchponies shapeshifted into Shelly. "Oh, there you are. Ha, ha," he chuckled as he tossed her a purple helmet and her blade. “Rules are simple. Each lap you complete with your blade in possession, a point.” He gestured to the scoreboard with a timer that had fourteen minutes and a picture of Shelly and Lloyd. “Most points before time expires, you win.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what about us?” Turner asked in confusion.

“Yeah. Are we supposed to just stand here?” Max asked with a brow.

"You get to help out anycreature you wish, or hurt for that matter," Chen instructed the others. "You’re free to choose sides. I'm not a dictator."

Turner bumped into the Ninja as he rolled his way toward the purple helmets displayed on a few racks. Most of the other competitors chose the orange helmets while Max was the only one who picked a green helmet.

“Hey, how come you're on their side?” the Master of Shade questioned.

"My way of saying sorry to them," Max answered before looking towards the Ninja. "You know, for almost hurting your friend."

"Thanks, but the odds are still against us," Flash mentioned as they were outnumbered.

"What was that you said about us having targets on our backs?" Lloyd asked Thunder with concern.

"Don't worry, we're still a teaaaaaam!!" Trail shouted as he lost balance and fell face-first on the ground.

Thunder sighed as he shook his head. “I gotta be honest. This doesn’t look good,” he groaned as they turned to the rest of the competitors against them.

Chen sat on his throne as the competitors all got ready to skate. The Mane Six, Garmadon, Luna, Grimoire, and Charm stood on the sidelines next to Chen to watch this round.

“Lloyd, Master of Light versus Shelly, Master of Form,” Chen declared as both competitors stood at the starting line while the others were behind them. "Most laps with their Jadeblade when time runs out wins, loser is out. Thunderbladers on your mark, get set, good luck to everyone!” he announced as he spun on his throne before quickly adding the last part, “But mostly Shelly because we all want the Light Ninja out. Now go!” The horn then blared as Shelly and Lloyd ran on the track. “Oh, how about some spectator ambiance?” Chen asked as he pressed a button, creating the sounds of an audience cheering through the speaker as the rest of the competitors followed right behind the two. Soon the horn blared again, signaling the other competitors to go.

"Come on, Lloyd! You can do it!" Pinkie cheered as she was suddenly in a cheerleader outfit.

"Where did she get those clothes?" Charm quickly asked in confusion after seeing Pinkie.

"It's Pinkie Pie. Don't question it," Rainbow told her before they saw their friends skating up while Trail tried to catch up.

“It’s us against the world, guys,” Thunder said to Flash and Trail. “If Lloyd has any chance of moving forward in the tournament, it’s up to us to help him.”

Max rolled up to them, “Don’t pretend you’re the only one who has something important to fight for,” he reminded them.

“Just ignore what Thunder said, he’s been paranoid since day one when we got here,” Flash advised Max, “We’re glad to have you on board.”

“Thank you. Now, let’s ensure you don’t lose any more friends today,” Max said with a smile.

The three skated ahead while Trail was due to his poor skating. Topaz soon skated right next to him. “Next to Max, Lloyd’s your greatest competition. If he loses today, only Max is left to stand in your way of winning it all,” she questioned.

“I’d never think of it,” Trail shook his head, never thinking of what would happen if Lloyd lost.

“Maybe you should,” Topaz said coldly as she pushed past Trail, which caused him to lose his balance and fall to the floor, which the Cultist snake ponies laughed at him.

Both Shelly and Lloyd skated the first lap, in which the bell rang as they each scored a point, while the other Elemental Masters tried to block the rest of the Ninja and Max as they pushed at one another.

“We have to give Lloyd room,” Flash told them.

“And just how are we supposed to do that?” Trail questioned.

“I got an idea. Don’t touch anyone,” Thunder said as he let go of Trail and skated ahead.

“Then who am I supposed to hold onto?” Trail questioned as he tried to keep his balance.

Thunder did not say anything as he used his lightning powers to shock the competitors away, giving Lloyd an opening.

“Thanks,” Lloyd said before Trail grabbed him.

“Sorry,” Trail said as he held onto Lloyd, but they lost their balance and they fell to the side as the Elemental Masters skated past them while the Cultist laughed at them from that.

“Use your powers!” Trail said to Lloyd.

“On roller skates? You crazy?” Lloyd questioned Trail in disbelief as he stood up, “I’d never stay on track!” he pointed out as he skated away.

Shelly started laughing as she made it to another lap, earning her another point as Flash, Max, and Thunder skated to Trail.

“Nice help there, fire Ninja,” Max commented with dry sarcasm.

“You’re supposed to be helping, not hurting his chances,” Flash reminded him.

“Thanks for the tip, but I can’t skate!” Trail yelled out as he skated backward.

“Well, we better think of something or we’ll be down to three by the end of this match,” Flash said while pointing to the scoreboard that showed Lloyd being one point behind Shelly.

Back in the docks of Equestria, the Noodle Trucks were all being boarded to the boat to Chen’s Island, while Aqua, Spike, Starlight, and Smolder were at the back with the D.B. Express still in disguise as one of the trucks.

“Nothing unusual to see here,” Aqua said.

“Yeah, just a technologically advanced mobile base camouflaged as a noodle truck,” Starlight spoke next.

“Yeah, nothing weird about that,” Smolder sarcastically said while leaning back.

“Yeah, though it’s still top five strange,” Spike added while looking bored.

Just then, at the side of the door, they were startled when they saw Dareth and the Washouts at the side of the door while Rolling Thunder and Lightning Dust gave bored looks, “I beg you, you gotta tell Master Chen not to give up on the Puffy Potstickers!” Dareth begged.

“They’re the most amazing foodstuff there is!” Short Fuse cried out.

“Jeez, can you two give it a rest already?” Lightning Dust questioned in annoyance as the four in the D.B. Express sighed from this.

“Seriously?” Smolder questioned in shock. “I mean, Dareth I would’ve expected, but the Washouts? That’s a surprise, if there was one.”

“And all this for Potstickers? Heh, that’s weird,” Spike commented.

One of the Cultists saw the back of the truck before Aqua lowered the window for Dareth and the Washouts to see them. “Huh? Aqua? Spike? Starlight? Smolder?” Dareth asked in surprise.

“Huh, when did you four start slinging noodles?” Lightning Dust asked in amusement. “Trying a career change?”

“Quiet. You’re gonna blow our cover,” Aqua whispered to them.

“Cover?” Dareth asked as he got excited, “Oh, my gosh, you’re all on a mission,” he said excitedly.

Rolling Thunder then touched the truck as its cloaking tech frizzed a bit. “And why is your truck tripping us out?” she questioned.

The group then grabbed the four ponies into the truck before the cultists saw them.

“HEY! What’s the big ide-!” Short Fuse tried to say before they saw the inside of the D.B. Express. “Whoa,” he said in awe.

“Far out,” Lightning Dust commented.

“Wait a minute. I don’t see any noodles,” Dareth noted.

“It’s not a noodle truck, you dingdongs!” Starlight whispered as she leaned close to them, which they shrunk back.

Spike whispered next. “The Ninja, Twilight, and the girls are missing, and we may have a lead on where they are,” he explained as they saw the cultists go back to their trucks. “They’re heading to some uncharted island.”

“And this vehicle is our only hope of getting on that Island,” Smolder added.

“The Ninja and Royals gone on a mission?” Dareth asked, getting excited again, “Sounds like a job for--” He was cut off when Aqua spoke.

“No, it’s not. You and the Washouts are not coming with us,” Aqua said firmly.

Lightning Dust looked ahead as they noticed they were the last ones to be boarded. “Look like you four don’t have a choice,” she pointed out. “Besides, you might need a little air power.”

The four groaned in defeat, seeing that they could not talk them out of it and that it was too late to get them out or they’d blow their cover and drive closer. “Somehow, I feel we’re gonna regret this,” Starlight commented dully.

“That makes the rest of us,” Aqua said as Spike and Smolder nodded in agreement, seeing this was gonna be a long ride.

Back on the island, Lloyd is still behind Shelly by one point and there were less than 7 minutes on the clock while Chen clapped his hooves in excitement.

“Thunderblade never fails to deliver,” Chen said as Shelly’s team crossed the lap, “Did you know I hold the record with a hundred points?” he asked them.

“Is it because you played on your own?” Rainbow asked with a brow.

Chen looked nervous at what Rainbow Dash just asked as he turned to the twins. “Uh, Charm, Grimoire. You two tell them,” he commanded them.

“You were born with skates on, Master,” Grimoire and Charm said dully.

“True story,” Chen said with a smile.

Luna and Garmadon looked unconvinced. “True story, hmmph,” Garmadon huffed.

“Just like all of his far-fetched endeavors,” Luna added with a look.

Grimoire and Charm walked up to Garmadon and Luna as they whispered to their ears. “There was once a time when you two were quite comfortable with lying,” Charm whispered to Luna, who glared at her. “Celestia is a good example, is she not, Little Luna?”

“It worked on Misako, didn’t it, Garmadon?” Grimoire asked him with a smirk before he was backhoofed. “Agh!” he yelled and rubbed his snout.

“Buttons, buttons, I love buttons,” Chen cheered as he eyed the buttons on his throne as the other Elemental Masters began blocking Lloyd before he pushed past him. “Aha! Let’s even the playing field, shall we?” he asked as he pressed a button.

Then a ramp rose from the tracks, but Lloyd got over it as he rolled across the floor and skated ahead. Trail was behind as he was still struggling to keep his balance. Just then, another ramp appeared, which flipped him up as he yelped and fell on his back again while the cultists laughed at him.

Thunder then saw Lloyd behind him as he raised his hoof, “Grab my hoof! I’ll whip you,” he said as Lloyd reached for his hoof.

Until Flash rammed into Lloyd and he turned out to be Shelly disguised as Lloyd, “Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice shame on you!” Flash told the Hippogriff.

“Get off me!” Shelly growled as Lloyd moved past them, earning a point, but Shelly bucked Flash off her and scored another point, still ahead of Lloyd as she skated next to Shade, “Ah. His back is hurting him,” she said as she turned to Shade, “Shade, strike his back!” she called out as Shade nodded and disappeared.

“Wait, where’d the Master of Shadow go?” Thunder asked as he and Flash skated behind Lloyd.

After asking, Shadow appeared behind Lloyd and pushed his back, making him fall and drop his Jadeblade. Pale Hound kicked away from Lloyd before snatching it but was blasted away by Max as he took Lloyd’s Blade.

“You sure know when to strike, Max,” Lloyd commented as Max rolled over to him.

“This is fierce competition, Lloyd, you must time your every strike,” Max said before passing the Blade. “And this isn’t the time to judge. It's time to skate faster!” he reminded him as they kept skating while Lloyd earned another point.

Soon the other Fighters were bumping Lloyd, trying to knock him off balance as Flash, Thunder, and Max tried to keep them off his back as best they could while Trail still lagged on behind. Soon the other Fighters came around before Turner bumped into Trail and they both fell hard with the others skating on. "Ha, ha!" Thunder cheered as he flipped over Trail and Turner.

The Master of Poison turned and unleashed a poison gas in the others' path. "Poison gas, evasive maneuvers!" Flash called out as they turned in different directions to avoid the gas. Trail however was not so lucky as he rolled right into the gas and felt a little light-headed.

"Thanks for the warning,” Trail groaned as Flash blew the poison back at Shelly’s team.

"Release the buggy!" Chen declared when he pressed a button and a trapdoor emerged along the track. An engine was heard being revved up before a high-tech buggy emerged from said trap door and drove along the track.

The fighters then wrestled before they saw the buggy, “Look out, Lloyd!” Thunder called as he moved Lloyd out of the way as the buggy passed them, with Shelly holding onto the back as she laughed.

“She has the lead and she gets a lift?” Lloyd questioned in annoyance, “I know Chen wants my power, but this is getting ridiculous!”

“You and me both,” Flash said as they kept skating as Thunder saw Tox skating by.

“Sorry, Tox,” Thunder mocked as he pushed Tox aside. “Must be my allergies kicking in.”

Shelly and her team held onto the tail of the buggy as they did a swipe at Lloyd, holding him as the others went to him to help but they got him, “Watch this,” Turner said to Grey.

“Gotcha,” Grey nodded, having read Turner’s mind. Turner then got behind Thunder before using his speed to push him faster around the track. He soon pushed Thunder into Lloyd and the others as they all fell to the ground.

"We are so not loved here,” Flash groaned in pain after that little surprise just as Shelly got up to eight after going another lap.

Trail was still struggling to keep up as Topaz rolled up next to him. "You're very convincing,” she told him. "In no time, Lloyd will be out."

The group stood up as Lloyd gave a smile. “This did wonders for my back, though,” he mentioned, feeling that his back pain was now gone as they kept skating.

"And he'll never suspect it," Topaz added before rolling away.

Trail looked up as he saw Lloyd was still behind as he was tired of not helping, “Argh! That’s it! I may not be able to skate, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help,” he said as he used his firepower to give up a boost, he screamed as he boosted towards Shelly, who he grabbed and caused them to fall to the ground, dropping her Jadeblade and the buggy stopped.

Thunder quickly grabbed Shelly's blade. “Ha, ha!” he cheered as the cultures groaned from this and they panicked a bit.

"Excellent, Trail," Max told him as he skated by.

“Now we’re cooking with fire!” Thunder cheered. Lloyd soon passed the line as he was now up to six. Tail tried to get up before Shelly bounced off him and went to try and get her blade back. "I got it, you want it!" Thunder teased her as he waved the blade in the air. "Come and get it! Come and get it!" Just when she was about to grab him, Thunder quickly tossed the blade over to Flash as they were now playing a game with her.

“Keep away!” Flash joked as Shelly tried to get her blade back, but Flash moved aside as she crashed into her team, which caused them to trip and fall as Lloyd jumped over them.

Topaz skated to Trail, who was leaning on the buggy to catch his breath, “What are you doing? We need Lloyd out,” she reminded him.

Trail turned to Topaz with a look, “We need to stick together. I’m a Ninja,” he firmly said to her.

"Ha! That's right, and the rest of us aren't," Topaz mentioned while she had a disappointed look on her face. "I should've known better."

Trail looked on as she skated off while the other fighters rolled past and noticed a glare on their faces as well. Trail let out a sigh just as Thunder and Flash skated up next in. "Lloyd's closing the gap, but the clock's against us," Thunder pointed out as they had about three minutes left.

"So is everycreature else," Trail added.

"Looks like Garmadon and Luna were right. The more we exclude everyone, the more they gang up on us," Flash mentioned. "Max is only helping us because he felt bad for what he did to Gaia."

"What are you saying?" Thunder asked him.

"I'm saying that Applejack was right. We should tell the fighters about Chen," Flash explained. "If others knew what this tournament was really about, maybe they'd help us."

“I agree. They could help us better if we tell them,” Trail said in agreement.

“Argh. Worth a try, but time’s running out and Lloyd’s got a lot of ground to make up,” Thunder pointed out as Lloyd got another point, but was still two points behind as he had seven while Shelly had 9 and only got three minutes left.

Shelly then appeared and bumped into Thunder and took her blade back. “Gimme! I’ve got a job to finish!” she called.

Trail spins around before he grabs onto Topaz. “Are you trying to take me out too?” she questioned Trail.

“No, you’re right,” Trail said as they skated together. “We aren’t all Ninja, but Chen’s the real enemy,” he said while pointing to Chen on his throne. “He doesn’t care about who wins. He only wants to steal our powers and magic so that he can perform some sort of spell,” he explained.

Lloyd and Shelly jumped over a ramp as Shelly tried to strike Lloyd with her blade, but Lloyd did a flip to dodge them as he landed on his hooves and Shelly fell on her rump while she gave a yell when she hit the floor.

"Wait, this whole tournament is a fraud?" Max asked as he was having a bit of trouble believing this news.

“And all for a spell?” Pale Hound asked as he skated next to Trail and Topaz, “What kind of spell?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but we have to stay in the tournament to find out,” Trail said as Flash and Thunder spoke to Turner and Max beside them.

"This isn't about winning or being called the greatest warrior in Equestria," Flash told Turner and Max. "This is about all of us stopping Chen."

"And why are you telling us this now?" Turner added just as Lloyd rolled up to them.

"Because it's never too late to do the right thing," Lloyd told them just as Tox was coming up behind him. She was about to knock him down before Grey rolled in and pushed her back.

"He's telling the truth. I know," Grey told the other fighters as he read Lloyd’s thoughts.

"Then why have you now decided to help?" Thunder asked Grey.

Grey turned to him with a smile. “Forgive me. I’d rather be on the right side this time,” he explained.

“Then do the right thing and let’s win this thing!” Lloyd declared as Grey gave Lloyd a boost.

Chen saw this as he looked at the fighters, Shelly then knocked Trail over and turned to him as she hissed at him before Max slugged her. “Hurry! Use the Buggy to get Lloyd back in the lead!” he told the Fire Ninja as he chased after Shelly.

Soon the buggy raced down the track as it caught up to Lloyd and he could see who was in it. "Need a lift?" Trail asked with a smirk on his face.

"You took the buggy!” Lloyd said before he saw Topaz riding beside him.

"We took the buggy," Trail corrected before he gestured to Lloyd to get in. "Take the wheel!" Lloyd then jumped onto the buggy just as Trail and Topaz jumped out of it. The moment he took the wheel, the buggy suddenly transformed as it turned silver with his elemental symbol on the hood.

"Whoa!" Lloyd said in awe before a holographic image of Dr. Gear appeared before him. "What, Dr. Gear?"

"Lloyd, if you're seeing this, then you have taken control of one of the vehicles Rivet and I were forced to make," the holographic image played back. "I don't have time to explain how I got here. All you need to know is that you must find a way to stop Chen, before he’s collected all the Elements he needs for his transformation spell. I have faith that you and the others will succeed and find me and my son. Good luck, Ninja."

Now more determined to stop Chen, Lloyd revved up the buggy and drove as fast as he could around the track. Chen was not going to let him win as he pressed a button on his throne as a ramp suddenly popped up in front of Lloyd. But it did not slow him down as he drove up the ramp and kept driving on. The score was now 11 to 9 as Lloyd kept going.

Tox was about to use her powers on Lloyd, but Turner ran up towards her. “Cut the light stallion some slack,” he quipped as he pushed Tox out of the way.

Chen then started pushing more buttons. “Buttons, buttons, buttons!” he exclaimed as more obstacles tried to block Lloyd, but he managed to drive past them and make sure he was out of the way as he past Shelly. Chen growled in frustration as Luna, Garmadon, and the Mane Six gave smiles at this as Lloyd and Shelly were now tied to 12 to 12 as he kept driving.

Chen pressed more buttons to stop Lloyd, but then he brought the two blades on the buggy up to block it as he drove next to Shelly. “We don’t have to keep fighting each other,” Lloyd said to Shelly, who turned to him with a smirk. “We can all win,” he said while offering his hoof.

“All of us?” Shelly asked.

“United,” Lloyd answered with a smile. But the moment she grabbed his hoof, she quickly pulled him out of the buggy and tossed him behind her as she laughed.

"Only one can remain,” she recited as she skated on with Lloyd going after her. After jumping from the ramp and once close, the two clashed blades with each other.

Chen then looked at the scoreboard and got worried. “Lloyd might win. Do something!” he ordered.

“Silicore--” Both Grimoire and Charm were about to use their dark magic, but Garmadon, Luna, and the Mane Six tackled them before they could cast a spell.

“No cheating or dark magic in this game!” Twilight told them firmly while lighting her horn as a warning.

Grimoire turned to the cultist on the scoreboard with a nod, which he returned, knowing that he had to deduct one point from Lloyd. Trail saw this as he growled and turned to Topaz. “He’s rigging the match! I’ll stop him--” he called out as lit up his hooves on fire.

“Let me,” Topaz offered with a smirk as she lit up her horn and she levitated the cultist with the power of gravity, stopping him from rigging the points.

Meanwhile, Lloyd and Shelly continued to clash Lanes with each other as the others watched in anticipation as they were nearing the finish line. Soon Shelly tripped Lloyd up before she lost her balance and fell to the floor with him.

Lloyd tried to get up before Shelly pounced and jumped off him to get a head start on him, only for Lloyd to use his blade to trip her up. They skated side to side before Shelly pushed Lloyd aside and was ahead as she skated towards the finish line. Five Seconds remained as the two of them were neck and neck and they all watched in anticipation before Shelly got in front of Lloyd and crossed the line.

Everycreature looked at the two, wondering if either one, but then Lloyd lifted his Jadeblade up as cheering could be heard as Shelly realized she did not have her blade with her. “Huh?” she asked in shock.

"She dropped her blade!" Flash pointed out as her blade was a few feet from where she fell. The others cheered for Lloyd as he won the match.

“Lloyd won!” Trail cheered.

"Oops, I almost forgot," Topaz mentioned as she canceled out the gravity power and dropped the stallion onto the scoreboard. This caused Lloyd's score to change to 106 as Garmadon, Luna and the Mane Six smirked at Chen.

“Look at that, he broke your record,” Garmadon taunted.

“Sorry, Chen. But Lloyd won fair and square,” Luna added with a smirk.

Chen growled as he turned to the fighters. “No. No! No! He cheated!” he complained in a childish tantrum. “Lloyd loses!”

"No way, Lloyd won fair and square,” Turner stood up for Lloyd. "You were the one who cheated."

"My tournament. My rules,” Chen declared as he sat back down in his throne and turned away from them.

“And just what rules are these?” Pale Hound questioned. “If Lloyd’s out, then so am I,” he declared.

“Me too,” Trail said next to Lloyd.

"Me three,” Thunder spoke up next.

"If you kick us all out, what kind of tournament will you have then?” Flash asked as Chen turned back around. Chen then looked at Grimoire and Charm as they nodded to him.

Chen grumbled in frustration and crossed his front legs in defeat. “Find! Have it your way. Form loses!” he coincided as he pressed a button, which caused a trapdoor underneath Shelly to open as she fell in with a scream.

The others all cheered at their victory as they saved Lloyd and defeated Shelly. Trail tripped a bit as Topaz quickly caught him and got him to face her. “If what you say is true, you are playing a dangerous game,” Topaz warned. “Chen will find other ways to get you out of the tournament.”

“Which is why we’ll need all the friends we can get,” Trail said as Chen walked away in defeat with Charm and Grimoire behind him. “There's always hope.”

Meanwhile, in the underground dungeon, the losers of the tournament were being hauled to the factory in chains before both Gaia and Landrush heard a familiar voice coming from one of the cells. A voice they have not heard in a long time. "I don't know, Pixal. But I sense these chains are unbreakable." They looked around and saw that the voice was coming from the cell they were passing by.

They both stopped and went over to the cell, "Could it be?” Gaia said as she and Landrush looked at each other with smiles.

But when they stop, the chains connected to Yak-Karlof and the other prisoners stop as well. “What ponies doing? No make trouble,” Yak-Karlof said to them, but they ignored him as they went closer to the cell.

“Frost. Is that you?” Landrush asked hopefully.

“Are you in there?” Gaia asked hopefully as well.

One by one, the other prisoners stopped since they were all connected to the chains as the guard felt them as he turned to them, “What’s the holdup?” he demanded before seeing Yak-Karlof on his knees.

“One second. Yak-Karlof, err… tie pony shoe?” he lied a bit poorly, not wanting him, Landrush, or Gaia to get in trouble while hoping that they be quick about it.

Landrush and Gaia kept looking through the cell before a different yet familiar face appeared in front of them as Frost looked through the cell, much to the two Ninja’ joy. “Heh, Buddy!” Landrush cheered in joy.

“Oh, Frost! You are alive!” Gaia cheered with tears of joy before she and Landrush noticed his new appearance. “And you’re silver now?” she asked.

“Titanium,” Frost corrected before seeing his old friends covered in flour and sauce. “Landrush, you look white. Gaia, you look orange.”

Neither Gaia nor Landrush cared as they laughed in joy at seeing their old friend again. “Boy, it’s great to see you!” Landrush cheered.

"Look at you, you look brand-new!" Gaia told Frost as tears of joy ran down her cheek.

“Tie pony shoe?” the guard asked as he realized something. “Yaks don’t wear shoes!” he pointed out that since the other prisoners hardly had any footwear.

Landrush and Gaia realized that they would get caught as they took one last look at Frost. “Don’t worry dearie, we will get you out of here!” Gaia promised as she, Landrush, and Frost touched hooves.

“We’re getting us all out of here,” Landrush finished as Frost smiled at them as they separated. “That’s a promise!”

“We’ll be back, Frost. Just stay strong,” Gaia added as the two went back to their positions just as the guard walked up to Yak-Karlof.

"Where's Gaia and Landrush?" the guard asked before he moved Yak-Karlof aside and saw them into position.

"Right here," Landrush said with a bright smile. "Keep it real, big guy."

"Yeah, it looks like you've seen a ghost,” Gaia joked as the guard walked back up to the front. "From here on out, Yak-Karlof, Landrush, and I are making more than just noodles. We're making trouble,” she started.

“Chen can try his best to split up our team, but he's about to find out what happens when we put ourselves back together," Landrush added with confidence.

Meanwhile, the noodle trucks were approaching Chen's Island just as Aqua, Starlight, Spike, Smolder, Dareth, and the Washouts stood on top of the D.B. Express while looking out to the island. Ready to find their friends, find out what’s happening on that island and find Frost.

Chapter 5: Spy for a Spy

Down in the underground Noodle Factory, the workers/prisoners were already working on the many meals for Chen's Noodle House as both Gaia and Landrush were whistling/humming happily as they worked. They along with Shelly, Soundwave, and Yah-Karlof were working on the fortune cookies before Yah-Karlof noticed the two were very cheerful today. "Why ponies whistle?” he asked them. "Yesterday, ponies sad. Not today. What change?"

"Things are looking up, Yah-Karlof," Landrush told him. "Us and the others came here to find a friend, and we found him."

"Now all we gotta do now is get Frost and bust him out," Gaia added. "After that, we'll find the others, and together, we'll take Chen down."

"Yeah, but you know it's not so easy," Shelly told them after overhearing them. "Chen's made it nearly impossible to escape this place." She pointed to nearly every guard in the room.

"We're still working out the details, but Frost's a Nindroid, a walking computer," Landrush told them. "If we can get to him, he'll solve anything Chen throws at us in no time."

Yah-Karlof let out a sad sigh as he looked down. "Yah-Karlof wish he have friend like that," He mentioned.

"But first order of business, we must let Lloyd and the rest of our friends know we found him," Gaia said as she held up a fortune cookie. She then took a small red piece of paper and put it into the fortune cookie before placing it onto the tray Yah-Karlof was holding.

"You put the message to your friends in the cookie?" Shelly asked her.

"I know, right?" Landrush spoke up. "That's why it's called a fortune cookie."

"Well, if ponies get out, no forget about Yah-Karlof and others," Yah-Karlof asked the two.

"Yeah, sure. Of course," Landrush said as he waved his hoof before taking the tray. "Special order for the banquet's ready!" He told one of the guards before a guard walked up and took the train.

"I hope you both have good fortune for it to end up in the right hooves," Shelly whispered to Gaia and Landrush.

“You and the rest of us, Shelly,” Gaia said while Landrush nodded in agreement, hoping their message was sent to their friends.

“Now all we have to do is figure out how to get out of here,” Landrush said as they watched the guard walk up to the front door.

But the lead guard from before saw the cookies, and he smiled, drooling at them as he was about to reach the ones with fortunes, which got the four to gasp in panic. But the guard holding the tray slapped his hoof away, making the other guard whimper as he rubbed his hoof while the first guard walked out of the room.

Landrush and Gaia sighed in relief that their message was not found out as they saw the guard having the keys, they smiled at one another as they had an idea of how to get out.

Outside the Palace’s gates, the Kabuki all giggled as they entered the palace, but what they did not know was Starlight, Aqua, Spike, Smolder, Dareth, and the Washouts were watching from behind the bushes.

“Wow. Talk about one big palace,” Spike commented.

“If this is where the others were all this time, it makes sense why they never contact us or send us a message,” Starlight added, while seeing many guards.

“Alright, gang. Let’s move in,” Aqua said as they were about to enter.

Smolder then stopped Aqua before they could make a move. “Wait a minute, Aqua. We can’t just walk in there. The place is guarded from top to bottom,” she pointed out. “And no way of sneaking or flying in without being spotted.”

Dareth then saw the Kabuki mares and got an idea. “Hey, I know! Aqua, Starlight, come with me!” he said before guiding the two mares back to the D.B. Express.

Short Fuse looked confused as he turned to Spike and Smolder. “What’s Dareth gonna do to them? What’s his plan?” he asked in confusion.

Spike and Smolder looked at each other with shrugs. “When it comes to Dareth, the guy is unpredictable,” Spike commented.

“Yeah, he usually keeps things a surprise,” Smolder added with a brow.

In the D.B. Express, the two mares are with Dareth as he brings out a makeup kit.

“Have I ever told either of you that I’m the Master of Disguise?” Dareth asked as he opened his kit up, revealing lots of colorful cosmetic appliances.

“Uh, Dareth, Is that…makeup?” Starlight asked in uneasiness.

“No, no, this is the Master of Disguise kit,” Dareth said with a smile, which made the four girls even more uneasy.

“No!” Aqua cried out as Dareth brought out a brush.

“Uh, Dareth. You don’t have to…” Starlight tried to reason.

“Get ready to go undercover!” Dareth declared as he brushed the two mares' faces with his brush as he got some makeup on them. “Oh, yeah. Oh, that-- Oh, perfect. Oh…” He kept putting some makeup on them as the two mares started coughing before Dareth turned his back on them, brought out his comb, and opened the door for Spike, Smolder, and the Washouts to see.

“What did you do to them, Dareth?” Spike asked in curious while Dareth kept a smile.

“Presenting, Miss Kabukis! Yeah!” Dareth cheered as he moved aside to reveal Starlight and Aqua, who now looked like the Kabuki servants. Both mares’ fur was white and their manes were dyed black and styled in buns, but Aqua’s face paint was red while Starlight’s was sea green. While the latter wore a purple and red kimono, the former wore a blue and silver one.

“What the-?” Starlight asked in surprise as the two looked at themselves.

“How did you manage to change our clothes?” Aqua asked Dareth, wondering how he put them in these dresses.

“And where did you even get these things?” Starlight asked in wonder how Dareth was carrying them.

“A true Ninja never reveals his secrets,” Dareth said with a smirk. “You girls should know that. Hmm…”

“Wow… I gotta admit, that’s impressive, Dareth,” Smolder commented as she and the rest of them were surprised by what Dareth just pulled off.

“Thanks. Years of practice,” Dareth said.

“Now you two can get into the palace without anycreature's suspicion,” Spike said with a smile.

“Great. While we go inside, the rest of you hide in the D.B. Express in the waterfall close and stay hidden until then,” Aqua instructed.

Rolling Thunder groaned. “So… we’re just waiting? I hate waiting,” She complained.

“Hey, you wanted to join us, so you gotta follow our lead,” Starlight pointed out. “Just stay hidden until then. We’ll let you know what we find,” She and Aqua walked off but not before stopping by the two dragons. “Spike, Smolder, keep an eye on the four.”

“Got it!” They saluted as Starlight and Aqua walked into the palace to begin their search.

Meanwhile, in the dining hall, the remaining competitors and spectators were all in the main room as the Kabuki were serving dinner for them, while some of them were a little reluctant at some of the weird food Chen was serving.

Some of the Kabuki either offered or placed the food down while Flash turned and saw a dish that made him cringe in disgust. “Try the horned wasp egg truffles,” Chen insisted with a smile. “Delicious!”

Flash touched the truffles as they jiggled a bit as he cringed in disgust. “Uh, thanks. But I think I’ll pass,” he said in slight disgust.

Rarity cringed at the food Chen was serving. “Is this one of your tricks Chen? Because these questionable gourmet dishes are a new low,” she said while pushing some of the weird food away.

“Oh, lighten up, Princess Rarity,” Chen said as he picked one of the truffles next to him while Charm and Grimoire watched in amusement as a bowl of some kind of plant-like dish was placed on the table as some of them cringed. “This isn’t a trick. This is a feast to celebrate the ten of you making it to the second round.” The Kabuki started clapping and laughing. “And I must congratulate both the Master of Wind and Master of Shadow’s victory over Master of Poison in the Battle Royale,” he added as he gestured to Flash and Shade, while Shade was enjoying his weird food.

“She was a bit hard to swallow, am I right?” Chen joked as the Kabuki laughed and clapped again. “Laugh harder! Ha-ha-ha!” The Kabuki soon laughed harder with forced smiles.

Twilight frowned at this and turned to the Kabuki placing another plate down next to her. “If this is how Chen treats you, why do you insist on working for him still?” she asked the mare quietly.

The Kabuki frowned solemnly. “We don’t serve him by choice,” She whispered. “We were taken from our families by his goons and forced to work here. If we try to leave, we’re forced to feed the twins’ pet,” She explained fearfully.

Twilight nodded in understanding. “Don’t worry, we’re gonna stop him,” she promised. “And once we’re done and get you home, maybe I can offer a better occupation at my castle,” She offered.

The Kabuki nodded with a smile. “Thank you, Your Majesty,” she said with a bow as she walked off.

“You can relax, guys,” Trail said to his friends. “Even if there was a fight, now that we told the others about Chen’s dirty plot to steal our powers, we’re safe in our secret alliance.” Chen played with his food as he poked Grimoire with a stick while gesturing to their friends.

“He’s right, as long as we stay together, we’ll overcome anything,” Applejack said in agreement while sitting next to Max.

“Agreed,” Max added.

“I tried to enlist Shade, but that dude’s throwing some serious shades,” Turner said while gesturing to Shade.

“Literally,” Rainbow added with annoyance. “Seriously, all he thinks about is winning.”

“Well, if you plan to stop Chen, you’ll need everyone on board,” Garmadon said.

“Each fighter that loses, gives him strength.” Luna continued as the Kabuki were forced to smile and laugh. “Soon he’ll be too powerful for even all of you combined to overcome.”

Lloyd turned and gave Shade a suspicious look as Shade kept eating his food, feeling off about him.

The guard holding the tray of fortune cookies went up to the door of the main room as a Kabuki opened the door, the guard gave her the tray as she entered the room.

“Oh, fortune cookies!” Chen cheered excitedly when they saw the cookies. “Bring them to me,”

“But they are for your captured--” Grimoire tried to say before Charm elbowed him in the gut. “I mean ‘honored’ guests,” he corrected as the Kabuki brought Chen the cookies.

“I’m not gonna eat them, Grimy Grimoire, just read the fortunes,” Chen said as he held the cookie that Landrush and Gaia put their message in. “They’re my favorite part,” he added before Charm took the cookie from him.

“Might we warn you, our guests are fond of whispering, and we don’t think it’s about your food,” Charm said as they looked at the remaining fighters.

“She’s right. We heard word they have allied themselves,” Grimoire continued. “The Ninja have told them about our secret ceremony.”

“Do they know about the spell?” Chen asked.

“Not yet, but we must get ahead of this,” Grimoire said as Charm gave Chen back the cookie and he put it back in the tray as the Kabuki walked up to the competitors.

Chen then spoke to the competitors. “It has come to my attention that there are rumors floating about that I am stealing everycreature’s power and magic.” The Kabuki offered the cookies. Lloyd grabbed one, but not the one with Gaia’s message. “Well… I am.” he admitted to them. All the fighters gasped in shock and whispered frighteningly at Chen’s confession as they spoke. “But it’s all for this Staff!” He clapped his hooves as the Kabuki all waved their fans as Chen sighed. “No, no. Not you, staff.” he corrected them as the Kabuki stopped waving their fans. “I mean my real Staff.”

The doors opened to reveal Chen’s Staff and the competitors all gasped at it as one of the Kabuki gave the staff to Chen. “The Magic Staff of Elements.” Chen raised his Staff as Trail, Thunder, and Flash got their cookies but none held Gaia’s message. “It holds the power and magic of your fallen foes, and soon it’ll hold all but one. For the last standing in my tournament will win this prize and be the greatest Elemental Master ever in the history of Equestria!” he declared as the fighters whispered to themselves in interest from that.

“You lie!” Lloyd called out as he looked at Chen. “What about the spell?”

“Spell? What spell?” Grimoire asked with a small smirk, as did Charm.

“Don’t believe them, it’s just another trick,” Lloyd said to the others. “Dr. Gear told me about the transformation spell during the Thunderblade contest!”

“And Grey read Charm’s mind and saw it,” Applejack said as they all turned to Grey, who felt nervous. “Tell them what you saw, Grey.”

Grey grew more nervous as Charm glared at him. “I-- I don’t remember.” He lied as the Ninja and Mane Six looked shocked at him. “Truthfully, I’m a bit more interested in knowing more about that staff,” he said with a smile.

Turner and Topaz then grabbed their cookies while Topaz got the one with Gaia’s message. “And why should we be so quick to believe everything you say?” Turner questioned them while pointing to Applejack. “How do we know you’re not lying to get the Staff for yourself?”

Max turned to him with a raised brow. “Really? You’re accusing the Element of ‘Honesty’ of lying?” he questioned with a look.

“Yeah, Applejack is a terrible liar!” Rainbow Dash added in defense. “She couldn’t lie her way out of a paper bag, no offense AJ.”

“None taken,” Applejack said with a small smile, knowing that is true about herself.

Just then, the fighters started arguing about each other while Charm, Grimoire, and Chen looked at each other, seeing that their plan was not working as well as they had hoped. Topaz broke her cookie open, reading Gaia's message in it gasped in shock at what it said.

“Well, it semi-worked,” Charm said with a frown.

“But their alliance will crumble, eventually,” Grimoire added.

“So much for the alliance,” Garmadon commented, seeing that their alliance was already on the brink of falling apart.

“They believe him over us?” Flash questioned in annoyance.

“Even over us royals?” Twilight asked in the offense as she brushed off a Kabuki fan in her face. “Well, it looks like if we’re going to fully convince anyone, especially since Grey chickened out on us, we need more proof,” she said as the fan kept fluttering in her face and getting on her nerves. “We need to… find a way… to get our hooves… on that spell.” She turned to the Kabuki bothering her, starting to lose her patience. “And would you knock it off already?!”

Thunder had another fan waving at him as he pushed aside. “Argh! Yeah, please! It’s a little annoying!” he called out.

The fans move away to reveal Starlight and Aqua behind them. “Twilight, Thunder, it’s us.” Aqua whispered.

“Starlight? Aqua?” The group all asked in surprise at seeing their two friends here.

“Lower your voices. We’re undercover,” Starlight whispered while looking around to make sure they were not noticed. “And to be completely honest, a bit out of our element,” she remarked, gesturing to the disguises she and Aqua were wearing.

“Yeah, being a Kabuki pony is not one of my best disguises,” Aqua added with a little bit of annoyance. Aqua then gave a small smile at Thunder as she placed a hoof on his shoulder. “And we heard what happened to Landrush. That was big of you both,” she told them, having heard about Landrush and Thunder’s fight while looking around.

“Love is like war, Aqua,” Thunder said in a serious tone. “Everycreature gets hurt.”

“Is it just you two, girls?” Rarity asked.

“Not just us,” Starlight said as she and Aqua held up their communication bracelets. “Spike, Smolder, Dareth, and the Washouts are also on the island.” She lifted her bracelet up to them as the jewel beeped a little.

"What up, Ninja?" Dareth spoke through the communicator.

"Nice to know you all are okay," Spike spoke next.

“And to see you’re still kicking.” Smolder joked.

“Wait, the Washouts are here too?” Rainbow asked in surprise and slight annoyance. “Oh, why are Lighting Dust and her two reckless flunkies here?”

“I heard that, Crash,” Lightning Dust spoke through the communicator.

“Don’t worry about them,” Aqua said to them. “They’re in contact with Wu and the others back home via a mobile base.”

“Mobile base? That’s pretty clever,” Flash complimented.

“If you two are undercover, that means you both can get close to Charm and Clouse’s spellbook,” Trail said, seeing a plan in this.

“All we know is that it’s a transformation spell and that it’s on page 149,” Twilight instructed. “We think they might have it in their quarters.”

“We’ll look into it,” Aqua said while Starlight nodded before they grew concerned.

“And by the looks of things, it sounds like you have your work cut out for you too,” Starlight said in worried.

“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked in confusion.

“How do you think they found out about your little alliance?” Starlight questioned.

“We heard that somecreature in your circle of trust is a traitor,” Aqua revealed.

“A traitor?” they all asked in unison and shock.

Grimoire and Charm noticed the reactions as they looked at them before Starlight and Aqua flinched as they waved their fans in front of their faces and moved away from the others as Topaz walked up to Trail.

"Do you know those servant mares?” she asked him.

"Uh… know those two?" Trail asked with a nervous chuckle. "Of course not. Why, jealous?"

"My fortune tells me that Gaia found your friend Frost and she, him and Landrush be breaking out," Topaz whispered as she gave the message to Trail. “You’re lucky this didn’t end up in the wrong hooves,” she said as Trail read the message, and was surprised by this.

“They found Frost. I can’t believe it.” Trail said in shock, as did the others that their friends found Frost. “Thanks, Topaz.” Topaz smiled at him as she returned to her seat. “It’s good to know there are some creatures here we can trust.”

“A traitor in our midst? Who do you think it is?” Fluttershy asked in concern. “It could be anycreature in this room,”

“I have my suspicions,” Lloyd said as he gave a suspicious look at Shade.

Rainbow however looked at Gaia’s message and noted something. “Hey, Frost’s name isn’t on here,” she said to herself before eying Topaz suspiciously. “How would she know his name?”

Outside of the palace and behind the waterfall, Dareth was listening to a classic rock song with Short Fuse as Lightning Dust, Spike, Rolling Thunder, and Smolder were covering their ears from it.

The two stallions were playing air guitar as they listened to classic rock. "Yeah! Heh, heh," Dareth exclaimed as he did a knee slide.

“ROCK ‘N’ ROLL!” Short Fuse called loudly.

“Guys. Guys, are you there?" Aqua’s voice spoke through the comms.

Spike heard her as he turned to the two stallions. “Hey, hey! Turn it off! Aqua is talking!” He called loudly. Short Fuse and Dareth quickly turned off the music as Spike went up to the console. “We hear you loud and proud, Aqua. Talk to us,” Spike said through the speaker.

“Tell Sensei and the others our objective is set: We’re gonna find the spell and get proof Chen’s up to no good, while our friends sniff out the mole in their alliance," Starlight explains.

“Aye, aye, Samurai X and Headmare,” Spike said through the speaker. “B Team out.” As he ended the comms, he turned to the rest of the group. “Well, you heard them, let’s get started on contacting the others.”

“One question. Do you know how to work this thing?” Lightning Dust asked while gesturing to the D.B. Express.

Spike then looked at the controls while feeling a little nervous about which one was the contact for Wu and the others back in Equestria. “Yeah, now’s a good time to find the instruction manual,” he said sheepishly.

Dareth then started getting to work to contact Equestria. “Breaker, breaker. Come in, Wu. The falcon has landed,” he said as he pressed some buttons.

"I guess he got that handled," Lightning Dust mentioned before she turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Smolder asked her.

"To get some air and scout around the island.” Lightning Dust replied. "Plus, I do not want to be here when they play that music again." The two dragons and Rolling Thunder looked at both Dareth and Short Fuse before they quickly joined Lightning Dust.

Back in the underground Noodle Factory, one of the guards was enjoying a platter of egg rolls as he tossed one up and it landed in his mouth. Gaia and Landrush were keeping their eyes on the keys around his belt before they nodded to each other. "It's time," they both said in unison.

"But shift not over for hours," Yah-Karlof reminded them.

“It is for us. Heh, heh,” Gaia said as she turned to Landrush. “Landy, care for a lunch break?”

“Oh, I sure do, Gaia,” Landrush said as they turned to the noodles. “I’ve been waiting to do this for a long time.”

“Then let’s eat!” Gaia declared as she and Landrush rushed to the noodle machine. Gaia grabbed the noodles, got them to Landrush and he started eating them as the losers and prisoners all cheered for them.

“Get them!” The guard ordered the others as they all rushed to the two Ninja.

“Time to go, Landy!” Gaia called as she and Landrush laughed and jumped away from a strike from the guards as Landrush pushed a wagon of flour at them, which knocked a guard down before the other kicked it back at them.

“Ooh. Aah! Unh.” The two Ninja jumped and dodged the throws as they rolled across the floor to the fortune cookies, eating some before tossing the rest at the guards. They jumped on a rolling table and rolled across the room as they flipped over the noodle belt and dodged each strike before two guards grabbed them.

But Gaia and Landrush pushed them off before they were kicked to the ground as they stood up. “Let there be food!” Landrush called as he threw a crate at the guards, knocking them down as the prisoners cheered again.

Gaia and Landrush then jumped onto a crake as they dodged the weapons before they flipped to the roll’s belt. “Ha! All you can eat. Eat it, guards!” Gaia quipped as she and Landrush kicked the rolls at the guards before they dodged their weapons again and ran to a table. Landrush and Gaia laughed as the former ate some more cookies on a tray and the latter used a broom on the floor to trip the guards down. “This is kinda fun!” she cheered before more guards showed up.

Landrush quickly threw the empty train at them before they ran to another conveyor belt with noodles. Gaia grabbed the noodles and used it like rope as she lassoed them and threw it towards the scaffolding above.

Gaia then grabbed Landrush as they started swinging. “Whoo-hoo!” they cheered.

“Go, Ninja, go!” Yah-Karlof and Shelly cheered to them.

But then, the noodle rope snapped, which caused the two Ninja to fall. “Whoa!" they shouted before the two of them landed in the guard with the keys in their clutches.

"Got you!" he declared before he started to squeeze them tight, only for Landrush to belch out a loud burp in his face.

"Okay, now I feel better." Landrush mentioned with a smile before looking at the guard. “You got any cake?” The Earth Pony only got a snarl in response from the guard.

It was not long before the two of them were thrown back into their cell. "Ha, it was all worth it!" Landrush called out.

“For these,” Gaia said as she brought out the keys she managed to snatch from the guard. "Now let's get Frost and find a way out."

Frost managed to get the chains off his front hooves in an ice cave with an ice dragon that looked to be made of metal. Once he saw that the ice dragon was still asleep, he carefully started to make his way towards the exit and tried not to wake up the dragon. Just when he was about to start climbing up, the dragon snarled as it awoke and Frost heard its roar before he lost his grip and fell.

The large dragon then crawled over to him as Frost was frightened. "Frost!" two familiar voices called out to him as he awoke from a dream.

He looked around and saw that he was still in his cell before the door opened as Gaia and Landrush came through. “Landrush? Gaia?” Frost asked in surprise as they unlocked his chains to set his hooves free. “You’ve returned,” he said to them with a smile as he rubbed his hooves.

“Of course, we did. We made a promise.” Gaia said as Frost stood up, kissing his cheek. “It’s so good to see you again.”

“Now come here, you shiny new tin can,” Landrush said with his hooves out as he and Gaia brought Frost into a hug. “Ah! Can you feel the love?” They soon broke the hug.

"No," Frost replied. “But the longer we stand here, the shorter time we have to find my mother and Rivet before we can escape."

"Wait, Dr. Gear's here too?!" Gaia was shocked by this news.

"Luckily, you don't have to worry about searching for us."

They turned to see both Rivet and Dr. Gear by the door.

“Frost!” Dr. Gear cheered in joy as she ran up to her son. “You’re alright!” She added as she hugged Frost tightly. “And look at you! Brand new!” she laughed.

"You can thank me for that once we're out of here," Rivet told Dr. Gear. "We don't know how long before they realize we put holograms in our place."

"And it won't be long before they send a search party for us," Frost added. "Let's go."

"Ha! You know you were always the smart one." Landrush told Frost as they made their way out.

Gaia looked out the door and saw that the coast was clear. “Let’s go!” She called as they ran out of the cell.

Back in the factory room, the guard scratched his side and gasped as he noticed that his keys were gone, realizing where they were as he pressed the button as the alarm went off.

Meanwhile, Aqua and Starlight had made it to the upper floors and into a library where Grimoire and Charm's spell book rest on a pedestal. They made their way over to it and opened it up as they searched for the spell. "Page 102, 122…" Aqua mumbled as they flipped through the pages.

"Aha, page 149." Starlight whispered as they found the page they were looking for. They carefully read the spell that was on it before they were completely shocked as to what transformation spell it was. "Oh, no."

"This spell will change everything," Aqua told her before they heard someone coming. “Hide!”

“Get close to me!” Starlight said as they stood close and she cast her invisibility spell.

Behind the door, Grimoire and Charm were about to enter before the guard ran up to them. “There’s been a breach in the factory. Masters Landrush and Gaia have gone missing,” he informed them.

“Get that page!” Starlight whispered as Aqua ripped the spell page out of the book as they stayed invisible.

“Release our pet,” Charm ordered.

“She’ll make sure they don’t escape,” Grimoire added.

The two entered the room and went up to their spellbook before looking around if anyone else was in. They saw their book had a hoofprint on the side from the makeup Aqua had as he wiped it off before he looked at his sister, who nodded in understanding.

Grimoire and Charm walk out of the room with the spellbook while Aqua and Starlight are still invisible as the door closes as the two mares sigh in relief that they are gone.

In the underground labyrinth, the three Ninja, Rivet, and Dr. Gear are running through the tunnels. “Not that way. That will only take us back to where we started,” Frost told them.

"Unh. Maybe you should be leading," Gaia told Frost. "After all, you are a walking computer."

They suddenly halted in their tracks as they heard rumbling and a loud roar coming through the tunnels.

"What was that?" Rivet asked when they heard it.

"I am not familiar with that sound," Frost said fearfully.

“We are,” Landrush said as he and Gaia remembered that kind of sound before they ran the other way. “We need to move!”

"I thought Frost was leading!" Dr. Gear pointed out.

"Trust us, you’ll wanna keep up!" Gaia shouted before the three turned to see something slithering towards them. They saw Grimoire and Charm's pet serpent coming towards them as it hissed.

"Whoa! Wait for us!!!" Rivet shouted as she, Dr. Gear, and Frost chased after Gaia and Landrush. "That's got to be the biggest snake I've ever seen in my life!!!"

“Second for us!” Frost yelled as they kept running before they hit a dead end as Frost touched the wall, feeling scales. “This isn’t a wall. It’s the body of a large serpent.”

“And we know what that serpent is,” Dr. Gear said frighteningly.

“Come on, we have to find another way,” Landrush said as they all ran to another direction, not noticing that the serpent is circling around them as they hit another path blocked by the serpent. “Argh. Another dead end.” They all ran to another direction. But they all stopped as they saw the serpent circling around on every path.

“What’s going on?” Dr. Gear asked.

“The serpent’s strategy appears to be to surround us and coil inward,” Frost theorizes. “Very clever.”

“Yeah, that’s great, darling, but our strategy is not to be eaten alive!” Gaia called out in panic.

"Then we might want to move!" Rivet shouted as she saw the serpent slithering towards them. They quickly jumped out of the way as it snapped its jaws at them before they were backed up into a corner.

The serpent then advanced towards them as the group was trapped. “It was nice knowing you, guys. I think this really is our dead end,” Landrush griped as they looked at the serpent. Before it tried to eat them, they dodged it, causing the snake to slam its head against the wall.

“That won't keep it disoriented for long,” Gaia said as the Serpent shook its head.

“I don’t suppose you can freeze him, son?” Dr. Gear asked Frost.

“Chen took my powers and magic like everycreature else,” Frost answered as he stood up with a determined look. “Pixal, calculate escape scenarios.”

"Wait, Pixal is here too!?" Gaia shouted.

"She's the one who told me about my son and him being still alive," Dr. Gear explained before she had a confused expression on her face. "But I thought she got scrapped when we were captured."

"She did, but I made her a part of me," Frost explained.

"You got a mare stuck in your head?!" Landrush asked him as Pixal finished the calculations.

"Calculating escape routes. Activating explosive shurikens," Pixal informed Frost. Frost then took aim at the ground as he fired a few shurikens around them.

The shurikens exploded as the group fell through a hole with a scream as they landed in another tunnel before they stood up. “Heh. We’re gonna like the new you,” Landrush commented.

“I knew those upgrades would come in handy,” Rivet said with a smile.

“We must move quickly,” Frost reminded them.

“You heard my son. We can’t stay here forever,” Dr. Gear said in agreement.

“Lead the way,” Gaia said as Frost led on as the others followed.

In Trail’s room, the remaining fighters, Garmadon, Luna, and the Mane Six are present. “Like I said, I ain't joining your little alliance,” Shade said coldly. “I’m gunning for that staff.”

“Hey, this isn’t about the alliance,” Lloyd said firmly.

“This is about finding out who the traitor is,” Twilight added with a suspicious look. “No one leaves this room until we find out who is passing information to Chen,” she said as Garmadon and Luna guarded the doors. Each of the fighters looked amongst each other before Shade noticed Lloyd was glaring at him.

"Why are you looking at me, Lightweight?" he questioned with a brow. "I'm not your traitor."

"Perhaps I can help," Grey spoke up before he used his power to look into everyone's mind. "I don't know who, but someone here isn't who they say they are."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Topaz questioned Grey suspiciously. “Maybe I should use your power and see inside your head."

"I'd like to see you try, power hoarder," Grey challenged with a glare.

Topaz growled as she and Grey glared at each other before Trail broke them up. “This is what Chen wants, for us to fight,” he said to them. “But we don’t have to.”

“There has to be a more civilized way around this problem,” Fluttershy said.

“There is. Everycreature who serves under Chen has their flesh marred by the mark of the Anacondrai,” Luna explained as she showed them her own tattoo. “If we can find the mark, we will find the traitor.”

“Anycreature object?” Applejack questioned as Grey went first and lowered his shirt to show part of his back to reveal no tattoo. “Grey is clean.”

“Can I go now?” Grey questioned impatiently as he lifted his shirt back up.

Applejack stopped him from leaving. “Not until we check everycreature in here." She told him.

"Okay, so who's next?" Flash asked before Turner stepped up.

"Let's get it on!" Turner declared as he showed off his back and had no tattoo either. Soon they all lined up to be checked for a tattoo.

In the main room, Chen is watching the Kabuki dancing around as Grimoire and Charm come to him with the spellbook. “You’re harshing my vibe, the both of you,” Chen said to the two in annoyance as Starlight and Aqua sneaked through the door as Aqua hid the spell page. “You two better tell me they’ve caught the escaped prisoners.”

“Sadly Master, not yet,” Charm answered as she and her brother gave a bow.

“But we have far worse news to report,” Grimoire continued seriously. “Someone has stolen the page for the spell.”

"Do you need the page to do the spell?" Chen questioned the twins.

"Of course not! We memorized it. The page is useless to us," Charm answered quickly. "But if it gets into the hooves of the Ninja and the Council, the fighters will know we've lied to them."

"Then they'll rise up against us," Grimoire added as Aqua and Starlight listened in on every word.

"Then we must find that page!" Chen demanded before he noticed a white stain on his clothes. "Argh! Kabuki paint, uh, it gets everywhere." His complaint somehow gave the twins an idea on finding the page. Grimoire and Charm gave one last look at the cover and noticed that the white Kabuki paint was still on it.

A Kabuki walked over to Starlight and Aqua, thinking that they were part of the staff, and pulled them over to dance for Chen.

“Master, we have a feeling our spy may well be in our midst,” Grimoire said, gesturing to the Kabuki.

Chen looked at the Kabuki staff, getting what Grimoire was saying. “A Kabuki servant?” he asked in surprise before he gave a smirk. “Well, well.”

“The spy may have the page still on them,” Charm whispered to them as she turned to the guards. “Guards! Search every servant in this room!”

The guards then started searching every Kabuki staff for the spell as Starlight and Aqua looked worried as they stood back a bit.

Meanwhile outside, Dareth and Short Fuse were still in the D.B. Express as they were listening to classic rock yet again while doing air guitars. "They call me Dareth the Stallion, with the big bad guitar sound~" Dareth sang as they followed the music.

"Oh, I said spin. Spin like a record. Come on~" Short Fuse sang next as they both hopped around on one hoof.

“Yeah, spin. Spine like a record. Come on~” they both sang as Dareth accidentally hit a switch that turned on the speakers of the outside on, which played very loudly. “Dareth the Stallion and the big bad guitar band~” Dareth sang as the music was played very loud all over the island as he and Short Fuse gave a yell.

The song was so loud that they could hear it from inside the palace as the guards stopped from searching the disguised Aqua and Starlight.

“Uh-oh,” Starlight muttered in worry.

“What is that racket!?” Chen demanded as the music kept playing as they looked out the open window.

“It’s coming from the jungle,” Grimoire said.

“It’s coming from the spy,” Chen corrected. “Find the music, find the spy.”

“You heard him. Search the jungle!” Charm ordered the guards as they ran off as Starlight and Aqua were about to follow but Grimoire stopped them.

“As for you two, stay put,” Grimoire ordered as Starlight and Aqua stopped before the twins walked away.

"Dareth, what have you done?" Aqua whispered into her communicator with concern. Grimoire with his head around when he heard her whisper, only to see both Aqua and Starlight dancing along with the other Kabuki.

Back in Trail's room, almost all the competitors had shown off their backs and they did not have the Anacondrai tattoo on them. The only three that have yet to be checked were Topaz, Max, and Shade.

“No mark yet, and we're down to the last three,” Pinkie noted.

Max then stepped forward. “Just so you know, even after all this, I have nothing to hide,” he said as he lowered his shirt and had no tattoo on him either.

“We know you ain't no snake, Max,” Applejack said with a smile as Max got his shirt back up.

“Well, even though you might trust me, I still have to show trust,” Max said with a smile as he moved aside.

“Well, only two left,” Lloyd said, seeing that Topaz and Shade were the only ones left.

Trail walked up to Topaz. “Uh. I hate to do this, but it’s your turn,” he told her. “Can I see your back, please?”

"How could you not trust me?" Topaz questioned. "I came to you with the fortune cookie that had the message."

"Yeah, the message that didn't have Frost's name on it," Rainbow said suspiciously. “How did you know what our friend's name is? We never told you."

"I overheard you back on the docks of Manehattan," Topaz quickly explained. "You girls literally shouted his name."

"Look, I'm sorry, but we all have to know," Trail quickly told her.

"Yeah, so just take off your top and show us," Rainbow demanded with a glare. Topaz was about to reveal her back before Pinkie Pie spoke up.

"Wait, where'd Shade go?!" She called out as they all noticed Shade disappeared.

“He disappeared through his own shadow,” Thunder said before Shade appeared behind Turner.

“There he is! Get him!” Turner called out.

“I ain't your traitor, and I ain't your friend either!” Shade snarled. "That staff will be mine!"

Max charged up his energy power before he fired it right at Shade. Shade however quickly dodged the attack as he dived into the shadow of the furniture on the floor. Max’s blast hit the wall as the portrait of Trail fell off and landed on Thunder, who screamed in pain.

“My leg! Ugh. Get Trail off me!” He cried out.

Shade ran to the door before Luna and Garmadon managed to grab him. “You both cast a long shadow, old timers," Shade told them before he went into their shadows and opened the door as he left.

"It was Shade," Grey spoke up when Shade left. "He must be the traitor if he wouldn't let us see his back."

Fluttershy and Turner went over and got the portrait of Trail off Thunder. “Are you okay, Thunder?” she asked him.

Thunder then cried out in pain as he held his right back leg. "No… my leg. I think it's broken…" he groaned.

Trail then noticed Topaz about to leave before he stopped her. "Topaz, look, I'm sorry." Trail said sincerely.

"It's not you who should apologize to me.” Topaz told him before she glared at Rainbow dash. “And if you still think I'm the traitor, watch me walk out that door." She continued to make her way out before she stopped and used her magic to reveal her back to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow then had a surprised look when she saw Topaz did not have the tattoo either but noticed something strange, the color of her back seemed a different shade of orange. Before Rainbow Dash could point that out, Topaz had already left the room.

The only ones left in the room were the Ninja, the council, Garmadon, Luna, and Max. “What happened to our alliance?" Rarity asked the others.

"It just went out the door, all thanks to Shade," Lloyd grunted as things had gone so wrong.

Back down on the main floor, Chen had laid back as a few Kabuki were pampering Chen as he relaxed on his chair. “Kabuki are always pleased to serve me. Isn’t that right, Kabuki?” he asked while Starlight and Aqua are fanning him as the Kabuki laughed at them while Aqua and Starlight did not at first as they glared but they chuckled next. “Now harder! Really get into it!” he ordered the two mares, who glared at him as they fan harder.

Grimoire and Charm then came to Chen. “Our spy tells us the Master of Lightning is hurt,” Charm informed, which made Aqua gasp as her leaf fan accidentally hit Chen.

“Ow! Too hard!” Chen called out to her.

“The Ninja are weakening, master,” Grimoire said.

“What about their spy?” Chen asked them. “Have you found where the music is coming from?”

"We haven't found anything in the jungle yet, but we will," Grimoire assured him as Aqua and Starlight let out a small gulp.

Back outside, two guards were banging their heads to the music before their boss walked up to them. "What are you doing?” he asked the two.

"I was, uh… I was headbanging," one of them answered sheepishly.

"Taking a break," the other told him.

“Have you checked out the waterfall?” their boss asked with a brow.

“Uh, yeah, it’s beautiful,” the first guard said with a smile as they turned to the waterfall.

“Yeah. So serene,” the second guard added.

“I meant for spies, you idiots!” the boss yelled at them, which startled them.

“Yes, sir!/Right away, sir!” the guards cried out in panic as they ran to the waterfall with their boss chasing them.

“Now come on!” the boss ordered.

Over in the skies above Spike, Smolder, Lightning Dust, and Rolling Thunder heard them. “Uh-oh,” they said before flying in the direction of the waterfall.

"Whoo! Yeah!" Short Fuse shouted as he and Dareth were too into the music.

“The Brown Ninja!” Dareth called out as he lay on his back and moved on it, not hearing the comms speaking.

“Guys! Do you read us?” Aqua spoke.

“Hello? They’re coming! Do you read us?” Starlight spoke next.

“They’re coming for you!" Both mares cried, which got the two stallions' attention as they gasped in shock.

“SAVAGES!” Short Fuse cried out as he and Dareth looked through the console.

“Uh, where is that cloak button?” Dareth asked, forgetting where the cloak button was as Cultists came into the waterfall with two buggies. Dareth and Short Fuse then pressed as many buttons as they could, which activated the cloaking tech, but the D.B. Express turned into a noodle truck, a circus wagon, a boulder, and then a bus.

The cultists saw this as they gave amusing looks. “Check it out,” The boss said as they all laughed at the two stallions as they walked up towards them as the bus turned back into the D.P. Express as the engine turned on.

Dareth and Short Fuse smirked at that as they turned to the cultists. “Now let’s test what’s under the hood!” Dareth called as he revved up the vehicle before the two drove off in it. Chen's men quickly jumped out of the way as it started to drive away from them. Spike, Smolder, and the other two Washouts saw them drive off before they caught eye of two snake-like jets taking off after the D.B. Express.

With Dareth and Short Fuse, the two stallions screamed in panic as they drove the vehicle to the side of the mountain and pressed more buttons to try and control it.

“Somepony get us out of here!” They both cried out as Dareth pressed a red button, which caused the back seats to eject and moved Short Fuse and Dareth to the back as a robot appeared at the controls.

“Autopilot initiated.” the autopilot bot stated.

Dareth and Short Fuse smiled from this. “Ha! About time you showed up, little dude,” Dareth said as he put on his Ninja mask.

"Now get us away from these creeps!" Short Fuse shouted as he saw the jets flying in, as well as a few choppers and bikes chasing them down. A rocket launcher was then set up on top of the D.B. Express as it aimed at the enemy.

“All right, boneheads! I got a bone to pick with--” Dareth was cut off as the vehicle hit a rock, which caused it to get bumped. “Ow! Ooh, aah!” He cried out while accidentally firing lasers at a huge rock on the wall.

The cultists laughed at this, but then the rock fell and caused the buggies on the back to serve and fall over the ledge as the boss growled at this. "Nice shot!" Short Fuse complimented Dareth.

“Score one for the Brown Ninja and his partner!” Dareth cheered. But that victory was short-lived as they were coming to a dead end of the cliff. This had scared even the autopilot as it covered its eyes.

"Bad autopilot. Bad autopilot!" They both shouted at it as Dareth quickly slammed the brakes and the vehicle tipped over and landed on its side before it could go over the cliff.

The two stallions panted as they opened their eyes and saw that the D.P. Express is tilting over the edge as they screamed before they got surrounded by the Cultists.

“Shorty!” Rolling Thunder and Lightning Dust yelled in worry before they were surrounded by jets.

“Oh, this is bad,” Spike said in worried.

“Spike, there’s too many of them!” Smolder cried out as some of the jets are coming towards them. “We can’t save them or fight all of them! We have to get out of here!” she called as the jets then fired at them as they dodged the fire.

“You’re right, Smolder. We need to go!” Spike said in agreement as he took out his communicator. “

“Go! We'll cover you two!” Lightning Dust said as she and Rolling Thunder drew the fire away from the two dragons.

“We’ll buy you some time!” Rolling Thunder added as they drew the jets away.

Spike took the chance as he steers his jet as he and Smolder flew off into the jungle as Dareth spoke through the communicator.

“We’ve been taken hostage by savages!” Dareth called out as Lightning Dust and Rolling Blade’s jet was then surrounded with nowhere to go.

“You two are on your own!” Short Fuse called next through Aqua and Starlight’s communicators so loud that it brought the two mare’s attention, including Chen while the mares fanning him.

“Go on without us!” both stallions called out.

Chen then grabbed both Aqua and Starlight’s hooves when he heard it. “So, you’re the spies. Ha!” He chuckled before noticing the spell on Aqua’s pocket. “The spell!” he called out.

But before he could grab them the other Kabuki jumped on and pinned him down. “Run! Both of you!” one of the Kabuki told them.

“You’re helping us?” Starlight asked in surprise.

“Just go!” the Kabuki called out.

The two mares did not need to be spoken twice as they ran to the door before Aqua stopped and turned to Chen with a smirk. “Oh, and by the way, your hooves stink!” she called out as Charm and Grimoire tried to catch them, but they flipped away as they collided with each other.

Chen got the Kabuki servants off him as he grabbed his staff before he fired an ice blast at the mares, but they dodged the ice blast as they ran out the room. “Get them! And get that spell!” he ordered as Grimoire and Charm chased the two Unicorns.

In the underground catacombs, two guards were walking by as they were talking to each other. "They've ordered everyone after a pair of Kabuki mares." one guard told the other.

“What about the escaped factory workers?” The other guard asked.

“Forget them. Chen will make sure the other workers pay for their actions,” The first guard said as Landrush, Gaia, Frost, Dr. Gear, and Rivet looked behind them.

“Argh. Poor saps,” the second guard said.

“Poor saps?” Landrush repeated in worry.

“They’re gonna be punished for something they didn’t do?” Gaia added in shock.

“Hurry, the exit is just around the bend,” Frost said as he gestured to the path behind them as he, his mother, and Rivet followed.

"Wait, we can't go," Gaia told them. "We can't just leave the other Elemental Masters behind to be punished because of us…”

"She's right," Landrush agreed. "A Ninja doesn't save himself. He protects those who can't protect themselves."

“We have to go back.” Gaia said as she and Landrush turned back the way they came. “We have to go back and save them all,” She and Landrush walked down the tunnel, but the others followed right behind them.

“And a Ninja never leaves another Ninja’s side,” Frost said with a smile as he, his mother, and Rivet stood beside them.

“And I’m not letting my son out of my sight again. So, wherever he goes, I go,” Dr. Gear said while placing a hoof on her son’s shoulder.

“And I’m willing to save all those that Chen and his goons have imprisoned and get them out,” Rivet said with a determined smile.

Gaia and Landrush smiled at their support. “We’ll all get off this island one day, guys.” Landrush promised.

“But it’s either all of us or none of us,” Gaia finished as the group walked back the way they came to help the other Elemental Masters and the prisoners.

Outside of the palace at night, Charm and Grimoire are searching around for Aqua and Starlight as they hide behind the door, but as the twins are about to check beside the doors, they are kicked back by the mares as they try to attack. But Aqua swung over a lamp and knocked Grimoire down as Starlight blasted Charm down the stairs with the other guards.

Starlight and Aqua then jumped on the twins as they jumped up into the roof as they started throwing roof tyles on them, which caused the twins to get hit in the heads as Starlight and Aqua ran out of site.

“Don’t just stand there! Find them!” Grimoire ordered the guards as the cultists then started searching the palace for any signs of Aqua and Starlight.

Grimoire and Charm then started climbing onto the roof as they chased after the two mares as they ran across the roof and they jumped to the next one as the twins kept chasing them. They soon followed the two to the top of the Temple and chased them down as they jumped across a large gap over the next Temple. Grimoire soon grabbed hold of Aqua before the two got into a fight while Charm started to chase down Starlight.

Aqua managed to break free as she and Grimoire started fighting briefly before she rolled down the roof and chase after Charm and Starlight while the two unicorns were caught in a struggle as they tried to match each other in magical strength. They made it to the wall of the Palace as the twins tried to throw punches at the twins before they caught the mares by their collars.

Starlight and Aqua struggled to break free before they noticed something below them, they smiled as they kicked the twins off them and fell over the walls. The twins got up and looked below them before seeing one of their jets below that caught Aqua and Starlight, but what shocked them even more that Spike and Smolder were driving it.

“Sorry, but these two aren’t for dancing or serving,” Smolder mocked with a chuckle.

“Sorry to pick up and run, but we gotta fly!” Spike joked as he drove the jet further into the jungle as they were out of eyesight from the twins.

Grimoire and Charm growled as they turned to the cultists that managed to catch up with them. “Get them! And get that spell!” they both ordered loudly while pointing out to the jungle.

On the jet, Aqua and Starlight went inside as they saw their dragon friends. “Thanks for the save, you two,” Starlight said to them with a smile.

“What are friends for?” Smolder said with a smile.

“So did you two get that spell?” Spike asked.

“We did,” Aqua said as she brought out the spell, with a look of worry on her face. “And it’s not good.”

“Tell us about it later,” Smolder said. “We need to hide in the jungle and ditch the jet before those snake creeps ponies track us.”

“Not to mention Dareth and the Washouts are captured,” Spike added as he turned to them. “Maybe I should send that spell to Twilight to help-”

“Sorry, no can do, Spike,” Starlight said with her hoof raised.

“Why not?” Spike asked in confusion.

“Because this spell is dark magic. There’s no telling what a dark magic spell will do to you if you use your fire message magic,” Aqua said, having the same thought as Starlight was thinking. “We’re going to have to tell the others about this ourselves.”

“Which is gonna be hard, now that we have the entire island on our backs,” Starlight mentioned as they went deeper into the jungle.

Back inside the temple, Chen waited on his throne before a guard walked up to him. "My spy, have they found the mares?” he asked the guard.

"No, but you may have bigger problems to deal with." The stallion guard giving him the news soon shapeshifted into Topaz. "Landrush and Gaia found their Nindroid friend, grandfather. Not to mention, the Rivet and Dr. Gear were found in their workshop were holograms, so they escaped too."

"Thank you, my child," Chen told her as Topaz walked up to him and the two shared a hug. “The Master of Form's power and Princess Twilight’s magic has proven to be useful to you. But the Ninja and their little friends’ time here is done. Tomorrow, we will end this charade. Tomorrow, we will break up the Ninja forever." They both shared a maniacal laugh together as a big bad plan has been cooked up by him and will not end well for the Ninja or the council.

Though Topaz stopped laughing as a guilty look came to her as she remembered the hurt look on Trail’s face, ‘Trail, I’m sorry,’ she thought, knowing Trail would not forgive her for what comes next.