“It would seem that I was right about you,” Sophia commented. “You’re certainly a talented filly with a lot of potential.”

“Thanks,” the filly blushed. “Though if it weren’t for you I’d probably have never realized my full potential.”

“You’re definitely not there yet. Talent is one thing but you must build upon it with effort. All I can do is open the way there. Remember to practice your skills and take time to relax in between to give your muscles time to rest. It’ll be counterproductive if you overdo it.”

“Do you think you could train us to fight those humans like the ones who attacked the gala?”

“I am considering it, but not before you and your friend get your cutie marks and only if I can get your guardians to approve.”

“I’m still not sure if Sweetie can get a cutie mark with her robot body. Plus, it’ll be hard enough getting our guardians to agree to this since they’re always wanting to protect us. We can’t even train for the guard until we’re fifteen and that won’t be for another three years.”

“Sweetie might get a cutie mark, magic has been known to make the impossible possible. She still has her magic. As for you, Scootaloo, I’d imagine you will get your cutie mark any day now. As for your guardians, you can leave that to me.”

“Honestly, I’d have thought I’d get my cutie mark when I was able to fly, but I’m still blank.”

“Perhaps you should consult your instincts through meditation and think about what you need to do to make it appear?” Sophia guessed. “For all the time I’ve been here I still haven’t figured that out yet.”

“Do you think Rainbow Dash will be impressed by how far I’ve come?” Scootaloo asked.

“She definitely will. Are you planning to show her?”

“Yeah, but I wanna make it a big surprise, and I think I know of somepony who can help with that.”

Recently, ponies in Ponyville had begun to take out insurance policies for their property. A small part had to do with concerns over the pirates potentially attacking their town at some point, but mostly it was because word had spread about Apple Bloom’s cutie mark.

In a related matter, there have been more explosions around town, particularly because the filly had been practicing her explosive-making under Sophia’s guidance. She made sure that anything that might be too dangerous was contained. The last thing she needed was for her apprentice to get blown up, or worse, find a way to develop something similar to a nuke before Equestria was ready for it.

Meanwhile, at Rarity’s workshop, the mare was being introduced to techniques that would improve the efficiency of the refining process of gemstones into metal. Ingram proved to be a strange mentor who was somehow able to interact with objects from a distance without using magic.

When the inventor mare gathered the courage to ask how he was doing that, his response was beyond anything she could have imagined.

“You see Rarity, machines can exist in a vast range of sizes,” Ingram explained. “They can be as colossal as a world, or even bigger than that, or they could be so small that even the fleas on a dog would be bigger. Specialized equipment would be required for anything of such an extreme scale.”

“So your ability to interact with distant objects is because of tiny machines?” Rarity guessed.

“Correct. They are known as nanomachines. They are known to be highly versatile in use. They are too small for the naked eye to perceive unless they gather in a large clump. For example…” Ingram pointed a hoof upward. A small silvery sphere began to form above his frog that appeared to be growing larger until it was the size of a softball. “Believe it or not, this sphere is composed of trillions of nanomachines. Whether for utility purposes, creation or destruction, these nanoscopic machines have a multitude of uses. I could use them to enhance my body so that if a dragon tried to punch me, I would barely take any damage, if any. I could also use them to enhance my offensive capabilities and rival Sophia’s devastating attacks.”

“That is amazing!” Rarity gushed. “Imagine if more ponies had these things strengthening their bodies.”

“Don’t,” Ingram warned. “Do not fall into the trap power brings. The downside of these machines is that they require a central will to control them. Any slip in concentration and the machines could act on their own and cause untold destruction to everything they come across, like a locust swarm. I have spent countless years perfecting my control over these machines.” The orb then seemingly dissolved when they actually went into standby inside and outside Ingram’s body.”

“I see. In that case, perhaps such a dangerous thing is better off in the hooves of somepony responsible enough to handle them.”

Ingram smiled, “In time you will be able to create your own technological wonders. For now, I believe you have a presentation to prepare for.”

“Presentation?” Rarity gasped. “Oh my Celestia! I forgot that today is the presentation I was supposed to give to my fellow inventors. Ever since Princess Celestia started her widespread reforms my fellow innovators have started to come out of hiding. Ohh, if only it wasn’t today though. Twilight’s birthday is today and everypony will be attending, including all of her friends from Canterlot.”

“Don’t worry Rarity, I’ve got this,” came Sweetie Belle’s voice as she entered the room.

“Oh Sweetie, I wish you could, but the process is quite difficult and involves careful calibration of the regulators.”

Sweetie deadpanned, “Sis, I’ve watched you make starship metal for years. I’ve helped you make a few batches. Mr. Ingram even helped me fill in the gaps on what parts I might have missed. I think I can handle it. And besides, Mr. Ingram will be here to help in case I mess up.

“Frankly, I’d rather not see you stress out trying to attend two events at the same time,” Ingram added. “I would say that you should attend the event that you would most regret missing out on.”

Rarity bit her lip. On the one hoof, she was Twilight’s friend and she would feel guilty that she didn’t attend the party. On the other hoof, this was an event that would be the start of a great change in Equestria as the spreading of her refining technique to other engineers would help Equestria prepare more of the material needed for the war ahead.

Sure she could reschedule, but she wasn’t certain when the other engineers would have time to come together like this again. If she did attend the party, could she trust Sweetie Belle to make a good presentation? If she didn’t attend the party, would her friends hold it against her?

Before Rarity began thinking in circles, a black hoof touched her withers which knocked out of her thoughts. She looked at the stallion who gave her a gentle smile, “Just go to the party, Rarity. I will handle the presentation. Sophia has sent me enough of the data of your processes to know how it all works. Sweetie will be assisting me. Have faith in your mentor.”

Rarity took a few calming breaths and gathered her resolve to give him a determined nod. “Alright, I’ll leave everything to you.”

Rarity found herself at Twilight’s birthday party a few hours later. It was agreed to hold the celebration in Ponyville out of respect for Rarity’s disdain toward most of the citizens of Canterlot. The party took place outside the library where Pinkie set up a few tables while using her boundless energy to move between the party and Sugarcube Corner to grab the party supplies and cake.

While everypony seemed to be enjoying the scene, Rarity noticed a couple of things were off, particularly with Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Twilight seemed to be looking toward Spike with concern while Rainbow looked irritated.

Looking at Spike, Rarity noticed that the dragon appeared taller than she last saw him. Though he also seemed to be behaving strangely, as if he were looking for something interesting. For some reason he was keeping a bunch of silverware in his clutches.

“Twilight, what’s the matter with Spike?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t know,” Twilight responded. “Ever since his birthday a few days ago he’s been grabbing whatever he can get his claws on and acting like it belongs to him. I noticed a lot of ponies around down had been giving him presents but I don’t think there’s been any harm in that.”

“It’s worse than you think, Twilight,” Starlight said as she walked up to them. “I just came back from Zecora to ask about Spike’s sudden hoarding habits, which is typical behavior for dragons. She suspects that he might have succumbed to his greed and if we don’t stop him from taking more things his greed will make him grow to the size of that dragon from last year.”

“Why not just let Mare Do Well handle it,” Rainbow bitterly said. “She seems to be handling all the heroic stuff around town lately.”

Rainbow’s mind turned to the past few days. She was proud to be doing so many acts of heroism such as saving lives from danger. She remembered Sophia’s advice to keep herself under control because the Wonderbolts would learn of her exploits. She also confirmed Sophia’s connection to the group from a brief conversation with Spitfire at the gala, before the humans attacked.

However, her heroic streak came to an end when she started competing against a pony wearing a purple and midnight blue costume. The only thing Rainbow knew about the mare was that she was a pegasus because of the wings.

Of course, not all disasters were resolved by Mare Do Well as a nearby dam was fixed by Twilight and a construction team was saved by Pinkie who used her Pinkie Sense to avoid getting hit by metal beams. Rainbow knew her abilities weren’t right for those tasks and she risked injury if she tried.

Rainbow still saved a few lives but the matter turned into a competition between her and Mare Do Well which has left the mare frustrated and determined to find out who her rival was.

Before Rainbow could think more on this, she found herself tacked by the pony in question and sent a fair distance from her table, mere moments before Spike, who had grown much larger since a few minutes ago, trampled the table.

“What the hay!?” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Rainbow, are you okay?” Mare Do Well asked.

Before she could snap on the masked mare, Rainbow suddenly realized that she recognized that voice. But something about the pony’s appearance and who she remembered the voice belonging to didn’t make sense to her. “Scootaloo?” she tried.

“Sorry Rainbow, I wanted to impress you by trying to be as awesome as you are, but I didn’t think things would go this far,” Scootaloo explained as she took her mask off. As that happened, Scootaloo returned to her normal size.

“How did you grow to the size of an adult?”

“Twilight helped me with the illusion. I told her my plan to impress you and she went along with it. I told her not to tell you because I wanted to surprise you.”

Scootaloo took off the costume. Rainbow took note that the filly’s wings looked slightly bigger than she remembered. Actually, they looked slightly bigger than the wings of an average pegasus filly.

Rainbow decided to ask about that later. “We’ll talk later, for now I need to stop Spike.” She then took off after the dragon.

Scootaloo knew what Rainbow meant when she worded what she just said. Her idol was worried about her and didn’t want her to get involved. However, she had a feeling that she needed to help. She knew the adults would get mad at her but she would deal with that later. She also knew that Sophia was out of town for her routine inspection of the troops in the northeast who were keeping watch on the human encampment and would be back soon. For now it was up to the town to keep Spike contained until Sophia returned.

Twilight and Starlight did their best to keep objects away from the klepto dragon and keep him from getting too big. This angered Spike as he tried to reclaim what the unicorns took from him. However, Applejack managed to wrap a lasso around one of the arms of the seven foot dragon. Lyra and Bon Bon helped by grabbing the rope in their teeth and pulled the dragon away from the coveted objects.

Spike fought back against the rope holders who were slowly being dragged. As Spike nearly won the tug of war, he was suddenly grabbed from behind by a bear who performed a suplex where Spike hit his head on the ground fairly hard.

“Spike!” Twilight called out.

“Don’t worry Twilight, he’s a dragon,” Fluttershy assured. “It’ll take more than Harry to cause him any real harm.”

Spike recovered quickly and managed to escape the lasso. He attempted to escape to find more objects to steal only to run into a magical dome powered by Moondancer, Minuette, Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine. The dome was one way and made to contain others. However, the four were uncertain how long they could contain a greed-fueled dragon since they didn’t have exceptional magical power like Twilight and Starlight did.

“Over here Spike!” Pinkie called out. Spike saw the pink mare with her party cannon pointed at him. With his lust for objects he tried to steal the cannon from the pink mare. “Hey! That’s mine!” Pinkie jumped on the cannon which made the dragon glare at her while swinging it around to shake the mare off. However, the barrel was still pointed at him as he tried to shake her off and Pinkie’s hoof accidentally hit the trigger, causing Spike to receive a point blank blast of confetti. The force pushed him back and made him drop the cannon.

Spike tried for the cannon again but felt a bite on his tail. Looking back he saw Rainbow doing her best to hold him back and keep him away from the edge of the barrier. However, Rainbow was lacking in terms of strength since she wasn’t an earth pony so Spike wagged his tail to shake her off.

“Rainbow, head back to the library, Spike’s hoard is there,” Twilight called out. “Return the hoard to their owners and maybe Spike will calm down.”

“Got it!” Rainbow then flew out of the containment barrier courtesy of a hole made for her by Moondancer.

Spike heard what they were planning and was now rushing to the edge of the barrier in desperation to defend his hoard. However, the ponies inside the barrier with him moved to stop him. He placed a foot over a spot where Applejack set a trap with her lasso to snare him. She and the others pulled hard to trip him. The strategy succeeded and Spike fell on his face.

However, the dragon looked at the group with blind fury and was ready to inflict harm if it meant he could get back to his hoard. He got back to his feet and seemed to grow a little more before he roared at the mares in front of him. He chose Lyra as his first victim and rushed toward her with his claws raised. Lyra screamed in fright and ran away, the dragon giving chase.

His pursuit was halted when a strong force struck his face from outside his vision which knocked him to the ground.

The others gasped in shock as they found that the one who committed the act was none other than Scootaloo who had come at him like a bullet. “Leave them alone!” she demanded.

“Scootaloo, what the hay!” Applejack exclaimed. “Get outta here, it’s dangerous!”

Spike got back up and glared balefully at Scootaloo who spread her wings challengingly.

What Scootaloo didn’t notice was that electricity had begun to arc on her wings. The electricity began to spread all over her body. Scootaloo wasn’t a trained fighter. However, her instincts as a pegasus were guiding her movements.

When Spike charged at her again, Scootaloo noticed that Spike was moving very slowly for some reason. Deciding not to question it, she darted forward and easily moved past Spike’s defenses before she slammed a hoof into his gut hard enough to knock the wind out of him and knock him to the ground once again. His body spasmed a few times from the shock.

“What was that?” Twilight asked. “Some form of advanced pegasus magic?”

“I’m not sure,” Fluttershy commented. “Maybe the Wonderbolts or one of the princesses might know.”

“Whatever she did, the attack electrocuted Spike. Maybe we can calm him down now.”

However, Spike still proved defiant as he got back up and used all of his strength to punch the barrier, effectively shattering it. Scootaloo was unable to continue fighting as the attack had completely drained her.

None of that mattered though, as they had succeeded in delaying Spike long enough. He only managed to run a few feet toward the library before his tail was grabbed again. This time he was flung through the air and slammed on his back.

Before Spike could register what happened, a certain blue rabbit jumped onto his chest and gave him a disappointed look. “Calm down and come back to your senses,” Sophia growled. However, Spike was beginning to roll over to try and throw her off. Sophia wasn’t having that so she moved closer to his eyes where she gave her special stare that instilled primal fear into her victims. Not even Spike was immune to the effect as fear overtook his sense of greed.

With his greed suppressed, Spike began to shrink until he returned to his original size. Whether it was from the adrenaline running out combined with the blows he sustained, or the intense fear he felt from Sophia’s gaze, he passed out.

“Spike!” Twilight called out as she ran to her assistant. “Spike, wake up, speak to me!”

“Relax Twilight, he’s still breathing,” Sophia assured. “I can still sense his neural activities and there are no abnormalities. He’s just passed out.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. Let’s get back to the library and put Spike to bed.”

While Twilight and her Canterlot friends returned to the library, some remained to address the other matter. However, it wasn’t until Rainbow Dash returned that the silence was broken. “I’m back, what did I miss?”

“Umm, Dash, you missed Scootaloo using some strange attack,” Fluttershy informed.

“Yeah, she had her wings spread like ‘Bring it on!’ and then she was all like Bzzzzzzzzt! And her whole body was like a storm cloud and punched Spike so hard that he was all…” Pinkie then spasmed like she was having a doozy with her Pinkie Sense.

“Wait, did her body become enveloped in lightning?” Rainbow asked. The mares nodded which made Rainbow’s eyes widen. “She actually performed the lost Storm Charge technique?! The last pony to ever use that was Commander Hurricane himself!”

The others looked at Rainbow as if she grew a second head. Rarity voiced that they were thinking, “Dash? How do you know about that? Did you actually read something?”

Rainbow’s face reddened, “Yeah, so what? I read about it because it sounded cool. Pegasi learn about it in flight school.”

“Oh yeah, I remember learning about it now,” Fluttershy recalled. “It must have slipped my mind.”

“What’s the Storm Charge technique?” Scootaloo asked. The technique had left her drained but she still had enough energy in her to move around, though she wouldn’t be flying for a while.

“Right, you wouldn’t know since you were raised in Ponyville. How about this, I’ll tell you the history behind that technique and you tell me how your wings got bigger. I saw you flying around as Mare Do Well so I’m guessing that wasn’t part of the illusion. In that case, we should go flying together sometime.”

Scootaloo gave a broad grin as if one of her lifelong dreams had just come true.

As they walked away, neither of the two were aware that the image of an electrified wing appeared on the orange filly’s flank.

Sophia watched the two pegasi leave while the others in the area dispersed. After seeing what Apple Bloom could do, and now Scootaloo, Sophia was even more confident that her side project might work.

Her thoughts turned to Spike who she noticed had taken quite a beating but still got back up after each blow. Whether it was instinct or the durability of his body, Spike was tougher than he looked. With proper training, she could turn the dragon into a force to be reckoned with. With the intellect of a pony to boot, Spike could be a cut above the rest of his thuggish race.

However, whether she would commit her effort to this project remained to be seen as she had three more fillies to observe before making the final call.

Author's Note

That's several episodes crammed into this one chapter. Frankly, I like this version of Mare Do Well better than Rainbow's friends showing her up to teach her a lesson.

Also for those who might be confused about Spike's size in regard to his greed growth compared to canon, Spike didn't get that large in this story as his attempts at hoarding were stopped early before things escalated that far. If anything, he grew to be about as big as Garble...maybe a little bigger.