Avatar: The Last Alicorn. Book 1: Pegasus

Chapters

Chapter 1: Spark
Chapter 2: Target
Chapter 3: Aerial
Chapter 4: Running
Chapter 5: Training
Chapter 6: Clouds
Chapter 7: Havoc
Chapter 8: Anger
Chapter 9: Operation
Chapter 10: Sabotage
Chapter 11: Narrow
Chapter 12: Obligation
Chapter 13: Wander
Chapter 15: Haven
Chapter 16: Arrival
Chapter 17: Offender
Chapter 18: Seasonally
cH4P73r Platypus
Spoiler: Book 2
Chapter 14: Change

Chapter 1: Spark

A hundred years ago the four nations lived in harmony under the guidance of the benders, ponies with control over the elements far exceeding even the most magical of unicorns. The Water Nation was ruled by the water unicorns, the Fire Tribes ruled by the fire unicorns, the Air Nomads ruled by the air pegasi, and the Earth Kingdom ruled by the earth ponies. Everything changed when the Water Nation attacked. Using powerful and forbidden magics they captured all the fire unicorns, removed their horns and blocked the sun from ever rising again. In this time the Avatar, a powerful alicorn who could use all four elements, vanished without a trace. This left many to believe that the cycle had been broken and our greatest hope lost. But many still fight and some still believe.

In the hundred years that have passed since the initial attack the Water Nation has grown ever stronger and the rest of the countries have been forced to band together. They now fight a war that seems almost unwinnable and struggle to survive in this harsh cold world. But I still believe, one day, the avatar will come and save us all.

- Excerpt from a young pegasus's diary.

A tall mountain range coated in thick clouds stood out like a tower in the cold, icy night. The moon stood high above, an unmoving symbol of the world around them. Ice coated the land and froze all who dared to leave the safety of their mildly warm homes.

On one of the larger mountains two small lights danced. On closer inspection they could be seen as small glowing stones attached to necklaces. One of them was worn by a light blue pegasus mare with a rainbow colored mane and tail. The pony was flying around and performing small twirls and spins as she waited for her companion. “Fluttershy, come on! Pinkie's probably already at the top and if we don't hurry who knows what we'll find up there?” the mare yelled down.

“S-sorry Rainbow Dash...” a small yellow pegasus mare with a pink mane and tail responded. Her wings were completely flat against her side so she was forced to, timidly, climb up the rock wall by hoof. A rope was tied around her waist that led to a nearby safety cloud, but even with that she moved with all the speed and urgency of a tortoise.

The blue pegasus let out another groan as she flew around the frightened mare, though she did occasionally give semi-helpful tips. “Careful, that rock on the left looks shakey. Make sure you get a good hoof hold. You know what would make this a lot easier? IF YOU WOULD JUST FLY!” Her sudden outburst echoed through the cold and empty land and caused a few small stones to tumble down from above. One tapped against the yellow pegasus's back as it fell.

“Eep!” Fluttershy squeaked as she molded her body to the wall and shook in fear.

“Ugh, whatever,” Rainbow said as she shook her head. “I'll be right back, I'm gonna check for an easier path,” the pegasus grumbled as she took off.

Before the frightened pony could object the flier was gone, leaving nothing but a puff of air. She slowly looked down before letting out another frightened whimper. Far below, hidden by the clouds, was where her and the rest of her people made their homes. As Air nomads they lived far above the ground, but despite living like that her entire life she was still terrified of heights. Even worse, the air was so thin that it made her panicked short breaths all but useless.

If it wasn't for the fact the others had begged her to come with them, and set up the safety cloud, she would have been content to lay in one of their huts by a nice toasty fire. She really wished she had it in herself to say no. She took one more deep breath before reaching up to grab another stone.

Rainbow, meanwhile, had already made it to the top of the cliff and was gazing around with a look of awe. The very top broke out of the thick layer of clouds formed around the cliffs and allowed her to see for miles in every direction. The skies were clear above and despite the cold air she loved it. There was nowhere within sight that went this far up. Heck she doubted there were more than a few places in the entire world that could go this high.

She finally gazed up. The moon stood far over head, a single white orb dangling in the night sky. It was almost as if it mi- her thoughts were cut off as a pair of hooves suddenly covered her eyes. “Gueeeeeeess who!” a happy voice said as the blue pegasus sighed.

“Pinkie, how long have you been here?” Rainbow asked with a hint of annoyance.

“A few minutes! I got bored waiting for you two, so I decided to make a puppet!” The hooves were removed as a pink earth pony mare, with an even pinkier mane and tail, pulled away. Around her neck she had a similar glow rock as the others. In her hooves she was now holding a normal rock. “I didn't finish it though.”

“Of course you did. Did you have any trouble getting up here?” Rainbow asked as she glanced at the excitable pony. She was a tad miffed that an earth pony had beaten her up here, but then again she did have two sizable handicaps. Namely Pinkie was Pinkie and she had to foal sit Fluttershy.

“Nope! I just took the secret cave straight up here!” the mare said as she hopped around in excitement.

“Oh ofcourse you d- wait, what? There aren't any caves around here. What are you talking about?”

“If you knew about it, then it would hardly be a secret, now would it? But since we're the bestest of friends I'll show you. Come on!” she skipped off behind some large rocks while beckoning the pegasus to follow her.

“Wait wait! I need to go get Fluttershy.” Rainbow said as she started to turn towards the cliff edge again. Suddenly the cliff began to shake and rumble under their hooves. Then the rocks began to fall out from under them. “Pinkie!” the pegasus shrieked as she instantly turned and dashed towards where the earth pony had been. Within moments her arms wrapped around her and yanked her up into the air.

Below them they could see the rocks caving in on themselves. Dirt and dust filled the air as Rainbow watched with a growing sense of dread. The top portion of the cliff had completely caved in on itself, leaving nothing left but a large hole in the cloud cover and rubble. “No no no,” the pegasus said as she frantically looked around. She couldn't see her yellow friend or the safety cloud.

She dove down and circled the cliff side, looking for any sign of her friend. “Fluttershy! Fluttershy, can you hear me?” She called out as she flew in tight circles around the rocks, hoping for even the light of her glow rock. Letting a frustrated growl out she began to flap her wings rapidly as the wind picked up and then shot out, clearing the dust clouds so she could see. “Fluttershy!”

“Dash!” Pinkie yelled as she held out a hoof. “There, look!” Near the edge of the collapse, one of the piles of dirt and rubble was slowly shaking and a small glow could be seen.

Rainbow glided to the rubble and, after testing the stability, dropped Pinkie near the pile. She then dove into the rocks, digging with all her might. She was soon gifted with the sight of a dirty feathery wing. “Fluttershy!” she said happily as she tore the rocks away, not even caring that some of the rocks tore at her hooves and she got covered in thick dirt. Within moments the little yellow mare was revealed. She was dirty, coughing and bleeding from a few places but for the most part she seemed fine.

“S-sorry...” she squeaked out as she looked up at Dash. “I-I didn't mean to scare you...”

“What happened? Are you okay?” Rainbow asked as she wrapped her arms tightly around her friend. “How come you didn't fall off? I couldn't see you or the cloud! Please don't ever scare me like that again!” After a short bit she realized she was holding the hug for quite a long time and nervously pulled back with a slight cough.

“I-I was just climbing and I... I found a small cavern... and I fell in it and I'm sorry...” the gentle mare said with another soft squeak, her voice practically a whisper when she finished.

“What? Say that a bit louder?” Rainbow asked as she leaned in closer. All she got for her troubles was an even softer response. “Fluttershy! Come on, sp-”

“Dashie, look!” Pinkie interrupted as she pointed behind them.

With all the dirt blown away a large purple stone had been partially uncovered. It was perfectly smooth and seemed to almost glitter in the moon light. “It's a... rock. What about it?” Dash asked as she gave pinkie a confused look.

“Maybe it caused the avalance!” the pony said as she hopped over to it and knocked on its side.

“Pinkie, don't be silly. Stop messing with that. We need to get Fluttershy back h-” Cracks suddenly formed across the purple rock as brilliant light shot out into the sky like a beacon, startling the blue pegasus into silence. The clouds around the cliff top were scattered and dissipated as the light shone brilliantly for miles.

“Auntie, look!” a perfectly white unicorn mare, with a curled purple mane and tail, yelled as she pointed out towards the great pillar of light in the distance. She was standing on the deck of a large flying ship, pulled by a number of pegasi wearing black armor. She wore black armor as well, except hers was shaped much like a dress. The only blemish on her body was her horn, which was covered in dark purple marks.

The mare turned to a white, much larger, unicorn who wore a rainbow colored cloak with little white wings sewn into it. Her mane was tied back and almost clear, allowing the colors of the cloak to be seen through it. “Aunt Celestia, do you know what this means?” the smaller unicorn asked as excitement filled her voice.

The elder unicorn didn't even look up as she sipped her juice. “That I'm not going to be able to finish my book?” She didn't move for a few moments before finally glancing to the light. “So there are some pretty lights in the sky, Princess Rarity?”

“It's the avatar! It has to be!” The princess ran to the helm of the air ship to bark orders at the four pegasi pulling it. “Pull faster! Head towards the light!”

“Niece, calm down,” Celestia said as she moved by the young mare. “Lights like that happen on occasion. Don't get your hopes up to high.”

“Auntie, this has to be the Avatar. Whatever made that light had to be incredibly powerful. It is my destiny to find it!” she yelled as she pointed towards the light once again. The ship slowly changed its angle as the mare felt excitement building in her.

“What the hay was that?” Rainbow groaned as she rubbed her eyes slowly. “All I can see are white lights...”

“You should have worn sunglasses, like me, Dashie,” Pinkie said from behind pink rimmed dark shades. Fluttershy just made a similar, squeaky groan in response to the duo's talking. The curious pink mare slowly moved towards the stone, which was now missing it's top half, and began to wonder.

Maybe it was an egg? Wow, whatever laid it must have been really big! Maybe it was a dragon egg, or maybe, ohhh! A pony! It must be a pony egg! Unicorn? A purple unicorn egg, of course, it all made sense. She'd never seen a unicorn have a foal before so that must be how they do it, they lay eggs! She'd never seen a baby unicorn either, that must mean... “Every pony listen up!” she quickly darted in front of her two pegasi friends. “Unicorns... don't have younglings! They lay eggs! Like giant chickens! They then hatch fully grown!”

“... What the hay are you talking about? Did a rock fall on your head?” Rainbow asked as her vision began to return.

“Look!” Pinkie said before grabbing the pegasus's head and pushing it into the rock, or what remained of it. Inside was a sleeping purple unicorn mare, with purple streaked mane and tail.

“Pinkie, let go!” Rainbow snapped. She let out an eek as her head was released and she tumbled into the rock. She righted herself quickly, an embarrassed blush on her cheeks as she tried to brush off her clumsy fall. She nudged the unicorn with her hoof. “Was she trapped in the rock? Maybe we should get her back to the village.”

“Okie dokey lokey!” Pinkie said as she grabbed the unicorn and quickly galloped over the edge of the cliff.

“What? PINKIE!” the blue pegasus screamed as she dashed to the edge of the cliff and looked down. She face hoofed when she finally saw the pink earth pony standing on an outcropping, the unicorn on her back.

“What?” she asked incredulously.

“Just... don't... do that...” Rainbow muttered as they began their descent down the cliff side.

Before long the small group made their way down to their village, which was about half way up the rocky mountains. The houses were made of stone or dug out from the mountain side or remodeled from caves. Clouds were packed tightly around the village to help keep the limited warmth and in the center of the village a large bonfire was kept eternally going. Rather than burning wood, special black rocks that could burn for ages were used to keep the fire going. A number of smaller fires were placed around the village to help keep them warm. Unfortunately, the rocks set out an acrid gray smoke that could not escape through the clouds and burnt the ponies throats, but it was still infinitely better than freezing outside the village. Close to the fires a small plot of dirt had been made to grow plants and sustenance, though very little could grow with the smokey air and lack of sunlight.

Rainbow, having been forced to help Fluttershy down, headed straight towards a small stone hut that was covered in thick blankets. Inside Pinkie was hopping around a small bed that was holding the unconscious purple mare. One of the village elders, a tan earth pony with a gray mane and tail they called Mayor mare, was looking the pony over.

“Who is she?” the pegasus asked as she entered the hut with Fluttershy close behind. The yellow mare bumped into her friend as the rainbow-mained pony froze in place. The unicorn was shifting from side to side and rolling on the bed, before her eyes suddenly opened and she stared at them.

“AHHHHHH!” the unicorn screamed into the mayor's face, who backed up and screamed as well. She then looked to the others and screamed again. Fluttershy ran from the hut with tears in her eyes and screaming just above a soft whisper. Pinkie Pie quickly reacted and shoved a cupcake straight into the screaming mares mouth, silencing the screams and replacing them with choked coughs.

Not even skipping a beat the earth pony shot into over drive. “Hi I'm Pinkie Pie, I've never seen you before so that must mean you're not from around here and I guess that makes sense since you were just born from a rock but don't worry I'm gonna be your best friend in the whole wide world and we're going to have lots of fun! Are all unicorns born from rocks? What's it like living in a rock? Do you like jazz?”

“I... what? I don't... what? I'm Twilight Sparkle. I'm... who are you? Where am I? Why is it so cold?” the unicorn said softly as she backed away from the hyperactive pony.

“You, waking up, Pinkie, Ponyville and because it's always cold silly!”

“I don't... live in a rock. Why would any pony live in a rock? I've never heard of Ponyville... is it because you live in rocks?” the unicorn asked in confusion.

“Then why were you in a giant rock, silly? We kinda live in rocks! Well, homes made of rocks. Cause we rock!”

“I don't know, I don't remember being in a giant rock.” She shivered before looking around. “Why is it so cold in here? Never mind, I'll take care of it.” She held her front hooves up as flame burst from the end. “Ah, that's better. You have a torch or something I can light?” she asked before looking up at the others and gulping at their shocked expressions. “W-what's wrong? Why are you all staring at me?”

“How... how did you do that?” Rainbow asked as she stared at the unicorn's hooves as if they had suddenly burst into insect pinchers.

“Ummm... fire bending. S-sorry, is there a problem with that? I just wanted to make it warmer,” she said nervously as she let the fire die out. “I won't do it if it freaks you out so much, but how long until sunrise? It really is cold.”

“What? Sunrise?” Rainbow stared at her as if she had gone mad. “The sun hasn't risen in over a hundred years. How long wer-” she was cut off as screams split the air. She darted to the hut's entrance to see the clouds surrounding the village being torn asunder and the moisture forming into a large ball of water above them. A large air ship was sitting on the outer rim of their village with four unicorns in dark metal armor, their horns aglow with the magic that held the water bubble in the air, standing on the aft.

Two more white unicorns stood on the edge of the ship. The smaller one yelled something out as a ramp slowly descended down. The two ponies, surrounded by four more ponies in black armor, slowly descended down the ramp as the younger called out again. “My name is Rarity, princess of the Water Nation. Bring out all your benders now or we will drown your flames and turn this small hovel into an icicle.”

Rarity let out an eek as a sudden rainbow blur slammed into one of her guards, knocking him to the ground. Rainbow stomped on the ponies chest and glared at the rest of them. “You can't just come here and threaten us.” She quickly turned and bucked a charging guard, sending him sprawling. “We're not going to-” Her movements stopped as she was suddenly doused in water and frozen in place, her eyes wide.

“So then,” Rarity said menacingly as she turned to Dash,” you must be the Avatar. Funny, I didn't imagine you'd be a pegasus, nor that you'd have such a... mane. Bring her on board. We'll... what do you think you're doing?” the princess asked in confusion as she watched Pinkie proceed to put party hats on all the guards and was in the midst of handing out kazoos.

“Well, I keep meeting all these new ponies today so I can't throw a party of all of you. Well I could, but then you'd have to be here for a really long time and you look like you all want to go so I decided I'd throw one really really big party so every pony could have fun and play games and then I'd have a party for all the new parties and-” She was finally silenced as the white unicorn put a hoof into the mares mouth.

“We are the Water Nation. We do not have time for parties and we do no-” TOOT! Rarity's head whipped around to glare at the one who dared to play a kazoo and interrupt her! “Aunt Celestia, please! We don't have time for such things! Throw that away!”

“But a party might be nice. We've been out for so long...” Celestia objected.

“We do not have time for such foolishness! Spit that out! Spit it out... there!” she said as she turned back to glare at Dash, not noticing as her aunt hid the discarded kazoo in her cloak. “Let it be known, that on this day, Princess Rarity captured the Avatar. That all-”

“That's not the avatar,” a soft voice spoke out, drawing the unicorn's eyes back to look over the crowd.

“Who said that? Show yourself!” she yelled as she searched. After a few moments a purple unicorn slowly stepped forward. “And why do you say she's not the avatar?”

“Because I am!” Suddenly Twilight lifted her hoofs as flames shot forward to encircle the frozen Rainbow Dash, melting the ice around her, before the flames shot out at Rarity.

“Hi-yah!” Rarity yelled as she lifted her front hoof. Water shot down from the orb above and formed a small shield of ice between them, extinguishing the flame and filling the air with steam. “A fire bender? Of course. The fire benders have been contained for a hundred years. This proves that you are the avatar! Now!” she yelled before holding out her hoof. “You're coming with me! You'll be my prisoner or-EEK!” She ducked as fire flew over her head, singeing the ramp behind her and leaving a black mark.

“I'm not going anywhere with you! Leave this village and go! I may not really know what's going on or even who you are, but I'm definitely not going with you and I'll kick your flank if you try anything!” Twilight growled as she stomped her hoofs. “You hurt these ponies who have shown me nothing but kindness since I met them, even if it has only been for a short while. I'm not going to let you keep trying to hurt any pony!” she yelled as she lifted her head high and flames shot towards the unicorn in rapid bursts.

Rarity backed away as she struggled to knock the powerful flames aside with the water she drew from the large bubble above. “Drench it!” she ordered.

“But your highness, if we do that the torches will-” one of the guards objected but was silenced by a motion of her hoof.

“I SAID DO IT!” she shrieked as the water above came crashing down, flooding the village and extinguishing all the torches. With the lights gone all that remained was the glow from the air ships torches and the moon above. The clouds which once kept their village warm were now torn apart and the cold chill of the night wrapped around the wet ponies like the breath of the reaper. Slowly their wails began to fill the air as despair clutched them.

“Light them!” several ponies screamed as they struggled in vain to light the wet torches.

“They're to wet!”

“We're going to freeze!”

“We can't survive without them!” Sobs and shrieks of fear filled the night as the ponies stared at their executioner's, the Water Nation ponies, in terror.

Twilight looked around at the frightened ponies before glaring at Rarity. “How could you?”

“You brought this on them, Avatar. If you had just-”

“HOW COULD YOU?!” the Avatar screamed as her horn and eyes began to glow with a brilliant white. Wings of light formed on her sides as she began to rise from the ground below.

“W-what are you doing? Guards!” Rarity yelled as she lifted her left hoof up and pushed it forward. Shards of ice formed in front of her before sailing forward at the glowing unicorn. As they came within inches of the Avatar they stopped in mid air. A few moments later they were sent hurtling back, lodging into the ship. A massive wind began to spin around the princess, her soldiers and their ship as they were all picked up.

Twilight lifted her hoofs up and then brought them slamming down as the balloon of the air ship was punctured and crushed by the fierce winds. The ship and its unfortunate crew were then sent spiraling down over the cliff, held tightly in the fierce winds, as their screams soon vanished from hearing range. The glowing unicorn's head slowly turned to face the soaked villagers as she raised her right hoof again. The water that once doused the village was slowly brought up into the air to reform the massive orb of liquid, before being sent off the cliff opposite where she had sent the balloon.

The powerful bender's gaze changed one last time as she turned to face the east. She slowly lifted both hooves towards the horizon. Sweat formed across her body as slowly, centimeter by centimeter, she lifted her hooves up. A small yellow beam of light fell on the village as gasps of shock and amazement filled the air as a new sight greeted them. The sun, lost for a hundred years, filled the sky with it's warm embrace as the moon's cold clutch over the land was lost behind the west's horizon. Twilight's glow slowly faded as the panting mare lowered to the ground before finally collapsing onto her side, unconscious.

Far away, across the ocean and deep in Water Nation lands, a massive castle stood over looking the capital. Frantic hooves ran through the cold halls, past tapestries of previous rulers and around icy doorways that had long since frozen shut. “Nightmare Moon!” a guard yelled as he ran into the royal throne room. It was a large open hall with a throne on the opposite end of the massive doorway. Eight intimidating black pillars, with designs of black and white unicorns carved on them, supported the roof. Four pillars sat on each side of the room and between each pair a massive golden bowl filled with fire cast flickering shadows across the room. “The sun, it-”

“Do you think me stupid?! Perhaps blind?” an angry voice called from behind one of the pillars as she stepped in front of the terrified guard. She was a black unicorn, far taller than an average one. She wore midnight blue and black armor with dark metal ritual wings built into the sides. Her mane was dark and flowing, almost like a thick liquid, making it see through but darkening all behind it. “Do you think I cannot see that the accursed orb has risen and brightens the sky?” She stepped towards the shaking guard, who was unable to speak aside from stutters, and yelled into his face. “Fetch me Admiral Trixie, you buffoon.” She glared at the soldier as he retreated.

“How many casualties?” Rarity called out as she slowly got to her hooves. She looked around at her battered ship and crew and noted the torches had all gone out. Ironic. That would need to be fixed before they froze to death.

“A few minor injuries, but no casualties. But the ships not going to be moving on its own, we need... we need...” the answering guard trailed off as he looked at the sky.

“We need what? Speak up, what are you sa-” and the words caught in her throat as she finally realized what she was missing. It was light out and she could see without the torches, how could this be? She gazed up at the sky as her mouth fell open in awe. She'd heard stories of it, but never imagined it would be so... She was forced to look away as the light burned her eyes.

“Gather your men. I want every pony ready to move out,” Rarity ordered as she turned back to the mountain. “We're climbing back up and we're getting the Avatar!” From the bottom and with the new found light she could see just how far they had fallen. It was a miracle any of them, let alone all of them, had survived. But she didn't care. She would never give up. She would reclaim her honor even if she had to climb this mountain a thousand times.

Chapter 2: Target

Twilight held onto the green scales for dear life, the wind blowing around her as every moment felt like she might be tossed off and plummet to the world below. All she could hear were screams and explosions as the sky itself rained down around them, destroying all that was struck. A whistling sound drew her attention up and, as she watched helplessly, a star pulled itself from the sky and hurtled down at her. Within moments the heat became unbearable as the white light enveloped her.

“Find the great dragon...”

Twilight sat up quickly, her body drenched in a cold sweat. She looked around frantically as she tried to remember where she was and what she was doing here. She was in a small stone home, with a thick blanket over the door and a fire in the center. The room was very hot but not very smokey, so she assumed there was ventilation somewhere. She glanced down and saw she was laying in a rather warm bed.

Slowly the Avatar got to her hoofs and, taking wobbly steps, made her way towards the entrance. With more difficulty than she liked she pushed out through the blanket and entered the world outside.

Light blinded her for a moment, forcing her to blink a few times as her eyes tried to adapt. When she could see again she looked out into the world and saw... almost nothing but white. White as far as the eye could see. The clouds no longer surrounded the small village so she could see for what felt like forever, but everything was covered in snow and ice. For miles and miles the returning sun revealed the damage of its hundred year absence. She shivered as an icy wind billowed around her, chilling her to the bone. She glanced up towards the sun and saw a hoofful of remaining clouds, but they were being destroyed rapidly by a rainbow colored blur that moved through the sky almost to fast to see. Soon the life giving rays of the sun would cover the entire land.

“You're awake!” a voice yelled in her ear, making her mane and tail stand on end. She quickly turned and readied herself for an attack, a small flame on the tip of her horn.

The fire bender let out a sigh of relief when she recognized the pony that startled her. “Oh, hello. Pinkie Pie was it?” she asked as she let the flame on her horn die down. She couldn't help but feel a little disturbed by the way the earth pony kept hopping around without seeming to actually move anywhere. She also noticed that the home she exited from seemed to be on the edge of the village, one of the closest to the cliffs edge. “How long was I out for? How long has the sun been out?”

“A couple hours to both! We had a party for you but you slept through it but we can throw another one. Here, have a cupcake!” the pink pony said she she thrust a chocolate cupcake forward.

Twilight narrowly avoided having it forced into her mouth by taking a quick step back. She gingerly took the pastry as she fake smiled and gently nibbled on it, realizing it wasn't too bad. “I uhhh... Can we talk? Seriously for a moment? Without you hopping around?” she let out a sigh of relief as the earth pony stopped hopping. She then cringed when she saw the pink ponies tail and mane begin to vibrate, as if she might explode at any moment from build up. “What happened?”

“Well first we climbed the mountain and broke your egg and brought you down here and then you woke up and then-”

“NO!” the unicorn interrupted quickly. “I um, just... Is there any pony else I can talk too? Any pony? Her?” She pointed to Fluttershy. Who promptly dove head first under a rock, her flank sticking out slightly and shivering. “... She does know I can still see her, doesn't she?”

“Probably! So, you're a fire bender, right? Does that mean you can make fire anywhere?”

“What? Oh, yeah. Technically. It's almost impossible to make it under water and quite difficult to make in very cold places. It's honestly so cold here that making a small ball of flame is hard. I think it's even colder now than it was when I first woke up...” she said with another shiver. “Well, I can make more if I really try. Like when I melted your friend... and...” her voice trailed off as the pink pony began to hop around. Yup, apparently the build up took over.

“I've never ever ever seen a fire bender or even a unicorn before! Then I got to see a whole bunch in just one day! Though I guess that makes sense since we don't have any unicorns here and those ones were after you and the only benders we even have are Dashie and Fluttershy, though I'm not even sure Fluttershy can bend. But most air nomads who are pegasi can bend so I think she can but she never tries it cause she doesn't even like flying let alone trying to blow things over. Though Dashie uses hers all the time and-” her words were muffled, but not stopped, as a purple hoof was pushed into her mouth.

“Please Pinkie. Please. I... need a little more time. Let's start from the beginning, okay? I'm a fire bender. I'm also a unicorn. It's really not uncommon where I'm from and not worth getting this excited over,” though even as she said that she highly doubted the earth pony ever got under excited about anything. “Air nomads have unicorns too, correct? I know they can't bend but they shouldn't be so uncommon that they are worth getting this excited about.”

“Well, yeah. Not here though! We're mostly just earth ponies. Most of the pegasi and the unicorns had to go to Cloudsdale. Though now that the suns up maybe they will come back? Ohhh! We can hold a welcome home party!” the pink pony said excitedly as she began hopping around faster.

“Err... Cloudsdale? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that place. Why would they all head there?” Twilight asked as she slowly backed away from the, she was quite certain, crazy earth pony.

“Oh, that's easy. It's the capital! Dashie was going to take me and Fluttershy up there when we got a few years older. There are a lot of things there, the flying academy, bending academy, not to mention the main importer of most air countries goods. Though I think the Water Nation is still trying to occupy it, but-” she was cut off as the village ponies began to shriek and run into their homes.

Twilight looked around frantically, but was unable to see the cause of alarm. Until she looked up and let out a soft gasp. Four of the pegasi from before, wearing their Water Nation armor, had returned and were attacking the flying rainbow blur. One of the them were sent flying into a nearby cloud, but the other three managed to finally get a hold of the blur and bring it down to the ground.

“Let me go!” Rainbow howled as she bucked and thrashed about in frustration, but they slowly managed to pin and tie her up. “Buncha cowards! What's a mattar? Scared to take me one on one?! Come on, I could take any of yah with one hoof behind my back!” She tried to flap her wings, but they were to tightly bound. Within a few more moments she was silenced by a gag.

“AVATAR!” one of the guards yelled as he put a hoof on top of the struggling blue mare. Their fourth member slowly drifted down from the above cloud, though he was nursing a swollen jaw. “Come out! We know you're here and we have a hostage!” The guard was suddenly toppled over as Rainbow's thrashing enabled her to get a well placed buck to the ponies chest.

Twilight gulped as she watched the guards while hiding behind a stone house. “Okay, maybe if I tried... I know! I'll outsmart them! First I'll walk up behind one of them and say I'm going to give up! Then when they untie the blue pegasus I'll convince her to help me fight th-” she cringed as one of the poor guards let out a high pitched squeal of pain. “Or I'll just get them to untie her. Then I'll use my magic to help us both escape.” She turned to look at Pinkie, but the mare was already gone.

The Avatar sighed and shook her head before coming out from behind the small home. She looked around nervously before smiling to the guards. One was on the ground in the fetal position, two were trying to hold the blue mare down while the last tried securing the ropes so no more mishaps occurred. “Okay, you win. I surrender. You can let her go,” she said as she moved closer, mentally preparing her first attack.

“That's not going to happen,” the guard said as Twilight's plan came crashing down around her. Though honestly she couldn't blame them as one of the guards were actually crying. “Grab her and tie her up.” He said to the other two guards.

“Y-you do realize I'm a fire bender, right?” the unicorn said as she quickly backed away from the two advancing guards. “Ropes are useless. I'd just burn them off and be free, right?” she informed them nervously as they kept coming after her, undeterred. “Really, it wouldn't do any good. Waste of your TIME!” she yelped before turning and running as the guards followed in hot pursuit. They split off and tried to corner her as she dived and weaved around the small village, desperately trying to come up with a new plan.

One came to her as she rounded another small home, unfortunately she ran straight into one of the guards. While he did stumble back a few steps, the sudden blow brought stars to her eyes and made her wobble backwards before falling on her flank. That armor was harder than she thought. She let out a startled shriek as another guard grabbed her from behind and the ropes began to wrap around her.

Twilight struggled and threatened them, to no avail, as they laid her across the back of their strongest member and began the slow descent down the mountain.

Far across the ocean, in the Water Nation capital castle, Nightmare stared across her table in disdain. Her admiral, a blue unicorn with a long star covered purple hat and cape and a silver mane, sat across from her. On either side of the blue unicorn stood the admiral's personal guards. Snails, a tall orange unicorn with a green mane and tail, and Snips, a short stumpy green unicorn with orange mane and tail. Nightmare found the three of them to be intolerable. The two guards were incompetent and she could never understand how the admiral could stand, let alone choose, the brain dead buffoons.

Trixie was intolerable for a different reason. Her eyes were always on the throne, waiting for a chance to wipe out the ruler and become the new Nightmare Moon. If she was even half as brilliant as she claimed then the ruling bender would actually consider her a threat and have eliminated her ages ago. As it was, the mare was still quite ruthless. Despite her young age she had made her way to the top ranks by eliminating, destroying, humiliating and completely breaking all who dared to stand in her way. Such a mentality was just what the powerful unicorn needed.

“The sun has risen and that means one of two things. Either the avatar has returned or fire benders have escaped our watch. I care not which, but you are to find and eliminate whichever one it is. You are to use whatever means are necessary,” as Nightmare Moon spoke her voice echoed through the halls as she towered over the three ponies. The two guards cowered and refused to look her in the eye, but Trixie stared back confidently. She almost admired her courage. Almost.

“Ah, of course your majesty. I will find and eliminate whoever dares to bring the sun back into our skies. No need for you to worry so,” the general said with a wicked smirk. The ruler noticed the back handed comment but kept her cool, not allowing the unicorn to think she had gotten to her. “But since this is a mission of grave importance, I do have a special request.” Slowly her blue hoof slid forward across the table, holding a small note.

The dark unicorn slowly lifted the note and read through it. Her only reaction was a slight twitch of her eye before speaking. “Very well... if you feel you are unable to accomplish this task alone, I will approve your request.” It was the general's turn to twitch, but only slightly. “You leave immediately. Dismissed.”

“Of course your majesty. This task is as good as done.” Trixie bowed her head once before turning to march off, her head held high. Once the door shut behind her she sneered at it. Stupid princess! She had no idea who she was messing with! Sure, the princess was powerful for now. But one day the Great and Powerful Trixie would rule all! With every mission her power grew greater and her influence grew wider! “Hurry up you blithering idiots, we're going to the south pole,” she called back as the other two struggled to keep up with her hurried pace.

“But why, Great and Powerful Trixie?” Snips asked in his dulled and awkward voice. The general held no small amount of contempt for the two. They were stupid, weak and their bending was sub par at best. However they made up for it with loyalty, obedience and a willingness to sacrifice themselves for her. A good leader always kept a few expendable pawns nearby. As an added bonus, many of her soldiers found them amusing and a great sense of moral.

Fortunately, She didn't need them to be smart. She was a genius. She needed guards who would follow her without question, not ones that would try to interfere with her plans or out think her. She also took quite a bit of pleasure explaining her amazing plans and watching as their minds practically exploded at the sheer brilliance incarnate that was the Great and Powerful Trixie.

“Tell me Snips, what is at the south pole?” she asked in her condescending tone. Soldiers milled about the three as they walked down the hall, for the most part ignoring them while only a few saluted. Her ship, the Tsunami, was being prepped for its next flight as pegasi flew around it and made sure everything was in working order.

“Ummmm...” the unicorn said slowly with a slack jawed stare, “Snow... Ice... Santa hooves?”

“That's the north pole, you blithering idiot. The Ice Block, Water Nations highest security prison and home to Water Nation's most dangerous criminals,” she paused for a moment and grinned at the prospect of that useless princess, Rarity, ending up there if Celestia ever finally gives up on her. “and do you know who guards the ice block?”

Both the unicorns froze as Snips gulped nervously. “Y-you don't... mean... not the...”

“Yes. Them. The legendary fliers of Water Nation. The Shadowbolts.” Her wicked cackle made the two guards blood freeze as they looked to each other for a second, before running to catch up.

Far across the world on, on an icy mountain, four pegasi and a tied up unicorn slowly made their descent down the steep rocks. Twilight kept her eyes closed, even though it was moot since she was blindfolded. She could feel them moving slowly, the pegasus carrying her forced to hop from out cropping to outcropping due to her extra weight making it difficult to fly. She took long, slow breaths as she prepared for her escape attempt.

She tried to light the flame within her, to turn her anger into a burning inferno. Dwelling on all the misfortune that had happened to her since her awakening. Here she was in a place she didn't know, being attacked, being fillynapped, freezing her mane off and these ponies just expected her to take it! No more! She would show them! The inner flame turned to a blaze as she growled and opened her eyes. A powerful howl filled her gag as flames erupted all over her body.

The pegasus carrying her let out his own howl of pain before rearing up and sending her flying off his back. Still blinded by the burning blindfold she landed with a pained oof, closing her eyes yet again. After a few moments she felt the burning ropes weaken and she was able to pull herself free, snapping and tearing them off before jumping to her hooves.

With a single motion she tore the smoldering cloth off her eyes and glared defiantly at the pegasi while she tried to blink the ash out. Burning chunks of rope still stuck to her, some of which had molded to her mane, but she could deal with that later. For now she just stomped her hoof once and dared them to charge her.

Cries of pain came from below as the scorched guard laid on his stomach while another guard tossed ice and snow onto his back. The other two just hovered in the air and glared at her. They looked ready to charge her any moment as she took a step back and raised a hoof, flames enveloping it. “Stay back! I'll-” but her words were cut short as a rainbow blur slammed into one of the hovering guards and sent him hurtling into the mountain side.

The second guard looked stunned for a moment before turning around, having felt a tap on his shoulder. “Ummm... Excuse me, but is it okay if I knock you out of the sky and umm... take the avatar and run away? Please?” Fluttershy asked with her sweetest smile.

“Ye- NO!” the guard yelled as he got a hold of himself and shook his head. He let out a startled yelp as the rainbow blur suddenly pile drove him into the mountain side as well.

“Fluttershy, what was that?! You don't ask permission to hit them! You just hit them! Like so! You!” Rainbow pointed at Twilight, making her freeze. “Come on!” she dived down and scooped the startled unicorn up before flying above.

The remaining unharmed guard, unwilling to pursue alone, watched them leave with a fierce scowl. “Avatar! We'll find you! No matter where you run you will never get away from Water Nation! You won't escape!” his voice echoed after them as the three flew back up towards the village.

“Thank you,” Twilight said as she was gently deposited on the ground. She glanced around at the village before letting out a soft sigh. “I appreciate all you have done for me, especially saving me just now. But I have to leave,” her voice was soft and sad as she looked away from the two.

“What? Why? Don't worry about Water Nation, they're just a buncha push overs. We can handle those losers,” Rainbow said with a smirk.

“No. It's not just that. Well, it is mostly that,” Twilight said sadly. “But I need to return home. If the fire tribes are in danger from the Water Nation then they'll need me. Even if not for that, if I stayed here more ponies would come looking for me. More soldiers. One of you would get hurt if I stay,” she stomped a hoof down as she gazed at the dirt. “Please understand, I am very grateful for your help. But I cannot stay and endanger you all longer than I already have,” her voice got softer and softer with each word. “Please don't argue...”

Rainbow scoffed and shook her head. “You gotta be kidding me. You'll get lost, or hurt, or captured, or any number of things. You don't know anything about the world. If you go out alone it would be suicide,” the pegasus said with a hmph as she turned away. After a few moments of silence she smirked. “So I'll come with you too. Help keep you out of trouble.”

“What?!” the Avatar shrieked in shock, turning to look at the pegasus. “But you have things you have to do here! Like, the clouds and ummm... I'm sure you do a lot of other things here!”

“Please. The weather practically takes care of itself. Besides, you're the Avatar! If I let you go by yourself and you end up getting captured or worse it'll be my fault. No way I'm having that on my head. I'm coming with you and that's final.”

“But, I... Thank you,” Twilight said as she turned her gaze back to the ground, but was unable to suppress a happy smile. “I appreciate your wi-”

“I-I'm coming too!” Fluttershy shouted just barely loud enough for them to hear from a few feet away. “I-it's important a-and you s-shouldn't go alone a-and I'll try not to be a burden... sorry...” her gaze lowered with each word as the two soon didn't have the heart to tell her no.

“Thank you. Both of you. If you both want to help me I won't turn you away. But please remember that it will be hard, I don't really know where my final destination is and there will be a lot of ground to cover. Not to mention I can't fly, so...” once again she trailed off as a massive shadow fell over the three ponies. They looked up and stared, mouths agape, at a large purple balloon with a big brown basket. Pinkie Pie was leaning over the side and waving happily at them.

“Are we going yet? I got everything packed and-” the pink mare called down.

“What?! How did you know, why are you, where did you get a, to many questions!” the Avatar shrieked at the pony.

“Pinkie sense,” the earth pony responded with a large grin, as if that answered everything.

“What does that mean? How do- eeeek!” the unicorn let out another shriek as she was suddenly grabbed from behind by Rainbow and hauled up to the balloon. She was deposited onto packages filled with… well... “Why are there so many balloons and streamers in here? Is that a cake? What is all this? Why do you have bags of glitter?!”

“Well duh silly, we can't have a proper going away party without these things,” Pinkie said as she blew a kazoo in Twilight's ear. “Why do you think I ran off earlier? We're going to have the best mid air party ever!” the pony hopped around, making the unicorn close her eyes in fear, before throwing a large fire cracker out the side to explode a moment later. “Weeee!”

“Careful! Stop! You're shaking the basket! You're going to get us both killed!” Twilight shrieked as she finally lunged out and grabbed the hyperactive pony by the shoulders. “Just. Stand. Still,” she said firmly as she gave the two pegasi a confused look. She was startled to see they were already a few yards from them.

“We'll take care of some things here, but we'll catch up to you guys later. But here, I'll give a little boost! Hiya!” Rainbow yelled as she charged forward, wings flapping wildly, and slammed into the balloon. Wind rushed by them as the air filled vehicle began to make it's way through the skies.

“H-here we go...” Twilight said as she dropped down as low as she could get in the basket, occasionally giving Pinkie fearful looks as she hopped about. She wondered for a moment if the entire trip would feel this off kilter. She glanced back up at Pinkie and figured yes, it would. “Next stop, the fire tribes.”

Chapter 3: Aerial

“I-I-It's freezing!” Twilight complained as she curled up in a corner of the balloons carriage, a desperate but futile attempt to keep herself warm. A far more successful method she used from time to time was to form small bursts of flames in her hoofs and allowing the warmth to temporarily coat her body. “W-why are there f-four bags of g-glitter and s-six bags of s-streamers b-but not a single blanket?!” the unicorn asked the pink mare who kept hopping around, apparently unfazed by the low temperature.

“Because who knows when we'll find more glitter or streamers silly? Every pony has blankets, but not every pony has party supplies! What would we do if-” Pinkie was cut off as she shrieked and her right eye twitched, back left hoof shook and tail curled.

“What's wrong? Aye you okay? Are you having a seizure?” the purple mare asked as she jumped to her hooves and moved to help the strange pony.

“Pinkie sense! Water nation ponies are coming, they'll be here soon!” the earth pony said as she reached for the torch and tugged, letting the heat blow out and raise the balloon into the sky. She didn't let it go until they were just above the clouds and hidden from view.

“How could you possibly know that? Look, there's no pony for mi-” Twilight went quiet as a flapping sound could suddenly be heard. Within moments a heavily damaged airship, pulled by four pegasi and with Rarity standing on the deck, flew under them, barely visible through small breaks in the clouds. Large chunks of wood had fallen off or been torn away but there was still barely enough room for the fallen princess and her crew to maintain footing. The balloon had even been patched with thick cloth.

The princess was scanning the horizon heavily, looking in every direction for any sight of the Avatar. At one time her eyes even turned towards their direction, but failed to see them through the cloud cover and distance. As quickly as the air ship had appeared it passed away into the horizon. Twilight slowly let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. “How did you know? They weren't even within sight, did you hear them? If you hadn't gotten the balloon up here, as fast as they were going, we would have been-”

“Pinkie sense,” the mare informed her as she slowly lowered them out from the clouds.

Twilight stared at the earth pony for a few moments, trying to go through her vast book knowledge to discover any previous mentioning of such a thing. Sadly nothing came to mind. “Pinkie sense? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with it?”

“Well, it's my own special sense! Most ponies have six. Well, some have seven. But I have nine or was it eight?” Pinkie seemed to be counting on her hooves and for a moment Twilight would have sworn she saw more than four, but after shaking her head she counted again and only saw the normal amount of hooves.

“Pinkie, focus please. That's- AH!” she quickly turned to look back the way they came. “Wait, if those soldiers are following us they might have seen Fluttershy and Rainbow on the way! What if they were captured? We need to follow them!”

“Oh no, they're fine. They'll catch up to us when we get to the fire lands.”

“How can you possibly know that, Pinkie? No, let me guess. Pinkie sense?” Twilight's voice dripped with sarcasm.

“No, silly billy! I just read ahead. My pinkie sense isn't... do you get the feeling we've had this conversation before?” Pinkie asked as she looked up at the sky and gave a little wink.

“What? That makes even less sense! What is-”

“-your pinkie sense supposed to be, anyway?” Pinkie interrupted, smiling at the confused mare. “Well sometimes I get weird little feelings. Like if my tail gets twitchy somethings about to fall or if my shoulder gets achy there's an alligator in the tub.”

“That... that doesn't make any sense. That's premonition, ponies can't do that. Even unicorns can't do that!”

“Why? You do bending and that's magical.”

“Bending is a genetic predisposition and something you practice and study. It's something you control and perform through force of will and magic. Randomly having aches, pains, and twitches can't predict the future!”

“Why not?”

“Because... because it just doesn't work that way. Magic doesn't work that way. It's common sense.”

“Why?” Pinkie asked again.

Twilight's mind raced for an answer as she mentally went through all her studies during her time with her people. She knew there was plenty she didn't know about magic but she was certain of one thing. “Because in my training that was one of the magics I was told could never be performed by unicorns. Plenty have been trying for centuries with no success, so I seriously doubt you were just born with the ability,” the Avatar said matter of factually. She then pointed a hoof out towards the direction they came from. “See? There's Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. We're not in fire lands yet either, so your little premonition was wrong.”

“Ummmm... Twilight?” Pinkie said as she motioned in the opposite direction.

“What?” the mare asked as she turned around and let out a strangled yelp. The peaks of the mountains were peaking through the clouds and as the balloon floated over them one scraped along the bottom of the basket. As they moved towards the dark swirling clouds, she could see the white clouds dispersing and feel the temperature rising.

“My tails twitching!” Pinkie shrieked. White light temporarily blinded them and a massive boom deafened them as a lightning bolt arched out and struck the balloon, setting it aflame. The two ponies screamed as they grabbed each other, their balloon plummeting to the ground. As the ground came up at them like a vast and impenetrable wall Twilight closed her eyes, unwilling to watch the inevitable stop.

The stop was far gentler than she expected. Instead of immovable dirt slamming into them and the sounds of things shattering and breaking she instead felt powerful hooves wrap around her and the rest of the balloon slip by. She squeaked as she slowly opened her eyes and looked below to see the balloon hit the ground and crumble to pieces from the force. A bit off to her right she could see Fluttershy holding the pink mare aloft and glanced down at the blue hooves holding her tightly.

“Oh no!” Pinkie wailed in horror as she looked at the destruction below. “The party supplies are ruined! What are we going to do if we meet a new pony?!” She flailed her hooves around in worry, almost making Fluttershy drop her. They all just stared at her in silence for a few moments before slowly, and far more gently, making their way to the ground.

With solid ground beneath her Twilight took a breath and looked around. The dark clouds were gone as fast as they appeared, taking their deadly lightning with them. Unfortunately they also seemed to take the warmth with them as the icy wind enveloped the four travelers in its embrace. The ground was cold and hard and far off in the distance she could see the valley they were in was surrounded by ice covered trees and mountains with only one opening through the peaks, miles away. Fortunately some of the ice seemed to be melting from the newly risen sun's heat.

The unicorn let out an annoyed sigh before turning to the others. “I guess from here out we're hoofing it. Let's salvage what we can and head out.” The others nodded and one by one they began gathering everything that still functioned. Fortunately most of the food was fine. Unfortunately, which was the cause of much wailing from their pink friend, the majority of the party supplies had been torn, scattered, or outright destroyed so only one bag remained of the initial abundance.

With heavier hearts the four ponies began their travel across the icy valley, the frozen grass crunching under their hooves.

“Faster! Flap faster you lazy pegasi!” Rarity shrieked at the four fliers pulling her ship. The battered vessel soared just outside the mountains that surrounded the valley, creaking and groaning in protest at the strain forced on its battered hull. “Auntie, we're wasting time! We should go straight through Lightning Valley and come around back to capture her! We'll never catch up to her at this rate!”

“It'll be fine dear niece. None would dare to enter Lightning Valley, going around is the only way. Unless you'd prefer we track them on foot once our ship is destroyed,” Celestia said with a grin as her niece turned away with a huff. Once her back was turned the larger unicorn gave a wink to the nearby guards and slowly pulled out her kazoo. She took a deep breath before giving it one loud toot and then quickly hiding it as the fallen princess's head whipped around.

“What was that?!” Rarity snapped as her eyes shifted around the others angrily.

“What was what?” Celestia asked, her face the picture of innocence.

“I thought I heard a... Nevermind. It's not important,” the mare said as she shook her head and walked towards the door. “I'm heading back to my room. What's left of it. Call me the moment the Avatar's balloon is spotted!” With those final words she opened the door to the lower decks and stormed inside. She slammed the door behind her, making it rattle in place for a few moments before finally falling off its hinges and clattering to the deck. She turned to glare at it for a few more moments before storming off.

“What a brat,” one of the guards mumbled. He then turned to Celestia with a nervous look. “My apologies. But, with all due respect, why do you allow her to speak to you in such a manner? She's no longer the princess and her foolish chase of the Avatar is doing nothing but risking our lives.” A number of other ponies mumbled their agreements as they kept from looking the white unicorn in the eyes.

The mare let out a soft sigh as she turned back ahead. “My niece is... a complex pony. It may not always seem like it but her heart is in the right place. Unfortunately, fate has worked against her in the past and now she's working her hardest to try and get back what she lost and what she believes she needs.”

“What could possibly have happened to warrant this behavior? She's your niece and she treats you like-” the guard went silent as the unicorn held her hoof up.

A look of sadness and pain formed on Celestia's face as she began, “If you really wish to learn what has caused this, I will tell you.” She let out a pained sigh before continuing. “It happened long ago, soon after my sister was chosen to become the new Nightmare Moon,” she shook her head in disappointment, “and I was summoned to a war room meeting. Young Rarity begged me to allow her to come, as she wished to see a piece of what her future would one day bring should she become the new Nightmare Moon. I was skeptical and unwilling at first but I eventually relented... If I had just held firm and said no none of this may have happened,” a single tear went down her face as she remembered the events.

“It was going smoothly at first, but then they began talking about new designs for the armor of our soldiers. Well... while I admit the designs were extremely tacky and disjointed, not to mention the colors. Orange, green and yellow? Oh, and the complete over use of the crescent moon. Fortunately, I knew well enough to keep my mouth shut.

Rarity, on the other hoof, did not. She began to speak out about the atrocious designs and colors. That the soldiers of our nation deserve to wear armor that fit our countries glory, not ones that made them look like rejects from a clown school.” The mare took another deep breath. “It, unsurprisingly, did not go over well. The designer was furious, screaming about how she couldn't see her vision and a water duel was called forth for the young princess which she instantly accepted. To be honest, I imagine a scolding and slight tap on the wrist would have been enough, it was just an outfit after all and that designer was quite up tight.

What the young princess failed to realize, however, was that by speaking out against Nightmare Moon's designer in such a manner was to speak out against Nightmare Moon herself. She refused to fight her mother and... she was punished. Severely. Banished from the nation on a what was believed to be a futile quest to find the avatar, her horn forced to bear the mark of a traitor.”

Silence reigned on the deck as the ponies stared at her. After a few moments the nearest guard spoke up, “I... I had no idea. No wonder the princess searches so hard for the avatar. It's the only way to return everything to normal.”

“Things will never return to normal. But the Avatar gives Rarity hope that they will. It's for that reason she will never give up and why I will stand by her side to help her at all times. That is why I allow her to speak to me in such a way and never abandon her. It is also why I wish the same for you and your men,” she said slowly as she cast her eyes towards the unicorn. He slowly bowed his horn.

“Of course. We will do as you wish, captain,” the guard said as he turned and walked away, intending to perform his duties. Though once he was out of sight he took a moment to look over his uniform. It didn't look silly or stupid, in fact the dark blue and black looked quite refined. He'd never really noticed before, or the way the single moon seemed to be hoof sewn into every uniform...

“Look! Look look look!” Pinkie said excitedly as she hopped around, her tail forming a strange arrow to point forward. The small group had been walking for hours through and out of the valley and, despite the antics and joy the pink mare tried to spread, their spirits were getting low. They had been fortunate enough to find a road that they hoped would lead them to a settlement.

“Finally! A town, let's go!” Rainbow yelled as she charged forward. However, before she could make it more than a couple feet her tail was grabbed in a purple aura.

“Hold on. Look!” Twilight said as she motioned towards the entrance.

The town was far larger than Ponyville, housing at least thirty buildings, but Water Nation flags billowed with the wind as soldiers marched through the occupied streets. A large wall surrounded the town with two Water Nation unicorns guarding the entrance. A pegasus and earth pony were speaking with the guards in question, but it seemed it was about to take a turn for the worse.

“We told you already. No foreign goods! No ifs, ands, or buts! Hiya!” the guard yelled up as he whipped his head about and blades of water formed in the air. Within moments a large wagon that had been behind the two travelers was torn to pieces, sending pieces of woods and muffins to the ground.

“My muffins!” the pegasus shrieked as her eyes went all derpy. She frantically ran about trying to pick up any bits or pieces she could, eventually putting together a full muffin from the rubble. It crumbled to soggy mush in seconds, bringing a few tears to her eyes. She had a gray coat with a yellow tail and mane. She also had a strange bubble cutie mark.

“Now now gentlecolts, I don't think all that's necessary. Maybe we can talk about this?” the earth pony offered as he took a step back. He had a light amber coat and a dark amber tail and mane. He bore an hourglass as his cutie mark.

The guards didn't seem to care to chat as they advanced aggressively. “All prisoners are to be detained! You're both coming with us now!” Blobs of water formed over their heads as their horns glowed.

The pegasus took a step back as she looked to her companion. “D-doctor what do we do?” she shrieked as she ducked under a razor edged blade of water.

“In times like this the answer is simple, Ditzy,” the earth pony said as he stood straight and stared stoically at the unicorns. They stared back in worried confusion, not sure what he had planned. “We run!” with those words he grabbed the pegasus's hoof and ran, pulling her along.

“What? HEY! Get back here!” the guards yelled as they chased after the two.

The moment the two guards were far enough from the gate Twilight raised her hoof, “Come on, now's our chance!” The others nodded before darting into the now unguarded town. They quickly moved behind a nearby building and waited to see if anyone had spotted them, but nothing happened.

“So, what's this place called?” Rainbow asked as she looked around. “This is your country, right Twi?”

“I'm not sure. Geography was never my strong point and I don't even know if this town existed when I was last here. Maybe we should ask some pony?” she offered as she looked around and then pointed towards a nearby earth pony mare. “Let's ask her!” Before the others could object she pranced over and waved to the mare. “Hello, may I ask you a... quest...ion...” she trailed off as the pony looked up at her horn and then backed away and cowered, her body almost flat to the ground.

“P-please don't hurt me! I-I don't have anything! Just some apples, p-please! I don't know anything about t-the sun rising oh please d-don't hurt me!” the mare whimpered as she continued to back away, finally bumping into a stall and sending apples rolling to the ground. The owner of the stall didn't even offer any objections, in fact he spent his time trying to look busy while looking anywhere but at the unicorn.

“W-what? No, relax. I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to ask you some questions. There is no need for you to be so freaked out,” the unicorn comforted as she held out her hoof.

“F-freaked out? I-I'm not freaked out! I-I have n-no desire to oppose anything you n-need done Ms. water bender ma'am,” the mare said with another whimper.

“What? No, I'm not a water be-”she was cut off as Rainbow darted in and covered her mouth with a hoof.

“Yes. Water bender. Water Nation business going on here, ummm, that's all. You can go now. Bye!” the pegasus said as the earth pony turned and galloped away. Rainbow pulled the Avatar away, ignoring her yells into the hoof. “Twilight, shush! You're going to get us in trouble. Care to look around, you see anything special?” she asked as she moved her hoof and pointed down the streets.

“No, just a bunch of ponies. Why, what's so special about that?”

“Tell me, how many unicorns do you see?”

“I see...” the mare paused as her eyes swept over the ponies. “All of them are Water Nation...”

“Exactly. Now, do you notice all those earth ponies with bandages on their foreheads? I've heard stories about this. When the Water Nation took over fire country the first thing they did was round up every single unicorn and removed their horns. If they find out you're a unicorn and NOT a Water Nation soldier, you're going to be in big trouble.”

“B-but I need my horn!” Twilight said as she gulped nervously. A small bit of worried sweat began to form on her brow. “W-what did you have in mind?”

“Heh heh. Pinkie's already on it so just watch and learn,” Rainbow said as she pointed down the street to where the pink earth pony was talking to a poor unicorn.

“-But then all the water would freeze and you'd have no more water to drink but could make popsicles if you had juice and could fixed your armor so it wouldn't rust and put a cape on so it would always flap in the wind even if there wasn't any wind did you ever notice how many things rhyme with flap, clap, sap, bap, lap, cap, speaking of caps do all your helmets have those horns or do only the-” the defenseless unicorn was banging his head against the wall in a hopeless attempt to drive away his suffering. He struggled to get a word in, but every time he opened his mouth the pink pony would instantly cut him off with another comment.

“How is that going to help? Do you plan to make all the guards here suffer until they give up and let the town go?” Twilight asked as she watched the pony with a small bit of pity.

“Easy. Come on, hide,” Rainbow said as they hid behind a nearby crate. They waited and watched as the pony, slowly being driven mad, walked in their direction to escape the verbal maelstrom.

“Wata nota, nota wata, wata nota...” finally as he passed the crate a blue hoof came out and, despite his shrieks of protest, ended his misery. A few moments later, the Avatar stepped out, having donned the armor.

“I'm not sure this is a good idea. It's kinda itchy, and loose, and the hooves are wet, and it smells funny. Not to mention you hit that guard really hard. Are you sure he'll be okay?”

“Yeah, he's fine. He'll wake up in a while with a killer head ache but not much else. Which is worse, smelly armor or losing your horn?”

“... Losing my horn...”

“Good then. Just keep that on and what's the worse that could happen?” Rainbow said as the four began walking down the streets again. Many of the ponies gave them frightened looks but caused no problems. “We'll see if we can find a blimp or something. If this place is occupied they are bound to have a landing point set up somewhere. But before that we'll need some more disguises... There!” she said as she pointed towards three earth ponies wearing Water Nation armor. They were standing near a small back alley and chatting with each other, ignoring the other ponies on the road.

“Pinkie, I need you to...” but Rainbow's words failed her as she saw the hyperactive bundle of energy already chatting with the three ponies. Within a matter of moments, and three headaches, all four of the ponies were wearing armor. The blue pegasus fidgeted in hers as she struggled to push her wings out, eventually sliding them out by bending two metal plates and tearing some holes through the fabric. “Okay, let's go.”

The four ponies traveled in silence, occasionally getting stared at by the residents but no pony dared to question them. Twilight struggled to avoid causing a scene as she awkwardly walked. Her armor was at least a size to big and it kept shifting around on her body. Even worse, its previous wearer seemed to have issues keeping his mane properly cleaned and groomed. It took all her will power to avoid grabbing something long and sharp to scratch her back.

Despite the discomfort the group slowly made their way to a large fenced off area on the opposite side of the town, a large black hot air balloon set up on a landing pad with a few guards protecting the gate. “Jackpot!” Rainbow said enthusiastically as she gently nudged Twilight forward. “Now get out there and put on that Water Nation charm. Get us a balloon!”

The Avatar eeked a little as she slowly stumbled forward. “W-why me?”

“You're a water bender, or so they think, so they'll listen to you! Probably.”

“... Fine,” the purple mare took a deep breath before walking forward. “Uhhh, hello! Fellow guard ponies-eek!” she cried out as her helmet decided to shift awkwardly and cover her eyes. “Wonderful weather we are having, eh heh. I'm here to relieve you, because the balloon is-”

“You're being sent to Dragon Valley?” the closer guard asked as he stared at the awkward mare, his eyes wandering to her horn.

“Huh? Oh! Yes, ofcourse! That's why I need the balloon, and ummm-”

“We know the deal, you're the third to head out just today. Where's the rest of your squad soldier?” the guard asked as his eyes narrowed.

“There!” she said as she motioned towards her friends. They slowly began to walk towards her, nerves tensed.

“Well, hurry up soldier!” the guard said as he moved aside and pulled the gate open, motioning inside. As the three moved past he suddenly reached out and grabbed Twilight by the shoulder.

She tensed up and prepared for a fight, at this range she knew she could blast him but she hoped they could get to the balloon in time and escape before reinforcements arrived.

“Hey, I get it. You're nervous about the sun rising and stuff, but relax. The dragon hasn't moved in over a century so nothing's going to happen. Just think of it as a routine patrol and you newbies will be fine,” the guard then let her go with a comforting smile.

The Avatar's horn began to glow as she prepared the first assault! Then the soldier's words penetrated her head. “W-what? Oh, yes, I- wait, dragon? The...” her mouth fell open as it all came back to her in an avalanche. The dream, the dragon, the words, the stars. Everything. A sudden pinch to her flank made her shriek loudly, jump a few feet in the air, and darted forward, breaking away from the startled guard. She shook her head before turning to glare at Rainbow. “What was th...” she trailed off as her cheeks turned bright red. Every pony was staring at her with confused looks.

“You okay?” the guard pony said as he took a step towards her, but she quickly waved him off.

“Yes! I'm fine, completely fine! Nothing wrong at all, nope! Not a thing! We should go now, yep! We should, bye, thanks for everything!” Twilight shrieked as she ran forward and dived head first into the balloon's basket.

“Your friends a bit... off. You sure she'll be okay in such high altitudes? She seems like a jumper,” the guard said to Fluttershy. Who promptly let out her own little shriek and ran away, diving in besides Twilight. “Okay then... Supplies are in the basket, good luck,” he said as he gave the last two a pitying look as they climbed in after their friends.

“What a buncha nut jobs...” the guard whispered to his comrade. “Cute though. Did you see the blue one? She better get that fixed before her superior sees. New or not something like that is bound to get her flank kicked. Super cautious too, did you see all those extra supplies they brought with them?”

“Does any pony else think that was too easy?” Twilight asked as she shifted through their supplies. Yes! There were actual supplies like blankets and NOT confetti!

“Easy peasy beasly!” Pinkie said as she began stacking their original supplies into a small fort and snuggling up with one of the bags of confetti.

“No, I'm serious! It's like they couldn't get rid of us fast enough. They practically shoved us into the balloon and told us to get going. Why would they want us to leave so bad? Why... oh... oh dear. I ummm, found a map. But errr, maybe just skull and crossbones are an over reaction?” she said with a soft, nervous chuckle.

“What?” Rainbow asked as she swiped the map back and looked at it. “Wow. Seems Dragon Valley's a volcano. Doesn't matter though, not like we're headed there.”

“Actually,” Twilight started with a soft sigh, “I need to head there.” The others turned to her with looks of confusion, except Pinkie who softly tooted on her kazoo. “I had a dream recently, well more of a vision. I need to find the dragon or a dragon. I know it's some kind of dragon. I didn't even remember until he mentioned a dragon was sleeping there, and well... if there is a dragon there I need to see it. I know it sounds crazy but I have too.”

“But-” Pinkie started and, for the first time, found herself interrupted.

“I know it might sound dangerous, but back in my time dragons were our guardians and friends. Not to mention they were master fire benders. If there is one around it could help me to find my people as well as help with, well, that,” she said as she pointed up at the sun. Since she had initially raised the burning orb it hadn't moved an inch.

“We-” the pink mare tried again.

“I know for now it's not a problem, since it's still so cold. But eventually if nothing is done it'll get to hot. I'm nowhere near capable of moving it on my own, the power needed for that is huge. Well, except when I'm in that state. But I don't know how to do what I did before! If somethings not done about it then eventually the world will begin to burn.”

“How-” the mare tried one more time! This was so strange, usually she did the interrupting. She wasn't sure she liked having it on the other hoof.

“I know you've never seen how hot it can get, but trust me. To much heat is just as bad, if not worse, than to much cold. So please, can you come with me to Dragon Valley? If not I understand, just drop me off when we get close enough.” She stopped for a moment as she glanced to the side, but spoke up again before Pinkie could start. “I'm not even sure if the dragon is there, but if it is I have to speak with it.”

“Ofco-” Pinkie tried as she was once again interrupted. Oh that was IT!

“But if-”

“Of course we'll go with you Twilight you're our friend and now we're not going to just leave you alone to figure this out on your own instead we're going to be by your side all the time to help you do everything gaaaaaasp!” the pink pony stopped for just a moment to take a deep breath. “Even if we have to go and fight a dragon we'll be by your side besides if we were going to leave you we wouldn't have come at all and never even got in the balloon with you so stop being such a silly billy and let's go to Dragon Valley!” she said dramatically as she pointed north.

A grin crept along Twilight's face as the two pegasi nodded in response to their excited friends words. “Thank you all. But, Pinkie Pie? You're pointing the wrong way. It's that way,” the unicorn said as she pointed farther to the east.

The mare just smiled as a little red flooded her cheeks. “Oh, well, I'm on a roll sister!” as she pointed once more, in the right direction this time.

Chapter 4: Running

The large purple balloon lazily sailed high across the world, the ground below so far away that the trees and rocks looked like small specks. The slow wind occasionally ruffled the manes of its passengers as they sailed through the air. The only thing to break up the dullness was when the balloon would veer slightly off course and Rainbow would be forced to fly out and adjust their course.

Unsurprisingly, the rapid fast mare was slowly going stir crazy from boredom. “Can't this thing go any faster?” she groaned as she dropped onto her back with a huff. “It'll be years at this rate! My feathers will be all gray and old!” She had taken the fake armor off ages ago to allow her wings to flap free, but even with the extra allowed movement it did little to slate her appetite for excitement.

“According to my calculations using the map we were given we will arrive in approximately two hours, thirteen minutes and thirty-two seconds. Give or take a minute or so from changing air speeds,” Twilight informed her friend precisely while she continued to look over the map.

“Ugh, two hours? That might as well be a week. Here, let me see that map,” the speedster said and before the unicorn could object the map was yanked away. “Okay, let's see... So we're going this way, that means...” Rainbow hopped back to her feet and glanced around. “We're looking for a big mountain down this way, right?” she said with a motion of her hoof.

“Well, yes. But what-”

“I'll go on ahead and scout. Be back before you know it!” the pegasus said as she tossed the map aside and took off, leaving a rainbow colored blur in her wake.

Twilight eeked as she lunged for the map, only barely stopping it from flying away. “What? Wait! Rainbow Dash! Come back! It's dangerous! RAINBOW!” she yelled out, but the blue mare just ignored her. The unicorn stomped her hooves in annoyance, “We should be going together! Separating like this is dangerous! Ugh, that mare! I swear she does this on purpose.”

“Of course she does,” Pinkie said with a giggle, “It would be really hard to fly off like that accidentally.”

“... Not what I meant. I just hope she can stay out of trouble.”

In only a fraction of the time it would have taken the balloon Rainbow arrived at her destination. A massive volcano, with smoke billowing from the top, stood out from the dry barren ground like a pimple on a teenage ponies face. The smoke was extremely thick, forcing the young acrobat to fly lower in order to avoid suffocating from it and even so soot continued to fall into her mane.

As she circled around to get a better view she found she couldn't see anything through the acrid smoke, though she could feel the temperature rise as she came closer to the gaping mouth. What she did see was a large camp at the base of the volcano, encircling it. Water Nation flags billowed in the wind and streams surrounded the entirety of the camp, the only apparent water for miles. Even as high as she was a multitude of ponies could be seen, hundreds possibly. But none seemed willing to go any farther up than the borders of their camp, not that she blamed them.

The side of the volcano was punctuated with tunnels leading deeper into the natural furnace but, despite her hawk like eyes scanning, she saw nothing dragon related. She circled the edge a few more times before landing. Despite the thick smoke it wasn't nearly as hot as she thought it would be. Unfortunately, there was no way she could see anything through the thick smoke, no matter how she narrowed her eyes to keep the smoke out. Letting out an annoyed grunt she planted both her hooves firmly on the ground before flapping her wings rapidly, sending powerful gusts of wind into the opening.

The thick smoke was scattered, revealing the mesa below. There was no lava, magma or even a little flame. Instead there was a flat surface, filled with large tunnels that the smog billowed out from. A bit of movement caught her eye as she turned to the right, something small and purple disappearing down the tunnels. She took a step forward to investigate when a sudden shout caught her attention.

Rainbow jumped to the right as a rope of water narrowly missed her. Whipping her head around she saw a number of unicorns standing over one of the pools of water, a long tentacle forming between them. Only stopping for a second to make a face at the water benders the pegasus quickly took off into the sky. By the time the tentacle was ready to try a second time she was already gone, hidden by the smoke and darting away at full speed.

Returning to the balloon was a far longer trip than she expected as, without her stellar guidance and control, the balloon had floated off course a bit. She landed on the edge of the basket dramatically and quickly shook the soot out. A large grin was plastered on her face as she started, “There are sooo many Water Nation ponies there. We're gonna have to kick sooooo much flank! This is going to be soooooooo awesome!” the pegasus said as she reached her hooves up to squish her face in preparation of the truly awesome fight that was totally going to happen and not be ruined by some pony who was a spoil sport.

“K-kick flank?” Fluttershy asked fearfully. “W-we're going to have to fight? But... but...”

“No no, I'm sure there will be no need for fighting. We still have our disguises and we can just land near the top and try to find the dragon from there,” Twilight assured the jumpy pegasus as Rainbow felt all the awesome slowly draining away into a pool of regret, common sense, and, ugh, non confrontational actions.

There was only one chance left! She had to attempt it, if for no other reason than awesome! “There's a problem with that. The volcano is shooting out a lot of smoke. I didn't see any lava or stuff, but the ponies there are really freaked about it. They tried to even catch me when they saw me up there but no pony was willing to come up near the top where I was.”

“Oh, then it's simple then,” Twilight said as the pegasus mentally cheered, “We'll just land on the top, find the dragon, and leave without any bother.”

“... Did you miss the part about super thick smoke? I'm talking can't breathe, mane is turned black and can't see your hoof in front of your face thick. How do you aim to get through that?”

“Oh, relax. I'm a fire bender, remember? I can deal with one little volcano,” the unicorn said quickly, her voice brimming with confidence. “The thing that worries me most is the dragon, but I'm sure it'll be friendly.”

There was a sudden squeak from the back of the basket. The ponies turned to see Fluttershy huddled up in one of the corners, her entire body shaking. “I-I think it would be b-best for every pony i-if I just stayed here and g-guard the balloon when we landed. F-for safety. In case anything happens.”

“Guard the balloon? Why would we need to... Oh,” Twilight said softly as realization dawned on her, “I see. You do have a point. If we land there and started exploring, even with our disguises, they might start getting suspicious and try to investigate. Leaving you alone to guard would be dangerous though, we should... Rainbow! Could you bring up some cloud cover? Maybe if we hide the balloon as we go in no pony will notice and we won't have any problems.”

“Clouds? Are you kidding? I could do that in my sleep,” the pegasus boasted as she took off again, shaking the basket with her take off. She flew around as a blur, grabbing pieces of clouds and attaching them to the balloon, until the entire vehicle looked like a massive awkwardly shaped cloud. Through the poofy cover the avatar could make out the pillar of black smoke off in the distance.

Within a few more minutes the unicorn could see the Water Nation camps encircling the volcano and she rubbed her chin with her hoof, plotting. “Hey Rainbow. If we went through the smoke do you think you could use your bending to try and make an air pocket for us? If you do that we can just fly through it and land in the volcano, they'll never know we were here.”

“You want to land IN a volcano?! That's suicide! Awesome!” Rainbow said as she began to stretch her wings.

“It'll be safe, really! I have my fire bending if there's any problems! Besides, we have to go inside it anyway. Would you rather we go around and have to fight all tho... Nevermind. Just try to make the air bubble, please,” Twilight mumbled as she put a hoof to her face and shook her head.

“Fiiiiine. But if this doesn't work, we do things my way,” Rainbow grumbled as she dropped into the basket. Firmly planting her hooves down she began to flap her wings are hard as she could, sending powerful gusts of wind outward. At first the wind shot out until slowly it began to pull back and swirl around the balloon, catching the clouds and creating a miniature cyclone around the balloon as they approached the smoke. The other ponies were forced to hold onto the supplies, lest they be scattered by the fierce winds, but it did manage to keep the smoke out and keep their air in.

The balloon continued through the dark smoke slowly but as the heat rose the bottom of the basket dipped out from the smoke for a moment. “W-what's going on?!” Rainbow asked as she panted and tried to wipe some sweat from her brow, struggling to keep her wings flapping and the powerful winds churning around them.

Twilight reached her hoof up and sent flames into the balloon as it flew back up. “I didn't think about this! As it gets hotter the air inside the balloon will need to be more so or it will sink! Don't worry, I've got it handled!” she yelled as she struggled to send bursts of flames through the powerful winds. Despite her efforts the ponies could feel the balloon slowly sinking lower and lower. Not willing to give up the pony held out both hooves and sent a powerful stream of flames into the balloon before there was a sudden jerk and her flames stopped. “O-oh no. Every pony hold on! This isn't going to be-” her words were cut off as the balloon stopped descending slowly and instead began hurtling towards the ground below at break neck speeds.

Popping out of the smoke a large hole could be seen at the top of the balloon, burned in from the powerful flames. The basket landed, hard, on the lip of the volcano before tipping over and spilling both itself and its contents all across the flat inner surface of the volcano.

Rainbow was the first to manage to pull herself out from under the now useless balloon and she quickly flapped her wings once, dispelling some of the smoke around them. “Every pony okay? What happened?”

“I used to much fire and burned a hole in the fabric,” Twilight said with a sigh as she pulled herself out from the wreckage, the others soon following. Together they began to gather their supplies while making sure to keep their heads low and under the smoke as best they could. “Huh, that's strange,” the avatar mumbled as she kicked the ground.

“W-what's wrong?” Fluttershy asked with a frightened squeak as she glanced around nervously.

“While it is hot in here I would imagine an active volcano to be much hotter,” Twilight said as she held a hoof under her chin in thought, “but if it's not active then where is all this smoke coming from?” Something caught her eye and as she whipped her head around she caught sight of something purple disappearing into one of the caverns. “There's something here! It just went into the tunnels! Quick, after it girls!” she yelled as she charged forward, with Pinkie and Rainbow following close behind.

Coughing and sputtering the trio made their way into the cavern, the smoke burning their eyes and making it difficult to see. The fire bender made a small flame from her horn to light the way, but sadly it was unable to travel far with all the interference. Fortunately she did catch a small glimpse of the purple thing as it ran ahead, “This way, come on!” she yelled as they ran through the tunnels, barely able to keep it within sight as it tried to escape.

Finally getting fed up with the chase the pegasus let out a frustrated growl. “This is getting us nowhere! Hold on!” Rainbow yelled as she spread out her wings and took off, flying through the small tunnels at breakneck speeds. Her powerful gusts shoved the others into the wall as she turned the area into a wind tunnel. Fortunately her burst in speed allowed her to catch up to their prey as she charged into the thing's back and sent both of them rolling, quickly coming up on top and pinning it down. “Hah! Gotcha! I am the awesomest! Hurry up you two slow pokes!” she called back to the others.

Twilight and Pinkie, manes puffed up and curled from the fierce winds, quickly got to their hooves and ran towards their friend and her pinned captive. Keeping her horn low the unicorn slowly shed light on their mysterious target. Squirming under the pegasus's hooves was the last thing she expected to see. A very small purple dragon with green spikes. It seemed to be trying to speak but having its face shoved in the ground made it difficult.

“Is this the dragon you were talking about? He doesn't really look that tough,” Rainbow said as she kept her wings flapping in an attempt to keep the smoke at bay, though it also made maintaining the unicorn's flame difficult.

“I don't think so. The one I dreamed about was much... bigger. Let his head up but don't let him go,” Twilight said as she moved in a bit closer.

Slowly the pegasus moved her hooves off his head and down to his body, making sure to keep him securely pinned. Almost instantly the dragon's head whipped up and glared at them. “Get out of here! I don't know who you are but you're invading my den! I won't stand for it! I'm a dr-” he was cut off as the athletic pony put him in a head lock.

“Listen buddy,” Rainbow warned, “this girl here is the Avatar. You're going to answer her questions and be polite, or you answer to me. You got that?” she threatened.

“O-okay! I got it! Ow! L-let me go! I'll answer what you want! Stooooop!” the dragon shrieked as his little claws clutched the leg around his head, small tears forming in his eyes from the pain.

“Very good. Now is there anywhere a bit less smokey around here, dragon?”

“D-down the tunnel, t-to the right,” the dragon said quickly before more pressure could be applied to the head lock. The three slowly proceeded, the prisoner being dragged along by his mighty captor. They soon entered a small, gem filled chamber that was almost devoid of smoke, though still quite hot and stuffy. The rubies, topazs, diamonds and other precious gemstones glittered from the avatar's small fire light.

“Okay then, first things first! My name is Twilight Sparkle, the pony holding you so tightly is Rainbow Dash, my hopping friend here is Pinkie Pie, and... hey, where's Fluttershy?” the unicorn asked as she looked around.

“Oh, she stopped at the tunnel entrance when we ran off!” the earth pony said as she hopped around the glittering cavern.

“Why didn't you make her... not stop if you saw her?”

“What? And miss this awesome game of tag? Are you crazy?”

“...” Twilight just face hooved and shook her head. She didn't know why she even tried. “Just... please-”

“Go get her? Okey dokey lokey!” Pinkie said with a giggle as she hopped off back the way they came.

“Well, anyway. Moving on. You now know our names, now what's yours?” the avatar asked as she looked back at the annoyed dragon.

“Huh? It's Spike! Now let me go!” the dragon growled as he tried to yank free from Rainbow's grasp, but a sudden squeeze made him whimper and quickly abandon his plan.

“Okay. I think that's enough. I don't think he plans to run away and even if he does, there is only one exit from here.” With a less than dignified squeak the dragon was dropped to the ground. “Now as my companion has stated, I am indeed the avatar. I have come searching for a great dragon thanks to a dream and... I... why are you glaring at me?”

“You're the avatar? Why in the world should I do anything to help you? It's because of you being lazy for the last hundred years that us dragons have been disappearing and forced to hide. We're hunted down like animals thanks to you! Why should I care two pegasus feathers about anything you want?” Spike snapped as he narrowed his eyes at her angrily.

“I... I didn't mean to disappear! I mean, I was trapped, I only just got out. I'm here now! I'm going to make everything better...” Twilight mumbled pathetically as she glanced at the ground, her confidence draining in response to the young dragons rage. “I never wanted to disappear...”

“Well you did! It's thanks to you disappearing that I've been stuck here my entire life!” Spike yelled moments before letting out another pained squeak as Rainbow pinned him again.

“Hey buddy, she said she's sorry. Now stop rubbing it in. She's been working her flank off to try and set everything right so she doesn't need some smart mouthed little dragon going out of his way to make her feel guilty. Now, are you going to help us or what,” the pegasus snapped, despite her wording her tone made it clear she wasn't asking a question. That and the painful hoof she was shoving into the poor dragon.

“Yes! I'll help!” the little dragon shrieked as tears went down his face. “What do you want to know?!”

“Rainbow, stop! You're hurting him!” Twilight snapped, shaking her head as the pegasus finally relented. “Are you okay? I'm really sorry about my friend, she can be a bit over zealous. Now, the reason I'm here is simple. I had a dream recently and am searching for the Great Dragon. I don't suppose you know him? Or, possibly, are him?” she asked softly as she gazed down at the tiny creature.

“The great dragon?” Spike asked with a shiver, “You don't want to meet him. Trust me. He's not very nice to ponies, or other dragons for that manner. He's also really arrogant, chose the name himself. You'd be better off just running away.”

“We have too, we don't have any choice!” the avatar said as she stomped her hoof down, “The fate of the entire world depends on it! You have to take us to him!”

“Not a chance,” the dragon said with a smirk, moments before Rainbow jumped at him. “I'll do it! I'll do it! O-oww! S-stop! I said I'd do it!” he shrieked as the pegasus smirked in satisfaction, having not even touched him yet.

“Found her!” Pinkie called as she hopped into the cavern, pushing a terrified and cowering Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy, what's wrong?” Twilight asked as she stared at her friend quizzically.

“I... I... n-nothing,” the mare said as she shook her head and stared at the ground in shame.

“Okay?” the unicorn said with a shrug before turning back to Spike. “Okay then! Lead the way, Spike.”

The dragon let out a hmph before pulling away from the blue pegasus and walking back through the smokey tunnels. Occasionally he would glance back at his followers but each time he would quickly turn back ahead, not wishing to face the wrath of the blue one. Despite the heavy smoke they slowly made their way to a large open tunnel, decorated with the occasional glittering jewels and spacious enough so the smoke floated up to the top and out of their manes with plenty of smaller side tunnels to go through. The dragon took a deep, nervous breath as they slowly headed down the large tunnel until they came to a massive opening and the point of their destination.

A chamber, easily bigger than the entirety of Ponyville, opened before them. A bed of thousands of gems covered the floor, each glittering from the flame from the large inhabitant on top of them, which occasionally would spit out a small burst of fire. A massive red dragon. Its teeth alone were likely bigger than the four ponies that stood before it and from its nostrils barreled thick black smoke, the very smoke that billowed out into the world above.

“You're on your own from here! Good luck!” Spike called out as he turned to run back the way they came. Rainbow was too busy staring in awe to even notice or attempt to stop the little purple dragon.

“O-okay girls. Let's go talk to a dragon,” Twilight said as she took a step forward, the others following behind. All except for Fluttershy, who was hiding in a nearby smaller tunnel that branched off from the larger one. “Ummm, Fluttershy? Are you coming?”

“No, I'll just wait here. Make sure nothing happens to the tunnel and Spike. See? He's a baby dragon s-so he can't be left all alone, i-it's not safe,” Fluttershy said with a big fake grin as she motioned down the tunnel to where the small dragon was hiding, having dug himself into the wall.

“Come on Fluttershy, he'll be fine. Besides, once I explain I'm the avatar I'm sure the Great Dragon will listen. You should co-”

“I can't!” she shrieked before diving to hide behind a small rock, frightened by one of the dragon's snores. “I-I just can't! It's a huge, gigantic, terrifying, enormous, teeth-gnashing, sharp-scale having, horn-wearing, smoke-snoring, could eat a pony in one bite, totally all grown up dragon!” she wailed pitifully. “I just... I just can't...” she said one last time before hanging her head in shame. “I'm sorry...”

Twilight sighed before looking away from her cowering friend. “No Fluttershy, I'm sorry. I never should have asked any of you to come here with me. This is my duty, not yours. You two as well, thank you but she's right. This is none of your problem, I'll do it on my own,” the unicorn said as she turned and took a nervous step towards the massive dragon.

Rainbow followed behind her and rolled her eyes, “As if I would let you mess with a dragon without me. That would be so uncool,” she said with a cocky grin.

“Yeah! Besides, this'll be fun! I've never met a dragon before so we can have a nice to meet you, first time I've met your species, and we're going to save the world party all at once!” Pinkie said as she happily hopped along.

As the three slowly walked towards the dragon they couldn't help but feel that it was getting bigger and bigger with each step. Its scales seemed to glimmer in the small bit of light and every few exhalations small spurts of flame would shoot from its mouth and coat the chamber in shadows. Even with the dim light they could tell the beast was far bigger than anything they had dealt with before and, despite having encountered some before, the creature made Twilight's hooves sweaty as she slowly made her way to it.

“HELLO!” she called out and a second later one of its eyes opened. “My name is Twilight Sparkle and I- EEK!” the mare shrieked as the dragon blew out a large burst of hot air and sent the three rolling backwards. The avatar groaned softly and slowly untangled herself from her friends before looking up at the dragon. It had moved around so its back was to them, apparently in an attempt to ignore them.

“Okay, let's try this again,” the purple mare said as she galloped around the dragon's gargantuan form and came back to look it in the eye. “Dragon! My name is Twilight Sparkle and I am AHHHH!” she yelled and jumped back as its tail came crashing down in front of her, a few mere feet from crushing her.

“Oh that is it! I've had it!” Rainbow yelled as she took to the air and flew in front of the dragon's face. “Hey! You! Scale head! Listen! Up!” She turned around and bucked out, her hooves slamming into the large reptile's snout and jarring its head back.

Its eyes opened as it stared at the little blue pony with a mix of sleepy annoyance, confusion and rage. As the drowsiness began to leak away the dragon lifted its head and let out a soft growl followed by a mighty roar that made the walls shake. “Err, s-sorry?” Rainbow said softly as she stared up at the pissed off creature with an apologetic grin.

It didn't seem satisfied with the apology as its massive wings spread out, sending a powerful wind gale through the chamber. The fierce and sudden torrent sent all three ponies hurtling back into the walls as the beast slowly stretched before turning back to the pegasus. Flames flicked out from its lips as it gazed down at the cringing blue pegasus. It opened its maw as fire hot enough to melt stone shot out at the mare.

“Rainbow!” Twilight screamed as she watched her friend's near end. To her relief the pegasus took off like a bolt moments before the flames struck her. The dragon didn't give up, however, and as she flew around the chamber the fire spewing beast continued its burning pursuit, creating dark black lines across the wall as their friend struggled to avoid her demise.

The dragon's claw suddenly whipped out and sent the little blue pegasus hurtling into the ground, making her crash with a pained cry. The beast towered over her, flames flicking out from between its lips as Twilight watched in horror. “NO!” she screamed!

Then the dragon stopped, frozen in place. For a moment the avatar thought it was her words that stopped it, but a voice soon echoed through the chamber. “Listen here mister, just because you're big doesn't mean you get to be a bully!” The ponies stared in disbelief at Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus was standing on the snout of the dragon, staring into one of its eyes that were larger than her. What was she doing?! She was going to get herself killed! “You may have huge teeth and sharp scales and breathe fire. But you do not-- I repeat-- You do not! Hurt! My! Friends! You got that?!”

The dragon made a soft whimpering sound as Fluttershy got up as close as she could and glared into the creature's eye, her own eye mere centimeter's from his. “Well?!” she snapped with such fury even Twilight felt the unnatural urge to apologize.

“But... that rainbow one kicked me,” the large reptile said in a soft fearful voice, as Rainbow merely nodded proudly.

“And I'm very sorry for that. But you're much, much bigger than her and you should know better. You should also be nicer when ponies visit you and not ignore them like that.”

“But I-”

“Don't you 'But I' me, mister. Now what do you have to say for yourself?” she waited a second before repeating. “I said, what do you have to say for yourself?!” she snapped as she glared into the dragon's eye with such ferocity even Rainbow felt bad for the poor lizard.

“I'm sorry...” the dragon said contritely as it lowered its gaze. It took all its will power to avoid bursting into tears as the pegasus kept staring at him. Finally she let out a sigh and patted his snout, freeing him from that terrible gaze. “What brings you to my lair?”

“There. Now that's a good dragon. Now my friend, the avatar, has come a long way to find you,” she said as she motioned towards Twilight, who slowly raised a hoof and waved.

The dragon straightened its back as it glanced down at the purple pony. He stood at his full height, wings folding across his back, as he attempted to put on an air of power and authority. He then nervously glanced towards the yellow mare. “Get o... I mean, please get off my face,” he grumbled softly, to which the pegasus complied. “The avatar... I have been waiting many, many years for your return. Come closer, there is much we must discuss and even more you must be shown.” Slowly the ponies moved forward to stand before the creature. The time had finally come.

Chapter 5: Training

The Great and Powerful Trixie smiled malevolently as she took slow, calculated steps through a dark hall of ice, at least she assumed it was a hall as it was so dark she could only barely make out the icy walls around them. A small flickering lantern hovered besides her, held aloft by her magic, but the flame was so dim that it barely lit a few feet ahead of her.

Snips and Snails trailed quickly behind their admiral as they struggled to keep within the weak glow of the lantern while avoiding bumping into her. Off in the darkness they swore they could see... things watching them. Occasional glowing eyes, small glints of metal, not to mention the occasional brushing sound as something out there moved. Every so often one of them would let out a shriek of fear as their over active imaginations told them there was a beast of some sort out there, waiting to pounce and attack them if they dared to leave the protective glow of the lantern and their fearless leader.

Of course when the blue mare did stop the two were ill prepared to follow suit and slammed into her from behind. Her head whipped around as she glared with fiery eyes. “If you two dirt for brains wish to leave this place in one piece pay attention where you're walking!” With an angry snort she turned back around, ignoring their pathetic apologies.

The two cowering unicorns looked around fearfully, trying to see what made them stop. All they could see however was ice, darkness, more ice, Trixie, more ice, the three pegasi that seemed to materialize out of darkness, ic- AGHHHHHHH! The two let out fearful wails which were quickly silenced as Trixie slapped them both with her magic. “Silence you blithering idiots!”

“Admiral Trixie,” the middle pegasus spoke as the three bowed their heads respectively. They wore tight purple and black jump suits with small lightning bolts separating the colors. Over each of their cutie marks was a small winged skull symbol. Their eyes were covered with a yellow lens that hid what they were watching. As they slowly raised their heads Snips and Snails couldn't help but quiver in fright as they swore the pegasi were watching them.

“Are you captain of the shadowbolts?” the Great and Powerful Trixie asked as she watched the center one. Though she hid it well she couldn't shake the small feeling of nervousness caused by the pegasus and her comrades. The admiral tried her best to suppress it however. After all, she was the Great and Powerful, destined to one day become the new Nightmare Moon. What could a couple pegasi dressed in over dramatic Nightmare Night costumes ever do to her?

“Yes, Admiral,” the mare said, her voice tinged with annoyance though she hid any signs of disrespect. Despite the unicorn's bluster she felt no worry. She knew if she so wished the unicorn and her little guards would disappear into the darkness like so many before her. But the Shadowbolts followed Nightmare Moon and they would not do anything to go against their leaders wishes.

“Good. Gather every single one of your pegasi and prepare to depart. Until further notice you and your company will be working directly under the Great and Powerful Trixie, under the orders of Nightmare Moon. The prison will be watched and maintained by others who I have brought.”

“But admiral, this prison is-”

“Less important than my mission,” Trixie interrupted. “and you will follow orders. Unless you wish to ignore the commands of our ruler?”

The other two pegasi took a step forward at the unicorn but the pegasus mare raised a hoof as they stopped. “Very well, admiral. We will obey the commands of Nightmare Moon,” the shadowbolt said slowly. She didn't move however and her covered eyes just watched Trixie until she was turned back the way they had come.

The Great and Powerful Trixie held her lantern high as she walked, trying to hide her nervousness. A part of her began to wonder if maybe the eyes she felt watching her every step really were just her imagination.

“I'm soooo borrrrred,” Rainbow whined as she poked a rock. The agile pegasus was laying on the dirt floor in the dragon's cave between Fluttershy and Pinkie.

“We could play some tic tac toe?” the pink earth pony offered.

“No!” the mare said quickly as she pulled away from the other two and started trotting back and forth, “no no no! How much longer do you think they are going to be doing that? How do we know he's not just biding his time and going to try and eat her when she lets her guard down?” Rainbow accused as she motioned towards Twilight and the dragon, who were sitting across from each other with their eyes closed.

“Oh, he'd never do something like that,” Fluttershy said softly. “He's a total dear, if a bit cranky when he wakes up, and is really just trying to help. Honest.” Though she couldn't help but watch the two and feel a little worried. The dragon had said this was all natural but it still looked so strange...

Twilight felt as if she was dreaming. She hovered in the air and down below her she could still see the others as well as her body, but everything was faded and gritty looking. She looked to the dragon who was still sitting across from where her body sat. But she knew she was alone, no one could join her here. So she floated and waited for what would happen.

She didn't have to wait long as a light jingling of bells could be heard behind her. “So you've come,” a voice said from behind her. The avatar turned around to see who joined her as her mouth fell open in awe. A large stallion stood before her with a long faded blue coat and a gray beard and mane that hung almost to the ground. He wore a blue cloak and hat, each etched with stars, moons, the night sky and holding small bells along the rims of both. Despite the stallions great age he stood on powerful legs, his back strong and his eyes filled with years of knowledge, power and determination. He gazed down at the mare fiercely, making her feel suddenly very small and weak.

“Y-you're... you're...” she squeaked as she took a few steps backwards from the powerful stallion.

“Starswirl the bearded, the previous avatar. We have much to discuss, come.” He turned and seemed to fly through the air with ease, disappearing through one of the walls of the volcano. Twilight felt she had no choice but to follow as she struggled to move with the ease he did, though she slowly got the hang of it. Although she lost sight of him quickly she kept going and eventually she made her way out of the volcano, into the world above, and found him hovering high above with the clouds.

“We have much to talk about and little time to do it. The balance has been broken and the world has fallen into chaos. Unfortunately it will fall on your young shoulders to fix it. Before you will stand a chance however, I must tell you what you face.” His eyes stared into hers with such power that she longed to look away, but feared to anger him. “You oppose a creature of immeasurable evil. A creature I thought to have defeated and bound far away many years ago. His release is almost at hoof.” He motioned to the sky as she looked up. Far off in the distance, seemingly unaffected by the gray filter that covered the world, was a dim red glow.

“As avatars it is our duty to maintain balance,” Starswirl continued, “Not only between the countries but between the elements, night and day, and the spirit world itself. Long ago there was a single creature who ruled the spirit world, his name was Discord.” The name sent a shiver down Twilight's spine though she couldn't understand why. “I do not know how he came to be or why he set his sights on bridging the gap between our worlds, but he created great turmoil and destruction between our lands. He set brother against sister, child against parent, lover against lover. None could escape his foul grasp as the very rules that held our world together were torn and almost lost forever,” the aged pony sighed in sadness for a moment as a single tear went down his eyes. “When all hope seemed gone and our world looked as if it would be broken for good, my friends and I took one last chance to try and defeat him. Our bond was strong and we managed, after a long and difficult fight, to defeat him and end his tyranny, by sealing him and sending him far from our world. Or so we thought. We hoped the battle was over, but we were wrong,” his voice was filled with sadness as his gaze weakened, decades of sadness replacing the power in his eyes as the young mare resisted the urge to step forward and give him a hug.

“What happened?” Twilight asked as she took a slow step forward and placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder.

“While we managed to imprison his body and much of his power, his spirit... leaked out. He took refuge in one of my friends when she let her guard down. Her name was Starlight. Under my very nose he began to corrupt her, to twist her, poisoning her mind until eventually she struck,” he let out a soft, sad sigh before continuing. “She shattered the bonds that kept our friendship strong and then she destroyed me and our other friends. It was then she became the first... Nightmare Moon.”

“I'm so sorry...” Twilight said gently as she watched the stallion with pity.

“It now falls to you, Twilight Sparkle as the new avatar, to destroy him once and for all and cleanse the world of his foul taint before it can cause any more destruction. His power has slowly returned over the decades and he will soon have his chance at freedom. In one year he will be close enough for Nightmare Moon to form a connection and release him from his prison. If this happens I fear the world will fall into anarchy and chaos once again and there will be nothing you will be able to do.” His gaze rose to her once more. “You must learn to control the elements and create the bonds that will help you to defeat him once and for all. There will be five others, though I do not know who they are. You must find them if you are to have any chance.”

“But, how can I, I mean, I only, fire bending is-” she began to object but Starswirl raised a hoof and she fell silent.

“You will find them. The six are always drawn together. I know you will succeed because, well... we have done it before,” he said softly as he turned his gaze back to the sky. “But for now there is one more task you must perform before the others, to keep the world safe. You must lower the sun and raise the moon.”

“W-what? Me?” Twilight asked with a startled cry. If there was ground beneath her she would have shot up. “B-but that's why I came to the Great Dragon to begin with. I'm nowhere near strong enough to do it on my own. I can't control it!”

“The four elements of the world must return to their balance for it to survive. If the sun remains for to long all life will perish and burn away. But if it disappears the world will freeze and life will disappear as well. It cannot endure what happened a second time. Fortunately the world has been cold for so long that you still have time. But if the cycle of the sun and the moon do not begin again then the world will perish,” he stopped for a moment before letting out another sigh. “The moon remains hidden from your grasp for now and you are correct, you are to weak to control them alone. However, there are still water and fire benders who exist who can help you perform this task. All you need do, is teach them,” he said as he reached out and placed a hoof to her forehead as the knowledge flowed into Twilight's mind, making her let out a surprised gasp.

As her mind settled and the new knowledge tucked itself away within her thoughts she slowly let out a sigh of relief before turning to the previous avatar. “B-but how? I thought the fire benders were destroyed? The unicorns stripped of their magic and-”

“Fire is life, avatar. From the ashes of even the greatest blaze new life will always spring. You just need to find it.” He smiled at her for a moment before loud laughter lifted through the air, filled with malice and cruelty. His head whipped around and his eyes narrowed. “You must go. Now,” he said as he reached out and pushed her, sending her plummeting down towards the earth below. “Do not forget what I've told you! You must find and learn all the elements, find the other five and restart the cycle of sun and moon!” within seconds of his final words she disappeared back into the caverns and re entered her body, awakening with a start.

As she glanced around and regathered herself she realized she had fallen on her side. She stared up at her friends faces which were filled with concern. “Are you okay?” Rainbow asked as he gently poked her with a hoof.

“Y-yes. I'm just a little shaken and disoriented...” she mumbled as she slowly got to her hooves and shook her head. “B-but... I know now. I understand what I must do. Even if I don't know how to do it yet I know I'll figure it out,” she glanced to them and smiled. “I have to find the fire benders. I don't know where my people are hiding but I do know they are out there. Waiting for me.”

Her three friends stared at her for a moment in confusion before Rainbow opened her mouth, “Ummm... Twilight. I hate to break it to you but... the fire benders are long gone. Our parents used to tell us about it long ago. They were all purged or captured and... there aren't any left. I'm sorry but-”

“No. I'm sorry but you're wrong,” Twilight said with a stomp of her hoof. “I know it sounds odd but I talked with the previous avatar in the spirit world. There are still fire benders out there. Ones who can help me to raise the sun. I have no proof but, please, I need you to trust me.”

The three friends looked at each other for a moment before nodding their heads. “Of course Twilight! That's what friends are for, right?” Pinkie said with a giggle.

“Thank you. Now, things are going to get even tougher from here on out, if any of you want to turn back, now would be-”

“Oh don't even start with that horse wash again. 'Oh no, please, head home where it's safe and boring and lame! Don't come with me on this epic adventure of a life time!'” Rainbow said with a roll of her eyes and then grinned. “You aren't getting rid of us that easy, av-a-tar,” the pegasus said with a teasing smirk.

“Thank you. All of you. So very much,” Twilight sat down and sighed. “Now I just need to find out where to look first. Any ideas?” she asked as she craned her neck up to look at the dragon.

The great creature merely let out a sigh before shaking his head. “You will find no fire benders in this country for now. What you must do is continue your training. Find an air bender and learn your next element. Perhaps on your journey you will find what it is you seek. I can take you to the border of this country but, I'm afraid, that is as far as I can go. I can still offer you one last piece of aid however,” with those words his hands reached deep into one of the nearby tunnels moments before pulling something small and purple out.

“Hey! Let me go!” Spike yelled as he thrashed about in the massive dragon's grip. He looked up at the creature's eyes a moment before going still. “P-please let me go, sir,” he squeaked.

“You, Spike, are one of the youngest dragons still alive, possibly the only remaining child of our kind. You will go with the avatar and help her on her journey.”

“What? No way! I-I don't wa-”

“You will go or I will...” the Great Dragon's eyes wandered to Fluttershy for a moment, who was glaring, “make your time here very unpleasant.” Spike let out a pained squeak as the claw tightened and he began to nod rapidly. “Good. Now, all of you climb onto my back and I will take you far from here,” the dragon said as he laid his tail flat for them to climb on. He slowly began to spread his wings out, despite the massive size of the chamber he was only able to open them about three-fourths of the way. Once all the ponies were on his back and Spike was held tightly in his claw he took off, smashing through the stone roof as if it was made of wet paper and rising high into the air. The ponies struggled, holding onto his spine scales so they wouldn't be thrown off by the creature's mighty movements as its wings completely unfurled and it took off.

Far below the Water Nation camp was in upheaval at the sudden sight. Some gawked in fear, others ran around screaming like terrified Scootaloos and one took quite a few shots of his hard cider. As the commander's camp turned to chaos he grabbed one of the running unicorns and yanked the pony in close, his face grim. “Go to the communications tent and send word to Nightmare Moon. The dragon has risen.”

Chapter 6: Clouds

The mighty dragon soared through the air with the ease of a bird as the ponies held on with all their might. Once the Water Nation camp was far away and lost in the distance the dragon's flight slowed considerably, allowing Twilight to move to his shoulder and speak with him. She told him all she knew about her pursuers and what the previous avatar had said, while he in turn gave her advice and guidance.

After many hours her destination was decided. “Cloudsdale,” she said with awe. Even the name sent a shiver down her spine and felt as if it held a great part in her coming destiny. With her goal in mind, and small directions given by the mighty dragon, the unicorn glanced off to the world below and let out a gasp of surprise.

The world was still coated in ice, white as far as they eye could see. But slowly, as if awakening from a long slumber, green was beginning to poke out from the cold blanket and show its life. Trees, bushes, even a small field of daisies were slowly returning to life and filling the world once again with their beauty. Even Rainbow Dash couldn't help but admire the return of color to the world, even if she refused to admit it.

“Yeah. It's kinda cool. I guess,” the pegasus muttered haughtily.

All too soon the dragon began its descent and the scenic trip was brought to an end. The dragon landed on the opposite end of a canyon and allowed them to slowly disembark. “This is the edge of the Fire Country, I will go no further,” he said firmly as he dropped Spike from his grip. The little purple dragon let out a startled yelp as he had his short, if uncomfortable, nap ruined.

Twilight moved to stand in front of the dragon, gazing up at him. “Thank you, but where are we?”

“This is Earth Country. Head north and you will find those who will help you, young avatar.” the dragon said as it gazed down at her.

“Wait! But what about-” her words were cut out as the dragon lifted into the air, his powerful wings nearly sending them flying backwards from the wind. Within moments the powerful beast was high above them and leaving quickly. “What if the capital isn't there!” she yelled, “What about Cloudsdale?!”

“Hmph. He's probably just lazy and doesn't want to fly us to the Wind Country,” Rainbow grumbled with a snort of annoyance. “Come on and let's get this show on the road. The sooner we get to the capital the sooner we can get too Cloudsdale and start wind bending! We might even meet some of the really awesome ones! I hear the Wonderbolts make their base there! They would be soooo cool to meet!” the pegasus said with a happy sigh as they started walking.

“Huh? Who are the...” Twilight stopped mid sentence as she glanced back. Spike was following them, albeit keeping as much distance between them as he could while keeping them in sight. “Do you think we should invite him up with us?”

“Huh? Who?” Rainbow glanced back and shook her head. “Nah. If he wants to join us he'll catch up, otherwise he'll probably just hang out back there and watch us like some kind of creep.”

“Rainbow!” the unicorn snapped.

“What? It's true. He's the one being all stalker like. If he doesn't wanna be called a creeper he should come up with us,” the pegasus said with a snort.

“Oh dear... He's probably just shy... We should invite him-” Fluttershy started but was cut off by the blue mare shaking her head.

“No. If you just baby him he'll get all needy and whiny. He's supposed to be a dragon, let him at least try and act like it. You don't want him to grow up into some kinda wuss that bakes cakes and gets picked on by other dragons, do yah?”

“What's wrong with baking cakes?!” Pinkie asked defensively.

“Nothing, for a pony. But a dragon's supposed to be big, tough and mean. You don't wanna end up ruining his heritage, do you?”

“... Well... I guess not...” Fluttershy said softly.

“Good, it's settled. We'll just let him follow us and-” the quick pegasus started before she was suddenly interrupted by the earth pony darting past them and turning around.

“Wait! Twilight!” Pinkie shrieked, “I just realized something!”

“What?” the unicorn asked in confusion.

“What are we going to do if we meet new ponies?! We aren't prepared!”

“... We'll say hi?”

“I mean we don't have any party supplies! No confetti, no streamers, not even a kazoo! We left everything back with the balloon!”

The entire group stopped then as the realization dawned on the other three.

“We... left everything back there. Our food. Our water. Our supplies. We don't even have anything to cover up with,” Twilight said in shock as she began to notice just how icy cold it was. “Even our disguises.”

“Uh huh! I was going to say something but we were having so much fun riding the dragon that I completely forgot all our party supplies! If we meet a new pony how are we going to have a nice to meet you party now? Well, I guess we could use your fire bending to make fireworks and-” a blue hoof clamped over her mouth to try and stifle her words, though she kept mumbling through it unabated.

“We left everything. Everything... back at the volcano. The volcano that is... now who knows how far from us?! Even if we could get the direction it might take us days! Weeks to get back there!” Twilight said as her voice got higher and higher pitched. She took a few deep, calming breaths before turning to Rainbow. “Okay! New plan! Rainbow, let Pinkie go and fly up as high as you can and check if you can see anything, towns or other ponies, nearby. We'll try to stop there and restock.”

“On it!” the pegasus said with a smirk as she jumped into the air. The pony shot straight up, soon little more than a speck, before beginning to circle out a few times. Finally after a few more moments she shot straight down at them and landing with an over dramatic flair of her wings. “I saw some farm lands a bit east of here, but they're kinda weird. There's a huge dark cloud hovering over it and there seem to be ponies but also a bunch of really big brown things, not sure what they are,” she reported.

“Well, big things or not it's our best bet. We'll head there first and see if we can get some supplies without drawing too much attention,” she said as her gaze turned east. The others nodded and soon they were off, their hooves gently bending the grass as they went. Twilight could barely believe how quickly the world was defrosting around her, the beautiful sights and scents of revived grass filling her senses as they slowly broke through their icy cloaks. Sadly, her enjoyment didn't last long as the town came into view and a yellow earth pony stallion wearing a large brown hat galloped up and blocked their way.

“Who are you? Are you with the Water Nation?!” he asked angrily as he glared at them and made himself as large and imposing as possible. Though Twilight could see a soft tremble in his hooves and nervous sweat forming on his brow.

“No. There is no need to worry. We have nothing to do with Water Nation as we-” Twilight began but was quickly interrupted.

“Well howdy then!” the stallion said with a happy gusto. “So glad to meet some fine ponies such as yourselves who are not from Water Nation!” The pony suddenly reared up on his back legs and kicked the air! “My name's Braeburn Apple and I'm happy you'll be able to thrive in the delights of Aaaaaaaappleoosa!” Within seconds the four ponies found themselves pushed through the town! “Boggles the mind that us settler ponies built this town in the last fifty years, don't it? As you can see we have all the finest comforts.” He motioned to some carriages. “Like horse drawn carriages. And horse drawn horse drawn carriages,” he added as he motioned to some ponies drawing the previous carriages and their pullers.

“That's great and all but- Eek!” Twilight shrieked as once again they were pushed through the town before being brought to a building with a picture of a salt shaker hanging over the door.

“This is our local watering hall, The Salt Block!” the excited pony said as he continued their tour. Twilight's mind was soon struggling to wrap around the details as he rambled on about the sheriff, wild west dances, mild west dances and finally the apple orchards. “One of Earth Kingdom's finest apple orchards! Through years of hard work and dedication we've managed to grow some of the greatest apples around, second only to the Apple family home orchard. Even without the sun we've still managed to make this place a right nice place to live even in the coldest of weather,” he said proudly as he wiped some moisture from his eyes. “Now what brings you ponies to Aaaaaaaappleoosa!” he yelled as he reared up once again.

“Well, as I was saying before you...” Twilight trailed off as she looked to her left and right. “Where'd Pinkie go?”

“Your little pink friend? Wild west dances. Ain't none quite like the ones in Aaaaaaaappleoosa!” Again he reared up and kicked the air.

“Okay, that's fascinating and stuff but... but...” once again her voice trailed off. “Wait, are those buffalo? I never knew buffalo settled, I thought they were roamers...” she asked as she motioned to massive brown creatures, thick fur covering their bodies and small horns on their heads.

“Those must have been the things I saw! They're huge...” Rainbow mumbled with awe.

“Buffalo? Yup. Years ago when Aaaaaaaappleoosa!” he reared, “Began we had some trouble with them. Turns out we put our trees smack dab in the middle of their roaming grounds. Right careless of us, almost erupted in a full out war! Fortunately after tryin' some of our famous hot apple pie we all formed a delicious and long friendship and have been workin' together ever since. Which is good since come harvest time we have more apples than you can shake a hoof at, let alone buck! So where yah all from?”

The unicorn stared at the stallion, waiting for him to erupt into another long winded rant. After a few moments the coast seemed to be clear and she took a deep breath before beginning her own speech. “This is Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and the pink mare was Pinkie Pie. The dragon hiding outside is Spike. They are from the Wind Country. I am Twilight Sparkle, from the Fire Tribes.”

“You're from the Fire Tribes? But yah still have your horn? Ah, no offense,” the pony looked worried now.

“Yes. I do. Because you see... I'm the avatar,” she couldn't help it, she posed dramatically when she said it.

“Y-you're... You're the avatar?” the stallions mouth fell open and, for the first time, he seemed at a loss for words.

“Yes. I know it might be hard for you to believe bu-” she let out a startled cry as she found herself once again being moved by the pushy stallion.

“Get outa here. Now. You and all your friends just go!” the stallion said as he got Pinkie on the way, soon pushing them completely out of the town in a startled heap. “I'm sure yah all are nice folks and all, but the Avatar ain't welcome here. Nor is anyone who claims to be affiliated with her.”

“What? Why? We came here for supplies, we're on the way to the capital! We need-”

“I'm sorry, but yah all gotta go! Now! I don't know if you're the avatar and frankly I don't care. What I do know is-oof!” the earth pony found himself interrupted as Rainbow Dash resorted to her favorite method of diplomacy, aggressive.

“Listen here, Braeburn,” the pegasus snapped as she stood on his chest and glared down. “You can't just shove us around town and then kick us out the moment you find out who Twilight is. She IS the avatar and you owe her your help! She's got the best chance of any pony of taking down the Water Nation and they're every ponies enemy. So spill it, what's with the attitude?” she growled as she raised a hoof threateningly.

Braeburn stared up at the mare for a few moments before letting out a defeated sigh. “Well don't let any pony ever say I wasn't friendly tah strangers. Get off me and I'll explain everything.” Rainbow jumped off with a smirk as the stallion slowly got to his hooves with a grunt. “For fifty years we've been harvesting these fields and, even without the sun, doing a darn good job of it. Then about twenty years ago a squad of Water Nation soldiers attacked. Wasn't a thing we could do about it. They threatened to destroy our flames and we were to far from the capital to get any help, so we had no choice but to submit to their demands. Fortunately all they wanted was some food and a base of operations, at first.” He motioned to the large black clouds above Appleoosa. “Then the sun rose. We rebelled. Without the ability to steal our heat and freeze us, we woulda won! Except those dirty, no good, mulch licking Water Nation ponies did something utterly despicable,” he growled as he ground his hoof into the ground.

“What did they do?” Twilight asked nervously.

“In the middle of the battle those monsters snuck into town and kidnapped our children and wounded their caretakers. My niece, the sheriff's daughter, the buffalo chief's daughter and a few others. Before we managed to completely push them out they showed us our children. Threatened to drop them from the fortress if we didn't surrender to 'em. Our children are now trapped in that cloud fortress. If we show any sign of rebellion they threaten to toss down the lot of them. Took all our pegasi too, not that we had many, so we can't even mount a rescue.”

“If all that happened why were you just leading us around town? Heck, you ponies were dancing!” Rainbow snapped angrily.

“Ah, well...” he coughed nervously as he looked away. “I couldn't help but notice you had two pegasi in your group. I was tryin' tah butter yah up and the others caught on. Once yah all had a generous dosage of Appleoosa hospitality we were gonna ask yah for some help. Unfortunately, yah bein' the avatar and all... We just can't rightly ask yah to risk yourself for our sakes.”

Twilight shook her head before speaking up, “What? No. I am the avatar! It's my job to help ponies who are in need, and-”

“NO!” Braeburn snapped with a stomp of his hoof. “Please just go. We don't need any more trouble than we already got. Listen, if yah need supplies I'll see what I can do. But if the Water Nation thought we had the avatar here there is no telling what they might do to our kids. Frankly, if you're the avatar you're the best bet any of us has of one day being free of them. Understand?”

“But we-” Rainbow started but was cut off.

“Understand?!” the stallion said with a firm stomp of his hoof. Grudgingly the four nodded their heads in acceptance. Within an hour they had packs of supplies and they slowly walked away from the city, their heads hanging.

“There has to be something we can do,” Twilight mumbled once they were out of ear shot.

“Like what? It's not like you can shoot a fireball up that high,” Rainbow grumbled. “Not like the Great dragon will be coming around any time soon to give you a lift either.”

“Wait, that's it!” the unicorn said as she turned towards the pegasus. “You know wind bending, right? Maybe you could teach me how to do it!”

“Whoa there sister. I could teach you but you're missing a vital component,” the pegasus said with a flap of her wings.

“What? Magic? Skill? Talent?”

“... Wings,” the mare said flatly.

“Oh! Well, those. I can make them. I think. Maybe. Sorta. I've never actually tried it but I'm sure it would be easy. Ish,” Twilight said, though her voice betrayed her worry.

“You mean like how when your eyes went all glowy and stuff? I don't think that's going to work,” Rainbow muttered.

“Well we have to try!” Twilight snapped with a stomp of her hooves. “Those ponies need us! We can't just turn our backs on them. I know you want to help them just as badly as I do.”

“Fine fine, I'll see what I can do. But without wings I doubt you'll be able to do much. Maybe-” Rainbow was suddenly cut off as Pinkie jumped up.

“What we need is a montage!” the mare said excitedly.

“Excuse me?” the avatar asked as she stared at the earth pony as if she finally snapped.

“A montage! Okay, Rainbow and Twilight, you two go over there in the clearing to practice. Fluttershy, I'll need you for special effects. Spikey!” The dragon eeped as he tried to hide in some nearby foliage. “You I'll need for a very special task!” Fearing the coming danger, he attempted to climb into a tree as the mare advanced on him.

Soon Fluttershy and Spike were sitting in front of a wide assortment of instruments, neither sure of what was going on but fearing it was easier to just go along with Pinkie than to argue. They gingerly poked at the instruments a few times before trying to play them.

A bit off behind them Rainbow and Twilight began to work with a small tuft of cloud as the music filled the air, the pony and dragon unsure of how they were doing so well. Pinkie jumped to the front, wearing a pair of fake blue wings, and began her singing!

“All you need to do is take a touch of power, swirl it in a mix!

Now just take a little breath, no bigger, a bit of uni magic, just a pinch!

Bending the air is such a cinch, make a tiny tuft of cloud!

Make a little more and jump on all fours and you'll never fall on your flanka!

Wind – so fast and whippy!

Wind – don't be too jumpy!

Wind bending – wind, wind WIND!”

“I did it!” Twilight squealed with excitement as she hopped up and down on the cloud.

“See? What did I tell you. All you needed was a montage!” Pinkie said as she smiled up knowingly.

“I... wait, what? No it didn't. Rainbow just showed me and we... what? The music didn't have anything to do with it,” the unicorn said in bewilderment.

“Oh? Didn't it Twilight? Didn't it?” the earth pony said with a smirk.

“No it... Where did you get those fake wings from? Those instruments too? Wait, the song wasn't even that long. How did it last the entire time she was showing me? The lesson took a few hours! How did...” she put a hoof to her head and shook herself. “Nevermind. I just... I'm just going to accept it and move on.”

“Probably for the best,” Rainbow said with a snicker.

“Of course. Now, while wings are a bit out of my league for now, Rainbow did manage to show me a few tricks. Walking on clouds, molding them and making wind gusts!”

“To be honest I'm not sure how you got some of those from what I showed you, but hey, if it works, who cares? Now let's go save some foals!” the pegasus said as she pointed high above at the black cloud.

“Hold on Rainbow! Before anything else we need to make sure we have a plan. Luckily, I think I have just the one,” Twilight said as she motioned them close.

“Are you sure this will work?” Rainbow asked as she slowly pushed a big white cloud, housing Twilight, towards the clouds above.

“I'm sure Pinkie and Fluttershy will handle their part fine. Besides if everything goes smoothly we won't even need to use them,” Twilight responded, ignoring the pegasus's disbelieving snort.

“I don't even know how I'm supposed to pass as an earth pegasus,” the pegasus grumbled. “Those guys are huge! All muscle and no wing. I saw a picture of one once, you know. His legs were thicker than my body and his wings were smaller than my hoof. It was a miracle he could even fly, let alone make it up this high.”

“Don't worry so much. With you on the inside and me on the outside, what's the worst that could possibly happen?” Twilight's muffled voice comforted.

“Everything,” Rainbow grumbled as she pushed the smaller cloud into the larger one. The other cloud absorbed it quickly as she pulled up and looked around. The entire thing was massive, easily wide enough to house a small village and at least ten feet thick on the bottom. The top was crafted into one large building with rows of wooden flooring melded to the clouds to allow non pegasi to travel across.

Surprisingly, the place seemed deserted. The pegasus could hear ponies talking inside but no pony seemed to be interested on the going on outside the cloud, apparently feeling quite content and safe in their home. A smirk spread on her face as she trotted towards the nearest doorway. Well, if they felt safe and secure she was going to have to change that. She turned and gave it one mighty buck, the clouds forming it slamming back and shattering into little tufts of air.

Within moments the alarms were going off and a dozen of the Water Nation pegasi, in full armor, surrounded the mare. She charged into them, her hooves blazing as she bucked and clobbered as many as she could before finally being overwhelmed. Struggling, biting and bucking the mare was dragged off into the building.

Once the commotion settled down Twilight slowly popped her head out of the clouds and looked around. “I think she enjoyed that far more than she was supposed too...” she grumbled as she slowly climbed out. Taking a quick look around the mare then charged forward, hiding against the side of the building before scanning the surroundings again.

Her nerves rattled as she struggled to keep herself calm. Rainbow and the others were depending on her and she knew she had to do her part wonderfully if they were to have any chance of escape and success. She slowly inched towards a doorway and put her ear to it. Not hearing any pony inside she slowly inched it open before disappearing inside.

Despite her worry she failed to notice the pair of orange eyes that watched her from one of the cloud crafted windows. They belonged to a unicorn wearing Water Nation armor who smiled wickedly before turning to walk through the cloud structures halls.

Chapter 7: Havoc

High above the fields, inside the dark cloud, a few ponies grumbled as they sat besides a small window that overlooked the town. They were, once again, on look out duty. The cadet, a young red pegasus, didn't care for any of it since the entire thing was just a waste of time. Without pegasi the farmers couldn't do a thing to stop them.

Then again he did hear about the one mare attack a bit ago, if nothing else at least look out duty had kept him from getting a black eye. Even though they likely would get yelled at for not seeing the pony before she bucked in a door. So between small games of go fish the pony would glance below with his binoculars. It was during one of these times that his mouth fell open as he gaped in disbelief. Quickly he motioned one of his fellow cadets over. "Look at this!" Shoving the binoculars in the startled pegasus's hoofs, the first pony motioned down towards the ground.

After a few seconds of staring the second cadet let out a gasp. "I'm going to go get the lieutenant!" He said nervously before running off, dropping the binoculars and leaving their game undone. The first pegasus picked them back up, before looking to Appleoosa again. His hooves got sweaty as he nervously gulped.

While it was true the chances of an assault on them was next to impossible, what he was seeing now led credence to the idea the blue mare was just the beginning. Frankly, they weren't prepared. The majority of their forces had been dispersed once they captured the children and it was assumed they had everything under control. They only had a skeleton crew now, the majority of their forces either helping other outposts that had lost control or to keep an eye on the dragon, in case it awoke. That was probably one of the scariest things he could think of, what would the Water Nation do if the Great dragon awoke?

Worst of all, there was but a single water bender here, their lieutenant.

He whipped the binoculars to the right as a pink movement caught his gaze. What in the world was she- “EEK!” he shrieked like a filly as she looked straight up at him and waved! The binoculars were dropped as he darted back from the window, trembling and trying to think of anything else. There was no way the mare could have actually seen him, right?

He prayed they wouldn't have to go down there. He knew how to deal with riots, rebellions, assaults, even war. But how in all of the Water Nation do you deal with a party?

"Um, Pinkie, about this celebration for the Water Nation... Are you really sure it's a good idea?" Fluttershy asked as she looked around nervously at the commotion. "I mean-"

"Oh, don't you worry your pretty little head about the mean ol' Water Nation. Your auntie Pinkie Pie's got it all taken care of." Pinkie interrupted as she patted the annoyed looking pegasus's head. "I'm going to go make sure the tug o' war game is going okay!" the excitable earth pony said as she hopped off.

“I'm a year older than you..." Fluttershy grumbled as she watched her friend depart.

"Okay every pony! Get ready! Get set! Go!" Pinkie raised a hoof as the ponies and buffalo on either side of a long rope began to pull with all their might, in an attempt to dump the losers into a small muddy pit between them. However, the pit seemed to be a waste of effort as the buffalo team gained a few feet before giving one massive pull, pulling the earth ponies off their hooves and sending them flying them through the air and over both the pit and their opponents! Straight into a wagon full of muffins.

"My muffins!" A grey pegasus shrieked as her eyes went wide and derpy.

Pinkie felt some pony tap her back, drawing her attention from the apologizing ponies. "Pinkie," Braeburn said as she turned. "I appreciate your help and all but your friends really shouldn'ta gone up there. I wish yah woulda told us before they went and tossed themselves in the den of those snakes. It's too dangerous! Then yah go and have us throw this shindig. How exactly is any ah this going to help them?"

"What better distraction than a party, you silly billy? Every pony loves a good party!" Pinkie said as she sampled some of the fruit punch, seemingly ignoring the stressed earth pony. "Maybe I should have added a little lemon..."

"But Pinkie! We should be preparing for yah friends, not throwing darts and pies! This is just a waste ah time. What about our young ones?!" Braeburn snapped angrily with a stamp of his hoof on the ground.

"Braeburn. This isn't just a party." Pinkie said as she gripped both of the startled pony's cheeks in her hooves, squeezing a little as she stared into his eyes. "This is the best hoofing party any of you ponies have ever seen. This is going to be a party where you stay up til the moon comes out, which it doesn't because we haven't fixed that yet but if it did we would party until long after it came out! This is going to be the greatest, no, most triumphant, no most awesome party EVER! And none of those Water Nation ponies will resist it! Once this is over you'll have every pony back before you can say pickle barrel kumquat! I love saying that. Pickle barrel kumquat pickle barrel kumquat pickle barrel kumquat! Come on, say it with with me! Pickle barrel-" Hundreds of miles away an orange earth pony felt a shiver go down her spine as she looked around fearfully, before shaking her head and bucking an apple tree.

Far above the town in the Water Nation cloud base Rainbow glared at the two pegasi leading her to the prison. Both were nursing bruises and bumps from the fight, the one on her right limping from a twisted ankle. She was led to a wooden room, enchanted and built into the cloud. Inside she could see a few pegasi, earth ponies, and a young buffalo. The guards opened the door and motioned her to enter, which she did slowly. A wicked grin formed on her lips as she made a sudden step towards the guard with the twisted ankle. He shrieked and jumped back, falling onto his flank. She smirked knowingly and let out a snicker as the guard flustered about and got back to his hooves.

Once she was inside the door slammed shut behind her and she listened for the guard's hoof steps to leave, even though they were dampened by the cloud's padding. Once they were clear she turned and looked around. "Okay, who's the boss here?"

Some of the ponies raised their heads but quickly laid them back down. "Hey answer me! We're breaking out of here. Who's with me?!" Rainbow said as she posed, standing up straight and spreading her wings out dramatically. The only response she got was some light coughing. "What's wrong with every pony?" the pegasus demanded as she moved around the room, trying to prop up the ponies as they merely flopped around.

"Give it up." The buffalo child said with a sigh. "There's no escape from here. Even if you get out of this cell there's a water bender out there and you can't do anything against that." The ponies murmured their agreement as Rainbow stomped a hoof down, making their prison shake for a few seconds.

"That's where your wrong! Me and my friends have come to rescue you, all of you. We're getting you out of here whether you like it or not!" Rainbow said with a glare.

"You and what army?" One of the earth ponies grumbled as she rolled around so her back was to the pegasus.

"I'm a wind bender, so I'm an army by myself! Oh, and the avatar too. We need every pony to be ready to go at a moments notice." With those words almost every head in the cell shot up.

"Did you say the avatar? But the avatar has been missing for a hundred years!" The buffalo said in disbelief.

"Well I found her. My name's Rainbow Dash and the avatar is a close personal friend of mine. In fact she owes me big, I've saved her life plenty of times." Rainbow bragged, puffing out her chest.

“No way. There's no way the avatar is here. You're just making stuff up so we'll try to break out with you,” a pegasus grumbled as he flopped back down and rested his head on the ground.

“Hey! I'm not a liar, the avatar is really here. I swear. If I'm not telling the truth may my feathers fall off and my cutey mark go bald,” Rainbow said as she crossed a hoof over her heart.

The buffalo gulped as she got to her hooves. "Is it true, the avatar is here? Really?”

"The one and only. Right this moment she's enacting our brilliant plan. She should be here any minute," the wind bender said confidently as she motioned every pony up. “But you all need to be ready to go. We're getting you home where you belong.”

Twilight was going to die. She knew it. The mare stopped breathing as she held the clouds tight against her body and tried her best to stay quiet. After a few moments she heard her pursuers run by and slam the door down the hall. She slowly peeked out from her cloud cover and glanced around. All clear.

The unicorn pulled free from the clouds and started trotting down the opposite way from the guards, trying to be more careful to avoid detection as she went over her lessons with Rainbow again, mouthing the words as she walked.

******

"Okay to not fall through a cloud... You need to be cool." Rainbow had said during their training, before she stepped on the training cloud.

"Excuse me?" Twilight had muttered, confused at the odd lesson.

"Yeah. You need to be too cool to fall through the clouds. It comes natural for a pegasus, but for a unicorn... Well... Okay you need to have sufficient coolness, awesomeness, and radicalness. If you have enough of one it should make up for the others."

"But... Aren't those the same thing?"

"No Twilight. That's why you're not able to walk on clouds yet," Rainbow said with a smirk. Twilight glared before moving in to examine the pegasus's hooves closely.

She blinked as the information filtered through her brain and she began to process the magical signatures into what she could understand. "...I think I see! By combining the power of natural wind bending inside a pegasus with the inherent electromagicalstatic field we use to grip objects, you create a force capable of altering the density of a certain amount of cloud, essentially forcing it to maintain its shape and position relative to you, rather than allowing it to disperse and allow you to succumb to gravity!" she exclaimed in excitement!

"... Twilight. You are such an egg head." Rainbow grumbled with a shake. "Now manipulating clouds is a bit trickier. Its easy to knock them around and grip them." She demonstrated by flapping her wings and sending the cloud to bounce on the ground a few times with concentrated bursts. "But shaping them, well..." She flapped her wings, as the cloud formed into a ring, before dissipating. "Is a lot harder since the clouds will probably break up."

"Uh huh... Fascinating. By using the propulsion energy of your wings to start off the burst and then use your wind bending to guide the force it allows you to direct and dissipate certain portions of the cloud. Also while using the power generated from wind bending to apply a counter balancing force on the portions of cloud you wish to maintain as is, rather than altering their basic shape."

"... How did you get that from what I... What did you even just say? Just work on the cloud, okay?" Rainbow had said as she sat down. "Is that how ponies talked a hundred years ago?" She had grumbled to herself, though Twilight pretended not to hear.

******

As the thoughts faded from her mind Twilight slowly began to sneak into a small room, glancing around in case anyone saw her. Moments later a grin formed on her lips as she saw what was in the room and stepped inside. "This will do perfectly," she mumbled out loud as her mind began to whirl.

"Perfectly for what?" A voice asked from behind her.

At that moment, across the continent, a tall white unicorn sat within her struggling airship. She was plagued by a lack...a need that she could not fill. Celestia's kazoo was off limits. She longed to play another prank on her niece but with the air ship in such ratty repair and losing air, she knew better than to cause her niece more stress. No matter how amusing it would be. "Water Nation outpost off the port side!" one of the pegasi called as their damaged ship slowly altered its course, the balloon giving out a momentary high pitched whistle as yet more air escaped it.

Celestia looked to Rarity, who was sitting on the bow of the ship. She hadn't moved from that position in hours, slight sun burns forming on the young mares body. Having gone around the lightning plains it had looked like they might catch the avatar. Until the balloon holding them aloft began to leak air from the damage it sustained from their first encounter with the powerful bender. It was all they could do to stay aloft and so they had no choice but to return for repairs at the nearest Water Nation outpost.

The elder unicorn slowly got to her hoofs and walked to her little niece, a hoof moving to rub the smaller unicorn's back. "There there little one. We will make up for this lost time. Relax, enjoy yourself. Soon you will have a full stomach and all will seem better."

"Things will seem better when I have the avatar!" she snapped, her rage flaring. "If we had just went through the lightning plains we..." Her voice trailed off as a massive air ship flew over them, pulled by the darkest pegasi Rarity had ever seen. "No. It can't be. Is that..."

"The Tsunami..." Celestia said gently, her face grim. "Pulled by the Shadowbolts. This does not bode well..." She glanced at the port as their damaged ship docked with it. Soon a handful of ponies came out to deal with their ship, though many more headed to inspect the Tsunami.

Rarity cringed as laughter she knew far to well filled the air, but she had no choice to endure what she knew was coming. She slowly walked down the gangplank from her ship. "Oh my. If it isn't the fabled child, Rarity," the voice rang out as the mare kept walking, trying to head towards the mess hall of the outpost and ignore that voice and what it was attached too. Unfortunately she suddenly found the unicorn was blocking her way. The general stared down down at the white mare as if she was gazing at an insect she wished to crush. "I can't help but notice your ship. What exactly happened?"

"... We encountered bad weather and wind pegasi." Rarity grumbled as she shoved past the mare, ignoring her taunts.

Trixie watched the fallen princess walk away and into the outpost before she turned to her guards. "Snips, have the ponies of that ship questioned. Snails, question every pony at this outpost, find out if any new information about the avatar has surfaced." She then turned and began to walk to her ship, "I will be in my quarters. Return to me when you find out what I want. Or don't return at all," she warned coldly, her voice holding an edge of malice as the two stallions nodded rapidly and saluted, running off to do their tasks and accidentally slamming into each other.

Back across the continent in the small apple town of Appleoosa an excited voice rang out. "Okay every pony, positions!" Pinkie yelled as five shapes began their descent from above. Fortunately positions were easy to get into, namely because no pony had any idea where their positions were or what the plan was so they just kept doing what they had been doing.

"Um. What exactly is the plan? We settler ponies don't mind a little rough housing, but our kids are up in those clouds. We don't want to-" Braeburn was silenced however as Pinkie put a hoof to his mouth.

"Trust me. Nothings going to fall, if it was my Pinkie senses would pick up on it." The excited pink pony began to hop off, leaving the confused Appleoosian behind her. "Welcome to Appleoosa! Are you ready to par-tay?" She said happily as she hopped around the five confused Water Nation pegasi when they landed.

"We are... under strict orders to investigate and stop whatever your plans are. We're not exactly sure what it is your doing, but we of the Water Nation wi- Could you please stand still? AH!" The lead pegasi was dragged off suddenly to the dessert table.

"Try some pie!" Pinkie said with glee. "Enjoy yourself! It's a party and what's a party without fun? It's just a part bad! Or a part-bee-aye-dee! We can't have that!" She sand as she more or less force fed the pegasus pie.

The pegasus stared at the mare in confusion, pie covering his mouth. But after a short wait he swallowed, his eyes wide. "Well... The pie seems tasty. I guess. I guess... investigating this party can't end to badly. Its not like you ponies can do anything to us." As he nodded to the other pegasus and they began to see what the fun was about, though cautiously.

Pinkie grinned as she hopped around to the other pegasi and showed them all the games and fun things they could do! Only stopping for a moment by Fluttershy. "Operation distraction is a go!" She said happily, before darting off to refill the punch bowl.

In the cloud above Appleoosa Rainbow paced through the cell impatiently, occasionally glancing at the door. "Ugh. Where is she? She should have been here by now. Okay every pony, change of plan. I think the avatar might be having some problems." Groans filled the cell as the light began to die from many of the prisoners eyes. "Now stop right there. I'm going to break out and find out what's keeping her. Th-" She was cut off as the back of the cell exploded, clouds and shards of wood covering all the occupants of the cell. "What the..." Shaking the mess off, Rainbow looked back towards the new hole.

"Every pony into the carriage! Move, move!" Twilight yelled. She was standing on top of a large blue open sky carriage. However that didn't worry Rainbow. What did was the fact that two pegasi were pulling it. Two Water Nation pegasi!

"Twilight? What's going on? Who are they?" Rainbow asked as her wings began to flap hard before sending a burst of wind straight at the two pullers. However the one on the left lifted his left wing, cutting the wind and forcing it to dissipate harmlessly to the side. "Did... He just... Wind bend. How...?"

Twilight jumped down from the carriage, “Every pony who can't fly hop in! We're getting out of here. Come on!" The unicorn frantically motioned to the cart, but no pony was willing to get near it. "What's wrong?"

"We're not going anywhere with Water Nation! This is all just a trick, isn't it? Make us think we're safe, and then... Then do something worse to us!" The buffalo child said quickly, her eyes focused on the two supposed Water Nation ponies.

"What? No! Of course not. These two are not Water Nation ponies, please, we need to go. I can explain everything once we're gone. Some pony might have heard," Twilight said anxiously as she kept glancing down the hallways, a nervous lump in her throat. Already they could hear the sound of armored soldiers running towards them.

"Aren't Water Nation ponies?" Rainbow said with disbelief. "They sure look like it. Come on Twilight. I know you're trusting, but this is ridiculous! Whatever they're up to, it can't be good. We can't trust them."

"We're not Water Nation," The pony on the left said, "and your friend is correct, we must leave."

"We're not leaving with Water Nation ponies. If you're not, prove it." Rainbow said as she stomped a hoof down on the wooden ground.

The two ponies sighed and looked at each other, before casting off their Water Nation wear. Rainbow's mouth almost hit the floor as she stared at the two. One was a blue pegasus, with a dark blue mane and green eyes, while the other was a yellow pegasus, with a fire colored mane and orange eyes. However, that wasn't what had the wind bender's attention. Both had been wearing full blue body suits under the armor which covered all but their wings, ears, mouth, manes, and tails. The suits had lightning bolts around the hoofs and along the bottom.

"You're... You're... You're Wonderbolts!" Rainbow said as her voice turned high pitched, almost a squeal.

"Yes. My name is Soarin' and her name is Spitfire. Now can every pony please get into the carriage?" The prisoners snapped to it now, jumping into the carriage quickly.

Rainbow dashed to Twilight's side. "How come you didn't say they were the Wonderbolts?!" she hissed, struggling to keep her voice low.

"I don't even know what a Wonderbolt is! They just told me they were trying to rescue the prisoners too. I figured hey, they didn't set off the alarm, maybe they were telling the truth."

"How can you not know who the Wonderbolts are?! Every pony knows who the Wonderbolts are! You live under a ro... Oh. Right. In a rock," Rainbow glanced back to the two, who were currently helping the colts and fillies get into the carriage. ""The Wonderbolts are some of the greatest wind benders in existence! Not only that, but they're responsible for most of the attacks and resistance movements against the Water Nation in Wind Country! They're heroes! Legends! The best of the best!"

"Err... Wow. That's pretty ummm... Impressive. I take it you've studied them a bit?" Twilight asked nervously as she took a step back from her excited friend.

"Studied? I know everything about them! Soarin' and Spitfire alone are two of their top-"

"Ahem!" A voice called behind them. Spitfire was tapping her hooves, "Avatar, pegasus pony, we need to go." As she motioned to the cart. All of those who couldn't fly, either because they didn't have wings or were to weak, had already been loaded on with a few of the flying pegasus standing besides the carriage.

"Oh, right. Sorry, that's our cue." Twilight took a deep breath. "Ready Rainbow?" she asked as she glanced around, expecting soldiers to pop out any moment. Where were they?

"Ready," Rainbow said with a confident grin, readying her wings. The Wonderbolts were here so it was time to show her stuff, to show the best she could do. She would show just how amazing her... bending... was... compared to the greatest wind benders in the world. Oh dear. She froze for a moment, missing the timing as Twilight sent out her own burst of wind, only puncturing two walls of cloud.

"Rainbow? Whats wrong? I'm not going to be able to do this by myself. We need to-"

"Do nothing." A voice said as clouds formed over the small hole Twilight had just made. Blocking the way of the carriage was a unicorn pony wearing the blue uniforms of the Water Nation. Her horn was glowing as the clouds around them began to swirl. "I'm not sure who all of you are. But my queen will surely reward me for capturing two Wonderbolts." From above Soarin and Spitfire the clouds suddenly began to swirl down towards them, too fast for the two to escape while attached to the carriage. They cringed and lowered their heads to try and dampen the blow, but suddenly a burst of flames shot out and enveloped the attack, turning it to steam.

"Every pony out!" Twilight yelled quickly as fire surrounded her horn. "I'll deal with this!” she stepped to the side as the Wonderbolts raced past her. “Rainbow, make sure they get out of here!”

The pegasus looked troubled for a moment before taking off after them. “Okay! Be careful!”

The Water Nation unicorn stared at them in confusion, not lifting a hoof to stop the escaping carriage as she tried to process what she just saw. "Fire bending? Impossible! The fire benders are..." her eyes went wide and her voice trailed off as realization set in. "I'd heard rumors, but... The avatar? Here?" She grinned as she began to walk towards the mare, the clouds swirling around them faster. "I can get those prisoners later. Capturing the avatar will bring me power and privilege far beyond my wildest dreams!"

"Your not capturing any pony today," Twilight said as she dug her hoofs into the swirling cloud, using her small control of wind bending to keep the cloud current from knocking her aside. Though a small bead of sweat began to trail down her forehead as she watched the pony. She couldn't hope to control the clouds anywhere near as well as this opponent. If she wanted to have any chance she had to think fast.

In a certain Water Nation outpost, far from the conflict, Rarity poked at her alfalfa gingerly. Her aunt sat besides her and was poking at her own alfalfa in a very similar way. "Does one really have to eat this?" the princess grumbled as she slowly chewed on a piece.

"Yes. Food can be scarce at times, you never know when you'll be short a mouthful. And... Oh dear." Celestia sighed as Trixie wandered into the mess hall, smiling like the gryphon that just caught the mouse. The general sauntered over to sit across from them and watch the young unicorn.

After a few moments of intense glaring from the princess, Trixie finally spoke up. "So you encountered the avatar. You should have reported this to me immediately."

"It's none of your business. Capturing the avatar is MY duty. Not yours." Rarity snapped as she picked at her alfalfa.

"Oh. In that you are quite wrong." Trixie's grin got even wider, almost wide enough to split her face in two. "You see our leader, Nightmare Moon, has delegated this task to me. The Great and Powerful Trixie. I have been allowed access to all of the nation's resources, including the use of the Shadowbolts, to complete this task."

"The avatar is my duty. Stay out of it." Rarity growled, gritting her teeth so hard she felt they might crack. It took all her strength of will to stop from screaming at that news, or bursting into tears.

"Oh don't you worry. Think of it this way. Once I've captured the avatar you can think of your time away from the capital as a vacation. A permanent vacation," the blue unicorn gloated as she began to laugh. She was enjoying herself to much to notice the hoof until it slammed into her face, knocking her backwards out of her chair and onto the floor. "Ahhh! You dare to strike the Great and Powerful Trixie?!" She growled as she looked up at the offending mare, her hoof holding her face. Celestia struggled to hold Rarity back but rage had over taken the princess.

"I will destroy you! The avatar is mine!" Rarity growled, "I challenge you to a water duel!" She snapped as the water in the room began to shake and pulsate, glasses and bottles shattering.

"NO!" Celestia said, shaking her head rapidly.

"I accept." Trixie said as she rubbed her eye, a bruise beginning to form. Slowly she got to her hooves while gazing upon the fallen royal unicorn. "Your mother was gentle what she fought you. I won't be," the mare growled as she turned and stormed towards the exit. "One hour. Then we will fight." The door to the mess hall slammed behind her, the room going silent as the few other ponies in the mess hall stared or tried to clean up the mess.

"Oh Rarity... What have you done. Have you forgotten what happened the last time you faced a master water bender?" Celestia asked as she shook her head.

"No. I will never forget and I will not back down." Rarity got to her hooves, slowly turning to her aunt. "However... I would appreciate your tips and advice, auntie..." She said softly as the rage began to cool from an explosive boil.

The elder unicorn smiled at her young niece before getting to her feet. "Very well. We have very little time but I will do my best to prepare you for this fight." She prayed luck would be with her niece. She'd need it.

Chapter 8: Anger

Twilight ran down the halls of the ever shifting cloud-base, struggling to keep from stumbling as it shifted and crumbled around her. The only thing stopping her from plummeting to an untimely demise was her small control of the clouds around her, allowing her to stop them from disappearing under her or crushing her from above. She saw light ahead and redoubled her speed. She lunged through a doorway as the walls behind her collapsed, no longer helped to stand through her bending.

After taking a deep breath the mare started looking around as she found herself standing under the open sky. The building made of cloud collapsed and left her on a single large flat disc. She ran to the edge of the floating base and let out a soft gasp. Appleoosa was nowhere in sight... and neither was the carriage Rainbow and the others had escaped in. The ground below them was changing quickly as the cloud moved at a rapid pace across the sky.

"You didn't think I was just going to sit idly by and let you escape, did you?" a mocking voice asked from behind her. Twilight gulped as she turned to face the lieutenant. "I've been at this base for the last thirty years, I know everything about this sun forsaken cloud. I know exactly how to move it, how to control it. Most importantly... how to destroy it." The ground around Twilight began to dissipate. “It's just me and you avatar. My soldiers should be off rounding up your little escaping friends as we speak. No pony is coming to save you.”

The avatar held out a hoof as she focused, the flames on her horn going out as she focused her wind bending to stop the cloud from dissipating under her. "Please. There's no reason for us to fight. I'm the avatar, it's my job to bring peace to the land. I'm not your enemy, I'm your friend." She let out a sigh of relief as the cloud stopped shifting under her.

"Peace?" The mare said as her voice took a hopeful tint.

"Yes! Peace!" Twilight said as a smile broke across her face. Even among the Water Nation it seemed there were still those who wanted to do the right thing!

"You know... I've always heard about it. Peace I mean. I heard long ago it was between all the nations." The mare looked unsure. "But how could you possibly bring it about? You're just one pony..."

Twilight slowly moved closer to the mare until they were face to face and she held out a hoof. "I may just be one mare, but I'm the avatar. I've already learned some wind bending and soon I will learn earth and water. Once I learn them all I'll be able to stop this war entirely. I could always use another friend to help me."

"Oh avatar... In that case allow me to help you. Do you know the most important thing water benders can learn?" The mare asked as she took the avatar's hoof.

"Compassion and the desire to help others?" She asked hopefully.

The water bender drove her free hoof into Twilight's face, sending the shocked unicorn backwards into a pocket of clouds. "No, you prattling moron." Her horn glowed as a chunk of the clouds turned to water, wrapping around the avatar's head to drown her. "Control and manipulation," She moved to the drowning unicorn and drove her front hoofs down on her side with enough force to nearly break the mare's rib. "and making yourself cold as ice. Did you really think I would just give up and help you that easy? What a foal!" As she began to give the mare a beating, hooves striking down where ever she could reach.

Far away from the cloud base and at a much lower altitude Celestia stood in front of her niece, gazing down in worry as she spoke. "To win this fight you must focus at all times. The most important thing you must learn is control. Both of Trixie and yourself. Your focus must never waiver and you must never let her words get to you." The wise unicorn motioned to a small kettle and two cups. "I want you to pour the tea. While you do I want you to think of Trixie."

"... Fine aunty, but I fail to see how this will help me." Rarity's horn began to glow, but it stopped as her aunt raised a hoof.

"No. Pour it by hoof. It will require more focus without your magic."

"What is the point?! How will pouring with my hoofs make me a better water bender?!" Rarity demanded as she glared up at her aunt.

"You lack control. You let your emotions guide you, Rarity. You get angry and then lash out, uncaring of what you damage. That is not how a water bender should behave or a princess for that matter," Celestia said as she gazed back at her niece, her eyes unwavering and calm.

"Well, so what?! That's good! If I'm uncaring, that's what I'm supposed to be! As cold as ice!" Rarity shouted back at her teacher defiantly, the princess comment making her boil with rage. "Like a tsunami, destroying all in my path an-"

"NO!" Celestia slammed a hoof down, causing one of the cups to topple over. "To be uncaring and purely destructive is to give up what you are. Water unrestrained, raging as a flooding river, can destroy all in its path. But water controlled, a bubbling brook, can be gentle and guiding. Water can bring new life and wipe away destruction. It can soothe even the deepest pains. As a water bender your duty is not to lash out with it and destroy all in your wake. Your duty is to guide it, to control it and protect others with it."

"I don't need to guide it. I need to use it to destroy Trixie!" Rarity snapped as she got to her hooves. "Never mind. I'll do this on my own if you won't do anything but give pointless little speeches." The princess turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

"Oh niece..." The white unicorn said with a sad sigh. "If only you would trust and listen to me..."

Far above the ground Twilight silently screamed as her body was beaten. Her hooves pulled helplessly at the water choking her as her body was relentlessly thrashed. Then the liquid fell from around her neck as she threw most of it up, coughing and hacking. Her hooves wouldn't move as more ice encircled her. She stared up through blurry, moisture soaked eyes at the unicorn.

"Now now Avatar. We can't have you die just yet. I've only just begun to teach you lessons after all," the Water Nation unicorn chuckled as Twilight's vision began to clear. The armored hoof of her assaulter slammed down on her stomach as the last of the water was driven out by the sudden blow. Ice bound her hoofs together as the mare began to circle her. "You know I was never that good a water bender. I could never quite make myself as cold as they said I should." Twilight let out a pained sob as a jagged shard of ice jammed into her side and twisted.

"I always enjoyed it far to much. Drowning you see. Its so much fun to watch a pony helpless and gasping for air. I've never been allowed to fully do it though. Always training exercises." The avatar shivered as moisture was drawn up from the clouds, slowly shifting into an assortment of bladed instruments. Ice soon coiled around her throat and began to choke her yet again. "But Nightmare Moon would have used some pony like me. If only I hadn't let my... enjoyments lead me to this sun forsaken place." A small blade of ice formed in front of the helpless unicorns face. "But me and you... Oh we're going to have lots of fun. Then I'll offer your body to her majesty and then... Well... I'm sure whoever her current general is can have a little accident." As the blade plunged at the avatar's face.

However with her head no longer drowning in water Twilight's horn was able to glow bright red as flames coated her body and pushed out, melting the ice and clouds holding her. She floundered for a moment in mid air before falling into a small pit a few yards deep, created by her burst of flames, gasping for air as she tried to get to her hoofs. Every piece of her body ached, covered in bruises and slashes from the cruel mares assaults. The purple unicorn whimpered as she saw the lieutenant standing near the edge of the hole.

"Do you know what they called me back when I was a mere water bending student?" The mare's horn glowed as two tendrils of water floated above her head. "Kraken." The liquid tentacles quickly shot out and wrapped around the avatar's neck, but Twilight quickly turned and kicked out both her back hoofs causing flame to shoot out at the water bender. The whips lost their shape, splashing down as the unicorn jumped to the side away from the sudden flare. Not quite fast enough though-- her back hooves getting scorched by the searing flames. "AGHHHH! You... You burned me! Oh I'm going to make you pay for that!" she screamed with malice as she held both of her front hoofs out before she slammed them together.

The hole Twilight was in caved in on itself and wrapped the mare in a bubble of water, forcing her to once again struggle for air. The large water bubble was slowly drawn up from the cloud cover as the unicorn grinned maniacally. "YES! Drown! Suffer! Let the water fill your lungs! Today the avatar dies by my hooves!"

Far from the sky battle two wills found themselves in a fierce staring match. Rarity glared across the open courtyard as Trixie stared back with unabashed confidence. The courtyard was made primarily of gray stone tiles and held a large red outline of a square. They were surrounded by walls and stands for spectators to watch the fight and at each corner there were large circular basins filled with dozens of gallons of water.

The stands were filled with soldiers from the outpost who had come to watch the fight-- even the Shadowbolts had arrived to watch the spectacle. With a heavy heart Rarity noticed the only pony who didn't seem to want to watch the duel was her aunt, who was nowhere in sight.

"You can give up now if you want little princess," Trixie mocked as she stepped into the square between two of the basins. "Because once we start the Great and Powerful Trixie won't be stopping."

"Don't worry. I don't intend to stop this either. After I'm finished with you my mother will need a new general," Rarity countered as she grit her teeth and walked into the combat zone opposite Trixie before bowing her head respectfully. Not out of actual respect of the mare mind you, but out of respect for the traditions.

Trixie didn't hesitate when her opponent's head was down as her horn lit up. She reared and brought both her front hoofs together. The water from the basins behind Rarity sprang up, launching at the mare from behind.

The princess was taken by surprise as she barely turned in time to see the torrential wave of water crash into her. Her hoofs flew out from under her as she was launched forward at Trixie. The general didn't slow down at all however as she came down to three hooves, her front left hoof still raised. Water from the pit on her left launched out and turned to a round battering ram of ice before slamming into the white unicorn's stomach, the water behind the mare pinning her against the icy weapon until it subsided a few moments later.

Rarity crumbled to the ground with her hooves wrapped around her stomach, trying to fight back the tears as she struggled to drown out the cheers of their audience. Trixie wouldn't let up on her downed victim as a blade of ice was formed from the battering ram and shot at the white unicorn.

Quickly the princess brought up a hoof as she tried to form a wall of ice between her and the deadly instrument. Sadly it didn't hold for long as a moment later the blade pierced through her protective shield with the only sign of it being affected was the weapon slashing across her right shoulder, rather than piercing her heart. Laying on her back she kicked out with her hooves. She connected with the weapon and shattered it to a dozen pieces, before she swiped one of her hooves out at the general.

A small disk of ice shot up from the ground aimed at Trixie's side, but she merely lifted a hoof as it shattered a few feet from her. "Is this really all you can do, princess? No wonder your mother banished you. The Great and Powerful Trixie has seen initiates with more skill." She stomped down and the water on the ground rippled out, sending Rarity up into the air and crashing into one of the basins. "If I had a child as pathetic I'd have drowned it ages ago. Some pony like you never had a chance of capturing the avatar."

Rarity screamed in rage as she flew out of the basin, water surrounding her. She moved into a bowing position as her tail struck out. Water had collected on it and as it whipped forward the water lashed out like a scorpions stinger, the end hardened into a chunk of ice.

Trixie grinned as she moved to the right, the stinger moving past her. However as it did the general struck her horn down, tapping the tail as it passed, making the length freeze to ice in a moment. She quickly lifted a hoof as the water across the ground flew up and latched to the tail, freezing it firmly to the ground. "All you know is pathetic tricks. That is why your mother sent you away. She never thought you would catch the avatar. It was just to get rid of you permanently!" She thrust her head forward as two blades of ice formed in the basins besides the general before hurtling through the air at the princess.

Rarity ducked but was unable to get out of the way with her tail trapped in the ice. Making a split second decision she made a slashing gesture with her hoof, a small circle of ice forming from the water surrounding her before spinning out and cutting through her tail, allowing her to fully duck as the deadly blades flew overhead, leaving her with only a fifth of her once beautiful tail remaining. Catching her breath the mare glared at her hated rival. "You're a liar! My mother will accept me back the moment I catch the avatar and you won't get in my way!" she screamed as her horn glowed intensely, focusing her energy she brought both her front hoofs up as the remaining water from all four basins shot up. Driving both hoofs into the ground the water followed her example and plummeted down straight at Trixie.

The general smirked before spinning on both her front hoofs. As her back legs shot out the four torrents of water formed into one and then flew in a tight circle around her before being released. Straight at Rarity. The white unicorn tried to bring up a shield of ice, but was to slow. The water slammed into her and sent the battered mare hurtling in the powerful stream before finally ramming into one of the walls surrounding the courtyard, leaving a large dent from her body, and pinning her against it for several long painful seconds. As the water pressure was finally released she fell to the ground, hacking and coughing up the liquid. Through blurred vision she could see Trixie walking towards her before standing over the defeated pony, lifting a hoof to finish the job. She closed her eyes as she tried to drown out the cheers of the crowd, thankful she was to soaked for any pony to notice her tears.

Far away another unicorn drowned as she struggled to escape her prison of water. The Water Nation lieutenant would not relent this time, drawing all the water she could from the clouds under the bubble to make it as large as she could while making escape impossible.

Then a rainbow colored blur slammed into her from above causing the clouds under Kraken's hooves to scatter, sending the water bender crashing down into a cloudy crater. Rainbow hovered in the air a moment as the water bender stared in shock. The unicorn glared as her horn began to glow. "You'll pay fo-urk!" Her horn fizzled as the blue pegasus was suddenly on her, front hoofs slamming into the unicorn's face.

"You're not the first Water Nation soldier I've thrashed and you're not going to be the last!" Rainbow snapped at the bender as she moved like lightning, her hooves bucking and slamming into the mare before sending her flying up, only to pile drive her into the clouds a moment later. Smirking the pegasus turned back towards Twilight. "Hey Twilight, what are you doing letting... Twilight?" The orb was gone. Dashing to where it had been she saw a hole in the clouds where the water had fallen through, pushing through the weakened clouds. Far below she could see a purple wet mare hurtling towards the ground. "TWILIGHT!" Rainbow yelled as she jumped into the hole and flew after her friend.

The avatar was already over halfway to the ground when Rainbow left the cloud cover, but the pegasus flew as fast as she could. Her wings started to burn as she flew after her friend, but she realized with dread she was too slow. She needed to be twice this fast or by the time she caught up to Twilight it would be to late. She'd already be... It was her fault. Her wings began to slow. If she had just made sure her friend was okay first, she didn't have to spend so much time beating on the lieutenant. She should have just hit her and gotten her friend out of there. Now the avatar, her friend, the very hope of the world was going to die. It was all her fault.

"NO!" She yelled as she picked up speed again. Her friend was not going to die. She was too cool to let her friend die like that! She was Rainbow Dash! If it was impossible to catch her then she would do the impossible! Her wings became blurs as the air around her began to feel harder. Resistance pushed back on her but she refused to give in. Her friend needed her and she was not going to let her down! She closed her eyes as she pushed forward with all her might. Electricity began to crackle around her as she shattered the resistance holding her back.

The world burst into a symphony of colors. Bright majestic light filled her vision and exploded outwards as she dove at speeds most pegasi could only dream of. Then her vision cleared and she saw Twilight only a few feet away, easily catching up to her at this speed. She reached out and grabbed her, quickly altering their angle to fly across the land before turning up. Glancing back for a moment her eyes went wide as she saw a rainbow chasing them. No, not chasing them. It WAS them. Well, her. "Whoa," she mumbled as she flew up, creating the rainbow across the sky, before landing back on the remains of the cloud base. It was in fragments, most of it having been blown away from the exploding blast of colors and previous fight.

"What... What was that?" Twilight asked as she held tightly onto her flying friend, the unicorn's shock momentarily overcoming her exhaustion.

"That. Was a sonic rainboom." Rainbow said with a grin of pure un-adulturated glee on her face. "I did it! Me! Oh right, and I saved you too. But did you see that? I was awesome!"

The rainboom traveled across the land, spreading a wave of color and clearing the skies as it went. At a particular Water Nation outpost cheers went silent as the radiant light flew across the sky. Even Trixie stopped as she stared at the fantastic hue.

Rarity watched them fly over head before her gaze was brought lower. Looking through the crowds she saw her aunt, besides the stands. Mouthing something to her. Focus. She finally understood. This entire fight. Trixie had been throwing her off, mocking her, angering her, using her past against her. The conniving blue unicorn had controlled her, but no more. Taking a breath she smiled at the blue mare as the bright colors flew out of sight. "Hey, Trixie."

"Hmmm?" The mare glanced down.

"Your hat and cape are extremely tacky!" Rarity snapped as she pushed her front hoofs out, forming small pillars of ice which shot out of the water and slammed into Trixie's side.

"Agh! You little- The Great and Powerful Trixie's hat and cape are perfect! They show the true might and power of a water bending master!" The general yelled as she picked herself up and her horn began to glow, sending a blade of ice at the princess.

Rarity spun her head to the side as the blade changed directions and ran into the wall. "Water bending master? Please. You talk a big game, but you're all flare. The only great and powerful thing about you is your ego! All you do is brag about how amazing you are, walking around in tacky capes and hats while boasting to every pony who hasn't tuned you out about how wonderful you are." She advanced on the mare, eyes beating into the generals. "You're too weak to even try going after the avatar yourself. Having to use the Shadowbolts to do the job for you."

"I DEPEND ON NO PONY!" Trixie screamed as she slammed her front hoofs down making a wave of water rise up in front of her and speeding at the princess. The general smirked knowingly as it enveloped the mare.

Then it flew up. Rarity's horn glowing as the water shifted around her into a tight spiral and then slammed across the ground and swept out like a rolling log. Catching the General by surprise as her hooves were caught and she fell forward, slamming into the ground with a loud thud. Before the blue mare could move a blade of ice formed above her head. Rarity grinned down at the mare. All she had to do was strike down and she would finish off the general. If she did that she would have no competition for the avatar.

She lifted her horn and slammed it down as the jagged piece of ice dug into the ground besides Trixie's head. "I've won this, but I won't kill you. Someone as pathetic as you isn't worth bloodying my hooves over," Rarity said as she turned and walked away, a slight limp in her step.

Trixie stared at the retreating mare for a few seconds before letting out an angry roar. "I'll kill you!" She lunged to her hooves, her horn aglow, and froze. Literally. Her entire body covered in ice.

"Now now general," a voice said from behind her. "There is no shame in losing to a better water bender. You should accept your defeat with grace and poise. It's only befitting some pony that calls themselves the great and powerful," Celestia said as she walked by the infuriated general who struggled to break free of the ice, "The repairs to the ship are finished dear niece, I believe it is time for us to leave."

"Of course, Aunt Celestia," Rarity said as she glanced at her horribly damaged tail before letting out a soft sigh. "At least short tails are quite popular right now..."

Back in the sky Twilight sat on the clouds as she talked with Rainbow Dash. "So why did you come back? I thought you and the Wonderbolts were dropping the hostages off. Not that I mind of course."

"We were. But while we were going down I saw the cloud moving away. Couldn't just leave yah here alone and all. We know how bad you fight without the great Rainbow Dash to help yah." She posed, wings spread out and her front right hoof up. "Besides the Wonderbolts-" she was cut off as two massive blocks of ice slammed into her from each side, shattering into small fragments from the force. Twilight stared in shock as her blue friend's eyes rolled back in her head before she collapsed, her body limp and mangled with her wings broken in at least a dozen places from the sudden crushing force.

"I told you avatar. You're going to die by my hoofs!" On the edge of the cloud the Water Nation lieutenant stood. Her helmet had been lost and her armor was covered in sweat while blood dribbled from her jaw where Rainbow had attacked her. One of her eyes were heavily bruised, swelling so bad it was forced closed while her other eye had a crazed look to it. "Now die!" She drew more moisture from the clouds which formed spikes before sending them hurtling at the avatar.

Twilight reached out, placing a hoof on her friends broken body. "You hurt... my friend." As the ice flew at her direction her horn lit up in flame. "YOU HURT MY FRIEND!" she screamed as the flame on her horn turned white before erupting outwards. The flame shot through the air at the lieutenant, instantly evaporating the icy blades.

The water bender rolled backwards as the flames shot over her, missing by mere inches. Even from a distance she could feel the heat burning her as she tumbled backwards. "You missed!" she gloated triumphantly before letting out a scream. She could no longer feel the cloud under her as she dangled in mid air for a moment before gravity seemed to notice. She reached out and tried to grab the edge of the cloud, but she had rolled too far. Twilight cringed as she heard the scream getting farther and farther away.

Twilight trembled as she was brought gingerly to the ground, standing on a cloud one of the pegasus they rescued was pushing. The moment she could she jumped from her perch and darted around the crowd of ponies and buffalo that stood throughout Appleoosa, their heads lowered without a sound amongst them. Even a few Water Nation pegasi were honoring the silence, though that may have been because they were tied up and had their faces covered in pie. After a few moments of searching she saw a small yellow pegasus and she made her way to her. "Fluttershy! Is Rainbow okay?"

Fluttershy turned to the avatar before looking to the side. "I... I don't know. The Wonderbolts brought her back, and..." She motioned to one of the buildings, a single story wood house. "They haven't come out since..." Tears were in her eyes as she looked back to the ground. Twilight trembled as she saw Pinkie next. Even the normally excitable pink pony seemed sad and broken-- even her bouncy hair seemed as deflated as her cheerful attitude.

"This is all my fault..." Twilight muttered as she laid down on the dirt and watched the door. She wasn't sure how long she waited, with the sun unmoving it made telling time near impossible. But after what felt like hours the door finally opened.

"She's going to be okay," Soarin said as he walked out of the house and let out a shriek as three blurs darted by him so fast he spun. "G-glad I could be of s-service..." he mumbled as he wobbled dizzily.

Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Twilight soon barged into the room holding Rainbow. The blue mare was asleep, covered in bandages and her wings wrapped in casts, but she was alive. Tears flooded the avatar's eyes as she stared at her now peacefully sleeping friend. "Her... her wings, is she going to be okay? Will she be able to fly?"

"Yes, eventually," Spitfire said from across the room where she was washing her hoofs. "It was a bit touch and go there for a bit, but your friend will be fine. She needs rest for now. She should be good to go in a few days of treatment and her wings should be back to normal after a few weeks of rest. It's a good thing Soarin and I came to find you two. Had we arrived any later... I don't think even my healing could have helped her. You'd have needed a true master."

"A master?" the purple mare asked as she cocked her head to the side.

"Ah... Right. I guess I never had much time to explain. I'm a healer. Not much of a bender really, but I can use my bending abilities to heal. It's not an easy thing, let me tell you. Only about one in every ten benders can do it and I'm far from the best. Get most my practice healing Soarin when he goes off on some crazy stunt."

"I... Didn't know bending could do that." Twilight said as she looked back to her multi-colored sleeping friend. "Could you teach me?"

"I... Seriously doubt it. I don't think there's ever been an avatar who could heal," Spitfire gulped as she noticed the purple unicorn's face fall even further, so she quickly added, "but hey! I mean you can do things like a sonic rainboom! That's gotta be awesome!"

"I didn't do that. Rainbow Dash did." Twilight mumbled as she turned and walked out the door. "She was... is awesome."

"What?" Spitfire said in shock as she turned to Rainbow. "But... That's beyond top class air bending. No pony but the avatar has ever been able to do that."

"Twilight! Where yah going? We can't leave without Rainbow," Pinkie said as she hopped behind the avatar, her hair having inflated again.

"You can't. But I can. I'm going alone," Twilight said softly as she walked out of the building.

"What?" Both her friends said in unison before Pinkie spoke up again, "you're leaving us? You can't, we're your friends!"

"I have to Pinkie, this is dangerous. This entire... thing," she could barely even form sentences as her mind kept bringing up images of her friend hurt on that cloud. "This isn't a game and I won't put any of you through that danger."

"We know Twilight, but you can't do this alone. You need us. And we won't abandon a-"

"Stop it!" the avatar snapped as she lowered her head. Steeling her face she turned to them, her eyes hardening. "I don't need you. All of you are just getting in my way. Pinkie, you spend to much time focusing on meaningless parties that no pony cares about. Fluttershy, you're to helpless and useless whenever anything important happens! Both of you just go away and stop getting in my way! We are not friends," Twilight snapped as she turned from them and walked away.

She managed to bite back the tears just long enough to get out of sight from her stunned friends, but soon they came down her face in torrents. "I'm so sorry, but it's better this way. You'll all be a lot safer without me around."

Chapter 9: Operation

After many days travel from Appleoosa, Twilight walked across roads that had remained nearly untouched for decades. The sun beat down on her relentlessly causing her sweat and some dirt to mix, coating her in a nasty dirty paste. Tears no longer caressed the small purple mare's face as she walked, her eyes long since drained. Each step she took away from the town felt as if a small wire was plucking at her heart and trying to tug her back to her friends, but she couldn't go back. Rainbow was hurt because of her, and another mare was dea... no. That wasn't her fault. She had just been defending herself and had never meant for it to end like that. For the pony to fall. It was not her fault.

She didn't know why she even bothered, they obviously didn't care. They hadn't even followed her! They must think she was... Yeah, no matter how she tried she couldn't make herself believe those lies. She grumbled softly as she moved under a tree and plopped down, sweat dripping from her body. It was getting hotter, everything was now thawed and for a while it had been pleasant. She had even stopped to nibble at the grass as she'd walked. But now she could see the hint of brown in many of the trees and grass, seeing a few flowers that had dried out and withered.

She closed her eyes as she laid her head against a tree root. She wondered how long she had been walking since she last slept... An hour? Two? Four? A day? How long since she'd even left Appleoosa? It felt like months... So long since she'd last seen her friends. Heard the gentle voice of Fluttershy, watched as Pinkie Pie got excited about the most random and inane things, or gasped in awe as Rainbow Dash performed another one of her tricks. She let out a soft sob as she quivered, her barren tear ducts refusing to give any more as she laid there. Oh by the sun and moon! Let them be safe, let her be doing the right thing. She'd give anything just to... just to see them one more time. She'd even give up her bending, if just for the-

Rustle rustle rustle.

A nearby bush behind her shook as she jumped to her hooves. Yes! Her friends! They must have followed her! Of course, how silly of her. They'd never have believed what she said. She could just tell them she was sorry and she wanted them to... come with her and put their lives in danger. For her... again. She sighed softly. It wasn't right for her to ask them to do that. No matter how much she wanted them to be there. "Come out. I know you're there." The rustling stopped, though no pony came out. "Come out! Don't make me come into that bush!" she snapped, trying desperately to mask the excitement in her voice with anger.

"Fine fine! I'm coming, geez." A moment later, Spike popped out from the bushes. Twilight's heart fell from its pedestal and shattered to a hundred pieces on the floor of disappointment.

"Oh, It's you. What do you want?"

"I track you all the way out here and that's what you have to say? 'Oh, it's you?' I've been chasing you for who knows how long! The least you could do is jump for joy or give me a cupcake," he grumbled as he moved over towards her.

"Go back with the others. I'm dangerous."

"Sure yah are. You got anything to eat? I'm starving."

"I said go back!" she snapped as she slammed a hoof down. "You're just going to get in my way and get hurt! I don't need you... Stop ignoring me!"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but ummm... You're just a pony. I mean, come on. Even if I left, do you have any idea what the great dragon would do to me?" He shivered. "He is not very nice when he's angry... So, about those jewels?" He looked up expectantly.

"I don't have anything like that." She began walking. "You should go back to the others. They have apples. If you stick with me you'll have to eat grass."

"I don't wanna eat any more of that junk and I don't wanna have to go all the way back..." he whined as he walked with her. "Don't you have a ruby? Maybe a sapphire? I'd even be happy with a topaz..."

Twilight sighed as her silence was slaughtered by the complaints of the little dragon, but she oddly didn't feel that bad about it. At least now she wasn't alone. Maybe her friends would even notice the dragon was gone and come after h... She shook her head quickly. She had to stop that. "I tell you what. We'll keep walking and if we find any berries or fruits you can have them, okay?" she grumbled with simulated annoyance.

"Okay." For a few minutes there was silence as they walked, but soon enough the chatter began again. "My feet hurt, can we rest soon? It's hot."

"No. We... Fine." She moved back under a tree and dropped down. She soon had Spike laying against her side as he grumbled some more.

"I'd even be happy with a small diamond..."

"Spike? How about you tell me a bit about yourself. Were there other dragons in that cave? What was your family like?" Twilight tried to distract the baby dragon from his hungry stomach. With no food to give him it was her only option.

Spike sighed and she could feel him nestling in closer. "There aren't any more dragons. At least I don't think there are. The great dragon said me and him might be the last. Ever since YOU disappeared we've been hunted down to near extinction. Only reason I survived was because he found me and kept me safe," he grumbled, obviously throwing blame at the mare.

"I'm sorry... I never wanted to disappear. It wasn't... I never..." Twilight struggled to find the words. "It wasn't my fault."

"Sure. I've gotten by fine on my own, you know. Got my own food a lot of the time. Work out a lot too. Check out these!" As he flexed his arms, revealing... not even the slightest bump.

"Of course. Truly you are a fine specimen of the dragon species," Twilight teased, though he failed to notice the mockery. "Did you see a lot of ponies?"

"Well, I saw a few. Mostly the Water Nation ones. I'd sneak up to the rim of the volcano sometimes and peep out to watch them. The elder dragon also had a few that came to see him on occasion. Though he never seemed happy to see them and I think he ate one once."

Twilight gulped as she remembered how close she and her friends had come to such a fate. If it hadn't been for Fluttershy she might never have... NO! She shook her head as she tried to bury those feelings. Her friends were safer now! Without her! If it hadn't been for her no pony would have gotten hurt or died. She glanced to the trees around here.

"Okay, I'm going to start going again. You should wait here... or go back. You really aren't safe. Just tell the elder dragon I made you stay behind."

"I... I can't."

"Why not? Just tell him-"

"I can't tell him! I don't know where he is! Even if I did what am I going to do? Walk to him?” Spike yelled in frustration. “I can barely keep up with you! Besides, I can be useful. I can keep you safe. Who'd mess with you with a big strong dragon around?" He then puffed out a pathetic little green flame. "See?"

Twilight sighed as she watched him, though she couldn't help but believe it was true. Without the elder dragon he had no where to go. She couldn't just take him home, he was like her. Alone. No more dragons. No cave. No family... Her horn lit up as she picked him up and dropped him on her back. He was lighter than she thought he'd be. "Fine. You can stay. I don't really need a protector but... I tell you what. You can be my assistant."

"What? Just your assistant? Don't I get a title or anything?" Spike grumbled as her held onto her back, trying not to fall off.

"... Okay. My number one assistant. How does that sound?" It wasn't much of a title, but she didn't feel like spending energy thinking one up.

"Number one assistant? Yeah. I like the sound of that. Spike, the number one assistant," he chuckled as Twilight began to walk.

The trip soon became enjoyable despite the extra weight caused by the dragon, his complaining for the most part ceased when she carried him. While he wasn't the most intelligent creature she'd ever met, he was able to carry a conversation. Best of all, it wasn't long before she was explaining the finer details of her favorite subject. Magic! "You see, while magic and bending are not quite the same process, the two share many similarities. Some unicorns have tried using their own special spells in order to simulate the effects of bending, though that rarely achieves any effect beyond even the most mediocre. While magic can be used for a wide purpose of things such as cleaning, tracking, even making shields, it's control over the four elements is rather limited."

"Why's that?" the dragon asked, though as he lounged on the purple mare's back he barely listened to her words.

"Well I... You know I'm not really sure. As far as I know the two types of magic have always been separate of each other, and near impossible to combine. They also seem to be directly separate even for avatars, since supposedly avatars who were originally earth ponies or pegasi couldn't do unicorn magic even after they fully developed a horn an-" she was cut off as gallons of water suddenly fell on her. "ATTACK!" she shrieked as she dived behind the nearest tree, her horn lighting up with fire as she looked around frantically for the offender.

"... Over react much?" Spike asked in a deadpan tone, having fallen off the mare. Slowly he got up. "It's called rain," he grumbled as he moved under the tree Twilight had taken cover behind, wringing out his tail as best he could. "Did they not have rain in the past?"

"Oh... I ummm... I was just... Yeah... we had rain..." Twilight blushed as she looked up. The sky was filled with dark clouds as gallons of water dropped down on the world, soaking the ground in moments. She sighed as she laid under her tree, only partially protected from the torrent. "Well I guess now is as good a time as any to get some rest."

"But it's cold, I'm wet and hungry..." he grumbled.

"I can't help with the wet or hungry, but here," her horn glowed as she pulled him to her, and laid him against her side. She moved around just a little so she encircled him, tail over him like a small stringy blanket. "We'll start moving again once the rain stops, okay?" The only response she heard was the sound of his gentle snores against her abdomen. She smiled as she laid her head down against him, and soon allowed herself some sleep as well.

A dark blur flew over the tree a few hours later, before quickly turning around. Even in the heavy rain the Shadowbolt's eyes were capable of picking out the purple hidden amongst the brown and green. She descended slowly, landing on a nearby tree to gaze at the avatar before flying off again.

High above, near the edge of the downpour, an all too familiar ship glided through the air, pulled by the Water Nation pegasi. Celestia stared into the water for a short while before releasing a heavy sigh. "You were right in calling me, niece. This is definitely an artificial storm."

Rarity glared into the water. "The Tsunami was heading this way, is it possible that they made the storm?"

"I suppose, but I don't see wh-"

"All hooves on deck!" the princess yelled, cutting her aunt off. "We're going through that storm. Every pony keep an eye out for the Tsunami or the Shadowbolts!"

Celestia sighed as she headed back inside the air ship. As the sound of water pelted against the hull she started to make some warm tea. She was certain their soldiers would need it before long. She just hoped her niece wasn't setting herself up for another disappointment.

Twilight awoke as a branch snapped overhead. She looked around groggily before being fully awoken by a large branch which landed on her head, jarring her with pain. She jumped to her hooves, sending Spike to the ground. She was surrounded by almost a dozen pegasi, all wearing the same dark suits and having the same aqua colored manes. Aside from gender she couldn't even tell one from another as she quickly looked around at them. "Who are you? What do you want? Why did you drop a branch on me?" She looked up at a few in the trees as well.

"We are the Shadowbolts." One of them stepped forward, as a grin formed on her face.

"That... Only answers one of my questions."

"Huh? What's going on?" Spike asked as his eyes slowly opened.

"You are the avatar, are you not?" the same Shadowbolt asked as the others began to close in on her.

"Yes. I am. How did you find me? What do you want?" She moved back slightly, moving closer to Spike as her horn began to glow.

"Simple enough. We went to our Appleoosian base and-" Twilight failed to hear the rest as one of the darkly dressed ponies barreled into her from behind, sending her tumbling across the ground and out of the cover of the tree.

She got to hooves quickly as her horn lit into a sizzling flame, the rain pouring down on her. She glared as she did her best to sound intimidating and unflustered. "That wasn't very nice. I guess you're part of the Water Nation then... I'd leave now. I'm really not in the mood to be merciful to any of you if you bother me again," she growled.

"Or what? You'll kill us like that other soldier?"

"What? No, I didn't! It was an accident, she fell and-" Twilight was cut off as two hoofs connected with her side, sending her rolling and toppling in the mud, her horn's flame flickering out. She staggered to her hooves again and glared at the pony that had bucked her, her side bruising from the blow.

“You really shouldn’t allow yourself to be so distracted Avatar,” the same Shadowbolt said as they circled her again.

Twilight glared as her horn lit up again, ignoring the sizzling as the rain fell on her flames. She moved in quick circles, trying to keep the ponies in view. She couldn’t win here. But she could fight back! A whip of flame formed from her horn as she circled her head and sent it around her. The Shadowbolts scattered into the air and she quickly made her move. Running to the tree she had been hiding under she lowered her head and scooped up Spike with a flick of her head, tossing him onto her back. “Hold on! We’re getting out of here!”

“Ahhhhhh!” Spike rose his objections as he clutched tightly to her mane.

She ran with all her might through the downpour, blazing paths through mud and bush as she attempted to put distance between herself and her pursuers. The ground under her hooves was slick and wet, forcing her to constantly struggle to maintain her balance and not slide across the mud into trees or other obstacles, but she knew she could out pace them. With a triumphant grin she looked back at the Shadowbolt’s who... Were only a few feet behind her? Impossible! Two were flying behind her, easily keeping pace as they flew over obstacles that she herself had to run around. She looked back ahead, applying more speed. Her heart felt like it would explode out her chest and her lungs felt like they would burst. But she had to escape! Or at least get out of the rain. Perhaps then she could-

Her thoughts were cut short as she misjudged a landing after jumping over a stone. The wet ground gave way under her as she landed on her side and slid across the ground, hitting something soft. Her muscles screamed in anger as she looked at what she hit. “SPIKE!” she shrieked. When she had fallen he had fallen off her and she had slammed into him, only to use him as a cushion when they hit a tree. She jumped to her hooves and pulled the dragon away from the tree. “Speak to me, Spike?”

“Mommy?” He asked in confusion, his eyes little swirls and head swaying from side to side.

“No, I’m not...” She turned and put her back to him as the Shadowbolt’s landed, surrounding her again.

“We can run as long as you like Avatar, but you’ve lost. No pony is coming to save you. You can’t fight us all, especially in this weather. Also, your only ally seems... to be singing...” the dark pegasus said as Spike mumbled a soft lullaby to himself.

Twilight glanced back at the confused baby dragon. “I... I give up. On one condition.”

“Oh? What is that?”

“Leave Spike alone. I’ll come peacefully with you, if you leave him alone and don’t harm him.” Twilight said as she backed protectively over him.

“... Very well. We have no interest in the dragon. I give my word that he will come to no harm from us.” The leader moved forward and held her hoof out to Twilight. However as the Avatar reached to take it, the Shadowbolt turned around quickly, and bucked her under the jaw. The unicorn dropped to the ground, unconscious. “However I can not say the same for you. Grab her. We’re taking her to the Trench.”

As they prepared to move out, one of the Shadowbolt’s stood over the dragon. “What about this?”

“No. I made an oath, and I intend to keep it.”

“Won't the general be angry?”

“Perhaps, but that prattling fool is none of my concern. We got what we were ordered too and that is the end of it,” with those words the Shadowbolts took to the air, leaving the groaning Spike behind in the rain.

Spike shivered as he laid there, slowly feelings other than pain bubbled to the surface and he looked around. “H-hey... come back. I need her. The dragon said...” he called up pitifully as he watched the pegasi fly away with the avatar. He grumbled softly as he laid on the ground and let time pass away. Now what was he going to do? Maybe he could go back to the others! Yeah! Then he'd- Why did it stop raining? When did it get so dark? He looked around and saw a large shadow was covering him, blocking out the rain. With a nervous gulp he slowly looked up. “Eep.”

Rarity glared down at the purple creature cowering in front of her. The little dragon had its head to the ground and was shaking, two of her pegasi standing on either side of it. He had been brought inside the ship after they had landed and was now before the princess and her aunt. "So... dragon. Raise your head and stop your cowering. We have no intentions of hurting you." She couldn't help but feel a little guilt at it's cowering. It was obviously just a child, barely coming up to her withers! But she couldn't allow herself to look weak in front of it. Dragons were dangerous creatures after all. Perhaps its fear was all a ploy?

"I-I'm not scared of you..." the dragon said, it's head still to the ground.

"...Are you perhaps hungry?" Watching the child cower, despite it's claims to the contrary, was making her feel like some sort of monster. Dragon or not she couldn't bring herself to be to harsh with it.

"Do you have any gem stones? Maybe a diamond or a nice topaz?" he grumbled softly, still not looking up. The mention of food seemed to have reduced its trembling however.

Rarity nodded to one of her ponies, and soon a ruby the size of her hoof was hovering by the dragon's head. "Here. A fine ruby, if you can answer some questions."

Spike's stomach growled as he sniffed at the ruby. He reached out with a claw but it was pulled outside his reach. It glided over to a glowing horn and he stared. The horn was attached to the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Her eyes made the most perfect sapphire’s look like grimy pebbles. Her mane made the most radiant amethyst's look like mud coated stones. Her coat was purer than anything he'd ever seen before. He realized he was drooling as he jumped to his feet. He wiped his mouth off as he bowed politely.

Rarity was a little surprised at the change of demeanor, but she smiled none the less. "We watched the Shadowbolts leave where we found you. Why were they there? Did you see what they were after?" she controlled the panic in her voice, a little scared she already knew the answer. Celestia put a gentle hoof on her shoulder, attempting to comfort her.

"Huh? Oh. They were after the Avatar." He looked to the side. "I tried to protect her. But they out numbered me. I never stood a chance..."

Rarity lowered her head, the words cutting into her heart like a dagger of ice. In her sadness she failed to notice the looks of shame and regret as they passed across the faces of her crew. "Did... did they say where they were taking her?"

"No. They just took her." Watching the beautiful and radiant pony obviously become upset made him forget about his hunger, temporarily. "I'm sorry..."

Rarity let out an anguished cry of rage, tossing the ruby at the dragon's feet. She shoved off her aunt's hoof and turned to storm out.

"Wait!" Spike said as he grabbed the ruby. "I think they did mention someplace... I think they said the ummm... The hole? The pit? The fort? Ummmm..." He tried to remember as best he could, it was obviously important to the stunning creature in front of him.

"The Trench?" Celestia offered.

"Yeah! The Trench!" Spike said with a grin and then took a bite out of his delectable meal.

"... Thank you." Rarity mumbled, the words making the dragons stomach do a back flip. "Feed the dragon what he wishes. We will... keep him for now." She exited the room, slamming it behind her as she walked through the halls of the ship. she'd failed. If the Avatar was a prisoner in the Trench there was no hope of her escaping to be caught later. Slowly she opened the door to her room and closed it behind her.

A moment later the door opened as Celestia entered. "Rarity..." she said softly, moving besides the princess. "It's going to be okay. Even if the avatar has been caught, it doesn't mean-" She went silent as a small vase slammed into the wall besides her.

"HOW IS IT GOING TO BE ALRIGHT?! The avatar has been captured! Trixie has WON! Without the Avatar I can NEVER! GO! HOME!"

"Rarity... It's not so bad. The world isn't so bad outside the palace. And-"

"I'm not you auntie! I can't just slum it up like some common pony, abandoning all my past and future to just become some peasant!" she screamed, her horn glowing as she threw a vial of ink into the wall opposite her. "I'm a princess! I was born a princess and now I'm going to have to live as some no pony! Just like you!"

Hooves wrapped around her as Celestia slowly held the forsaken princess. "Rarity... My little niece, I know it is hard for you now... But things will be better. I promise. Things will get better..." She held the trembling pony to her as the angry yells and comments soon gave way to gentle sobs.

"Auntie... What am I going to do?" the princess, devoid of hope, asked softly.

"I don't know yet Rarity. But I promise we will find out together... For now, rest." She motioned to the princess's cot. "You've had a busy day. We will discuss this after you awaken. I will tend to the dragon."

Rarity nodded softly in defeat before heading to her little cot. As the door to her room closed, a single thought penetrated the unicorn's mind. A dangerous thought... but perhaps her only hope.

Twilight groaned as her eyes slowly opened and she tried to sit up. Panic began to flow through her as she realized all she could see was darkness and she couldn't move! She was trapped! She tried to lift a hoof or even shake her head but she couldn't. She let out a shriek of pain as light flashed in front of her, blinding her with small spots as the room slowly came into clarity. She was inside a plain circular room with walls of iron. No decorations could be seen and the only object aside from her were two torches by a doorway. That and three unicorns.

"Hello. Are you comfortable? I'm afraid we had to take extra precautions to make sure you didn't try anything silly like escape," the unicorn in front said. She was a bright blue and wearing the most peculiar hat and cape. "Oh, forgive me Avatar," her voice dribbled with sarcasm. "How rude, I am the Great and Powerful Trixie!" The pony posed dramatically. "No, don't get up," she tormented. Twilight could see the bindings out of the corner of her eye, binding her hooves to a metal apparatus. Even her head was trapped with her horn encased in what she figured was the same metal, making her flames dissipate before they could even properly form.

"Why have you done this? I'm the Avatar! I'm not your enemy. My mission is to return balance to the world. There is no need for-" The unicorns eyes bulged as a hoof slammed into her exposed stomach.

"Silence, Avatar. You are now my prisoner. Count yourself fortunate, I won't be killing you..." A hoof was placed over Twilight's eye, making her cringe. "And as long as you're a good prisoner, I won't have to do anything... unfortunate. Is that understood?"

"Yes..."

"Yes what?"

"Yes ma'am?" The purple unicorn let out another gasp of pain as the hoof slammed into her stomach yet again.

"Yes, Great and Powerful Trixie!"

"Y-yes g-great and powerful Trixie..." she groaned, trying to fill her lunges with air.

"Good. Now. You are the prisoner of mine and, as such, a prisoner of the Water Nation. You are in the Trench, one of Water Nation's most renowned war prisons. I won't be killing you because I don't want to have to search you out again. As such I will be keeping you alive... barely. Don't even think about trying to escape. Those bonds are made of steel and your horn is encased. There will be no way for you to use any bending."

"... Why are you doing this? The world needs me, without me the world will burn... The sun is too hot, already plants are being damaged..."

"The sun? I will admit that the raising of it was quite impressive... but such a task pales in comparison to my talent and prowess. Now that I have captured you I will focus my mind on destroying that blight on the Water Nation's skies. Unlike those before me I won't allow it to return." Trixie turned to walk away as the other two unicorns walked out ahead of her. A moment later the door closed behind them, the torches going out to once again make the room devoid of light.

"Ummmm... Great and Powerful Trixie?" Snails asked as he took position behind her.

"What is it?" The blue unicorn asked as she walked down the stone halls of the dungeon.

"Why did you tell her all that? I mean, why let her know where she is?"

"Oh foalish little Snips..." she said with a condescending chuckle, as she shook her head.

"It's Snails."

"She is helpless," the general said as she ignored the younger unicorn. "How better to seal her despair than to allow her to understand that she has been caught by the renowned Great and Powerful Trixie? How better to let her know she has no chance of escape than to allow her a moment to glimpse at my power? Besides, I'm sure even now the stories of my brilliance are spreading through the ranks of how my might has captured the Avatar."

"..." There was a moment of silence from her two guards.

"... Well?" she snapped, a little annoyance filtering into her voice.

"Actually... ummm... your Greatness... A lot of the soldiers have been saying how it's thanks to the Shadowboltss that she was caught..." Snails said as he cringed from the coming backlash.

"WHAT?!" She screamed, her voice echoing through the prison as soldiers quickly stood at attention. "The Shadowbolts?! They were nothing but tools! Pawns! It was my brilliance that discovered where she was heading, that brought them into my service, that set up this trap! How could any pony even think for a moment that it was THEM who captured her?!" she screamed, mere inches from Snail's face as he backed into the wall and cowered.

"O-Of course! Great and Powerful Trixie, we know it was you! Your brilliance! The men will see that soon enough!" he gulped as he trembled, watching the general's horn fearfully, as if it might pierce him at any moment.

"Good. See that they do," she growled, turning and storming off. How dare the Shadowbolts try to steal HER triumph. It was her doing! HERS!

Rarity opened her door just a crack, looking around. The hall outside her room was empty. Perfect. Slowly she pushed the door open and began to walk silently. She was wearing a tight brown garb that covered her entire body, aside from her hoofs, tail, and head. Slowly she crept through the ship, moving as softly as she could as to not make the floor creak, until she came to another doorway. Gingerly she pushed it open and looked inside... The room was empty of any ponies, but filled with all she needed. Weapons. The ships store room. She slid inside and moved towards the back. She ignored the common weapons, instead focusing on a small black chest stashed in a corner. Her horn glowed for a moment as it opened and she looked inside.

She had to suppress the urge to squeal in triumph as she lifted out small bits of metal. There were four metal hoof guards, designed to be used with hoof strikes. But the true prize was a small ball and chain, a tail snapper. It was a simple unicorn weapon that attached to the tail, by swinging it and then using small amounts of magic to direct the ball at the end, it allowed the user to deal powerful and swift strikes. It was a favorite amongst non bending unicorns, at least the ones that fought. Slowly she attached it to the stub of her tail... She needed to remember to give Trixie a nice smack with the weapon when she got a chance. Maybe two or three.

Creeeeeeak.

Rarity froze as the door opened behind her. Dang it! She was caught. If Celestia found out what she had planned her aunt would never understand. Slowly she turned around...

"R-rarity..." Spike said, his cheeks red. He was chewing on a little topaz as he stared at her. "W-want some?" he asked, holding it out.

"What? I... What are you doing here? Are you alone? Where did you get that?!" Rarity hissed as she advanced on him. The dragon's cringe quickly made her rage dissipate and change to guilt. "I didn't mean to sound so angry... Just, why are you here?"

"Oh, I was with the white pony. She gave me this and said I could look around the ship if I wanted. You know you ponies are really amazing for being from the Water Nation. I've never seen any pony like you before..." ge mumbled as he looked to the side.

Rarity couldn't help but smile at the little dragon. It seemed he had a crush... How adorable. She'd have to be gentle so as to not hurt the poor dears feelings when she let him down. But that would have to wait. She tried to walk past him.

"Where are you going? Why are you wearing that?"

"... I'm going to the Trench," Rarity said as she rolled her eyes, awaiting the inevitable.

"You are? You're going to save the avatar?" He walked along besides her. "Wow... You're not only beautiful, but you're so brave and kind... Can... Can I come? I can help! I'm really tough," He flexed his muscles. "and smart! And a dragon!"

"I don't need your help. Just wait here, it's dangerous," Rarity said as she walked through the ships halls, heading towards the bottom. There was a small exit hatch on the bottom of the ship designed for emergency exits and the like, for when the ship was grounded. Since the ship hadn't moved since they lowered to pick up the dragon it was perfect. She pushed open the door with a shove, as the dragon followed behind her.

"You can't go alone! They'll catch you and do horrible things to you! Wait!" He grabbed her tail as she jumped, and eeked as he was pulled off the ship with her. His grab threw her off balance and they both landed in a heap on the ground.

"Owww... Spikey? Are you okay?" She froze a little. She hadn't meant to call him that nickname, it just kind of popped out.

"Yes. Are you okay?" He quickly jumped to his feet and tried to help her up. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to tug on your beautiful tail, I just-" he went silent as she placed a hoof over his mouth.

"Shush dear. It's okay. I know what I'm doing. I have the perfect spell for this, they'll never even know I'm there. You should wait here," Rarity said as she began walking.

"No way! I'm coming with you. It wouldn't be right for me to leave a princess alone like that."

She nearly stumbled when he said that, but she grinned none the less. "Fine. You may come along, but you have to be as quiet as possible."

"Whatever you say!" He then looked to the side and gently whispered, "My love..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Chapter 10: Sabotage

Twilight tugged futily on the metal bindings holding her firmly against a hard metal surface. She was tired, hungry and her body was cramping from being trapped in the same position for so long. She didn't even know how long she had been here, but she was beginning to imagine this was a minor form of torture. The position made it near impossible to get comfortable with her legs trapped to her side and forcing her to lean forward slightly with the bonds digging into her flesh. She couldn't even move her head to work out the kink in her neck.

She couldn't guess how long she had been here, but it felt like days. They had fed her a thin watery paste, making her stomach feel like a small shriveled rock. There was nothing to see here, only darkness, and the helmet she wore made her unable to form any flames on her horn. With nothing to distract her she could only think of her predicament... and her failure.

The world was doomed. She knew spells to raise or lower the sun and moon, but even in better health she couldn't do it alone. She was the only one who knew how and without them the world would burn away in the heat. It was all her fault.

Unwelcome warmth trailed down her face as tears leaked from her eyes. "I'm so sorry... Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash... every pony... if I just hadn't been so... stupid... none of this would have happened. I swear if... if I ever get free. If I see you again. I'll never run away again. I need you..." A soft sob broke from her throat as the darkness continued enveloping her, unrelenting.

Rarity panted and groaned as she collapsed under a tree. After a few moments rest she began to pull out some of their food to split between herself and her traveling companion. Even little Spike could barely stand, though he had managed to keep up with her without any complaints. They had walked for what felt like days and she was beginning to regret not leaving a note. Her aunt was probably worried sick! She knew the location was far, but she hadn't known it would take them this long to get there. The pounding rain was only making it worse and she knew she would need a long hot bath after this was finished.

She slowly lifted her head and gazed out from their resting spot. Across an empty dirt field, a moat and wooden walls formed a defensive perimeter. The moat was at least twenty feet wide and walls were about thirty five feet tall surrounding the prison. She could see a small number of guards on the walls. The two had finally arrived, which meant the small meal her and the dragon shared would likely be their last for a while. Possibly her final meal.

The fortress itself used to be a high security prison for benders, primarily earth, near the initial stages of the war. However once it had become apparent that the sun was not rising and fewer ponies were willing to face the Water Nation soldiers, the prison had fallen into disrepair as many of the prisoners were moved to prisons more easily controlled by the Water Nation. This one was in earth kingdom territory, albeit barely, but she imagined it would have all Trixie needed to keep a bender from escaping. However, it would be ill prepared for one breaking in.

Slowly the majestic unicorn walked towards a tree and gently placed a hoof on the bark as her eyes closed.

"What are you doing?" Spike asked, as he watched her with an unwavering gaze.

"..." Rarity's horn lit up as the leaves and chunks of the bark were ripped from the tree and spun around her. Within moments her appearance was changed beyond recognition as the leaves seemed to have molded across her body, covering even her tail. Over her face a mask of bark had formed, even leaving a hole for her horn which was now colored brown. "I told you I had a plan."

"How did you... Why did you..." Spike asked in disappointment. There wasn't even a smidgen of his beautiful princess that could be seen! Well, except her poise and stance and... But she looked like some kind of... tree pony!

"Design and fashion are my special talents. Mind you I would normally prefer less... homely materials, but a mare must use what she has access too. With this they shouldn't be able to realize it's me if I'm fast."

"But how are you going to get in?"

"... That, my little Spikey-wikey..." She stroked his chin as he grinned goofily at her. "is where some of the tricks my auntie taught me are going to come in.”

Trixie scowled as she walked though the halls of HER fortress. Her ponies quickly stood at attention as she passed, watching her with looks of fear and agitation. She was looking for some pony to make an example of and her soldiers were doing their best to make sure they wouldn't be chosen.

For a while it looked like her rage would have to be suppressed, until she turned a corner and saw one of the Shadowbolts talking with another of her soldiers. She stopped and listened to them, the Shadowbolt's flank to her.

"Catching the Avatar was a cinch. Our commander knows just how to push a pony so they break. All it took was a few quick jabs and we had her crushed,” the pegasus bragged. “After this I have a bit of leave coming up, maybe me and you could go by the capital..." the Shadowbolt said as he grinned at the unicorn.

"Do you mean General Trixie? I heard she was pivotal in the whole engagement. Setting the trap and everything,” the mare said nervously.

"Bah! That old wind bag? She couldn't find her way out of a paper bag! The only reason we're even working for her is because Nightmare Moon has specifically ordered us too. I don't dare to question the orders of our queen, but our commander says Trixie will get her just desserts soon enough. Now that we caught the Avatar the queen no longer needs her."

"But she was the general before she was on this mission. That's why she was chosen..." The mare said as she looked nervously to the side, "and she will continue to be one after. She is... very powerful. I doubt any pony would dare to oppose her, considering her proximity to the queen." Trixie grinned, just a little bit. She tried to remember that unicorns name... What was it... Iron tail? Bronze horn? Golden flank? She knew it was a metal and then body part...

"Heh. Relax Coppereyes," Ah, that was it. "Once the commander gives her report to Nightmare Moon she won't be an issue. She may be a general, but the Shadowbolts don't operate under her. We answer only too-" Trixie had enough!

"Silence knave," Trixie yelled as she advanced on the stallion. "You dare to speak in such a manner behind my back? I should have you... you..."

The stallion turned to her and just stared. A moment ago he had seemed like just any other pony, easy to crush. To smash. With his bolstering and... but now. As he stood stock still. Watching her... his eyes seemed to pierce her, even from behind their coverings. That feeling of unease began to spread through her and she imagined more Shadowbolts were watching her. Just on the edge of her vision. Like ghosts waiting to strike.

"Yes? General?"

"You... you can't speak of the Great and Powerful Trixie in such a manner, I-" she was cut off as the stallion was suddenly in front of her, eyes inches from her own.

"We are the Shadowbolts. We take orders only from her highness, Nightmare Moon. NOT from you. We were to only follow you until the Avatar was caught. Which. She. Is."

"The Grea-"

"Is a floundering egotistical loud mouth. You may be high ranking, General. But we are hoof chosen by her highness and she is the only one we listen too. Not you."

"I... It... What is your name?"

"Shadowwing," he said before shoving past her, nearly knocking Trixie over as he began to walk away.

Trixie glared, stomping her hoof a few times in annoyance. He couldn't just talk to her like that! She was Trixie! The great and powerful! Even in her mind it wasn't being capitalized any more... Was she... Could the great and powerful Trixie be scared? NO! "I am!" Her horn glowed as water was drawn from one of the rooms nearby. She grinned wickedly as the Pegasus turned, his startled screams filling the air a moment later. "The Great and Powerful Trixie! If you do not show respect well... I have no need for one who cannot." His screams fell silent a moment later.

Rarity crept slowly towards the fort, keeping low to the ground and using the torrential downpour to help hide her movements. She kept a careful watch on the guards on the fortress walls, moving only when she was sure none of them could see her. Besides her, covered in leaves, branches and other things was Spike. As the two arrived at the edge of the moat, soaking wet and sore from having to lay so low, the princess caught a break. The guards on the wall seemed distracted, their backs to the intruders and a small number of them ran off. Soon only three guards remained that she could see and of them only one she believed would have a chance of seeing her as she put the next step of her plan into action.

"Okay... Spike. No matter what you do, do not touch the water," Rarity whispered as her horn glowed and a small bridge of ice, about two feet wide, formed on the waters surface.

"I'm not scared of a little water," the dragon said as he rolled his eyes. He walked across the ice briskly, skidding lightly but managing to keep on. It was raining by the gallon, what could a little more water possibly do? About half way across he turned to see Rarity... Having barely made it a quarter of the way across. "Come on? What if the-Eek!" The dragon fell forward, clawing at the ice. Quickly looking behind him he saw his tail had touched the water, but the water wasn't letting go. It was coiling around the limb and trying to pull him in! He was about to scream when a hoof went over his mouth. Rarity! With the grace and poise of a true princess, she struck her hoof out and the water receded from his tail with a small splash and ripple.

"Do not. Touch. The water," she hissed as he began to cross the bridge again, this time taking much more care to avoid it.

"What was that?" he squeaked as he backed up against the towering walls of the fortress.

"We are unicorns with the ability to control water in ways that would... well, either way. You don't think we would guard our base with a little moat and leave it at that, do you?" She turned back to her ice bridge as it quickly melted under her magic. "Had I not been here, you'd be on the bottom of that moat and..." She stopped as she noticed the look of worry appear on the baby dragon's face. "There there Spiky. I wouldn't let something like that happen to you." She pat his head consolingly. "Now, come along." She led him off towards the front of the fort. There was only one way in and out of the fort, unless the invader had wings, two large wooden doors that went up to the top of the wall.

"Princess Rarity?" Spike asked softly.

"What?" she asked as she poked the door, hoping it would not be barricaded. Sadly it didn't budge.

"Couldn't a pegasi break in here easier? Why didn't you use one of your soldiers?"

"I didn't want any pony to know I was here. But yes, if I had wings this would be easier. This fort is designed with earth benders in mind. They can't bend wood and with the moat and enchanted water in the soil it makes earth bending particularly difficult for them. Not to mention if they try to go under the fort."

"Oh... So how are we going to get in?"

Rarity sighed. "Digging..." She grumbled.

"But you just said-"

"I know what I said. But not much... Just enough so I can get on the other side of the door. I could unlock the door... possibly then." She made a face. "But... I'll have to crawl in the mud..." she whined.

"Fear not my princess!" Spike said quickly as pride filled his heart. "There is no need for you to dirty your beautiful coat. Leave this to me. Digging is my specialty."

"I... don't know..."

"Trust me, your highness!" Before she could object again the purple dragon disappeared into the ground. A few moments later the door popped open. "For you, madam?" the dragon said with a bow as she entered.

"My hero," she said gently as she smiled at the dragon and, though he was covered in dirt, gently leaned down to kiss his cleaner cheek. She looked around, but the place seemed empty. The courtyard was devoid of any ponies, though she couldn't see to far ahead in the pounding rain. "Okay. Spike, I want you to wait here and keep a watch on the door... If I'm lucky it'll be fine. But if not, I'll need to be running, fast. I'll need you to get the door for me. Okay? Can you do that for me?" She dropped a small bag on him, filled with the few supplies they had left as well as her map.

"Of... of course. Anything for you Rarity..."

"Good. Don't call me Rarity now. Call me... Phantom," and with that she ran off, through the pounding rain.

Spike sighed, watching her go as his heart beat with love. "Bye my princess..." He closed the door behind him before nestling up by the wall, taking careful precautions to keep his loves supplies safe against him and safe from the pouring rain.

Trixie gently sipped from a small glass of water as she glared at the furious pegasus yelling from across her desk. She had drowned out most of it so far and was finding the entire thing tedious and boring. What did she care if one lousy pegasus would never fly again? It was his own fault. He should have known better than to cross her. Her soldiers were hopeless as well. She could see their shadows peeking under the door as they bunched up to listen to the 'fight'.

She kept sipping from her glass, watching the pegasus. She didn't understand why she had even been... cautioned by them before. They were a tiny bit intimidating, but they bled just like everything else. Watching the dark garbed mare scream at her with fury just made her feel all the better. They may have put up a tough act in front of the normal ponies, but they were just that. Ponies. A wicked grin flashed on her face as she watched the pony with mild amusement. Just ponies. She knew how to deal with ponies. Her horn glowed as she pulled a small wash basin from under her desk and slowly filled it with water, idly washing her hooves as the pegasus shrieked louder at the unicorn.

Outside the room Snips and Snails had their ears pressed to the door, listening to every word, or at least trying. Other guards kept pushing up into them or knocking them away as they too desperately tried to listen to the yelling. Snips let out a yelp as one of the other ponies accidentally pushed his head into the door before he turned and glared. "Okay! Every pony out! Back to your posts. Go! Now! Snails, I didn't mean you..." he grumbled with a roll of his eyes.

The guards complained quietly as they headed down the halls, away from the entertainment, to quickly disperse. None of them noticed as one of the stragglers was pulled into a small storage room, or heard his confused yelp as he was knocked unconscious from a quick strike to the back of the head. Rarity smiled down at the unconscious guard as she laid him behind some crates and then slowly crept out of the room, headed in the direction the guard had been walking.

Rarity kept her head low as she moved through the fort. Despite the metal coating her hooves, she was almost perfectly silent thanks to years of her aunt's training telling her where to step and how. She needed to remember to thank her aunt for all those strange techniques and movements she'd been forced to learn. They were useless to a water bender, but in the right circumstances... Another guard was dropped as the chain attached to her tail lashed out, striking the surprised pony in the back of the skull. She quickly performed a small search and pulled a key from him, before hiding him in another nearby room. She walked down the halls again and soon came to a large locked door... Perfect. She slid the key inside the door and turned it, letting out a soft squeal of delight as the door opened. She pushed it open firmly and gulped. Oh horse apples. she thought to herself.

Behind the door was a small chamber with a few torches and another even larger door than the one she'd just opened. With two pegasi and two unicorn guards blocking it. The good news was that they were even more shocked to see her than she was to see them. The bad news was she only had enough time to swing the chain and strike one of the unicorns under the chin, dropping him, before the others realized what was happening.

Rarity's horn glowed as the chain sprang to life, tangling around one of the pegasi as the other two guards tried to rush her. As they charged her, she turned around and bucked both her hooves out as hard as she could, slamming them into the chest of the charging pegasus guard so hard he went sailing through the air and slammed into the large door, forming a pony sized dent in it. The other unicorn ducked under her hooves and head butted her. The horn cut her skin, but she managed to move just enough so the horn slashed along her underside rather than impaling her. Unfortunately the unicorn still slammed into her and twisted, sending her crashing into the door frame.

Her vision blurred as the world spun in and out of focus. She laid there stunned, unsure of what was going on, but a follow up attack never happened. As her vision began to clear she looked around. The unicorn had moved to help the pegasus snagged in her chain and was unwrapping his last leg when she had turned to look. She wobbly got to her hooves, but before she could do anything the other unicorn's horn glowed, tugging on the chain and dragging her towards them. Oh buck me! Think Rarity! Think!

As she was tugged towards the ponies, an idea formed in her head. She looked back at them and pushed off with all four hooves. The chain attached to her tail went slack as she slammed into the surprised unicorn. She thrashed as hard as she could, striking out with her hooves and head butting the other unicorn. Their horns connected as they both tried to use a spell, the magic sparkling and sizzling as a white light formed between their horns before quickly expanding.

Light enveloped the two unicorns before flinging them back horn over hoof into the walls. Rarity groaned as she slowly opened her eyes and counted. Okay, one unicorn crumbled across the room by the wall and not moving, check. A unicorn slowly groaning, but still not awake where he had been guarding, check. A pegasus twitching by a dented door, check... Where was the last pegasus? She looked around rapidly and cringed. The door she had come through was open. She had to move fast. She limped to the closed, but dented, doorway. She managed to ignore the small trail of blood she left on the floor. She gave the pegasus by the door another firm hoof to the head before glaring at the obstacle... It had an odd lock, a small puzzle made of small movable tiles. There was only two ways in. Solve the puzzle... or this.

She turned and lashed out with her back hooves. She felt the door creak and then snap as a large chunk of the already damaged door flew into the room and hit something. "OW! W-what did you do that for?" a voice said from the darkness behind the door. Rarity recognized that voice! It was her! Success!

Her horn glowed as the door chunk was shoved to the side and she almost giggled in glee at her prize! The Avatar! Helpless, her prisoner, her wait was over! She... could hear a gong. Right. Break out now. Capture later. She moved over towards the Avatar, looking over the contraption holding her in place.

Trixie gently dabbed a cloth on her hoof, watching the enraged Shadowbolt. The pegasus's face had turned slightly red, wings high in an aggressive stance. It was enjoyable watching the pegasus get angrier and angrier. To think she ever- BONG-ONG-ONG-ONG! Gah! What was that? Who was? What? She galloped to her doorway, opening it and grabbing the first pony to run by. "You! What is going on?"

"T-the Avatar! She's escaping!" the guard said fearfully, cringing before the General's gaze.

"WHAT?! Impossible! How?!"

"We don't know! The alarm went off, I'm headed there now..." Trixie shoved the pony, about to step out after him before she heard snickering behind her.

"And what is so funny?" She asked as she turned to face the three Shadowbolts.

"We capture the Avatar and only a few days go by before she escapes from your hooves. I'll gather my Shadowbolts and we'll-" the Shadowbolt was cut off as Trixie raised a hoof.

"No. You will wait here. I will capture the Avatar myself."

"What?! Why? You are-"

"The commanding officer. In case you have forgotten you answer to me! As per Nightmare Moon's orders. Unless you have any objections with the orders of our queen?!" Trixie asked, glaring at the pegasus. Like she would allow them a second chance to make her look bad and steal the glory for themselves.

"... Very well." The pegasus glared daggers at the general. “If she escapes it will be on your head, General.”

"Good. I'll be back in a few moments after I have recaptured the Avatar. We can discuss matters then." She ran out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

"Useless fool... Once Nightmare Moon hears about this she'll have the pathetic little unicorn torn limb from limb. There is no room in this empire for those who cannot pull their own weight." She didn't have to look behind herself to know her other two Shadowbolts were nodding in agreement.

Rarity held her breath as she supported Twilight's weight on her withers. The Avatar was exhausted from her ordeal and getting hit in the face by a chunk of door hadn't helped matters either. She had dragged the avatar out of the prison and hid in the nearest room, closing the door she had unlocked earlier and snapping off the key in the lock. She could hear the guards trying to break the door down, likely suspecting the Avatar was trapped behind it.

Unfortunately more guards kept arriving, running past the room they were hiding in, and the Avatar was only barely conscious. Rarity's eyes scanned the room, there had to be something they could use, something that she could use... She quickly turned her eyes back to the doorway, gulping nervously. She should have known this was a storage room. It was best she got out of here before they had a chance to use any of those... horrible instruments on her. She shook the purple mare a little bit, gesturing towards the door with her horn.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Twilight groaned as she tried to pull off the other pony, taking a step. She stumbled just a little bit, but remained standing. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

Rarity remained silent, slowly opening the door. She let out a mental curse as she looked into the eyes of a Water Nation pegasus, his eyes wide with surprise at the sudden appearance of the masked mare. The weighted end of the tail snapper dropped him in a moment, but other ponies caught the motion as she shoved the door open. The two unicorns made a run for it, galloping down the hall at full pelt.

Twilight's muscles screamed as she ran and her stomach was tight. She hadn't eaten anything with substance in who knows how long and being stuck in the same position for what felt like days just made it worse. Not to mention her head was throbbing from getting hit by a big door. She could hear galloping hooves behind her, but even the fear of being captured didn't allow her to run any faster. She stopped as realization hit her. She was such an idiot.

Flames glowed from the avatar's horn as she turned towards their pursuers, both hoofs spreading out as flame shot out and enveloped the wooden walls of the fort, rushing down the hallway like a hungry predator. The ponies chasing them sat down and skidded on the floor a few feet, before turning with a yelp and running from the flames. "Well, that should keep them busy for a little bit."

Rarity took the purple unicorn's hoof, dragging her along. The fire was spreading fast, swallowing dry wooden walls as the water benders struggled to put it out by bringing barrels of water forward. A few tried to stop the fleeing arsonist's, but the masked princess quickly dispatched them with a swift blow to the head. She couldn't believe how well this was going! Soon the two burst out of the building and all that stood between them and freedom was the outer wall of the fort! They were going to escape! They were going to get out of here!

The air was knocked out of her as something black slammed into her side, sending her skidding across the ground at least four feet. She looked up and cringed at the sight. The Shadowbolts had arrived and, at least a dozen of them, circled them like vultures. Ponies were also filing out of the fort behind them and on the walls. Rarity got to her hooves and began spinning her tail snapper as the ponies charged!

"FREEZE!" A voice boomed out as the ponies on the ground stopped and the pegasi pulled out of their dives. Trixie slowly walked out from the fort, her head held high as she grinned at the two. "I don't know who you are behind that silly mask. But you've made a foalish mistake coming here. For you dared to try and interfere with the Great and hrkl!" Trixie's eyes bulged as the blunt end of the tail snapper slammed into the side of her skull, making her stumble to the side a few steps. "You... You think that's going to-" The second blow came crashing down and slammed her head into the ground. She didn't get back up. Silence reigned as the Water Nation soldiers and the Shadowbolts stared in shock, the only sound coming from Rarity's panting and the pegasi's wings.

The masked princess had to resist squealing like a filly. That alone made this entire trip worth while! Heck she was tempted to do it again, just for good measure! Oh. Right. Other ponies. She backed up to Twilight's side and prepared. The guards charged at them. Rarity turned and bucked out with both hoofs, catching one of them in the chest and sending him hurtling back into a small crowd. She lashed out with her hoof and tail, but it was a hopeless fight and she knew it. A blow to her back dropped her to the ground as one of the Shadowbolts slammed into her as other ponies joined in. Within moments she was pinned down. She'd lost... Again. She struggled to move but the tail snapper was torn from her body, taking a few tail hairs with it, and her legs pinned.

"You... You liddle battard!" a voice howled as the soldiers parted. Trixie slowly advanced towards them, her hat gone and her jaw puffing up from where her face had slammed into the ground. "When I ged my hooff awound your froat I'm gonna mag you wegwet eva opposhing dah Gweat and Powaful Twikshy!" She stood over the princess, raising her hoof to slam into her face.

"STOP!" Twilight's voice burst out like an explosion as the guards holding her down were sent flying backwards. Her eyes glowed white as massive white wings made of light sprouted from her side. "You will not hurt my friend!" With a single flap of her incorporeal wings a whirlwind circled around Rarity, picking up the guards and Trixie before sending them flying back into the fort. The wings on her back began to flap rapidly as a massive tornado formed above her and began to pluck the Shadowbolts and Water Nation pegasi soldiers from the sky, as well as sucking in the thick rain clouds above into a massive swirling dark spiral of pegasi and cloud.

Twilight then reared onto her back legs and held one hoof out to each side. Flame shot out at her right hood and exploded into the wall of the fortress, destroying a good half of the wall in a heat filled explosion. The earth itself struck out on her left side, forming massive battering rams, that blew a second massive hole through the left wall. The tornado above died down, making the pegasi crash down around them like hail, slamming into the grounded and unfortunate Water Nation troops. The fortress walls were vacant of ponies, many of the soldiers having taken cover from the Avatar's might.

Twilight's hooves gathered together as the moat rose up and flowed through the massive holes in the walls before gathering over her head. She brought both hooves crashing into the ground as the water shot out, slamming into the front wall of the fortress and, with the sound of shattering wood, exploding it outward into the now mostly empty pit. The Water Nation ponies stared in shock as the remains of what used to be an indestructible wall. Now it was nothing but burnt, splintered, or soggy scraps of wood surrounding a burning fortress.

A little scaled head popped out of the rubble, coughing and sputtering. "What's going on? I was relaxing behind the... Oh... Wow..." His eyes bulged out a little as he looked at the destruction, his mouth agape. He eeked as the ground erupted under him, sending him flying in the air to land at Twilight's hooves, only barely managing to hold onto his princess's bag. "Oww... No need to be so ro-EEK!" The ground underneath them them lifted up, encircling the two ponies and tiny dragon in a sphere of rock, before disappearing into the ground.

"Afta them!" Trixie yelled as she struggled to dislodge herself from the pile of soldiers. "GO!" But they only looked away. None of them were able to chase the avatar, nor did they particularly feel like fighting her after that. "Fine. You are all useless!" she yelled as she stomped into the fortress, the door falling off the hinges a moment after she slammed it. She stormed to her office and was greeted by a less than enjoyable sight. The three Shadowbolts were till standing there, watching her as she entered. "Whadda ya wan?" she grumbled as she went behind her desk. She pulled out another small cloth and dipped it in the water basin before she started wiping away the dirt and cleaning her cuts and bruises. Her jaw felt three times its normal size.

"I take it by the pathetic excuse for a pony you make right now the avatar has escaped," the leader said with a confident sneer. "Something that would not have happened if not for your pathetic leadership."

"Siwence," Trixie grumbled through her sore jaw. She was not in the mood for this.

"I will not. We captured the Avatar and then you allowed her to slip through your hooves like a brain addled juggler. When Nightmare Moon hears of this you will be stripped of your rank and likely of your nationality, you cowering, sniveling, useless-"

"ENOUGH!" Trixie yelled, slamming a hoof down. "I still out r-Eek!" she gasped as the Shadowbolt was suddenly inches from her face.

"No, general. You have failed. You have allowed our hard work to become useless. You have hurt one of my men. So here is what's going to happen. You're going to sit down and shut up. I'm going to send a letter to her highness detailing exactly what has happened here. Perhaps if you are lucky you will get away with just losing your rank and not your life. Is that understood. Pathetic and Weak Trixie?" the mare sneered.

Trixie slowly nodded, looking away from the mare.

"Good," she snapped as she turned from the general, jumping off the desk and landing between her two fellow Shadowbolts. “Come. We have an avatar to recapture.”

"..." Trixie watched them leave, her hooves digging into the wood of her desk. How dare those... mere ponies speak to her in such a way. They were... they were just ponies. She knew how to deal with ponies. She slowly leaned forward. Her horn glowed as she thrust the water basin forward, the water turning to ice as it streaked at the three pegasi.

Rarity gasped for breath as the dome of rock broke through the earth, releasing the three into the open air. She looked around frantically, but the fortress was nowhere in sight. She then looked to the avatar, who's eyes had stopped glowing.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked as she dropped to her knees. Rarity nodded, watching the purple mare intently. "That's... that's good... Thank you for saving me... I..." the next words were lost as the exhausted mare fell over onto her side, her eyes closing.

The masked princess stared in shock. She... she had the Avatar! She'd done it! She couldn't contain her glee as she hopped up and down a few times, tossing the mask away and with a glow of her horn the leaves fell from her body! "I've done it! Finally! Avatar, you are mine! Bwa ha ha... ha?" She stopped as Spike gave her a confused look.

"What's so funny? What are you talking about, Rarity?" he mumbled something after that that sounded oddly similar to 'my darling'.

"Isn't it obvious little Spiky? I've been tracking the Avatar for years. Now I finally have her!" She poked the unconscious mare with a hoof. "Now I'll take her back to my ship and back home. There will be celebrations for... months and... Spike. Stop looking at me like that."

"But... I thought you were doing this to help us. To save her. To help the world..." Spike looked down at the Avatar, his face a mixture of betrayal, confusion, and worry.

"Spiky. It's... hard to explain..." She couldn't look him in the eyes, instead gazing to the side. It was like telling a colt that hearths warming eve had been canceled. "I just... I have to take her back to the Water Nation. If I don't... I..." Oh please Spike, don't cry. That's not fair! This was her moment of triumph! She needed to just buck the dragon and take the mare! "I don't care what face you make at me, it won't change my mind." Her horn glowed as she took her supplies back from the dragon, pulling her map out as she tried to determine her location.

"But... You're so nice... and beautiful... How can you be one of the bad ponies?"

"I'm not a bad pony Spike. I just have things I have to do. You'll understand when you're older." She placed a hoof on the map... Okay, she'd just need to go east if she wanted to get back to the ship.

"But you risked her life to save her... How could you do all that just to send her back!"

"Spike... I..."

"I can't let you!" Oh he was in full on tears now and standing between her and the avatar.

"Spike! Get out of the way. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to," She growled as she glared at him.

"No! If you want to take her... You'll have to do it over my body!" He stared up at her defiantly.

Rarity glared as her horn lit up. An aura surrounded Spike... but, after a moment, it dissipated. "Fine. This one time I'll let her go. But only this once. As a thank you for helping me back there," she grumbled in frustration. Why was she letting him manipulate her? He was just a child...

"Thank you!" Spike said as he suddenly lunged forward and hugged her.

"Just... don't tell her it was me who saved her. Tell her it was Phantom," she grumbled as she turned to walk away, pushing Spike off with a hoof. "I'll give you some time, but next time we meet I won't let her go. Remember that. I'd head south. A few hours trip from here you'll come to Cadence, an Earth Kingdom city. From there you should be able to get some help," she muttered before galloping off.

Spike smiled as she left, little hearts fluttering over his head. He didn't care if she was Water Nation... Rarity was best pony. He looked at Twilight before letting out a sigh. He slowly dragged her over under a tree for shade and then started to forage for something edible. He didn't know how long he searched, but when he returned he had a handful of daisies, some moss, and four acorns. Twilight was still asleep. Fortunately he knew how to fix that. He reached out and plucked one of her eye lashes.

Twilight sat up with a yelp, blinking heavily as her eye watered. "Spike, why did you do that? Ow..." She rubbed her eyes as she tried to glare at him at the same time.

"Because you were sleeping and we need to go. I got you something to eat," he grumbled as he dropped the lack luster meal on the ground. "It's not a lot, but it's the best I could do."

"Oh... Ummm... Thanks. Hey, where did that stallion go?"

"Stallion? What stallion?"

"The one in the mask."

"... Wut?"

"He must be incredibly brave to have risked his life like that. I really would like to thank him properly... It's not every day a random stallion faces death and destruction to save me after all..." She said with a slight blush in her cheeks.

Spike rolled his eyes, though he decided to, grudgingly, go along with her thoughts. "Rar... The Phantom is gone. He told us to go south though. Said there is an Earth Kingdom city that way."

"The Phantom? So mysterious...” she said dreamily. “I guess if he said that we should go though...” Twilight slowly got to her hooves before letting her horn glow for a moment. "Okay... It's that way then." She then picked up her lunch telekinetically and began walking. "Who knows? Maybe we'll meet that stallion again. I hope so... I wonder what he looked like under that mask... I bet he was really strong to have fought through all those soldiers for me. Brave too. Strong, silent type I imagine.”

"Gaaaaaaaag," was the only response Spike gave.

Chapter 11: Narrow

Long ago, before the war, the fire benders and earth benders worked together to create a beautiful monument of glass. The monument was a miniature replica of the great earth pony city of Fillydelphia and was for the longest time considered one of the greatest creations made during the times of peace. When a clumsy maintenance pony accidentally knocked it off it's shelf it is said a thousand ponies wept at the loss of their greatest treasure.

Those shattered pieces of glass were still nowhere near as busted as Rarity as she pitifully tried to sneak back onto her ship and walked straight into her aunt's leg. "Ah horse apples," she squeaked as she slowly looked up... into those eyes... filled with...

"Rarity!" Hugs! Why hugs? Anything but hugs! Scolds, yells, even rages! But not hugs! "I was so, so, so worried! Don't ever do that to me again! I was afraid you'd done something drastic and... Why are you wearing those on your hooves?" Her voice was bursting with joy as she swung her niece around in a powerful grip, her tone sliding into curiosity and just a touch of suspicion as she saw the metal weapons on her niece's hooves.

"These? I... uhhh... felt like going for a walk. Clearing my head. After the incident with the Avatar I needed some time to think. These kept my hooves dry..." the princess lied pitifully as she tried to keep from looking her aunt in the eye.

"Rarity. Don't lie to me. Please tell me the truth. You didn't try to go against Trixie..." Her aunt's face was filled with worry now.

"I..." she grasped for the words. Should she lie? Tell the truth? Both? "Yes, I did. But don't worry! When... when I got there the avatar was already escaping. I raced back as fast as I could. I think I know where she's headed.”

"Oh? How is that?"

"I saw her... and I have a plan to catch her. Please have the ship taken up. I'll be up soon to give directions." The princess slowly pulled from the larger unicorn's grasp and walked away, doing her best not to show her face to her aunt.

"..." Celestia watched her for a moment. She knew the child was lying, she could see the bruises through her coat. But... seeing life in her niece's eyes again brought a smile to her lips. If Trixie wanted to come after her niece... Well, the general could try it over her cold dead body. Besides, she was in more danger of bad tea than she ever would be from that wind bag.

The wind bag glared at the tail thwacker her soldiers had brought her. Whoever had attacked her fortress had used this. Despite that, all that it held were a few small strands of purple hair. Useless! After a few moments of frustrated glaring her eyes wandered from the weapon to the letter on her desk.

General Trixie,

News of your recent success in capturing the Avatar has spread throughout the nation. Her greatness, Nightmare Moon, has decided on a new task for you to complete. You are to head to the Air Nomad's city of Cloudsdale and take over the siege. Using your talents our glorious ruler and wielder of all the power in Water Nation expects you will bring it under hoof and wipe the unsightly city from our skies.

Trixie glared at the letter with more annoyance than the weapon. She needed to track down the avatar! She didn't have time for this! Once word got out that the avatar had escaped the prison then Nightmare Moon would be furious! Her eyes glanced to the small pools of blood on the ground, left by the previous shadowbolts as a hoof moved up to hold her swollen jaw. Slowly her lips curled into a wicked smile as her mind began to plot. Oh yes. She knew exactly what she would do.

"Snips! Snails!" The two were in her office in seconds, looking nervously at the ground as they awaited her anger, but it didn't come. "Call a meeting. All ponies are to come, even the shadowbolts. It will be held inside the great hall. When all ponies are accounted for, I want the doors sealed except for the primary entrance, which will wait until I enter. No pony will leave until after I speak, understand?" The two feebly nodded. "Good. Then begone!" As the two scampered away like frightened bunnies, she turned to her desk and slowly brought a glass of water to her lip.

She was the Great and Powerful Trixie. If that old mule on the throne wanted Cloudsdale... Well, she would have it. For now.

Twilight's mouth felt like a desert. The heat was beating down on her relentlessly and she couldn't even remember the last time she had something to drink. All her supplies had been lost when she was captured and all the edible plants the two passed looked as dry as she felt. Even Spike had given up on talking as they walked, too tired to even complain. She'd been so desperate at one point that she had tried sucking on a stone, an old survival trick she'd heard of when she was younger, but all that had done was fill her mouth with dust and a foul taste, which left her sputtering and trying to clean her tongue.

So when she finally did come to a small dirt path she was ecstatic to see fresh hoof prints and wagon wheel marks! While they were heading the wrong way from where she thought she had to go, she didn't care. Other ponies! Perhaps she could get something to drink, possibly even eat? "Come on, Spike!" she said excitedly as she tossed him onto her back and galloped!

Her heart soared when she saw the wagon marks veer off the path and she heard voices just over the next rise. She ran as fast as she could and leapt! There they were! Ponies! At least a dozen of them, all unicorns. They had a number of wagons with them and were in the middle of filling large vases with water. It took her a few seconds to realize they weren't filling them by hoof. They were using water bending! It also took her a few seconds to realize leaping off a small hill when you don't know what's beneath you is a very bad idea. She shrieked and flailed as she slammed into a startled unicorn, sending both of them, as well as Spike, careening into the water and shattering the vase the unicorn had been filling.

The avatar groaned softly, slowly pulling up from the water as she coughed and hacked. Well, after swallowing... she didn't know how much water, she wasn't thirsty any more. Or really hot. But she was being stared at by a large number of confused unicorns. Right. Water benders. Lots of them. She needed to act fast! She slammed her hoof down on the head of the still confused unicorn she had landed on as her horn burst into flame! She thrust her head forward as the fire burst outward, setting the wagons aflame and scattering the ponies as they shrieked.

"Stop her!"

"Put out the wagons!"

"She's a fire bender, catch her before she gets away!"

While they were disorientated she quickly bit Spikes tail, carrying the dragon whelp as she ran as rapidly as she could. She had to get to that city immediately. As she came to the path she sparred a glance behind her and caught a glimpse of three unicorns in hot pursuit. Oh buck me why does everything have to be so hard?! She flipped Spike onto her back. "Hold on!"

"Ahhhhhhh!" Was his only response as he held onto her neck.

It wasn't long before her legs were burning and her heart beat so fast it felt as if it would burst from her chest. She could see it! The city! Its massive walls stood as a testament to earth bending power and as she drew closer she could see earth ponies outside the wall, just a short run away. With a final burst of energy she raced towards them, hearing the hoofs beating behind her in hot pursuit. She had to reach them! The guards looked up at her in confusion as she galloped towards them. "Help!" she shrieked. She couldn't keep going as she tripped and fell, crashing to the ground in exhaustion as her vision blurred slightly. "W-water benders... Please... H-help..." she gasped out as the earth ponies galloped towards her.

"What happened? Whats going on?" The closest one asked.

"She attacked us. She lit our wagons on fire and tried to fry a few of us," one of the unicorn's said as he galloped up.

"No! D-don't listen to them... Water benders... They... They're..." Twilight tried to gasp out between wheezing.

"We know they're water benders," the earth pony said as he stomped a hoof down. Bars of stone suddenly shot up and encased her.

"What? But... but..." Her head swam as the other earth pony grabbed Spike by his tail, though he scratched and bit at the pony.

"You're under arrest."

Trixie glanced at the doorway as she slowly entered the large hall. Her soldiers filled the hall and even the shadowbolts had come, though they looked annoyed to have been summoned. The room fell silent as she moved to a small podium near the back, two large vases of water positioned besides it. Snips and Snails moved behind her like shadows. The entrance closed, with a water bender on each side of the door, as she took her place at the podium. Her eyes glanced over at her soldiers. With a bit of smugness she could tell her own soldiers were afraid. Good. It would make this all the better.

"Every pony. The Avatar has escaped after only a short time as our prisoner," she snapped as she slammed a hoof down on the podium, watching in amusement as many of them jumped. "You useless lot allowed another pony to breach our defenses and release her! I should have the lot of you imprisoned!" Oh yes, they were shaking now. Time to hit them with the finale. "But it is with a heavy heart that I cannot blame your incompetence for this act." Confusion spread through the crowd though they were wise enough not to speak. "You see, there was a traitor amongst us. The leader of the shadowbolts. Shadowheart."

"Bull quarters!" One of the shadowbolts jumped to the air, struggling to stay aloft and not hit the roof. "You can-" He crashed to the ground, his body encased in ice as ponies scattered to get out of the way.

Trixie lowered her hooves. "As I was saying. As the one leading the shadowbolts she was to keep an eye for any intruders that would attempt to make their way into our base," she lied as her eyes scanned the crowd. The shadowbolts were looking worried now and her soldiers were giving them wary glances. She could practically taste the fear her soldiers emanated and their relief at knowing they wouldn't be punished. "She allowed the pony who infiltrated us into our ranks, using her flagrant insubordination to create a distraction so we would be unprepared for this internal attack. When I returned to my office after the Avatar's escape, she was waiting. When I confronted her for her acts she attempted to slay me. ME! Two of her guards joined her and attempted to strike me down." Her hooves came crashing down on the podium again as rage filled her voice. "She assumed she could best me and in doing so weaken the entirety of the Water Nation! Through cowardly acts and deceit she attempted to undo all that we stood for! Fortunately I was able to slay her and the other two traitorous retches who followed her! I will be damned if I will ever allow something like this to happen again!"

Her soldiers were glaring at the shadowbolts, who were backing up nervously in the tight room. Good. Now time to give the scapegoats a small window to escape or a noose by which to hang themselves. "However..." she allowed her voice to calm down. "I do not believe that all of the shadowbolts are to blame. Her highness, while wise and powerful, made a mistake by allowing the leader of the shadowbolts too much power. Despite being a pegasus and not a water bender she believed she held the power beyond even our rulers highest ranking general. She abused this belief. As such, I am hereby disavowing the shadowbolts lest such an incident occurs again! Those who wish to remain will re-swear their allegiances first to the Water Nation and then to me. Those who wish to follow their deceitful leader may follow her to their graves. My generous offer will not last long, so make your decisions now," she ordered. Her soldiers parted as the Shadowbolts looked to her.

For a short bit silence reigned, but then, one by one they dropped their front knees, bowing to her. "Very well then. You will be taken under guard and the symbols of the shadowbolts stripped from your bodies. You will be reborn as my soldiers. Do not make me regret my mercy." She walked from the podium and through the room, head held high as she had the door opened for her. As she left the room a wicked grin flashed across her face. Only one thing left to do now.

Twilight kept her head down as she and Spike were led through large stone crafted halls. Were she not worried about her future imprisonment she would have found the craftsmanship amazing. The smooth edges implied earth bending, but the precision taken to craft the images carved into the walls looked hoof or telekinesis made. Soon she found herself in a large chamber with eight stone pillars and a number of earth ponies guarding a throne near the back of the room.

Sitting on the throne was a gray earth pony, with a very jet black mane. Rather than wearing a crown she wore a red bow tie. The mare gazed down at the avatar with an expression of borderline boredom and annoyance.

As the earth pony's eyes glanced over Twilight she couldn't help but feel small, weak, and pathetic. Those eyes felt like they could pierce through her. She tried to look as small as she could, dragging her hooves. "Who is this mare? Why have you brought her before me?" Even the earth ponies voice sounded annoyed.

"Your highness. She attacked us and damaged our wagons, but that wasn't as important. What is important is that she is a fire bender."

The earth ponies eyes twitched just the slightest at that. "A fire bender? Fascinating. Well mare, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"... Traitor..." Twilight growled out. She gulped nervously as she tried to muster up the courage for what she'd say next.

"Excuse me?"

"You are a traitor! The Water Nation has been attacking all the countries and you ally yourselves with them? The earth benders of my time were strong and proud! They would have never bowed to... Why are you laughing? This isn't funny!"

"My my avatar. You in fact have been asleep a long while,” the mare's eyes were filled with mild amusement as she softly chuckled.

"I... wait, what? You... How...?"

"I've been waiting for you. Your friends have already arrived and told me that you would be coming..." A grin formed on her lips. "Though I must admit I expected some pony a tad older. My name is Octavia and I am ruler of Cadence, the city of music. I would appreciate it if you would refrain from damaging the property of my subjects."

"... I... what? But... water benders! And they... wait, my friends? My friends are here? Where?! What did you do with them?!"

"Your friends are safe and sound. I assure you that we are in no way allied with the Water Nation. However, before I can allow you to visit your friends I want proof with my own two eyes. Fire b- EEK!" She ducked quickly as flame shot over her head, her poise temporarily broken.

"Errr... Sorry. But my friends? You said they were here? Where? I really need to see them!"

"Very well. Your friends are being entertained by my acquaintance. The leader of our little water bender faction. I'll have the guard outside lead you to them. But a warning, she is a tad-" she sighed as the Avatar ran off, leaving her to speak to herself and the dragon. "Insane..." she grumbled.

A Water Nation ship glided through the air towards a small hovering city. This city was a far cry from the noble cloud cities of the pegasi. Metal was weaved into cloud to create pathways and factories, while thick lines of smoke bursting from mighty smoke stacks. The buildings were a few stories tall and built against each other to help conserve space. Four metal docks had been created near the entrance of the massive city, though only one had a ship on it. The ship bore a skull and crossbones. A pirate ship.

"I wish you would reconsider niece. Rogues such as these are... not to be trusted," Celestia mumbled with a smidgen of anxiety in her voice as the ship drifted into the dock. Their soldiers went to action, lining the ship up, but even they were obviously anxious about this plan. They constantly looked over their shoulders and warily watching the creatures who were walking on the iron paths of the city.

Rarity glanced to her aunt. "Trust me aunt. You told me yourself, so long as we are willing to pay the fee nothing will happen. We'll be in and out before we know it." As the ramp lowered from the ship she began to slowly walk down it. She couldn't help but feel a little excited. This new plan was a stroke of genius! She should have come here to begin with. The rogue city of Los Pegasus. Shifty looking ponies roamed the streets, though they were not the only things. Large bird like creatures that walked on four legs, with long curved beaks and razor sharp claws, mingled with the smaller ponies throughout the streets. Her aunt called them griffons, apparently a non bending species that were known for their ferocity and might.

After a few moments Celestia walked down the ramp after the princess, a unicorn on either side of her. "Very well, but allow me to deal with them. I've had dealings here before," she grumbled. This place was dangerous and she despised having to come here. She'd even had to leave her kazoo back on the ship, not willing to risk anything happening to it. If only she could do the same with her niece.

"Of course auntie. I trust you." Slowly the little caravan began to walk through the iron city, passing by buildings and catching the occasional strange look. After a short time they stopped in front of a small bar called 'The Diamond Mule'. Rarity couldn't help but cringe as they walked inside. The place was filled with ponies and griffons drinking and rough housing. A thin layer of smoke lingered in the air like a fog. Celestia headed towards the back, taking a seat across from a one eyed old griffon who was shuffling some cards.

"Care to test your luck, stranger?"

"Yes. Three bears, ducks are wild," Celestia said as the cards started being dealt.

Rarity was flabbergast. "You're going to play a card game? Auntie, we need to-"

"Niece, shush. I'm sorry, she's still quite young. Respect for her elders is still quite difficult for her,” the mare glared at her niece before turning back to the griffon.

"No harm no foul. We were all young once." The old griffon said as he dealt them each five cards. "Three bears you say... an interesting game. Don't get many asking for that around these parts. What brings you here?"

"I'll go first." she glanced at her hand and tossed down a card with a blue bear. "We're here looking for a mercenary. But not just any, the best."

"Mercenary? Well you've come to the right place." He tossed down a green parasprite. "We've got plenty here."

"Any in particular you'd recommend?" She tossed down a yellow daisy.

"The yellow daisy... An interesting move. Not many ponies would play that card."

"I'm not many ponies," Celestia said as the two looked in each others eyes for a moment. Well, eye to eyes.

"Fascinating." He tossed down an orange pony. "I may know a griffon. Bit rough around the edges but if anyone can get the job done, she can. She's not cheap though."

"We have the money." She tossed down a brown duck. "Bear. I believe this match is mine."

The old griffon chuckled. "Indeed it is. Now, what you're going to want to do is..."

Twilight was jumping around like a filly, having to resist the urge to go 'yes yes yes' as she followed the mildly annoyed guard pony through the halls. Soon the two stood in front of a small door. "Your friends should be asleep in there. Please try to keep the racket down, some ponies will be trying to sleep now."

"Okay!" Twilight grinned from ear to ear as she reached a hoof out towards the door, but stopped. Would her friends forgive her for the harsh things she said? She had hurt them and they deserved better than that. Not only that, by showing herself to them she was putting them in danger again. It wasn't fair to them. It was... Buck it. She could tell herself that all she wants, but she knew the moment she left, all she'd be able to think about was them. All she'd hope for was that they'd find her. The thought of leaving when she was so close to seeing them brought tears to her eyes. She wouldn't. She couldn't. Not again. Even though they had only known each other a short time she didn't want to imagine what it would be like without them again.

She gulped and charged forward, pushing the door open and ran inside! And... the room was empty? There were four beds, each made, but no pony was here. The lights were even off. Did they leave? Did they abandon her? No! This isn't fair! Octavia said they were here! SHE SAID SO! They didn't want to see her any more. Tears began to go down her face. They must have heard she was here and left. Why? Did they change their minds? Did they-

"SURPRISE!" The lights of the room came on! Twilight jumped up so quick even her mopey face got whiplash. Her friends were here! They came out of hiding, Pinkie from behind the door, Rainbow and Fluttershy from under the beds. Tears of joy flowed down her face as she tried to determine who she should hug first! She never got a chance though, as three pairs of hooves wrapped around her.

"I... I'm so... so sorry. I never meant what I said. Please forgive me. I'll never say anything so stupid or mean again," Twilight said through the tears, hugging her friends back. When she was trapped in that horrible prison she had thought about this moment continuously, imagining how amazing it would feel. It wasn't as good as she imagined. It was so so so so much better. She never wanted to let go.

"We know Twilight," Rainbow said as she ruffled Twilight's mane. "I couldn't stop laughing when I heard what you said. You're way to square to ever mean that stuff."

"W-what? But..."

"We know you didn't mean those things, Twilight," Pinkie echoed in a chipper tone. "Friends always look out for each other! We woulda come after you right away, but then Rainbow wouldn't have had enough time to heal and Fluttershy wouldn't have gotten her new power and the entire blue spirit arc wouldn't have worked as well unless we got sick. Though I guess Rainbow was kind of sick with her wing but that wouldn't have worked not to mention Fluttershy would never suck on a frog even if they were frozen." She giggled happily as she hugged Twilight... Not noticing as the three ponies stared at her with looks of utter confusion.

"What does... Never mind. How did you find me?"

"Script!" the ecstatic pink pony said as the group hug finally ended. "We got cake! To celebrate us being together again!" She darted out of the room and came back a moment later, pushing a big triple layered chocolate cake on a cart. “Guess what, you're never going to believe who else is here! Octavia and Dj Pon-3!"

"I told you to stop calling me that. My name is Vinyl. Vinyl!" A unicorn mare entered behind Pinkie. Her mane and tail were blue with bright cyan stripes and over her eyes she wore the strangest glasses. Twilight had only seen a few ponies who had glasses before, but these ones were different. The lenses were a tinted purple instead of clear, seemingly fashioned of thin cut amethyst. The mare's head turned to the unicorn as a grin spread across her face. "You must be the avatar. Your friends have been telling me all about you and we've been wondering when you'd show your face around here. Allow me to introduce myself. General Vinyl Scratch, leader of the water benders in Cadence."

"Also her stage name is Dj Pon-3,” Pinkie added helpfully.

"There is no stage and I am not on it! But anyway, I know you've met Octy so that's done. And we've heard all about your adventures and your plans to take down the Water Nation."

"Ah... W-well, they aren't so much plans to take down the Water Nation as just stopping a terrifying monster from escaping..."

"Either way you're willing to put a hoof in the gears of that old biddy Nightmare Moon, that makes you okay by my book." Vinyl reached out and patted the purple unicorn square on the back.

"You knew Nightmare Moon?" Twilight stared at the mare.

"Course. Totally. Up. Tight. Back when she was married I was her general... Before the..." As the mare's voice trailed off Twilight couldn't help but feel the water bender was looking away behind the glasses. "That's not important. Let's just say I didn't agree with all the steps the Water Nation was taking and I got out of there with my most loyal soldiers. After a little bit of convincing we were able to stay here and we've been helping keep Cadence safe ever since."

"So there are a lot of water benders here then?"

"Well, I'd hardly call us a lot. But probably the highest concentration of water benders who aren't technically loyal to the Water Nation."

"That's great then! You can teach me water bending!" Twilight sprang forward, but stopped as a hoof was put in front of her face.

"Easy there, kid. You've still got a lot to learn as it is. Your friends tell me you don't even know air bending that well. I'm not going anywhere, so just go and learn the others and then come back, okay?"

"But... I need to learn water bending eventually. I might never meet another water bender! This could be my only chance..." Twilight hung her head in defeat.

"Now don't be such a worrier kid. I'm not going anywhere, so you can learn the others and then come back here. Heck Octy can probably teach you some earth bending... If you suck up to her. Don't be in such a rush to learn it. Fire bending and water bending don't get along to well, so it's gonna be a buck and a half learning it as it is."

"Fine, fine..." Twilight grumbled. But then perked up. "Although... There is one thing you could do for me."

"Hm?"

"You have a number of water benders, right? There's a spell I want to teach you." Twilight grinned as she looked at the confused unicorn, glee bubbling up from within. Perhaps she could finish part of her duties after all!

Chapter 12: Obligation

Rarity looked around the building nervously. She had never seen such a wretched hive of scum and villainy. Griffons and ponies were intermingled through out the tables, drinking and playing 'games'. A few were even splayed out on the ground, unconscious, surrounded by broken chunks of wood. Two griffons near the back were in the midst of a tumble and stabbing at each other with knives, but fortunately Rarity and her aunt were led away from the din into a back room.

There the creature was sitting in a dimly lit room with only a table and a single candle. It didn't look much different than any other griffon Rarity had seen so far, but as the creature's eyes scanned over her she could feel an unwanted shiver go down her spine. Her gaze lowered and caught sight of a large knife strapped to the griffon's arm. On a pony it would have been a decently sized sword, but on this creature it seemed almost comically small.

"So you're the Water Nation ponies looking for my services?" the griffon snapped as she glared at them in contempt.

"Y-yes... Wait, how did you know? We only just-" Rarity asked, thrown off balance by the sudden hostility.

"News travels fast here. Not every day one of the Water Nation ships dock here. Must be pretty interesting business if you're looking from help from a mercenary." The griffon unsheathed her blade, gently picking at her claws. "I hope you have the payment to back it up. Ship like yours likely has all kinds of interesting things..."

"I assure you, you will find the payment more than satisfactory," the princess said haughtily as she glared back at the griffon.

"Rarity! Now miss...?" Celestia said as she put a hoof on her nieces shoulder.

"Gilda's my name. Best in all of Los Pegasus. So you better not be wasting my time. Otherwise we're going to see just how well the Water Nation unicorns fly," she hissed as she stabbed her knife into the table. To Rarity's credit the unicorn managed to avoid flinching.

"We want you to capture the Avatar. Alive. We've heard of your asking price... and we'll be willing to pay double. Assuming you can succeed," Celestia informed the creature.

"... The Avatar you say... That's a very interesting job. Only one in all the world. Dangerous too. Make it four times and you have yourself a deal," Gilda said off handedly as she yanked the knife out of the table, leaving a large gouge in it.

"Deal, but there are some other conditions," Rarity interrupted before her aunt could say anything.

"Niece!" Celestia hissed.

"Aunt, please. This is important." She then glanced to the griffon. "It's simple. We want the Avatar alive. We know where she'll be heading towards and leaving from, what she looks like and who will be with her. There will be a little dragon with her, completely harmless. You are to not harm it however. That's part of the price."

"A dragon? Why do you care about one of those? Last I heard your kind were slaughtering every single one you could find," Gilda asked as a light snicker escaped her beak.

"Those are the terms. My reasons are my own."

Rarity glared defiantly at the griffon, who glared right back. For a few moments it seemed as if Gilda would decline her offer, but slowly she sheathed her blade. "Fine. Deal. Tell me about this Avatar."

"Good. She'll be heading to, or at, the city of Cadence and..." Rarity soon described all the details to the griffon before she quickly turned and left, her aunt following behind her.

"I told you to allow me to speak with them, Rarity," Celestia scolded.

"I know. But it turned out fine, didn't it? Besides, I need to learn about this stuff as well, don't I? I am a princess after all." She smiled back at her caretaker, grinning almost from ear to ear. She knew her aunt was angry, but she also knew the elder unicorn could never resist her smile. After a few moments a similar smile broke out on the white unicorn's lips.

"Fine. We'd best get a move on. Why is this little dragon so important to you? Hmm?" she chuckled as they walked out from the building, their guards waiting outside to regroup.

"N-no reason. I just don't see a need for hurting a defenseless creature," Rarity said quickly, a hint of red in her cheeks.

"I see, niece." Celestia couldn't resist grinning at the princess's hollow defense. A moment later a shadow passed over them as the griffon flew out of the buildings roof and off into the distance.

"Quit it," Rainbow muttered.

"No," Twilight said as she poked the annoyed pegasus's wing again. The two were outside in a small cleared out tract of land Octavia had allowed them to use and were currently waiting for all the water benders to assemble. Vinyl had said they would be there shortly.

"Quit it!"

"No."

"I said knock it off!"

"Never!"

"Fine! Fine! I'll do it! Do you promise to stop if I do it?!"

"Yes!"

"I swear, you are worse than Pinkie sometimes," Rainbow grumbled and jumped up, her wings spreading out as she took to the air. She spun in three tight circles before landing in front of the unicorn, who clapped her hooves with glee. "See? I'm fine. That's the last time."

"Again, again!"

"NO! ARGH!" Rainbow shook her head as once again Twilight began poking her wing. Finally she had enough and flew up and out of reach, grabbing a stray cloud and dragging it down so she could lay on it. Normally she adored being admired. But this wasn't admiration, this was the avatar wanting to be sure she was perfectly fine. Over and over and over!

"Awwww..." Twilight sighed as she glanced to Fluttershy, who was doing her best to look inconspicuous, feeding a bunny a carrot. "So how did you do it, Fluttershy?"

"Uhhh, w-well, it was nothing, really..." The shy pegasus mumbled as her grip on the carrot tightened just a little bit.

"What was it like? What did she teach you?"

"Well... it was... ummm... n-nothing special... miss Spitfire just said I wasn't any good at air bending, but... I might be able to ummm... be good at healing. She showed me just a few things and told me how to... h-help with R-rainbow's wing. I-It's nothing special, really. She did most of the work I just did the upkeep..." with every word Fluttershy tried to make herself smaller and smaller.

"I'd love to hear more about-"

"Alright every pony! The awesome has arrived! Woo!" Vinyl yelled as she galloped up and reared. "I gathered every single water bender in the city, so lets do this!" Behind her were at least two dozen unicorns of assorted ages, all of who were staring at Twilight expectantly.

"Oh. We'll talk later, Fluttershy. Okay every pony! I've asked you all here for one very important reason." She stomped a hoof down. "We are going to raise the moon." She posed with her head held high. She expected cheers, but all she got was one pony near the back, coughing. "Err... Why isn't any pony excited?"

"Well... The firey thing is kinda still up there. We've all seen the moon before. Heck until that came up the moon was all we saw, unmoving."

"Oh. Right. W-well it's different this time! You see when I was a child, the sun and moon revolved in cycles. The sun would start at one end of the sky and move to the other. When it arrived on the other side, the moon would rise and go from one end to the other. This cycle repeated over and over. Fire benders raised the sun and set it on its path and water benders raised the moon to do the same. It's my goal to set this cycle back in order, but I need your help."

"Why don't you do it? Didn't you raise that?" a pony in the crowd yelled out and motioned to the sun.

"I... would if I could. Sadly I have nowhere near that power. The only time I was able to... I wasn't truly in control of myself. I have not been able to do it since. All I can do is teach you the spell."

"Even if we learn it, what good will it do if that's still up there? It's drying everything out!"

"... There... is nothing I can do about that now," Twilight said as she hung her head. "I don't have any clues where any fire benders could be, but that isn't important now. What I can do is this. This step is just as important as teaching the sun spell! Now Vinyl, please come forward. I will teach you the spell and you will need to direct the others on how to perform it." As the leader of the water benders stepped forward, the purple unicorn leaned forward and put her horn against the white unicorn's and waited.

And waited. Waited. Still waited. Kept on waiting.

"... How is groping my horn with your horn supposed to teach me a spell?" Vinyl asked with a minor smirk. “This just an excuse to get off on your fetish?”

"W-what? N-no! This is just... I... I don't know. Let me try this." She put a hoof to the unicorn's forehead. "Anything?"

"... No. Are you okay?" The other ponies had begun to snicker and giggle behind them.

"I... I don't understand. This is how I learned it. It must be because... oh... I guess I'll have to teach you all manually. This... is going to take a while. Okay. First I'll need to teach you how to find and grab the moon. It's actually kind of easy once you know what to look for. Lifting it up however... well... that will take a team effort. Okay, first close your eyes and focus your magic outwards..."

The Great and Powerful Trixie chuckled as she glanced over her map. Cloudsdale's current position was held in the center of Air Nomad's territory. Between the Trench and where they needed to be lay a small number of villages and outposts. Not to mention if they did try to push forward there would be a few earth cities that could move in behind them and cut them off completely from the Water Nation. A normal general would have retreated back home and gone along the territory they had already conquered. It would be easy, though it would add weeks to their travel time.

But the Great and Powerful Trixie had more than a few tricks under her hat. Her horn glowed as a small golden chest floated gently to the top of her desk. She lowered her horn into the small hole in the front amd the chest popped open in response. Inside were a number of small scrolls and an old journal. The journal was a very special, if dangerous, possession of hers.

After all, it was the journal of the current Nightmare Moon's late husband. Before unfortunate circumstances led to his disappearance from the Water Nation. Most ponies would give their left hooves to have access to such a treasure and she knew if her ruler knew that it still existed the mare would have Trixie thrown in chains and the book destroyed. Many of the dark unicorn's secrets were hidden in that small journal, as well as a number of spells that the general had spent years painstakingly translating. A small scroll hovered out from the box as she sealed it tightly. She then deposited the chest back into her foot locker, scroll floating besides her as she exited her office.

"Snips! Snails!" She yelled out. Within moments the two unicorns galloped to her side. "Have all the shadowbolt's been taken care of?"

"N-not yet, Great and Powerful Trixie. They should be within a few hours. Some are resisting and we-" Snips was quickly interrupted.

"If they resist, deal with them. Permanently. If they won't show their loyalty now they will have no place on my ship. I want everything packed and ready to go." She began walking through the halls, "We're leaving as soon as they are finished."

"Ahh.... Ummm... Errr..." Snips gulped.

"... What is it?" She turned her gaze on him.

"In the Avatar's escape, the Tsunami was damaged by the winds... It'll take a few days to repair it." He cowered a little bit as he awaited her rage.

"... Very well. Have the largest storage room cleared of everything, but our alchemic supplies. I have research to perform."

"As you wish, Great and Powerful Trixie!" The two unicorns quickly ran off to spread her orders.

"Sniveling fools..." She glanced to the scroll. "I guess I'll have more time to test this than I thought. Shame I'll have to wait to try it on a living creature."

Twilight groaned as she dropped onto the bed she had been granted, her friends watching her with worry. She didn't have any idea how to really do this. Any of this. She knew the spell, but she knew nothing about water bending. It was like trying to explain how to transform an apple into an orange before you understood how to do telekinesis. Even if she knew how the spell worked she couldn't perform the basics to get it done.

"So uhhhh... How are you holding up, Twilight?" Rainbow asked as she moved up behind the purple unicorn.

"How am I holding up? How am I holding up?! Just fine! It's not like I'm trying to explain a spell I don't even understand to a bunch of ponies who've never even seen its effects! Gahhh! If I had known it was going to be like this I would have asked Starswirl how to explain it all! I thought it would just be a tap on the horn, but no. He cheated," she grumbled as she punched her pillow a few times.

"Well... If you want, we could go practice some air bending? Maybe trying something else will take your mind off it? Also, Soarin taught me some wicked awesome tricks I've been dying to try."

"Sure. After spending hours trying to get this one spell right, I'm going to just up and... actually... you know that sounds kind of nice. Learning instead of teaching could be nice." She jumped out of bed. "It wouldn't be so bad if I could really gauge how they were doing though. I think they have a grasp and are just working on the strength. Unfortunately, with the sun in the way it's hard to really tell if they can't raise it or if the sun being there is stopping it and making it harder." Twilight followed Rainbow, but as the door opened another pony was standing outside and blocking the way.

"Avatar, I need to speak with you. Can you come with me, please? Alone." Octavia stood with an earth pony on each side of her.

"But what about-"

"Please. This is for your ears only. If you wish to tell your friends after that, it will be your decision." Octavia began to walk down the halls. Twilight gave Rainbow a questioning look, but the pegasus merely nodded and gestured the mare to follow. With a sigh the unicorn took off after the earth pony.

"Where are we going?"

"To the map room. I'll tell you more then." Soon they came to a small room. Octavia headed inside, but her guards remained outside. As Twilight entered she could see Vinyl was there and the room was covered with maps of the world, the individual kingdoms and the war lines. The door slammed shut behind her as she moved to stand by a table.

"What is it you needed to show me?"

"This." Octavia pointed to a large wooded area that covered a few inches of the map, though that meant it likely went for miles. It seemed to end near Lightning Valley. "It's called the Everfree Forest."

"Ummmm..."

"It is part of the border between Fire Country and Earth Country. It's one of the most dangerous places in existence, filled with all manners of creatures. Manticores, hydras, even parasprites."

"I don't see what this has to do with me?" Twilight asked, still confused.

"That's where I come in," Vinyl interjected. "When me and my soldiers left the Water Nation territory we escaped into the Lightning Valleys. We were forced to head into the Everfree Forest. In the confusion we were separated and I ended up on my own. Was a bit worrying at first, but I got nerves of steel. Didn't panic in the slightest. Some manticore wanted to mess with me I could take 'em. Not even a pack of-"

"Vinyl, get to the point," Octavia hissed.

"Right. Anyway, I met an interesting mare there. She saved my flank from... well I had those timber wolves under control. Her name was Minuette and she was a fire bender."

"A FI-" A hoof was put over Twilight's mouth by Octavia. "Oh... Sowfy." She pulled back. "A fire bender?" she whispered.

"Yes. She knew those forests like the back of her hoof ad told me how to get back to my ponies and get out of there. She made me promise never to tell any pony, but in this situation I think I can be forgiven. Also, she gave me a totally awesome gift!" Vinyl's horn glowed as a small brown pouch flew over to them and spilled its content out on the table.

"... A tooth brush? She gave you a lousy toothbrush?" The purple unicorn cocked an eye.

"Oh great, now you've done it," Octavia mumbled.

"A LOUSY TOOTHBRUSH?! This is the most awesome toothbrush ever! Look at it, it's electric blue. ELECTRIC! BLUE! How many toothbrushes do YOU know that are like that? That's right. None. Because there aren't any. Except this one. That's mine and awesome. You know how hard it is to get a toothbrush when you're in the forest? Extremely. Cause there aren't any. So nyeh." She stuck her tongue out.

"... I'm... sorry?" Twilight said as she backed away a little bit. That unicorn was a mad mare. Had to be.

"Anyway. Toothbrushes aside. Vinyl can show you the path she took to get here, but it'll be a dangerous trip." Octavia motioned to the map again. "There are some things you need to know about the Everfree Forest. One, don't try to fly over it. It's suicide. Two, definitely don't try to go under it. That's even more suicide. And three, no matter what happens, don't get off the path. Ever. There are dangerous things in those woods. Things that would make you wake up screaming just thinking about."

Twilight nodded slowly, trying to take those words in. "But what about the moon raising spell? Without me here to guide you how will you be able to perform it?"

"... To be honest, avatar. You're about as good at teaching as Octy is at using slang. You showed us the basics, but now we just need to try and get it working. If you can get the sun down it'll probably be a lot easier. Not to mention cooler around here," Vinyl said as she patted Twilight on the back, ignoring the glare Octavia was sending her way.

"I... I guess we'll go get ready then. I'll tell my friends and we'll go."

"About that... please refrain from telling them until after you leave," Octavia warned. "We do not wish for the information about the fire bender to spread. If the Water Nation suspected there were fire benders living in those woods they'd sweep through them in the thousands. They'd likely suffer heavy casualties, but the magic they'd be tampering with could cause untold damage. Currently the three of us are the only ones who know. I would prefer to keep the number as small as possible."

"Oh... I understand. I'll tell them after we arrive, but I will have to tell them this will be dangerous." Twilight smiled though. After dealing with a dragon, the Water Nation soldiers and two crashed balloons, how dangerous could a little forest be? She galloped off as fast as she could through the halls to tell her friends. Everything was coming together!

High above Earth Country Gilda glided through the air. A part of her missed the eternal night they once had. Her body was more adjusted to the temperature then. She didn't sweat as much and it was far easier to sneak up on a pony in the dark. This was also only her second job since the sun had risen, and her first one had almost been a disaster because of that accursed firey ball. Used to be you could fly over someone and they'd never see you, now you cast a shadow.

But one thing she did love about the new heat was she didn't have to carry as much when she flew and didn't have to take constant breaks to increase her temperature and keep from freezing to death. Before the sun came out she couldn't even nap on top of a cloud, they were to wet and impossible to start a fire on, so she had to ground herself for breaks. For the first time in a long time she was enjoying the fact she had a long trip to make.

So it was with a small bit of disappointment that she landed on a cloud hovering a fair distance above Cadence and peered down at the city. The roads were bare so she began making preparations for her stake out. She grabbed a small cloud and dragged it around the sky slowly, gathering more up and forming a large pile. The griffon then began hollowing out a hole in the center of the cloud, making simple walls and a roof for herself, from any direction the cloud would just look like a small cloud hovering above the city. Inside her cloud it was hot and dark, so she poked a few smaller holes to allow air and light in, before she made one final adjustment.

A small cloud crafted spyglass. She slowly pushed it into the cloud, it's enchantments keeping it separate from the cloud while also keeping it lodged. Looking through it she could see for miles down the road, if any pony came, or left. Aside from an earth pony and a pegasus with a cart full of muffins, the roads were empty.

But that was fine. She could wait. She was patient. The avatar was her prey after all. As a hand slid down to stroke one of the many knives on her person a grin formed on her beak. She'd never let her prey escape before. This time would be no different.

Twilight grinned from ear to ear as she pushed open the door with all her might. Not the best move as the resulting sound of the door slamming against the wall sent Fluttershy cowering under a bed and made Spike choke on his gemstone snack. "Errr... Sorry. But I have really important news." She trotted inside as the door closed behind her. "I'm going to the Everfree Forest. I'd like the four of you to come with me."

Spike was to busy trying to clear his throat to respond and Fluttershy was still hiding under the bed, but Rainbow jumped at the chance. "Sure! Can't let you go alone and all. You aren't getting rid of us that easy."

"Ohhhh! A forest? We can go camping! We can have smores and tell stories and play hide and seek!" Pinkie said excitedly as she hopped around.

"Errr... Actually the forest is really dangerous. We'll be going through as fast as we can. We won't have any time for parties..." That nervous worry began to gnaw at her. What if they didn't want too? Was it okay for her to ask them to do this?

"Eh. Danger smanger. It'll be raining bunnies and lollipops the day Rainbow Dash is to scared to go somewhere an egghead like you'll go," Rainbow said dismissively as she did a little spin in the air and raised her hoof high.

"Ohhhh! There are going to be lollipops? Count me in! I've never had raining lollipops, well except that time I tried making a lollipop cannon but that didn't really work because the lollipops just kinda hit the roof and then fell on my head and it wasn't much of a rain, but they were still really tasty even if they were a bit burnt." Pinkie hopped around in excitement as she grabbed and pulled Fluttershy out of her hiding spot. "This is going to be so much fun!"

"Um.... Y-yay?" the little pegasus flutter yayed pathetically.

"Ummmm... How dangerous are we talking here?" Spike asked as he poked his claws together, having managed to clear his throat. "Not that I'm scared or anything."

"I'm not actually sure. I've heard a little bit about the Everfree Forest from when I was performing my studies, but that was a long time ago. Who knows how the long night affected them? Vinyl says so long as we stay on the path we'll be fine. So I was thinking once we all get some rest and gather some supplies we'll leave. What do you say?"

The four gave their agreements, though only about half of them really seemed excited to go. Twilight was too excited to care though, as she pranced to her bed. She was going to be wayyy to excited to sleep. Then Rainbow asked the question she really didn't want to answer. "So why we going there anyway?"

"Err... I can't say."

"What? Why not? If we're risking our lives and going somewhere dangerous, " there was a frightened eep in the background, "then you should at least tell us why."

"I can't say until we get to the forest. I promised Vinyl and Octavia I wouldn't. Please understand..." Twilight mumbled as she tried to hide under her blanket. They were going to be so mad at her, she knew it.

"Eh, I guess a promise is a promise, but you better tell us when we get there. The very second, got it?" Satisfied with the Avatar's nod Rainbow dropped onto her bed with a spinning somersault. The others followed her example, albeit less flamboyantly. Twilight even let Spike sleep next to her, though she regretted it hours later when her sides began to itch and she was unable to scratch them with the dragon curled up to her. She did feel a little regret that she would have to leave the city so quickly, but they could always return after the fire benders had been found. She could still talk to Vinyl and Octavia on the way to the forest too. She was so excited even those doubts quickly left her mind. Tomorrow was going to be amazing, she just knew it.

Unfortunately she was unaware just how 'amazing' the next day would be or of the coming surprise she would receive come morning.

Chapter 13: Wander

Twilight groaned when she finally awoke. Her body felt rested, but sore. Slowly she crawled out of bed and began a few stretches, trying to work the kinks out of her body. Starting with her legs, then her neck, hips, wings, horn, neck again, wait wings? She looked behind her... and let out an ear piercing scream!

"HIYA!" Rainbow yelled as she lunged from her bed at the source of the scream. Her grogginess threw off her aim as she slammed into the mattress, making it crumble and snap under the force of the attack. Spike shrieked as the broken bed launched him into the air, but was soon caught in a purple magic aura.

"Wha's goin' on? Who wha?" Spike asked groggily, flailing about in the air as he was slowly lowered.

"Who's attacking?! Where are they?! Think you can get the drop on me do yah? Hiya!" Rainbow yelled as she struggled against the bed spread she accidentally got wrapped in. Had the poor thing been alive she would have made it wish it had been a pillow case as she tore around and flung her hooves around in fury. Twilight stepped back out of range to avoid any wild shots.

"I-Is everything okay?" Fluttershy asked with a worried squeak. Pinkie Pie hadn't even moved, still sleeping peacefully on her bed.

"I... Well... Look!" She motioned behind her in a panic.

"Oh... Oh my..."

Rainbow finally managed to untangle herself from the blankets and shook her head as she sat up. She looked at Twilight and stared. "...BWAHAHAHAH! They look like chicken wings!" she laughed.

From Twilight's back two purple wings had sprouted, each only a few inches long. As if in response to the laughter they started to lightly flap, making their bearer blush lightly. "I-it's perfectly normal! I'm the avatar! I-if I was a pegasus I'd eventually grow a horn or if I was an earth pony I'd grow both! It's triggered by learning how to air bend, okay?" she defended.

"Sure it is," The multi colored speedster snickered as she walked over and poked them. "Can they even fly? No, wait. Stand right there. I think I can almost feel a breeze from them," she teased.

"Fine, fine, laugh it up... In a few weeks they'll be fully grown and then you'll have nothing to say," she grumbled as she headed out into the halls. "I'm going to go get our guides so we can go." When she was half way down the hall the door opened behind her as Rainbow sped after her.

"Come on Twilight, I was just ribbing." She nudged the Avatar with her head. "Don't take it so hard, okay?"

"... Fine..." the purple alicorn muttered. "It just feels... weird. I knew it would happen eventually. But since... well, coming here, I hadn't even thought about it at all. Though, I guess I can't do real air bending without it. It's only natural they'd come around once I started practicing."

"Yeah. Besides, they're cool! Well, not now. Now they look like they belong on a filly. But when you have them fully I can show you how to fly. It's totally awesome! Though I doubt you'll ever be as good a flier as me. You're a good student and all, but some things just can't be taught."

Twilight rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Well gee, we can't all be as amazing fliers as you, Rainbow. But I'm sure I'll still be able to do some tricks you can't." A realization dawned on her. "Oh great..."

"What?"

"I'm going to have to show this to Octavia and Vinyl."

"Oh relax. I'm sure they'll think they are awesome. Who wouldn't?"

"Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!" Vinyl roared with laughter as she clutched her sides. "They look like little purple chicken wings!"

"That's what I said!" Rainbow said with loud giggles.

"Vinyl! Act your age," Octavia hissed, glaring down at the unicorn.

"Oh come on. You laughed too," the water bender said as she slowly got to her hooves.

"I... I only had a soft delicate giggle and only for a second. Shouldn't you be taking the Avatar and her friends to the forest now? Move along." The annoyed and slightly blushing earth pony stomped her hoof on the ground as the stone tiles under Vinyl lifted up and tossed her out the door.

"Ow..." the unicorn groaned as she slowly got up. "Yeah... come on Avatar. Let's go before Octavia gets too grouchy." She started walking down the hall, followed by Twilight and Rainbow. "I just realized something. You arrived and are leaving so fast we never had a chance to tell you the history of how this city got it's name. You'll like it. It came from a previous avatar. Interested?"

"Really?" The alicorn's ears stood at attention. "I'd love to hear it!" Rainbow rolled her eyes but followed along.

"Okay. Just a warning, it's not the most cheerful of stories, but it's not too long. A few avatars ago there was one born in the earth kingdom. Her name was Cadence and she was extremely strong and skilled. Built this city herself with bending, though it wasn't called Cadence then. It was some weird name that had to do with dogs or crystals or something like that. Anyway, her reign for the most part was smooth. The countries were at peace and she even had a lover, Shining Armor, who was a powerful unicorn.

"Now, everything was going great, the two were going to be married and ponies from all corners of the countries were coming to see it. Then it all went bad when a powerful monster attempted to escape from the spirit world and tricked Shining into believing it was Cadence. Using vile tricks the creature used Shining to create a gateway between our world and its, nearly killing the true Cadence in the process. The Avatar was distraught, but she fought back the hordes of the monsters minions and eventually sealed both the creature and its vile army into the other realm, never to be seen again.

"Sadly... Cadence's love didn't survive. He perished during the rituals used to free the creatures, and when she found out her heart was shattered. She left the city and was lost forever. The only thing known was that a few years later, the new avatar was born. The city she created was renamed in her honor and there are still statues of the two lovers enshrined deep in the core of the city. When you get back I could show you them if you like."

Twilight was silent for a few moments after that, looking off to the side in worry. "That... is horrible..." She couldn't help but wonder if the universe itself was trying to put doubts into her mind about her mission. Would her mission to meet the Fire Tribe ponies end in failure like the cities builder? Not to mention she couldn't be sure, but she swore her heart skipped a beat when she heard the name Shining Armor. She shook her head as she tried to shake off the feelings of dread.

Twilight stared at the group of ponies before her. Over a dozen unicorns, many of whom she had accidentally assaulted recently at the lake, had gathered outside the gates with Vinyl to escort them. "How far are we going? I don't think we need this big an escort."

"It's not that far, but it's good to see the roads once in a while. Besides..." the unicorn moved in a bit closer, whispering to Twilight, "to be honest more than a few of 'em asked to see you off."

"Really? They are that sad to see me leave?" The alicorn couldn't help but smile at that thought.

"... Sure. Sad." Vinyl glanced back to glare at some of the ponies who were muttering to themselves. Twilight's little moon raising exercises and her introduction to most of the water benders hadn't made her many friends, even if she was on their side. Most of the ponies just wanted to get out of water gathering chores and ensure that the avatar truly left. "It's not that long a trip, a few hours on hoof, but we'll talk as we go. Remember the rules when going through the forest?" she asked as the large group started walking.

"Yes. Don't leave the path for any reason. Don't try to fly over it. Don't try to go under it. It's an odd list, but not very hard to remember. Is there anything else I should know?"

"... Don't try to befriend things in there. Aside from ponies. There are all manners of strange creatures, things you won't see anywhere else and things you may recognize from other places. But things that live in the Everfree forest... change. Mostly for the worse. If something comes onto the path and you don't know if you can fight it... then run. Stall it if you have to, but run. I swear those trees are alive and if you get off the path chances are they won't let you back on."

"... The trees? What about the monsters you said are in there? Shouldn't we be more worried about those?" Twilight muttered as she glanced at the water bender.

"The things in the forest are what will get you, that's for certain. But the forest itself? It won't let you go. There are only a few safe ways through it and I imagine only its occupants would know. Just be careful and conserve your resources. You never know how long it will take." Vinyl's face was grim and determined.

".... You make this place sound almost haunted. It's a little creepy. Why can't we fly over it or go under it?"

"Flying over it... well... once you go in, getting into the air is near impossible. Landing is a breeze, but the woods don't let things back into the air. Going under... that's just something Octavia warned me about," her tone had become too serious to even use her friends nickname.

"What happened?"

"Earth benders. The forest is dangerous to go over, but they thought under would be safe. After all, nothing could get them then. Apparently before I arrived a group of ten earth benders went under and tried to create a network of tunnels. Only one ever returned. Completely cracked, kept talking about a mirror in the lake and hydras. No pony has tried since."

"... Oh." After that the group walked in near silence for what felt like hours, only the occasional chatter or small game of eye spy was heard. For a few moments she considered just heading back and trying to find another way. But her friends didn't seem too scared to turn back, so neither would she. Finally as they came up to the woods she let out a sigh and smiled. "I guess no matter how scary this place is, it doesn't matter. After all, there is nothing the four of us can't handle,” there was an annoyed dragon cough from behind her, “Sorry, five.”

"That's good. You'll need to be as strong as you can." The group stopped outside a large wooded region. A path laid before them, but it seemed to disappear in the darkness within only a few meters.

"Why... is it so dark?" Twilight whispered, as if in fear that talking to loud would awaken something in the darkness.

"I... don't know. My guess would be the magic in there doesn't shake off the eternal night we had going on as quickly as most things. That place is strange, so don't expect things to work the same as a normal forest. Good luck." Vinyl bowed her head and backed away from the four ponies and the baby dragon.

"Well... Here goes," Twilight said as she took a step forward. "If you don't want to come with me, I completely understand." Though as she passed the thresh hold of the forest, she could feel the temperature lower and she hoped none of her friends would abandon her. With a feeling of relief she heard her friends walking behind her, the sound of their hooves comforting her jittery nerves.

Unfortunately for Twilight, the thing she had to worry about most hovered hundreds of meters above them, laying on a cloud and watching their entrance through a spyglass. "Heading into the woods won't save you kiddy... I'm coming for you." As Vinyl's group slowly dissipated, Gilda dove from her perch and flew over the woods. "Purple unicorn and a dragon. Not sure who the rest of them are, but won't matter. Just need to grab the pony and go." She skimmed along the tree tops, looking for a sufficient place to drop down along the path. She couldn't help but wonder why it looked so dark beneath her. She guessed all forests looked this dark during the day.

The griffon grinned as she dove down through the trees, creating a hole in the leafy canopy and landing on the ground, hard. Looking up revealed the hole she made had already closed up. It was nearly pitch black in here and cold as the night, but that was fine with her. She preferred to work in the darkness. Now she just had to wait.

Twilight's horn held a mighty flame as they walked, lighting the path before the five through the dark forest. However, despite the size of the fire the glow seemed to only travel a few feet out from them before being swallowed completely by the darkness. As if the woods themselves devoured it in hunger. Occasionally one of their small group would look up and see the daylight through cracks in the foliage, though none of the light penetrated to the ground below despite the trees only being a four or five meters tall.

"I really don't like this place..." Twilight mumbled as she glanced back to her friends. "The magic here is... strange. I've never felt anything like it." Her friends slowly nodded their agreement, even Pinkie could only barely make herself smile in such a strange place. Rainbow was strutting around confidently, but the alicorn could see the nervous glances the pegasus gave every bush along the path. Fluttershy was huddled between the two, timidly glancing around as they walked and would probably have hidden in a bush if not for the fact leaving the path was so dangerous. Spike was sitting on her back and chewing his claws down to little nubs frantically. They were all so nervous that they forgot to talk about why they came here in the first place.

The path they traveled was wide, four ponies could comfortably sit end to end across it. Sadly it was not as clear as they desired, leaves, nuts and what Twilight hoped wasn't bones were strewn across the path. Not a single plant grew on the path, though they crowded the edge in a veritable wall of foliage. They also grew over it, the branches reaching down like claws intent on grabbing and pulling them into the darkness. The alicorn slowed her pace a little to keep her friends closer.

She was so focused on the strange branches above them that she nearly galloped off in fear when Rainbow nudged her shoulder. "Psst. Twilight... look." The pegasus motioned to the right.

At first the purple unicorn didn't understand what she was looking for, but after a few moments she realized there was something in the woods... watching them. Pairs of eyes were hovering just outside the flames reach, shrouded in the darkness and plants. It sent a chill down her spine as she began to quicken her pace. "We should go faster. Whatever they are seem to be afraid, or at least unwilling, to come out by the flame,” she warned, “We should go before they get a chance to change their minds." Slowly the group broke into a brisk trot.

Twilight came to a shrieking halt as suddenly grass seemed to spring up in the path ahead, blocking the way. "What's going on? Why did we stop?" Rainbow asked as she looked down at the plants.

"Grass. It's growing on the path," the mare responded softly.

"So?"

"This entire trip nothing has grown on the path. Why would this suddenly pop up? They cover it end to end." Rainbow moved to run through, but Twilight quickly blocked her way. "No! We don't know what they do! Remember what Vinyl said? These things are dangerous. This entire forest."

"... You're cowering about grass. GRASS. It's green. Sometimes you eat it if you're really hungry. Fine. How about I just fly over it?" Before Twilight could object, Rainbow took to the air. The alicorn held her breath as she watched her friend soar over the path of grass and under the canopy, but nothing bad seemed to be happening. Slowly she let her breath out in relief.

Then Rainbow let out a shriek as she pulled her wing back, plummeting into the center of the green path. She landed hard, "Ow... What was AHHHHH!" she shrieked and tried to roll out as the little field seemed to come alive. The grass began to hop around, creating small cuts all over the pegasus' body as they danced over her. "Get it off! Get it off!" She flailed about helplessly, the grass unhindered by her movements as it jumped around her and covered her in cutting blades of green.

Twilight raced forward, flame licking out from her horn as the plants parted way for her to pass. Soon a path was cleared to run to her friend. As her fire got closer to her hurt friend the blades of grass quickly moved away. A small pool of blood had formed under the winged speedster as she groaned, "W-what happened?"

"Grass hoppers. I've never seen any so aggressive or sharp though. Are you okay?" Twilight asked as Fluttershy and Pinky helped the pegasus up. The Avatar used her flames to create a path for them through the hopping dangers, occasionally glancing up at the branches above them. She wondered if perhaps the tree branches were reaching for them. Were they other strange creatures that adapted to this strange place to capture the unsuspecting? Would other normally benign creatures attack them as well?

After what felt like hours, the group took a small rest, far from the field of deadly grass hoppers. Rainbow had stopped bleeding and was now being bandaged by Fluttershy. "So why did you drop?" Twilight asked as she looked at her friends wing, cringing when she noticed the large gash that crossed it.

"I was just flying by and then something just cut into my wing. I didn't even see or hear anything. I think there's something up there." The blue pegasus glanced up above. "Possibly things."

"... When you feel all better, we should probably get moving. I don't think it would be a good idea to sleep here. Who knows what- AHHH!" Twilight shrieked as a burning pain shot through her side. The flames coated her horn as she felt something slam into her, claws tearing across her body. She twisted around and kicked out with her hooves as flames shot out, revealing what was attacking her. A large griffon holding a bloody dagger in her taloned hand. The creature backed away as the fire shot past it before lashing out with the daggers hilt, slamming it into the alicorn's bloody side. Spike groaned, laying a few feet away, having been flung off with the first attack.

The griffon then jumped forward, stomping on Twilight's side before racing towards her friends, her wings out. The light gleamed off the wings as the Avatar realized there was metal on them. "She has wing blades! Look out!" she shrieked.

Before the griffon made it more than a few feet a blue blur slammed into her chest, knocking the air out of her and sending her stumbling back as the dagger fell from her grasp. Rainbow growled and slammed her hoofs into the winged beast, rapidly punching as the taloned creature clawed at her, the two rolling around. There was a flash of steel as the griffon drew another knife and raised it up, pinning the ferocious pegasus under her for moment.

"Rainbow!" Twilight shrieked as flame shot from her horn at the griffon's back. The pungent smell of burning feathers filled the air as the sizzling creature rolled away, struggling to put the flames out. She got to her talons quickly, growling as the blue pegasus and purple alicorn rushed at her. The rainbow maned one arrived first, hooves out to try and slam into her again, but the griffon was ready. She moved to the side, gripped the ponies hooves and began to spin. She spun a few times and then let the pegasus go, sending Rainbow hurtling off the path and out into the woods as the startled pegasus let out a shriek. The skilled creature dove out of the way as another whip of flame shot by her, narrowly missing.

"Rainbow, can you hear me?" Twilight yelled into the woods as she shot another burst of flame at the griffon.

The creature growled and moved to the right as the flame shot past her. She dove off the path and into the treeline as another burst of fire exploded close to where she had disappeared.

The fire bender watched the trees closely with narrowed eyes. She waited for the griffon to appear again, but there was no movement. She could hear it thrashing about, but the beaked terror didn't come out of the tree. After a few moments of waiting she nervously walked towards where her friend had been thrown. "Rainbow? Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

"Ugh... Yeah. I'm fine! Where are you guys?" The voice seemed to be coming from all over the place, making Twilight unable to decipher its location. "I can't see anything!"

"Can you follow my voice?" she called back, lighting her horn up as bright as she could.

"It's hard to tell! It sounds like you're all over the place!"

"..." She glanced back to her remaining friends. "I'm going to go in and try to find her. You guys wait here and I'll-"

"No way! If you're going in, we're all going in!" Pinkie said as she jumped besides Twilight.

"Guys, just wait there. I'll find you soon enough," Rainbow yelled, though her voice was getting softer.

"Rainbow? Stop! You're going away from us!"

"... Ca... ear..." Responded back.

Twilight gulped nervously, then nodded. "Okay then. We need to go in. Fluttershy, Spike, are you two up for this?" After a quick, but nervous, nod from the two the group charged into the treeline, leaving the path behind.

"... Ain... Go... om..."

"What? Twilight! I can't hear you!" Rainbow yelled as she tried to navigate through the thick trees. Every step made her tumble through more and more bushes. Her mane was filled with leaves and she hurt all over as the plants scraped at the cuts covering her body. To make it worse, she couldn't pin point where she'd entered or where her friends were yelling from. The forest seemed to spin her around with every step and catching her bearings was proving to be impossible.

The good news was that her eyes were adapting to the darkness. She couldn't make out everything, but she was able to avoid the trees. The bad news revealed itself a moment later when she stepped on something crunchy. She looked down as a few low growls filled the air and she saw a strange piece of bark under her hoof. Attached to the back of a now awake wolf. That seemed to be made of wood. "Eh... Heh heh... Bye!" she shrieked before running off full pelt through the forest.

She could hear the creature's giving chase. She was faster than them, but the darkness and unfamiliar terrain made it difficult for her to maintain her speed. The foliage slowed her down even further as well, which they tore through as if it was wet paper. She could hear them catching up on her and she had no idea how to evade them. She'd have to fight.

She let out a shriek as suddenly she was lifted into the air and brought into the branches of a tree, whatever grabbed her scaling quickly as the wolves circled about, growling at them. She flailed a bit, but stopped as she felt a knife pushed to her throat. When she saw her savior in the darkness she growled. The griffon. "You. What are you doing here? Why did you help me?"

"Make a move and you'll never make another," the griffon warned. "You're going to help me find the Avatar. I'm not sure what your little friend did, but I aim to find her and get her no matter what tricks she has all over this rotten forest." Slowly the blade was pushed closer, making Rainbow gulp a little nervously.

"H-hey, there aren't any tricks."

"Whatever. Where is she?"

"..." Slowly a smile formed on the pegasus' lips. "You went off the path and couldn't get back on, could yah?"

"Yeah? So?"

"These woods are magical. It's why it's so dark even though it's daylight." She actually didn't know that, but she decided to start making stuff up. "If you go off the path, you can't get back on. The only way back to it is to exit the forest and start from scratch." she eeped as she felt the knife pushing closer to her throat. "Wait! If you kill me you won't be able to get out! These woods are special! They have magic! All over them. I know how to get out!"

"Oh yeah? How?" The knife went still.

"If I tell you you'll just kill me. Listen... We both need to get out of here. How about you put the knife away and we work together? Then once we're out of this place me and the Avatar can kick your butt and send you back home," she growled defiantly at the griffon.

"... Heh. You got some moxy kid. Fine. We'll work together, for now. But don't think of moving." Rainbow felt herself being pinned to the tree and something wrapping around her, tieing her wings down. Rope. "So pony, what's your name?"

"Rainbow Dash. Yours?"

"Gilda."

"Gilda the... What are you again?"

"A griffon."

"Huh. Never seen one of your kind honestly. Never seen any of them either though, to be honest." She motioned to the growling wolves.

"Yeah... those could be a problem." Gilda tightened the rope, wrapping it around the pegasus' throat and then around the tree trunk. "Good. You aren't going anywhere. If you try to escape, I'll find you pony," she growled before she dove down at the creatures.

Twilight pushed through the brush, Spike napping on her back and her friends on either side of her. Flames were still radiating from her horn, though she couldn't help but notice something peculiar. Technically speaking the entire forest should have been ablaze. Sure, had something been set on fire she would have put it out with her bending. But the fire didn't ignite anything. Even her fireballs did little more than singe a few leaves. Not that she needed another reason to dislike this place, but it was definitely on the list.

Said list was rapidly growing out of control as she tripped over a root, falling face first into a painfully scratchy bush. With a shriek she pulled back and jumped to her hooves, a hiss coming from her mouth as she put pressure on her hoof. It felt like it was being stabbed, so she quickly removed the pressure. "I think I sprained my hoof," she grumbled. As if the burning cuts all over her side from her previous fight wasn't enough.

"Oh dear... Hold still," Fluttershy whispered as she reached out to take the hoof, but Twilight pulled away.

"No, we need to keep going. We-"

"Give me your hoof!" Fluttershy said sternly, her voice barely raising above a whisper, but her tone and eyes made the unicorn instinctively sit down and stick her hoof out.

"Y-yes ma'am."

The pegasus held the unicorn's hoof gently, a soft glow encircling the wounded hoof. Softly she blew on it as the pain slowly receded.

"What... was that?" Twilight asked as her hoof was released. She put a little weight on it. It was still a little tender, but most of the pain was gone.

"Healing. Ummmm... Remember what I learned when tending to Rainbow's wing? It's kinda like that... but a different location. It's not completely fixed but it should at least cut down on the pain. Just take it easy and you'll be all better and ready to frolic soon enough." Fluttershy quickly eeped. "I-I mean r-run. S-sorry, I got, sorry..."

"It's fine, Fluttershy. We need to keep-" A massive roar split the air, making the three ponies freeze as they looked up. "What... was that?"

"Wow! It sounded big! Maybe if we find it we can throw a big party and-" A hoof quickly implanted itself into Pinkie's mouth before she could continue.

"We are NOT going to try and find that,” Twilight snapped, “We are going to go the opposite direction. Rainbow wouldn't go towards that. In fact, no pony would be foalish enough to go near that." the mare grumbled as she turned around. At least she thought she did. "We... came from this way, right?" Her friends shrugged. The unicorn sighed and started walking, completely unaware of the little purple creature she dropped and lost in the foliage or the pair of eyes that watched them from the shadows.

Rainbow was impressed. The griffon was a work of art, when she had lunged on the timber wolves the fight had only lasted a few seconds. She had shattered the first with a body slam, used her wings to turn the second to mulch and the third she had just grabbed in mid lunge and slammed it into a tree. The fight had only been a few seconds and hadn't even given the pegasus a chance to try and break free. Gilda had been back at her side before she could budge and removed her from the tree.

In fact, Rainbow was sure if the fight hadn't attracted the rest of the timber wolf pack they would have been fine. As it was, the two were running full pelt through the woods as the creatures chased them. The worst part was that some of them were even in the trees, so hiding there was out of the question. That and the roar they had heard a few moments prior seemed to have spurred the creatures on even further, she could hear them just a little bit behind, trampling through the brush.

"Got any other neat ideas?" Rainbow yelled at her temporary traveling companion.

"Yeah! Tie you up and leave you as bait! Shut up pony or I leave you for the wolves!"

"Try it and you'll get a face full of hoof! You aren't ambushing me this time so don't think you can just take me down!' Her ears went up and she turned to the left. "Come on, tubby. I got an idea!" She put on a burst of speed and soon it was in sight. A river! Flowing through the forest. It was only about four meters across, but it was something. She dove in, quickly pony paddling as she tried to get to the other side. The ropes around her dragged her down a bit, but within a few moments she made it across. She then stopped and, panting, turned to the other side. Gilda was still there and she could hear the wolves catching up. "What's taking you so long, do you want to be twig chow?!"

"Shut up!"

"... You can't swim, can you?" Rainbow couldn't help but chuckle then. "Really? Big bad griffon can't swim?"

"I can swim just fine!" she growled venomously, glaring needles at the pegasus.

"Well, I'm going to run off now and get out of these woods. Tah!" Rainbow turned to run, though she heard a splash behind her. She turned back to watch the griffon. Who was thrashing about in the water, barely managing to stay afloat, while not making much headway towards the other side. The timber wolves burst from the tree line, but stopped at the waters edge. They seemed to share a look before watching the griffon with angry eyes, though they didn't enter the water. "Come on you old feather back! Move it! Otherwise the wolves are gonna be spitting up feathers for a week!"

She sighed as she watched the poor thing flounder. She bent low, struggling to remove the cord around her neck. The knot gave the crafty pegasus some trouble but luckily she was able to cut it, with some very precise air bending she really hoped she never had to do again. After a moment to revel in how awesome an air bender she was, she grabbed one end of the rope with her mouth and swung it around over her head. After it gained enough momentum she flicked her head towards the griffon and the rope sailed through the air! And fell short. She began trying again and on her fourth try the rope smacked Gilda on the head.

"Grggglll brbbbl!" the griffon yelled her objections through mouthfuls of water, before grabbing the rope. Within a short time she was on the opposite beach, giving the wolves a less than polite gesture. "You... you saved me. Why would you do that?"

"Cause it was that or watch you drown or get chomped. I didn't want that on my conscience. Even if you are a pain in the flank.”

"... Don't think this means I've given up on your little friend. I still plan to- Hey! Get back here!" Gilda growled and pursued Rainbow as the pegasus walked into the treeline again. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Those wolves are bound to try and cross the river or at least find a way around. I don't plan to be here if either happens. If you try to capture any of us, well, we'll just kick your butt again. We'll deal with that when the time comes though. For now we just need to get out of here before we anger something else with big fangs.”

"... Fine." For a little bit the two walked in silence, neither looking at the other, but shortly the griffon spoke up. "Anyway. Thanks. Here." She reached out and clipped the remaining rope around the pegasus's side with her talon.

"Heh. Thanks Gilda. I'd say nice to meet you, but it really isn't," Rainbow teased with a snicker. The griffon snorted at that. The wolves on the opposite side of the river watched the two before turning tail to wander back into the woods, unwilling to cross the river. Only the most foalish of wolves would dare go there.

"Welp. It's official. I have no idea where we are, where the path is or where Spike could be." Twilight mumbled as she and her two remaining comrades wandered through the forest. So far their trip had been un-eventful, aside from a small purple flying ball that Pinkie had scared off by singing at it.

As the group came around a tree they saw a small field of strange blue flowers that seemed to glow, making the avatar freeze in her step. "Hold on..." Slowly she advanced on the flowers, her horn getting brighter as she came closer. With a tilt of her head she lit the closest one on fire, reducing it to ash. To her excitement the other flowers didn't react. "Okay, these are real plants." She reached out with a hoof to poke one, before gently sniffing it. "Smell kind of sw-PINKIE!" she shrieked, staring at her pink friend as she chewed on one of the leaves.

"What? They're sweet!" Pinkie giggled as she chewed off another one, swallowing it down. "Should try one. I bet I could make some really good cup cakes with these."

"... Are you sure? Not feeling sick? What if they're poisonous?" Twilight said as she poked another one. Well, they did look appetizing. But who knew what was in them? They could- "Fluttershy! Not you too!"

"S-sorry... T-they just looked so... I'm sorry... I only nibbled one... Sorry..." The pegasus hung her head while their less timid friend gobbled up a few more of the flowers.

"Well... I guess I might as well..." Slowly the purple unicorn reached her head forward and broke off a small petal. She chewed on it for a few moments before gulping, her eyes going wide. It. Was. DELICIOUS! "I don't think I've ever tried a flower so good! Wow!" As she bit off a whole flower, chewing it and swallowing in moments. "I guess it's fine. There are plenty here and keeping our resources as sustained as we can is probably the best."

The three ponies ate from the flowers happily, unaware as a pair of eyes watched them. Red began to leak into their cheeks as their eyes slowly drooped. "I feel fuzzy. Like... like a kiwi. Hee hee. Kiwi is a funny word. Like a bat dat needsh tah go to dah baff woom," Pinkie said as she swayed slightly from side to side, falling onto her back and nibbling on one of the flowers.

"Dat ain't a kiwi. Pinks, datsh a... a moush. Moush all fuzzy. Or bunny. Bunny fuzzy too," Fluttershy said with a giggle as she rolled around on the flowers, finally laying on her back and poking at the hidden sky with her hooves. "Hee hee. If yah lay on yah back, yah can fly on dah ground."

"That'sh... That'sh silly. Kiwish are fwuffy! I mean, I mean fuzzy," Twilight giggled as she shook her head. "I feel funneh too. You all actin' stwange. We need tah... need tah get all dah dingsh with dah... Dah... we were here for someding, right?"

"Flowers! Here to eat dah flowersh!" Pinkie said with a giggle as she stretched out her hoof to try and grab another one. Alas, it was beyond reach and she was far to comfy to get up to get some more.

"No... we had to do something else." Twilight stomped a hoof down and tried to clear her head. "Something important! We... we..." She stared at the flowers... and then eeked. Ohhhh, it all made sense! All these flowers in this field! Untouched! It only meant one thing! "Weee!" She jumped into a patch of them, giggling as she rolled around and nipped at the flowers. It wasn't long before all three of them were giggling and laughing, eventually the laughter getting softer and softer until finally it was lost completely to the sound of soft snores.

Soon after the snores began, a hooded figure drew itself out from the woods surrounding them. She moved towards the defenseless ponies, watching them intently.

Chapter 15: Haven

Deep under the Everfree forest, through twisted chasms and narrow tunnels, Rainbow and Gilda laid with a small glow stick between them. The pegasus slowly spread out both her wings before flapping them a few times. “Feelings returning so at least there's that,” she mumbled as she slowly sat up, each movement drawing a groan. “How are you feeling?”

“Exhausted,” the griffon said as she lightly panted, “hauling your butt around is hard work. I thought you pegasi were supposed to be light and stuff, but you weigh as much as a boulder.”

“I do not weigh as much as a boulder!” Rainbow said curtly and narrowed her eyes at the giant winged creature. “I am light and aerodynamic, like any great pegasus. You're just out of shape.”

“I am not out of shape!” the griffon growled as she got to her claws and stretched out her arms. “You ready to get moving?”

“Course. Ow...” Rainbow said as her legs spasmed. “I should be able to walk if we go slow,” she slowly smirked. “Even like this I can probably out run a couple of over grown eels. We should try going up. Who knows? Maybe we'll finally find a way out.”

“Right. Let's 'go up'. Because we haven't been trying to do that this entire time,” the griffon complained. “It's your fault we're here.”

“How is it MY fault?”

“You were leading and then you woke up the whole forest with your flapping. Making me save your- stop!” she hissed, reaching out and grabbing the pegasus. The griffon's ears twitched as her eyes narrowed. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what? I don't hear anything...”

“Shut up and listen,” Gilda ordered before she began walking down one of the tunnels, deeper into the bowels of the earth.

“I don't hear anything. We're supposed to be going up, not down,” Rainbow called after her.

“Come on, feather brain,” The larger winged creature ordered. After a few moments the pegasus sighed and started after her. “I think I heard yelling...”

“Really? I still don't hear anything. How long we been down here anyway?” the pony asked as she glanced around, the low illumination made by the glowstick barely piercing the darkness.

“Don't know,” Gilda said with a shrug.

“How could you not know? You were the one who carried me and... you didn't,” The pegasus face hoofed with a groan.

“Didn't what?”

“When I was unconscious... Were you napping?” the mare accused.

“... I may have caught a few hours sleep. What's the big deal?”

“We could have been eaten! What if something snuck up on us?” Rainbow objected.

“You were the one who got herself knocked out," Gilda snapped as she poked a claw to the pegasus's chest. "Even with my little naps I was awake long before you were. So how about you just shut up and follow me.” She stormed off in a huff, forcing Rainbow to trot in order to keep up.

“... Right... sorry. Thanks for watching out for me. When you were awake,” The pegasus mumbled with a light shuffling of her hooves.

“Yeah yeah, whatever...” the griffon said with another shrug of her shoulders.

At the fire bender's village, in the same tent Twilight had been staying, the alicorn paced back and forth rapidly as her friends watched. Even Ashmane was sitting on a chair in the small living space, watching while chewing on her lower lip. “I didn't think they even still did agni kai's,” the avatar said, “Ashmane do you know the rules? Have any of them changed since I've been away?” the purple mare asked as she finally stopped pacing but continued to shuffle her hooves.

“Well... as I am not a fire bender I don't know everything about them, but I think I can explain the rules as they are now,” the earth pony mumbled as she watched Twilight for a few moments before glancing away. “Can you explain how they were when you were around first?”

Twilight began pacing again before glancing over to her confused friends. “An agni kai is a fire bending battle. Simple in most cases, but sometimes they can be to the death” That elicited gasps from her friends. “They don't have to be! I surely don't intend to kill Blueblood! The fight is simple, one versus one until one submits or is unable to fight any more. It used to be the primary way for two fire benders to settle arguments.”

“You settled arguments by fighting? T-that's... That's horrible...” Fluttershy gasped.

“What? No! Well, some arguments. It wasn't all arguments, just usually things of honor... Sometimes political things, occasionally zoning arguments and once or twice about who was in line first. Anyway, by the time I was advanced enough in fire bending they had mostly died out and were used only as a ceremony at most. How common are they now?”

Ashmane sighed as she began, “About the same. Arguments that would elicit an agni kai are almost non existent. In my entire life I've only seen one that happened years ago, to a mare called Colgate. Unfortunately it was with Blueblood and she did lose.”

“What? Why? How did the fight go? Why did it happen?”

“She helped ponies escape the forest. Normally that wouldn't have been so bad, at least not worth an agni kai, except they were water benders. She never stood a chance. He was brutal with his fire bending and no pony really wanted to stop him after... Well... You're in a pretty similar situation as she was.”

“Why? I thought every pony was happy to have me here!”

“... They were. Until you started making requests,” Ashmane said as she glanced down again, “Most of the ponies here have never left the forest. We know how dangerous and terrifying it is, but to us it's home. We also know whatever is out there, such as the Water Nation, were so dangerous that our ancestors decided this place was safer. The very idea of them finding us here is our worst fear. Many believe what you have planned will bring them to our homes to slaughter us. They also believe that the world doesn't need the sun lowered, that you are exaggerating the effects to get your way.”

“But I'm not, the world really is in danger.”

“... That may be true, avatar, but as it is your supporters are becoming few and far between. Many will want you to lose this fight so we can stay the way we have, safe in the forest where we don't have to worry about the Water Nation ever finding us.”

“... Then what's the point of fighting? Even if I beat him, if they are to afraid to fix things...”

“Perhaps. While it may not be the way you preferred to do it, if you can defeat Blueblood and show your strength they may be willing to follow your decisions. Even if they are scared, you are the avatar, the pony we have waited decades for. Many ponies just need a reminder.”

“Really? Do you think I'll win then?” Twilight asked as she stopped pacing and smiled at the earth pony.

“...” Ashmane went silent, watching the Avatar. After many long moments passed she let out another sigh before answering. “I believe you have a chance. He is a powerful fire bender, but you are the avatar. If anyone could defeat him it is you.”

“Well that is less than comforting... Oh! Colgate! I would like to talk with her before the fight! If she's who I think she is I could... What's wrong?”

“... Colgate is dead,” Ashmane said gently as she hung her head.

Twilight froze in mid step. “Did... Blueblood kill her?”

“No. He beat her pretty badly, but he didn't kill her. For betraying us and helping a water bender she was taken into the forest and left to die. With her wounds there was no way she could have survived. I'm sorry.”

“... But... that can't be. It was thanks to... those ponies she helped weren't members of the Water Nation anymore! They were running FROM the Water Nation!” Twilight insisted as her wings rose out. “They were on our side! If it wasn't for Colgate helping her then I wouldn't even be here!”

“I'm afraid I don't understand, Avatar. How do you know of her?” the earth pony asked as she glanced up again.

“The pony she helped, no, the pony she saved is named Vinyl. She's now a resident of Cadence and she...” Twilight took a deep breath before explaining how it was they came to find the village.

As the story drew to a close Ashmane looked away from them again. “I'm sorry, but... even had all that been known I doubt anything would have changed. Many consider her one of our worst traitors. I would advise against mentioning her to any pony else.”

“... Fine. If you think that's best, but she was a good mare. If it wasn't for her I likely wouldn't have ever come here.”

“Your friend would still be with you and you would not be facing Blueblood in an agni kai,” Ashmane reminded, “Many things could have changed what happened, but now they are set in motion. Thinking about how things could have been will help nothing.”

“... Fine.” Twilight grumbled. “How about this. Are there any books or tomes, maybe written rules about the agni kais? Maybe I can find a loop hole or something to give me an edge. Maybe not even fight him or at least get more supporters.”

“There are many manuscripts from the olden days, but I cannot vouch for how useful they will be or if any pony will even listen to your findings.”

“Well... We can at least try. Show me the way?”

“Very well, Avatar, come.” Ashmane exited the tent quickly, followed by the three ponies and the little dragon. “I will help you gather what we can and then we shall return here to search.”

Gilda slowly tossed the glow stick around the corner, before peeping her head out and scanning the tunnel. “Good. Come on,” the griffon mumbled as she walked around the corner. The tunnels they had been following had been going both up and down at times with the occasional sharp turn, but had yet to have branched off. She tried spreading her wings again, but the walls made it impossible so she merely continued on.

“Where do you get those from?” The sudden sound behind her made Gilda's wings jerk.

“Get what?”

“Those glowing things. Is it a magic or some kind of torch or what?”

“They're called glow sticks. They're made by mixing glow rock and a few other things inside a tube. When you snap the internal casing they mix together to give off a glow,” she mumbled as she held the stick over a small pile of rocks. There was a small tunnel besides the rock pile, far to narrow for one of the bigger eels or even Rainbow to fit through. “This is strange... I'd swear this rock was shaped like a wing. This tunnel is to small for one of the big ones, but I guess a small one could get in it. Doesn't seem to be too deep though.”

“Why not use a torch? You can put those out,” the pegasus mumbled as she glanced at the small tunnel.

“Because these don't go out when they get wet and are quicker to set up. They also don't give off as much light and don't set anything on fire,” the griffon answered with a roll of her eyes before continuing down the tunnel.

“Where did you get them from?”

“It's one of the many tools I have. Griffons don't have magic, at least not like ponies use. So instead we use other items. I know how to make some poisons and things like that but I mostly get these supplied from others. One griffon I know claims he can make explosions without using fire bending, even some that work underwater.”

“That's impossible! The water would put the fire out!” Rainbow said as her eyes went wide.

“I'm just saying what the griffon claimed, never said it was true. I never trusted those things anyway, didn't seem very stable. I'd rather not explode because some idiot made them wrong. Besides, why wou...” her voice trailed off as she reached down to grab something. She lifted it up and brought it to the light. “A helmet. A Water Nation helmet.”

“What? Let me see!” Rainbow darted in front of the Griffon and took the helmet. The pegasus held it up to the light and groaned before speaking, “Oh buck me. I think I'd have preferred the giant eels. Come on, let's go back.”

“What? No. This helmet wasn't old, it was dropped here recently. Look, there are still some mane hairs in it. Whoever dropped it might know a way out. They might have also been those sounds I heard.”

“But they're from the Water Nation! I have no problem beating up a few in an open area, but in these tiny tunnels?”

“You can go back if you like, flutter. I'm going ahead.” Gilda started walking ahead, though she did keep her pace slower and quieter for the first few steps. After a few moments the helmet could be heard as it was dropped on the ground and the light foot steps of the fleet footed pegasus followed after her.

“Fine. Whatever. I'll come along just so you don't get in trouble,” Rainbow muttered as she followed besides the griffon, glancing over at her on occasion. Her wing jerked a bit as she thought about the last time she had faced a water bender. She shook her head and glared, “I'd rather not meet another one, but I'm sure if there are any I can handle them.”

“Sure, whatever you say.”

In Ashmane's home Twilight and her friends were hard at work, rummaging through the small collection of scrolls and books the village still had. She let out a groan as she tossed one of the books onto the floor.

“Nothing?” Spike asked as he picked up the book to stack it with a growing pile of others.

“Not a word. Even with all the scrolls and books all I can tell is there aren't many rules to the agni kai at all. The good news is there isn't any rule against me using the other elements. The bad news is that pretty much limits me to fire and air since I don't know anything about the other two. Pinkie, Fluttershy, did you two find anything?”

“Yesly doodly!” Pinkie said with excitement as she held up a scroll in her mouth. “'Ook! 'Ook!” Twilight dashed over to see... before glaring at the words.

“I fail to see how a recipe on super spicy fire cupcakes will help in the slightest,” the avatar said flatly.

“Ptoo,” the pink earth pony spit the scroll out, grinning. “Of course it helps! First we bake a bunch of these cupcakes and give them to Blueblood. After he eats them he'll be best friends with all of us and he'll take back his challenge and help us fine Dashie!” While Pinkie spoke she held up a number of paper slides with pictures of the things she described.

“... Sadly that is the best plan we've had so far. Unfortunately we don't have access to most of the ingredients this recipe calls for. Where did you get those slides?”

“Made them.”

“Of course you did. Any other plans?” Twilight sighed as her friends shook their heads in unison. “I guess I am going to have to fight him... Ashmane?” she called out.

“Huh? Wha?” From under the covers in one of the beds the dark coated pony's head popped out. “What? I was trying to get some sleep...” she grumbled.

“Err, sorry. I just wanted to know. Is there anything else you can tell me? Any advice? Anything?”

The mare sighed as she laid her head against her pillow. “Don't be afraid to surrender if need be. I doubt Blueblood would try to kill you, but that doesn't mean he won't hurt you.”

“... If I surrender, what are the chances that any pony will help me find Rainbow?”

“To be honest Avatar, I doubt any pony will either way. Your friend is as good as dead. You need to accept that. I know it's hard but she's gone,” the pony said firmly.

“... I won't,” Twilight mumbled. “As long as there is any chance she is still alive... I won't give up on her. I know she wouldn't on me.”

“... Fine. Maybe if you do a good enough job, some pony will be willing to go with you. Don't count on it,” Ashmane grumbled as she laid on her stomach and buried her face in her pillow.

“Ashmane do you want us to leave? We can find somewhere else to prepare if you want...” Twilight asked as she looked around at the mess they made.

“No. You're fine,” the pony grumbled into her pillow.

“Are you sure? You seem... annoyed.”

The mare sighed and slowly turned her head sideways to face the alicorn. “...Avatar, you fail to realize how you are affecting others with your demands.”

“What do you mean?”

“I brought you here. Every demand or request you make goes on my head. Intentional or not when you leave, if every pony hates you I'll be blamed for it. I'll be an out cast in all but name. So if you don't mind I just want to rest until the fight is over with and I can try and decide what I'll do from there. Okay?” she said curtly.

“Errr... Y-yeah. S-sorry... ummm... yeah,” Twilight squeaked as she quickly turned her gaze downward. She motioned to the door as her friends followed her outside. “I guess I should just practice and prepare. Maybe I can get some of the other benders to help me train? Maybe some light sparing?” She stopped for a few moments. “Wow... sparring. It feels like years since I had an actual sparring match... Well, I guess it was years. Over a hundred. But... yeah.” She started walking again, her friends following close behind.

Rainbow slowly nudged her hoof forward, tapping it against a very strange rock. “They look so life like... they all do. I've never seen anything like it...” she mumbled as her mouth hung slightly agape. Four statues carved out to look like water nation soldiers. One pegasus, two earth pony and one unicorn. The earth pony one was missing his helmet.

“Think another unicorn turned them to stone?” Gilda asked as she nudged one of the pegasi. It was the only one still standing, the other three having fallen on their sides. “Kinda reminds me of that weird wing shaped stone from earlier.”

“... Possibly. This one has both wings though. I don't know much about unicorn magic but I guess turning a pony to stone might be something they can do,” Rainbow said as she circled the statues.

“I'm surprised, I though you'd be happier? Whoever did this obviously isn't a friend of the Water Nation.”

“Yeah I know. But well... what if they're still in there? Trapped inside their bodies, unable to move. Maybe even aware of what's going on out here. Unable to do anything but watch and wait...”

“We should get going. Come on, featherbrain,” Gilda said quickly as she started walking again.

“Yeah, whatever,” Rainbow muttered as she followed the griffon, only giving one last look behind her before the statues were out of range of the light. Before long the two stopped again as the passage suddenly opened up. The walls spread out from them into the darkness and their meager light was unable to see to the opposite wall. “You don't think one of those eels made this, do you? What's that smell? It's foul...”

“I didn't until you said that. Thanks by the way. If one of those made this it would have to be as big as a castle... That's probably the smell of the last pony that decided to come down here and annoy her companion,” Gilda grumbled.

“Well... guess we should go either left or right. Any idea which?”

“Hold on...” The griffon closed her eyes for a few moments before continuing, “I can't hear anything. Guess we have to guess it. Maybe... wait.” Quickly she looked to the left, holding the light up high. “I think I heard something that way. Let's go.” The two headed off to the left, staying close to the wall. More tunnels had been dug into the walls. Some were level with the ground like theirs had been but a few were dug higher up or even further down so they came out of the floor. As the two continued the smell got stronger making the two retch. “Here,” Gilda said as she held out a cloth and wrapped a similar one around her beak. “Hopefully it'll stop some of this stench.” With their sense of smell slightly protected the two continued on.

They reached the back end of the tunnel and found what seemed to be a sort of nest. Trees and other fauna had been pulled from the ground and stacked up to a size larger than most buildings. The structure now seemed to be abandoned, though the nearby plants had been crushed and chunks of it had been torn out. The size of the thing proved to be the least of their worries once they got closer and shed more light on it. Ponies. Dozens of them scattered and buried under the nesting materials. All wearing the Water Nation armor, their bodies torn and bloody in the nest.

“What could they have possibly wanted from this place that would... what could any pony want from this place?!” Rainbow snapped as she turned away from the carnage. She gasped when she saw Gilda. “What are you doing?!”

“Salvaging, what does it look like? Some of these ponies had rations on them before they croaked,” the griffon grumbled as she flipped over a body, talking a number of things from under its armor. “Not like they need it any more.”

“That's horrible! Who would eat stuff taken from the dead?!” she hissed, glaring.

“I need it more than they do. Think that's enough... let's go. Whatever it is they pissed off might be back any minute, but if we hurry maybe we can get outside.”

“Outside?” Rainbow backed away from the nest, moving a bit out of range of the light.

“Yeah. Whatever nested here is obviously very big but has a thing for trees and plants. Some of these are fresh. I'd be willing to bet the end of this tunnel will take us outside. All we have to do is follow the wall.” Gilda started walking after the pegasus. “Come on, let's- RAINBOW! Look out! Behind you!”

The pegasus turned around quickly and backed away. The first thing she saw was a strange chicken head with green wings. A soft chuckle escaped her throat before she looked at its eyes and froze. Her back legs began to hurt but she couldn't bring herself to look away. Its eyes were fascinating, red orbs that seemed to swallow her whole. Her eyes began to slowly slink shut...

A knife suddenly jammed into the creatures abdomen. It let out a hiss of pain and turned from her to look at the griffon who was running at them. With one claw she grabbed Rainbow's side and yanked the mare along.

“Come on you feathered lemming! What's wrong with you?!” The griffon turned again, holding the light in her beak and a dagger in her claw. The creature had gone into the darkness, leaving a small pool of blood.

“I can't feel my legs!” Rainbow finally shrieked as she shook her head. She turned to look at them. They were hard and a weird gray color. “I... it... that's impossible! My legs, they're stone, that can't-EEK!” In one swoop she was tossed back onto the griffon's back. She wrapped her front hooves tight around Gilda's neck as they took off.

Twilight banged her head against a tree with an annoyed groan. Not a single pony will help me! None of them. Do they really think I'll buy excuses like house sitting for a bear or having to wash their hair?! Her friends merely watched from afar as the alicorn vented her frustration on the tree.

“I'm not prepared for this. I don't know how he fights. I can't remember the last time I had to fight a fire bender!” she finally said to her friends as she stomped her hooves down. “I can't believe how they are treating me. They're my people! They can't just ignore me and run off!” The others nodded as well before motioning behind her. She glanced back and saw Ashmane approaching.

“Avatar,” the mare said softly, “it's time.”

“Huh?” Slowly she looked up at the earth pony and then groaned. “Of course...” Gingerly she followed the mare through the village, her three friends skulking about behind her. At least Pinkie is managing to keep from jumping around, she thought to herself. The three ponies were led to a large patch of barren dirt, devoid of any plant life. A small ditch had been cut into the ground to make an oval and mark the edges of the arena, the entire area about thirty feet at its widest and fifteen at its shortest.

Blueblood was standing at one end, only wearing ceremonial golden hoof guards on each hoof which bore the symbol of the fire tribes. He watched Twilight with a confident smirk as she slowly moved into the opposite side of their little arena. Every pony quickly backed away, surrounding the oval but keeping back far enough to give them plenty of room to fight.

“The rules are simple!” a red coated unicorn yelled. “This is a fight until one combatant is dead, unable to fight, surrenders or falls out of the arena.”

Twilight's eyes went wide at the last rule. I hadn't read any rules like that. I guess it makes sense with such a small fighting area. Why didn't Ashmane mention it? It could have helped my preparations. Did she hide it intentionally? Ah! We're starting!

“Begin!”

A hush fell over the crowd as the two ponies bowed politely before standing up and watching each other closely. Slowly they began to circle through the small arena, keeping opposite of each other at all times. As they stood at opposite ends of the narrowest area, Blueblood struck!

He turned and bucked out with both of his back hooves, sending two balls of fire straight at the alicorn's head. Quickly she ducked but, as she did, the stallion turned around to face her as a whip of flame formed from his horn and slashed out under her.

Twilight watched the incoming fire and quickly she held out her left hoof. Her tiny wings began to flap as she focused on amplifying the air around her. As the flame came within inches of her, a small whirlwind encircled her. The whirlwind turned into a flaming tornado around the mare as it sucked in the inferno before lifting up away from her into a blazing spiral. She then moved her head towards Blueblood as the whirling heat flew through the air at him.

The stallion dived to the right as the flames scorched the ground, singing his back hooves just a little bit, but for the most part missing him. “I see you aren't a complete beginner, Avatar. However, it'll take more than a little fancy air bending to defeat me!” His horn lit up as fire shot from his horn in a steady, but powerful, stream of blazing heat.

Twilight lifted her horn as she flapped her wings rapidly again. They were far to small to allow flight, but they did create a small enough burst for her to manipulate and increase. Unfortunately the air blasts were nowhere near powerful enough to overwhelm the flames, doing little more than splitting it so it spread to either side of her and forcing her to encircle herself in another air burst to avoid being fried. The heat caused sweat to flow down her skin as she flapped her wings as fast as she could.

She gulped and looked from side to side before taking a deep breath. I don't have any choice if I want to win. It's this or hope he tires himself out. Here's hoping it doesn't hurt to bad, she thought to herself as she folded her wings to her body and let the fire envelope her. She charged forward as her flames mingled with his to coat her body in a powerful blaze. Within seconds she broke through the torrent and slammed straight into Blueblood, startling him and sending him flying backwards.

The crowd gasped and shuffled about as they tried to get a better view of what happened. Both combatants were burned, Twilight far more severely than Blueblood. The stallion had been shoved back hard from the tackle. So far in fact, that he had half his body out of the ring.

“I... I won?” the avatar said as a grin formed on her lips. “I did it! I actually beat him! I won the agni kai!” she squealed with delight as she hopped around.

“NO!” Blueblood yelled, getting to his feet as rage filled his eyes. “You won nothing! You cheated, you foal!” With that he moved his horn to the left and then the right. Electricity crackled as Twilight's eyes went wide.

“I-Impossible!” Twilight said as she watched with wide eyes. Lightning suddenly struck out from his horn at the alicorn as she threw herself down and to the right, the smell of burning tail filling the air as the bolt singed her. The spectators started fleeing at the sight of the lightning, leaving the Avatar alone to face him. “How can you know how to do that? Only a master fire bender can do that!”

“Oh little Avatar.” More electricity began to crackle from his horn. “I'm the most powerful fire bender you'll ever meet. The real fight starts now.”

“I... think... we lost it... Can't believe there's a bloody cockatrice down her. Didn't think those things were real...” Gilda groaned as the glow stick fell from her beak. She dropped to her knees and panted. “You weigh... a ton...”

“I can't help it! Being turned to stone will do that.” Slowly Rainbow rolled off the gryphon's back. With a grunt of effort she was able to stand back up, though she wobbled from side to side. “How do you think we can cure this?”

“We? What makes you think I'll help any?”

“... Easy. You could have left me back there. Instead you carried me to safety and risked yourself so you could get to me. Face it Gilda. Like it or not you like me.”

“Pfft. Dream on feather brain. You're just bait to get the Avatar. I don't care what happens to you.”

“Uh huh. Surrrre, but don't worry claw face. It's quite common.” Rainbow let out a sad sigh. “It's tough going through life being this awesome, radical and cool. Every pony hopes they can get close to yah and have it rub off on them. Sadly, it's not something you can gain. It's something you have to be born with.”

Gilda rolled her eyes, “Come on, hoof for brains. Let's go.” She started walking off.

“What? Hey! Wait up! I can barely move like this!”

“I'd carry you, but I don't want you getting the wrong idea, Rainbow Crash,” the griffon said with a chuckle as she tossed the glow stick back to the pegasus before walking into the darkness.

“What? Come back! I was just kidding. Come on!” Rainbow crawled on her front hooves to the glow stick and held it up. “Come on, beaky. I know you're out there. Hello?” The pegasus laid down, panting from the exertion. She slowly reached to where the stone met skin and lightly scratched at the itch. She looked around with a slight tremble before calling out again, “Come on Gilda. Please? I'm sorry. I didn't mean it.”

“Oh relax. I wasn't gonna just leave you to die here.” Gilda stepped back into the light from behind the mare. “You're way to easy.”

“... Whatever,” Rainbow grumbled before tossing the glow stick to her. “This things getting dimmer anyway. How many more of them you have?”

“Not many. Let's get going before-”She was cut off as a roar echoed through the tunnels and the ground began to shake under them.

“What the buck was that?!” Rainbow snapped, wings flapping as she tried to get into the air. She shot up like an arrow. A few moments later she called down in a pained voice. “Ow... found the roof. I'm coming down. At least I can still fly like this, though it feels like I'm hauling three of me...” she grumbled as she landed on the ground, a hoof rubbing her head where she hit the roof.

“Don't know what that was, but it came from the direction we're heading so we'll probably know soon enough,” The griffin grumbled as she took the glow stick in her beak and tossed Rainbow onto her back again. She let out a pained grunt as the stone legs hit her side. “Come on, Dash. Let's get going.”

“Heh. You called me by my actual name,” Rainbow snickered as she held on.

“Don't get used to it, tiny. Let's get out- Holy bat wings on a crocodile!” she hissed and fell backwards, sending her passenger to the ground.

“What is it?!” A strange mutant roosting sound filled the air as the cockatrice slithered out in front of them, blocking their way. It went straight for Gilda, catching her eyes in its gaze as the griffon froze. “Gilda! Stop, look away! Don't stare into its eyes! GILDA!” Rainbow shrieked as the powerful fighter's body began turning to stone, starting from the tips of her wings and tail before slowly spreading along her body.

The pegasus looked around but there was nowhere to hide, no weapons except rocks. I need to do something! If I didn't my friend will... Oh. Wow. Gilda is my friend. Sure, a strange friend, met under strange terms, but still a friend. Ack! Wrong time! Focus! she thought to herself as she scanned the area again and grabbed a rock the size of her head in both hooves and chucked it at the creature's face.

The rock sailed through the air and missed the creature by a few inches. It did, however, make the creature glance away from Gilda to stare at Rainbow. The pony charged at the strange monster! Flapping her wings she took to the air and flew at the beast and, stony legs scraping the ground, slammed head first into its upper body. She thrashed about, punching her hooves into the creature as it clawed and pecked at her.

The pegasus kept her eyes tightly closed as she wailed on the creature, refusing to look at the monster's eyes. It pecked, clawed and flapped its wings against her face as the two struggled and rolled on the ground.

Rainbow let out a startled gasp when it's tail coiled tightly around her front hooves, pinning her under it. She struggled and thrashed about, wings flapping wildly, but was unable to dislodge it as it pecked her. She shrieked out and opened her eyes for just a moment as she pulled her head back. Her eyes were caught in its gaze and slowly she went limp as her body began to turn to stone.

As more of her body turned to stone the pain ebbed away. It didn't really hurt. Sure it was itchy, but it didn't hurt. It felt more like she was just going numb. All of her. She went limp as the stone slowly started up her neck and her mind went blank, thoughts of escape or fear disappearing. It took her a few seconds after her mouth froze to realize the face had disappeared. She couldn't move to see where it went, but it had stopped with just her eyes and nose remained. Her head began to clear and she struggled to scream. Is this some kind of sick joke? Leave me trapped, unable to move? Body turned to stone? I'll never able to fly again! she screamed internally as her eyes looked around wildly.

“Hey. You okay, twinkle hooves?” Gilda's face came into view. She looked tired and exhausted, but she was alive. “Don't move. I think you're gonna be fine.” There was a crack as a soft light filled the area and a newly activated glow stick was put in her face. “Eeyup. Try moving your head.”

Rainbow sighed. “I can't, it... It's...” With a great deal of effort she was able to move it to the side, and the more she did it the easier it became. “I... I can talk!”

“It's retracting. Seems whatever magic the thing was using depends on it to be... well... alive,” the griffon said as she reached out a claw to scrape along one of the pegasus's stone wings.

The cyan mare looked to the side and could see the creature laying limp on the ground. A blade had split its head nearly in two. “Oh... that's good. Heh. I guess now is as good a time as any. You don't think there are any more of those, do you?”

Gilda suddenly scanned the area as she held the glow stick up high. “I really hope not...”

Twilight gasped for air as she ran, her lungs burning and chest heaving. “I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!” she squeaked as a bolt of electricity flew over her head. It narrowly missed her and singed one of the tents. The other members of the village were doing their best to avoid the confrontation, sticking as far from her as possible.

“Come back, Avatar! I though you wanted to finish this fight?!” Blueblood yelled from behind her, his horn crackling with electricity. “Out of cheap shots? Afraid you can't beat me in a straight fight? All you have to do is give up and leave! Then all this will be over!” he yelled out at her.

The Alicorn dove behind one of the homes as another bolt of electricity narrowly missed her. Her breath was ragged, her heart was pounding and her legs felt like rubber. Worst of all she was pretty sure he wasn't even fully trying. That or he was just a really, really bad shot. She leaned against the small wooden crafted home and caught her breath as she tried to focus. If he would just use normal fire bending I could try that trick again! Sure, the fire body technique hurt and is a bit draining, but at least it's better than being hit by lightning!

She peeped around the side of the building, ducking back behind it with an eep as another bolt of lightning flew by her head. She moved her hoof through the air as she tried to think, Okay so he is a good ten meters away at least, walking at the average stallion walking pace. Calculate for time needed to fully get a clear shot at her and unleash one of those... I have time. Her horn glowed as she began to gather flame and once again compress it into a small orb.

Blueblood grinned as he came up to the little home and thought to himself, Soon, Avatar, you'll crumble at my hooves and I'll be done with your antics. Sure, I'd have preferred to have beaten you in the first fight, but an actual show of power will do just as well. He struggled to keep his horn steady as the lightning tried to glance off his horn in random directions. He turned the corner and prepared to unleash the lightning. It took him a few seconds to realize that, one, there was no pony behind the house, and two, that little orb of fire was going to hurt. His horn crackled as flame shot out of it, a moment before the orb exploded and sent him flying across the village with a pained thump. He skidded along the ground a few moments after landing in a groaning heap.

Twilight practically pranced as she headed towards his prone form. “Okay every pony! You can come out! I won! He's... oh dear,” she squeaked as slowly Blueblood rose to his hooves, glaring hatred at her.

“You have won NOTHING! Avatar, you are nothing more than a troublesome filly that doesn't understand ANYTHING! You can barely even fire bend! If you were I'd be dead now, rather than just having a few burns!” His horn lit up with electricity as once again he started sending them crashing at her. Fortunately for the alicorn she was fast and each blast was pretty easy to tell the general direction it was coming from. “Stand still and take it!” he yelled, frothing a little at the mouth. If I can just hit her once! That's all I'll need!

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her little friends. All three of them, huddled in the distance. Just watching. A grin formed on his lips as the plan formed in his mind. “Hey, Avatar. You're pretty good at dodging. How about we see how good you are at blocking?” She stared at him with a cocked eye and confused tilt of her head until she saw him turn his head towards the right. She looked towards what he saw and paled.

“Hey, they aren't a-” She turned to him and let out a scream as the electricity shot through her body. It felt like her nerves were on fire, every inch of her feeling as if little explosions were going off under the skin. After a few moments of pain she dropped to the ground, mercifully unconscious. The smell of burnt flesh and hair filled the air as the gathered ponies stared, mouths agape.

“I win, Avatar. You were too young to face me. Too easily distracted,” Blueblood sneered as he walked over to her prone form. “Now when she awakens she will be taken from our village. Both her and her little friends.” He turned his head towards the three again. The yellow pegasus and the little dragon. The pink one seemed to have run off.

He felt a little tap on his withers followed by explosive pain in the right side of his jaw as a hoof slammed into it. A moment later a similar pain hit the left side, then the right and then under his face. He fell backwards on the ground, groaning in pain as he looked up at the pink earth pony. Weird, before she looked funny and odd with her big poofy hair. Now it was completely limp and she had a terrifying murderous glint in her eye. “No pony hurts my friend.” she said barely above a whisper. There was no mishearing it and he let out a soft frightened whimper.

A moment later her hoof slammed into his stomach, making his body contort momentarily into a painful V. She then used it her advantage by grabbing his horn and slamming him into the ground so hard he felt as if his ears might explode. ”Sh...shtop it...” he groaned. “I... I am a fire... fiwe... benda... and- Oh sweet mershiful heavensh no.” She grabbed his tail next and used it as a handle as she flipped him around and slammed him into the ground repeatedly, as if he was a small dolly and not a grown stallion.

“This is for bad mouthing my friend.” She grabbed him by his horn again and proceeded to slam his face into the ground over and over, until he was no longer sure he had a face as opposed to a long flat piece of pain attached to his neck. “This is for hurting my friend.” She then wrapped one of her front legs around his neck, placed her back hoof against his back and pulled back. His body and spine were formed into one of the most painful positions he had ever been in as he struggled to scream through the tightness around his throat. After a few moments of pain she finally let him go.

He stared up at her from the ground, whimpering. She stared down at him, the light at her back shrouding her body in darkness while her eyes almost seemed to glow malevolently. She raised her hoof. “And this is for the galla.” He shrieked as her hoof went straight for his stallion berries! They then stopped. “Nah. I'm not that mean, silly. Two for flinching.” He let out a sigh of relief, which disappeared the moment she jumped into the air and landed on him, legs first into his stomach. “I said two,” she said ominously as she got back up and turned her back to him.

“...Oh sweet merciful sun n-” his cries were cut short as the mare leaned forward and slammed both hooves back into him, bucking him a good eight yards before he slammed into, and through, the walls of one of the tents. He mercifully lost consciousness a few moments later.

“Okay every pony,” Pinkie said as she put a hoof in her mouth and blew, her hair puffing back up. “Let's get Twilight inside so Fluttershy can take care of her.” Every pony just stared at her, mouths open. “I said move it!” she snapped as the ponies quickly bounced to it, taking great measures not to look her in the eye.

“How... when... how can... s-since when could you do that?!” Spike asked, mouth open. “Why haven't you done that before?!”

“Oh silly Spike. It's called avatar, not pinkatar. If I did that all the time I'd steal too much of the spot light.”

“... What?” The dragon cocked an eye brow as he stared at the terrifying and yet oddly silly mare.

“Come on, let's go make sure Twilight's okay before the scene change. Uh oh, too-”

“Come on yah slow poke!” Rainbow said as she galloped ahead of the griffon. The cave had gotten considerably brighter from its original pitch blackness. They still used the glow stick but even without it they could make out the outline of the rocks and boulders as they went. Massive paw prints easily bigger than both of them put together lined the ground as well, but they didn't let that slow them. The path was uphill now and far off in the distance they could see something that made them both let out shrieks of joy. Light! Actual light! Not the small bit of light that penetrated the forest to make it only slightly brighter than a moonless night, but actual sun light! Where ever the cave let out, it seemed to be outside. Outside the forest. The pegasus couldn't help but jump excitedly as they ran.

“Oh hush up yah featherweight. I've earned the right to go slow, after all that time I've spent hauling your fat flank around,” Gilda said from behind Rainbow.

“Excuses excuses. Race to the end?”

“Pfft. What would be the point of that? Why burn myself out? Hey, what's that?”

“Huh?” Rainbow turned just in time to have the glow stick bounce off her head and land harmlessly on the ground. A moment later Gilda flew by like a brown dart. “Hey! Cheater!” she called out as she laughed and took off, flapping after the griffon. Soon the two were neck and neck as they flew, the limited light enabling them to see obstacles in their way and maneuver around them.

The griffon was actually able to keep up with Rainbow as they flew, something very few ponies could even hope to do. Soon the two were almost at the finish line, neck and neck as they flew as fast as they could, bursting out of the cave and into fresh daylight with victorious cries.

“I won!” They said in unison.

“What? No way! I won by a mile!” Rainbow objected.

“No way tiny wings, you were eating my tail feathers!” Gilda said with a smirk as she landed on the ground.

“No way, I had you totally... totally...” she went quiet as she landed besides the griffon. The land ahead of them was torn asunder. The cave let out into the forest, or the remains of one. The ground was covered in deep gouges, trees crushed and chopped down. A path had been carved through the forest large enough for an army to go through. Hoof prints marked the ground as well as massive paw prints like the ones they had seen in the cave. “What happened here? What could do something like that?”

“I don't know, but I sure wouldn't wanna mess with it,” Gilda mused as she moved a talon to draw in the dirt. “Seems it's going... hmmm... assuming the sun hasn't moved since we were under and if we didn't move to far to affect it... I'd say it's heading west. A little south west.”

“South west? Don't see why it would be going there. That would...” Rainbow paled. “Cadence is that way!” She took a step forward, but then stopped. “No. Probably not. What are the chances it would go somewhere like that? I mean... right?”

“... Not my problem. I still need to get the avatar. You're on your own if you wanna go after that thing,” Gilda said dryly. She spread out her wings and prepared to fly off.

“Wait! You still want the avatar, right?”

“Of course. A job is a job.”

“... Then come with me.”

“What? Why?”

“I'm going back to Cadence. I should be able to meet back up with Twilight and the others there. But finding the way on my own will be hard, especially if I need to try and get ahead of that thing. Would you be able to find the way?”

“Well yeah, but why would I help you?”

“Twilight will go there. It's the best way to have a chance to meet her.”

“Why shouldn't I just ambush her when she leaves the woods?”

“... Gilda... please.” Rainbow put a hoof over her heart. “There are ponies in Cadence. Whatever is headed that way, they need to be warned. They could be killed. Please help me do this. I'm begging you.”

The griffon watched her for a few tense moments before letting out a sigh. “Fine. I'll help you. Only to meet the avatar later. But there's a catch.”

“What?”

“When the time comes... you have to stay out of it. Don't interfere when I catch her.”

“What?! You can't think I'll-”

“Those are my terms. Take them or leave them.”

“... Fine.” Rainbow grudgingly accepted with a nod. “Twilight would understand.”

“Good. Let's go,” with those words the two of them took off. They raced as fast as they could after the prints as they tried to catch up with the force.

Fluttershy gently massaged Twilight's back, her hooves glowing with a soft green light. Inch by inch the green magic seeped into the alicorn's body, slowly repairing the darkened flesh. It was a slow process and the little yellow mare's eyes were drooping, but she continued on to reduce her friends pain.

Hours passed of her gently guiding her hooves over her friend before the purple mare's eyes opened up. “What... happened?” she asked with a groan, trying to stand up. Forceful hooves kept her pinned to the bed.

“Don't move. You're still very hurt,” the yellow mare ordered in her soft voice.

“I... I need to get going. There's still so much I need to do,” Twilight objected as she slowly began to gather herself. She was sore all over, but slowly she was able to gather her energy to stand up despite the pegasus trying to hold her down. “I need to go find Rainbow and get everything fixed...”

“Hush. You aren't going to help any pony like this. Just rest. It won't do Rainbow any good for you to get yourself hurt.”

“N-no... get off... I... I can do this...” Slowly she climbed out of the bed and wobbled towards the exit. “I need... I need to... what... what? What happened?” As she stepped outside of the tent, she froze. It was dark. Very dark. Large bonfires had been lit around the village. When she looked up through the tree branches she saw a black canopy with twinkling stars, instead of the light blue of the day sky. “It's... it's night time,” she said in shock. “The sun, where's the sun? What happened to the sun?!”

“It has been lowered, Avatar,” Ashmane said as she trotted over to the confused mare. “Your lessons have paid off. Though, there does seem to be a small problem.”

“What's wrong?” Twilight asked as she stared up at the night sky. It was beautiful. No clouds, just a few branches hindering the view. “It's beautiful... I could look at it for hours.”

“There's no moon. It's gone.”

“What? Don't be silly, it's right... it's right...” Twilight turned her head left and right as she looked through the foliage. “Ummmm... Maybe it's just obstructed? Maybe they haven't gotten around to raising it yet. I mean, they hadn't finished the spell before I left so it's probably just that,” she sighed again. “That's not important. I need to go find Rainbow. She could be out there, hurt! Needing rescue! Who knows what kinds of things she's encountered so far?”

“... To be honest, Avatar... The chances of your friend still being alive are almost non existent. You are in no condition to be running around these woods. It's amazing you can even stand.”

“... It's not easy, but I'm fine. There has to be at least one pony here willing to go with me to find her.”

“... With all due respect, it is suicide. No pony would go there.”

“Then I'll go back alone.” She stomped a hoof down and nearly fell over from the movement. “I don't care if it's dangerous. Rainbow would do the same for me in a heart beat!”

“You need to listen to sense. Healer!” Ashmane called into the tent.

“Yes?” Fluttershy squeaked as she popped her head out.

“Talk to your friend. You've already lost one and you will lose another if she persists on her suicide mission. She needs to rest, give her body time to heal.”

“I don't have time to heal! Rainbow needs me. I just... I can't just stand here and wait.” Twilight looked away as tears began to form in her eyes. “I have to do something...”

“W-well... ummmm... there... is one thing we could do...” Fluttershy offered with a soft squeak.

“What?” The alicorn asked, cocking an eye brow.

“W-well... If Rainbow got out of the woods, she would have tried to find the start of the path we took to get here. M-maybe we should try going back that way a-and check on Cadence. While we're gone they can keep a look out for her and ummmm... i-if they haven't found anything when we get back, we can go try and find her again.”

“Fluttershy, don't be ridiculous. That could take forever! We need to find her! Don't you care about Rainbow at all? She could really need us!”

“Of course I care about her. She's one of my best friends. But... Twilight we're going to need you at a hundred percent if we are to have any chance at all,” Fluttershy said softly as she looked down. “Other wise we are just going to die. If you won't lay still and rest, at least small travel should be enough to help you recuperate so we can do the search properly. Rainbow would not want us running off and getting hurt and killed for her sake.”

“.... Fine.” Twilight grumbled, “I can't deny it, you're right. We leave immediately and we will come back as soon as we're done. Ashmane, can you please spread the word to keep an eye out for her? And... raising the sun. Normally I'd say wait until the moon goes around the horizon, but until it's up that won't work. Ummm... just... tell them to raise it after a full nights rest. Also can you please set up a guide to take us to the entrance and bring us back here when this is all done?”

“... Of course, Avatar. I'll see what I can do.”

“One last thing.”

“Yes?”

“Where is Blueblood? I know I beat him and then he... went berserk, but what happened?”

“... He is unconscious right now and likely will be for a while. Fear not. You are considered the winner of your little bout.”

“Great! How did he get knocked out?”

“.... Ask your little pink friend,” Ashmane mumbled as she trotted off quickly.

“Huh?” Twilight glanced to Fluttershy, “What happened to Pinkie? Did she do something?”

“Errr... well... ummm... no?” she squeaked softly as she looked back in the tent. Pinkie was shaking her head. “N-nothing at all.”

“Oh... okay then. Well, lets get ready to... ready to...” She stumbled backwards, barely caught by Fluttershy in time. “L-let's just sit down for a bit until our guide gets here. Okay?”

“Yes... just sit down.” Fluttershy softly pushed her hooves onto the mare, the green glow returning. It wasn't long before the guide joined them and they were once again walking through the forest, led by a unicorn called Firetail. For the first time since their adventure had begun, the stars sparkled serenely over head while the occasional flapping of their cyan colored friend was desperately missed.

Chapter 16: Arrival

Two blurs streaked across the night sky silently. Gilda the griffon kept her sharp eyes on the look out for any landmarks, even the darkness failing to hide them from her sight. Rainbow kept up behind her, the ease she seemed to do it with impressed the young griffon. While the mercenary wasn't the fastest around, few griffons could keep up with her. Yet, this pony was making it look like a light trot through an open field.

The forest had given away below them a while ago and now they were almost to Cadence. Even in the darkness she could occasionally make out signs of the passing army. Worse yet, she should have been able to see lights from Cadence by now. She hoped for Dash's sake that the city was just lying low or had been caught unprepared by the night. They'd be there in a few minutes and she could hear her comrade's wings flapping more wildly the longer they traveled.

She saw it first, her eyes having been trained to see in such dark conditions. The city had been demolished. The walls had been knocked down and destroyed, buildings had crumbled, and the entire area had been flattened. The only thing that truly remained of the city was the wall, which had two large gaping holes on opposite ends.

“We... we were to late,” Rainbow said as they drifted to look down at the stone and dirt that once made up the proud city. “Every pony... every pony is dead. Who could do this? What could do this?” She struggled to hold her tears back as moisture filled her eyes.

“Relax. No pony is dead. At least I don't think. Look,” Gilda said as she motioned to the wreckage.

“What? It's destroyed, flattened. All of it. How could any pony survive it?”

“Destroyed and flattened, yes. Do you see any bodies? Is everything soaked?” the griffon said as she took out one of her glow sticks and tossed it to a nearby pile or rubble. “Not even spikes of earth anywhere. This city wasn't the kind of place you could just slaughter, I don't care how big a force you had. They retreated.”

“Retreated? Why would they do that?” Rainbow asked as she glided down to the glow stick and picked it up in her mouth to begin her search. There wasn't any sign of actual fighting, just destruction.

“I don't know,” Gilda said as she landed by the pegasus. “Whatever was on the way here must have been terrifying to send an entire city packing. I figured it was the Water Nation at first, but there isn't a drop of water anywhere. If it had been them there should at least be water and ice everywhere. Probably the Air Nomads.”

“WHAT?!” Rainbow yelled as she turned on the griffon. “The Air Nomads would never attack the Earth Kingdom! This is obviously the work of the Water Nation. They probably developed a new weapon or something.” Slowly her eyes glanced up to look at the moonless sky. “You don't think they developed a way to turn the moon into a weapon, do you?”

“That would explain why the place looked so flattened. I always thought the moon was bigger though, at least the size of ten cities,” Gilda said knowingly. “Never heard of anyone flying up high enough to find out. I guess it's possible they used it to crush the city.”

“Exactly. They used the moon to crush the city and that's why every pony ran. It was probably really slow so they had plenty of time to escape. That also explains the lack of water everywhere,” Rainbow said proudly as she flew back to the top of the wall and sat down. “Wow, the stone's still hot, I guess all that sun made it toasty. Every pony is still okay so that's good... I guess now we just wait. I doubt Twilight could miss the moon crushing an entire city,” she mumbled as she laid down on her back.

Twilight slowly limped through the woods, supported heavily against Pinkie's side. Firetail, a red tailed yellow unicorn, was ahead of the group and leading them cautiously through the dangerous woods. They had come across a small group of grass hoppers, but a small fireball quickly scattered the dangerous insects. They were now almost completely free from the forest, just a few more yards and they would be out and into the wide open world beyond.

As they finally exited the woods their guide stopped and backed away. “I'm sorry, but this is as far as I go. I don't know anything outside these woods,” he said softly. “I'll wait here until the sun begins to set next. If you haven't returned by then I am sorry, but I'll send someone else to check for you each time the sun rises. So please hurry.”

“Of course. We'll be as fast as we can, so please wait for us,” Twilight said as the small group started walking. She lit a small flame from her horn to light the road as they began the trip back to Cadence.

The trip was slow but uneventful, though they began to notice things as they walked. “Look at the size of this imprint. Wow,” Pinkie said as she jumped into a large claw shaped hole in the ground. Twilight fell over as her support suddenly disappeared.

“Pinkie, that hurt,” the alicorn said with a groan as she slowly got to her hooves. She held the flame over the hole and stared into it. It was far bigger than any pony, a few feet deep, with points a few feet from the end of the hole. “Whatever made this must be huge.” An unsettling thought took place in her head. “It's heading in the direction of Cadence! We need to hurry!” she said as she began to quicken her pace as best she could, her friends moving to help support her.

After what felt like hours the three ponies arrived at the broken walls of the city. Pinkie didn't even make any jokes as they slipped in through one of the gaping holes. “This isn't fair. The city was still supposed to be standing...” she grumbled as they looked at the rumble.

“Pinkie, what are you talking about? You didn't know this was going to happen, did you?” Twilight stared at her friend uneasily.

“Huh? No! Well, yes. But, not like this. It was, they were all supposed to be captured and then you fight them but that was supposed to be when you needed an earth bending teacher, not now. This is cheating,” Pinkie said with a nod.

Twilight stared at her pink friend for a few moments with a confused look before shaking her head. “Sometimes I wonder if we'd even be able to tell if you went crazy...” she mumbled. A sudden fluttering sound brought her attention to the right, but she was too slow as the thing hit her. She let out a shriek as she flailed about, but stopped when she realized it was hugging her. “Rainbow?!”

“What took you guys so long! I've been waiting out here for days, heh,” she lied.

“We thought we lost you in the woods! You found your way out? How? When? I tried following you but...” Twilight trailed off sullenly.

“You think a couple of magic trees can hold me back?” the pegasus said as she pulled back and posed dramatically. “I'm Rainbow Dash! I laugh in the face of danger!”

The reunion was ended suddenly by a loud 'ahem' from behind Rainbow. Gilda slowly stepped out from the shadows. “Long time no see, Avatar. We've got something to settle.”

“You!” Twilight gasped as the flame from her horn expanded. She backed up and spread out her wings, which had grown about an inch since their last encounter. “How did you get out? Did you follow Rainbow?”

“Uh... Yeah. About that,” Rainbow said nervously as she looked to the side. “We kind of... worked together to get out. I kinda told her that I wouldn't interfere when she tried to... it was a promise and...” she couldn't even look her friends in the face as she said those words, shifting nervously from hoof to hoof.

“Why would you promise her that? She's evil!” Twilight yelled as she pointed an accusing hoof at the griffon.

“I'm just doing my job kid. How about we get this over with, just me and you,” Gilda said as she slowly drew a blade with her right talon.

“Fine. Pinkie, Fluttershy, stay back. This will only take a moment,” Twilight ordered as her horn lit on fire. The two slowly began to circle each other, waiting for a moment to strike.

Gilda struck first, charging forward with the blade held horizontally. Twilight moved to the right and cleared the blade's trajectory as she shot a ball of flame at the griffon. The knife wielding fighter ducked under the fire ball and jumped forward. Her left talon grabbed the alicorn's leg as her right drove the blade up at the avatar's side.

“Twilight!” Rainbow yelled.

The griffon froze, knife poised a few inches from the alicorn's withers. The purple mare didn't hesitate, pulling back as she flapped her wings as hard as she could and focused the air, sending Gilda flying backwards. The avatar then began to gather a small orb of flame around her horn before sending it hurtling at the griffon.

Gilda easily side stepped the ball, but was caught unaware as the orb exploded and bathed her in flames. She screamed as the smell of burnt feathers filled the air and she was lost in the smoke and dirt caused by the explosion.

“It's done,” Twilight said softly as she looked away from the damage.

“Gilda...” Rainbow said weakly as she walked towards the aftermath. She jumped back as a knife suddenly came flying out and lodged into Twilight's side.

“Ahhhh!” the alicorn screamed as she slowly removed the blade with her magic, blood drippling from the wound.

Gilda barreled out of the smoke. Her feathers charred and skin burnt, she slammed into Twilight. Two more blades were drawn and put to the alicorn's throat. “You lose, Avatar. You're coming with me,” the griffon coughed out.

“Not a chance. There are ponies who still need me,” Twilight said defiantly as she watched the blades.

“Gilda, please,” Rainbow pleaded softly. “Don't do this. Lots of people still need the avatar. The world still does. Can't you take me instead?”

“... Don't be daft. If I could take you instead I would have- YOWCH!” Gilda shrieked and jumped into the air, her tail feathers enveloped in green flame.

The four ponies stopped and stared at Spike, their mouths hanging open. “What? Maybe if you guys stopped ignoring me you wouldn't be so surprised when I do st-” he squeaked and fell back as a knife embedded itself near his feet.

Gilda drew yet another blade as she stared down the alicorn. She took another step back but froze as Rainbow stepped between them.

“Enough!” the pegasus yelled, turning to Gilda. “I'm sorry, but I have to interfere.”

“You gave your word,” the griffon hissed.

“This is more important! I can't just stand by while you two fight. Gilda, you're my friend! After the time we spent in those woods I don't want to see you hurt,” Rainbow said firmly as she stomped a hoof down. “Twilight's my friend too and I don't want to see her captured. I don't want anything bad to happen to either of you. So I'm ending this fight right here, right now. If either of you want to still fight, you'll have to go through me.”

Twilight coughed and looked off to the side. “Well, she started it,” she grumbled.

“Rainbow, get out of the way,” Gilda said as she raised a blade in warning. “I won't hesitate to cut through you to get to her.”

“I don't care. If you want her, you'll have to go through me,” Rainbow said with a stomp of her hooves.

“Fine!” Gilda said as she charged forward.

As the blades came at the pegasus the mare closed her eyes but refused to move. After a few seconds, nothing hit her and she slowly opened her eyes to see the griffon pulling away. “Fine, you win. Avatar, I'll give you a little bit of a head start. There isn't a time limit on this job after all. Next time I'll get you alone and you'll be mine,” with those words the griffon took off, leaving a trail of charred feathers in her wake.

“That was an... experience. I think you have a lot to tell us about, Rainbow.” Twilight limped to one of the nearby rocks as Fluttershy moved over to tend to the wound. “We have a lot to tell you too.”

The night went quickly as the friends talked, telling each other of their adventures and dangers they faced while separated. They managed to scrounge up a few muffins from a crushed wagon and talked until the sun slowly began to rise from the hills. Plans were formed and goals were set. Until finally the group laid down to get some sleep again. They set off as a full group once again first towards the Everfree forest and then in pursuit of the thing that destroyed Cadence.

Celestia watched the earth ponies and unicorns silently, not letting even a single drop of her pity spill through. Ponies were trapped on the ground pulling the very cages that were their homes when they weren't traveling, some of which held pegasi with bound wings. Three airships made up the fleet that slowly plowed its way through Earth Kingdom and Air Nomad lands, like a pair of scissors slowly shearing through fabric. The force was small, led by Trixie and composed by all those she had 'drafted' into her services.

Of course, Celestia was given an honored position, front line seats to the general's triumph. In a few days they would finish plowing through villages and arrive at the base of Cloudsdale. Already those they had captured measured in the dozens, every village they came across was razed to the ground as those who were ground bound were quickly captured and tossed into cages. Those who were fortunate enough to be able to fly were forced to run for the sanctuary of Cloudsdale or be rounded up by the Shadowbolts.

“It's beautiful, isn't it?” a voice said from behind the white unicorn. The Great and Powerful Trixie slowly swaggered up besides her guest. “Soon we will join up with the main fleet and then Cloudsdale will finally fall before my hooves. I will have accomplished in a few days what the great Nightmare Moon has been trying to do for years.” She let out a boisterous laugh before turning to her guest. “Shouldn't you be happy? I remember you yourself failed to take Cloudsdale. I'm only finishing your once great work.”

“I am thinking of my niece. Leaving her like that was... uncalled for,” Celestia said a tad bitterly. When the Tsunami had first descended on their ship Trixie had made a great show of how she needed every pony for this mission. She had taken both Rarity's ship and another ship that had been gathering supplies. However when it came to set out Trixie had informed the fallen princess that there would be no need for her services and left her back on the docks.

“Had she been here she would have only gotten in the way. Enjoy yourself! Soon all of the air benders will be accounted for and stripped of their wings,” Trixie boasted. “The Water Nation will be seen as the strongest force in all the world. All that will stand against us will be the Earth Kingdom and even they have failed to stand against my magic.”

“Yes. Your magic. It is quite an interesting spell you have created. As a matter of fact it seems quite similar to the one my dear brother-in-law had been devising, before his...” Celestia trailed off.

“Oh? What exactly are you implying?” the blue mare questioned, a dangerous glint in her eye.

“Nothing. I'm just noticing the similarities.”

“If you remember correctly his spells failed. Where as mine has succeeded spectacularly as the hordes of prisoners below will attest,” the general said as she motioned with her hoof. “Do you honestly believe I would use somepony elses second hoof spells?”

“Oh, I wouldn't begin to question what you would use,” Celestia said with a small smile before she got to her hooves and walked into the massive ship. Trixie waited behind to gaze over the world in triumph.

The radiant white unicorn walked through the bowels of the ship before finally stopping in front of a single unicorn guard who was guarding the kitchen. “How are you enjoying yourself, soldier?”

“This uniform is tight and sweaty and they are not nearly as nice as the ones I had custom tailored for all the soldiers on MY ship,” Rarity complained from behind the helmet. “Not to mention that Snails keeps making doe eyes at me,” She growled, “Wasn't it bad enough we have to be so close to that blue coated wind bag, but we had to miss out on any news from the griffon on top of it?”

“Well you can't expect a stolen uniform to fit perfectly like one hoof stitched by the captain. It's not like we had much choice either if we are to succeed. Did you find it?”

“Not yet, but I stole the key to her chambers from Snails,” Rarity mumbled. “I'll try to sneak in and find it the next time she does that spell. I still don't think this is worth the trouble.”

“It is and oh so much more. The magics your father toyed with were not meant for any pony, aside from the avatar, to meddle with. If Trixie keeps using them she may doom us and all of the Water Nation in the process. For now you must be strong.” Celestia began to walk again as another soldier came around the corner.

Rarity inwardly groaned when she realized it was Snails. He swaggered towards her with the poise of one who didn't comprehend how to correctly swagger, his tail swaying wildly as he wiggled his butt in a manner she imagined he thought inspired confidence. She kept expecting his flank to hit the wall. She stood at attention as he walked by and then groaned when he stopped just past her.

“W-well hi again, miss Bronzeshine,” he said nervously. “Sure is marvelous weather we're having.”

“How can you tell, sir? What with the sun gone and it being so dark?”

“I... Err well, I mean. I just meant since, ummm... M-maybe y-you'd like to come with me on deck later? See the stars?” as he spoke all his swagger evaporated, replaced with shy desperation.

“No thank you sir, I've seen plenty of stars before,” she said as she kept her gaze forward and took careful precautions to not look him in the eyes. “I still have a few hours left on shift as it is.”

“W-well, I could get you off shift! I mean, I'm one of the higher ups on the ship, a-and I thought, errr maybe you'd like to ummm...” She couldn't help but pity the floundering stallion, he reminded her of a beached fish.

“I'm afraid I cannot. I don't shirk my duties, sir,” Rarity said stoically as she tried desperately to avoid the unicorn's gaze.

“Oh... maybe after then?” His eyes lowered such that it made her feel unusually cruel, as if she was kicking a puppy. A three legged puppy. With burnt paws.

“I'll think about it sir. I really am quite busy though.”

“I-I see... okay...” He walked away, his head hanging like a rag.

Twilight looked on with horror. The sun had risen ages ago and they had long since told Firetail where they were headed. They had traveled almost an entire day before they saw the next village on their path. The ground was destroyed, fields had been looted or crushed and buildings were nothing more than a few squashed ruins. Again there were no bodies, but that still didn't lighten the mood as they walked through the destroyed village.

“Whatever did this is huge. Took an entire village out and look at all these hoof prints,” Spike said as he motioned out of the village. “At least it won't be hard to follow. Look at these wheel marks.”

“I guess it's possible that they are using the moon as a weapon. But I think we'd have seen it, especially if it happened at night. The moon glows pretty brightly,” Twilight said as she looked at the wreckage. “But... I think these are claw marks...”

“Really big timber wolves?” Rainbow asked.

“No. Bigger than one of those could get I think. Much, much bigger. I've never seen anything with such destructive power aside from maybe...” her eyes bulged as she looked at the marks again. “A dragon. A fully grown dragon. That must be what's doing this. You don't think the great dragon is behind this?”

“Impossible!” Spike objected. “If he was behind this there wouldn't be anything left. He'd have burned all of it to a cinder. Trust me.”

“Well I don't know what else would have such large claws. We need to keep going. If the Water Nation is behind something like this it could spell disaster for all the other countries. We can head to Cloudsdale to learn about air bending after,” Twilight said firmly as they began walking through the hoof prints left behind.

“I think we might be heading to Cloudsdale or at least air country. The border is in this direction. I could always scout ahead,” Rainbow offered.

“NO!” Twilight shrieked. “Stay with us, don't go off alone. Remember what happened last time we separated?”

“We aren't in the Everfree forest anymore. Besides, I was fine.”

“No. Let's just go as a team like we're supposed too,” Twilight said firmly. She stomped her hooves as she went.

“It was just a suggestion, no need to get so excited. How you feeling?” Rainbow asked as she walked up besides her friend. “Still feeling tired?”

“A little, but I'll be fine. Most of the pain is gone and I don't feel as tired. I'll rest once we get a chance to see what we're up against.”

“Who knows how long that could take? If you need us to, we can probably carry you,” Rainbow offered helpfully.

“I'm tired, not crippled. There is no need to go to such extremes,” Twilight grumbled and kept walking forward, despite her friends suggestions. She didn't want to think of what that thing could be doing and how many ponies desperately needed her help.

Trixie was giddy as she resisted the urge to dance at her triumph. She'd done it! She really had! The spell book had been easy to follow and finding what she needed in that world was easy as pie. It was a shame that Nightmare Moon's husband had such a weak will, perhaps if he hadn't his plans would have succeeded.

Her plans were coming to fruition perfectly. Village by town by city she was plowing through the country taking all prisoner and destroying all remnants of her foes. Soon the final bastion of resistance from the Air Nomads, Cloudsdale, would fall from the sky like a ripe apple. Then she would march the prisoners into the Water Nation before the eyes of all. She would stand triumphant, the hero of the nation. She would dethrone the once mighty Nightmare Moon and take her place. None would hope to stand against her!

She was all powerful! All glorious! She would be the Nightmare Moon to rule over all Nightmare Moons! She was broken from her glorious trance by somepony nudging her arm.

“Errr, General?” Snips asked nervously.

“What is it, worm?” she asked, her voice filled with detest.

“Err, Snips actually. Another village has been spotted,” he said as he motioned with a hoof. Off in the distance a small batch of lights could be seen, poking out from the nights cover like fireflies.

Slowly she moved to the bow of the ship and closed her eyes. As her magic began she was unaware of the eyes watching her from the entrance way into the inner workings of the ship. Celestia quickly walked inside as the first roar filled the air. She walked through the halls before coming to the general's room. Only a single guard remained stationed here. “It's time.”

The guard nodded before turning and opening the door with her key. She then slid inside and closed the door quickly behind her. Rarity scanned the room in search for the treasure. It didn't take her long to find the small golden chest inside one of the general's desks drawers. Opening it on the other hoof was another story. It was enchanted to only open in response to the general's magic.

Granted, there were ways around such locks, but she detested having to resort to such means. A roar from outside reminded her that now wasn't the time for such thoughts and she quickly grabbed a rough metal paperweight from the desk and began to bang it across the lock. After a few moments of abuse it popped open. She began to rummage through it and looked through the scrolls until she finally found one in her father's handwriting. She quickly pocketed the scroll and returned the chest and paperweight to their proper positions before making a beeline for the door.

She froze a moment as she heard voices outside the room. “Yes. If you would be kind enough to let me in while I wait!” her aunts voice called out. As the lock slowly turned the princess dove against the wall behind the door, pushing up against it and holding her breath. The door opened part way as two ponies walked inside. Her aunt and Snips.

“You're sure this is alright?” Snips asked nervously as he walked towards the desk.

“Yes. Quite alright,” Celestia said as she looked around the room, catching sight of her niece behind the door. She quickly moved between her and the soldier. “What's that out the window?!” she yelled suddenly as she motioned for Rarity to get out.

“What? What is it?” Snips asked as he looked out the window wildly.

“Nothing. I just thought I saw something move, maybe an air bender.” Celestia glanced behind her and let out a sigh when she saw her niece was gone. “Maybe you're right, perhaps I should speak with Trixie after she finishes the spell.”

“Huh? But... well, okay.” The green unicorn shrugged and slowly led the taller unicorn out, his face wracked with confusion. As he walked out from the room he would have sworn he saw one of the guards disappearing around the corner.

It had been three days since they had started in pursuit of the destroyer, at least that's what they called it, and the Avatar's team was slowly losing their will. Each day the sun would rise and set but the moon remained ever absent, a constant reminder of what laid behind them. The many destroyed homes they came to drove the pure power of the thing into their hearts.

They had finally crossed into Air Nomad territory when they gained their first big break. A large village, destroyed like all the others, came along their path. The important thing about this one was the single pegasus who was walking around the wreckage, searching.

“Hey!” Twilight called out. The pegasus took one look at them and darted. “Rainbow!”

Rainbow took off like a bolt, passing the pegasus in seconds. “Easy, calm down. We aren't going to hurt you,” she said as she held her hoofs up, flying backwards so she could see the pony.

The pegasus stopped and looked around at the group. “A-are you from the Water Nation?”

“No. As a matter of fact, that's the avatar. See her wings and horn?” Rainbow said with a smirk. “The little chicken wings? Those are real.”

“They aren't chicken wings!” Twilight shrieked angrily. She backed off as the pony suddenly charged forward and bowed in front of her.

“Oh Avatar, thank goodness you've come! It was horrible. They came and they... they...”

“Calm down and tell us what happened. Who did this?” Twilight asked as she slowly reached out to pat the ponies back.

“The Water Nation. It was three ships and... and a demon,” the pony shivered and hugged himself.

“A demon? What happened? Please explain,” Twilight pulled away and motioned for Fluttershy.

The yellow pegasus slowly inched forward and rubbed the stallions back. “There there, you're safe now. Nothing bad is going to happen.”

“It was monstrous, bigger than a building. Its body seemed to be made of the night and stars themselves. It was both solid and air at the same time. Some of us tried to fight, throwing rocks or hitting it with wind, but everything we did went right through it. We only had a handful of benders here, including myself, nowhere near enough to fight that... thing. In a single motion the thing flattened our homes and fields.” The pegasus slowly began to stop shaking, coaxed into a semblance of relaxation from Fluttershy's massage. “Those who ran were quickly gathered up and tossed into cages by either the soldiers or the beast. Me and some of the other pegasi tried to escape, but their pegasi ran a few of them down as well. It was horrible,” with those words the pegasus began to cry.

“... That's impossible,” Twilight said with shock. “The only thing like that would be something from the spirit world. But giving it a physical form here, not to mention controlling it, should be impossible for a normal pony.” Slowly her gaze lifted up towards the path of destruction before them. “We need to hurry. I may be the only one who can stop it. How long ago did this attack happen?”

“Yesterday. I-I came back to see if any pony else had escaped, but I guess those who did headed straight to Cloudsdale,” the pony said softly.

“How far is Cloudsdale?” Twilight asked nervously.

“About two days by walking. It hasn't moved in over a hundred years since the eternal darkness. But with that thing... Avatar, please. You have to save them.” The pegasus pulled away from Fluttershy and knelt down before Twilight. “Please. If Cloudsdale falls... no pony will be able to oppose the Water Nation. I don't know how long they can hold out against that monster. They'll be slaughtered.”

“Easy, calm down,” Twilight said as she patted his shoulders. “I swear, I'll get there, I'll stop this creature and free those they captured with it. Just do one thing for me, okay?”

“Anything Avatar!”

“Go ahead of us. We have to go by hoof but we'll be there in two days. Try to let them know that we are on our way.”

“Y-you want me to go through that? But they have fliers and that thing! I'd have to get around them!”

“I know it may be hard, but you're an air bender. I'm sure if any pony can, an air bending pegasus can. Please, just try. If it seems to dangerous, then do as you like. But please at least try.”

“... Very well, Avatar. I will try. For the sake of those who have already been captured. Thank you,” he bowed his head and then took off like a dart.

“... You know I could have gotten there a lot faster if you'd let me go,” Rainbow grumbled.

“I know, I know. But I need you here with me. After all, we're going to have to break through to Cloudsdale also. It's not going to be easy,” Twilight said as the group started off again at a slightly quicker pace than they had at first.

Trixie was furious! Not only did she have to stop, just a few hours from the main goal, but somepony had the audacity to break into her room and STEAL from her! FROM HER! The Great and Powerful Trixie! She had the two buffoons, Snips and Snails, thrown into a cell. She doubted they had anything to do with it, but she suspected somepony had used them to get the key.

She had the rooms of every pony on the three ships turned upside down and every scrap of paper brought immediately to her room, yet the scroll had yet to turn up. If she EVER found out the fool who dared to steal from her she would drop them off the ship herself. After tearing off their wings if they were a pegasus! She couldn't even risk continuing on the journey lest the thief escape amidst the rest of Water Nation's armada, their ship had been waiting here for almost two days already. Instead she had to personally choose a loyal pegasus, a mare by the name of Shadowblade and send her ahead to tell the rest of the fleet they would arrive soon. She could still cast the spell of course, but the scroll held delicate information she did not want any pony else to have.

The crew knew of her fury and was smart enough to avoid her or at least pretend to be working whenever she passed. Celestia had secluded herself to the dining hall to avoid the general's eye, contently sipping her tea while the guards nervously milled about the ship.

Eventually a young unicorn guard sat by the white unicorn and took a cup of tea for herself.

“Did you hide it well?” the aged water bender asked.

“Of course aunt. That wind bag will never find it,” Rarity said from behind the helmet. “I looked through the scroll and you were right. It was about the Spirit World, but I couldn't understand anything about the spell itself.”

“No. You wouldn't. It was a very special spell, one even I doubt I or my sister could perform,” Celestia said solemnly. “It would take one very gifted in magic to perform such a spell. Somepony like that avatar should be the only one to use it.”

“Why? The general seems to be controlling it well enough. Despite the fact I'd love to toss her off the ship every time she uses it...” Rarity grumbled softly.

“Every time she uses the spell she forces a connection between this world and that one. Things have escaped from there before and it would not surprise me to find Trixie was being manipulated by such things,” Celestia mumbled as she softly sipped her tea.

“Then how do we stop her?” Rarity asked as she leaned closer in anticipation.

“We don't,” Celestia said as she finished her tea and began to refill it.

“What?!” Rarity yelled as she fell out of her chair. She blushed and quickly got back up, thankful they were alone in the dining hall for now. “But what about what you just said?!”

“There is no way for us to use the spell for now,” Celestia said as she shifted slightly in her seat. “For now we can merely stall and delay. The general will be searching the ship from top to bottom. Perhaps in her turmoil an opportunity to stop her will finally present itself.”

“Hopefully. I still say we should just toss her off the ship the moment she starts casting the spell.”

“Shadowbolts would catch her and you'd be outed. I'm constantly being watched, so sadly we'll have to be patient. At least the tea is good.”

“Fine. I'm a little late for my shift so I'll see you later,” Rarity said as she turned and briskly walked out from the mess hall. She didn't have a shift, but she didn't wish to show her aunt her annoyance and anger.

Twilight couldn't help but let out a gasp of shock as she laid eyes on the three ships hovering high over the dozens of ponies locked in cages. The sun revealed every motion of the small patrols of unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi. The size of the force was almost awe inspiring.

“How long do you think they've been there? You don't think they're waiting for us, do you?” Spike asked nervously.

“No, but they must have been here a while if we've managed to catch up to them. We'll need to go around,” Twilight said firmly as the group slowly started going around the large encampment.

“Won't they catch up to us when they finally start going again?” Rainbow asked.

“Well... yes. Most likely. But we're almost to Cloudsdale! We should arrive their before dawn if we keep up this pace,” Twilight said as she looked over her group. They were tired, hot, sweaty and dusty. They had pushed themselves to keep moving all day and most of the night, only stopping when it got to cold and they had to huddle for warmth.

Another day of walking would push them to their limits, but there was no other way. Well, except maybe one. “Guys, if you want to rest I can go on al-eek!” she was cut off as her friends practically shoved her forward. “I get it, I get it!” She giggled despite herself, she should have known they wouldn't go for that idea.

Slowly they made there way around the ships and, despite a few close calls with some pegasi, managed to avoid being detected. Before long the five were far ahead of the flying ships, leaving them as little more than specks on the horizon. Morale was quickly decreasing as they kept glancing back in fear, as if they expected the ships to descend on them at any moment.

After the morale hit an all time low Pinkie started to hum. At first the others glanced at her oddly, but before long they were all humming along to the song. Then the pink pony began to sing.

“On a journey with all my best friends,

I'll be awfully sad when it all ends.

Buncha ponies waiting for us to arrive,

our little tiny group of five.

Gonna save all the ponies in the sky,

then after that we'll tell them bye.

All those fighting ponies up in cloudsdale,

praying and hoping that we don't fail.

But none of them have need to fret,

because at the end I'll make a bet.

There won't be any more need for war,

because on the way is the Avatar!”

Rainbow chuckled a little. It wasn't Pinkie's best song, but it certainly raised their spirits a bit. The little pink mare went through song after song as they walked, soon distracting the group from their tired muscles and aching bones. Even after the sun dipped behind the hills and her mouth was tired she carried on, supporting her friends the best way she knew how.

Hours after darkness surrounded them they saw it. Off in the distance hundreds of torches clustered around each other. Some were high in the sky though the majority were down on the ground.

“That must be it! We're almost there everyone! Just a little further!” Twilight said as her heart soared. They'd done it! Everything had been leading to this point. All their travels, all their adventures, everything. Soon she would learn air bending properly and then be one step closer to her goal of being the avatar she needed to be.

Her heart plummeted back to the ground when she caught sight of Cloudsdale. It was a massive city in the sky hovering over a walled fortress of a city on the ground. Thick walls protected the ground city. Pegasi flew about while earth ponies and unicorns guarded the walls. What made her heart plummet was the force surrounding it.

Massive camps of the Water Nation ponies surrounded the thick walls. While there was no fighting going on at the moment both sides seemed to be on full alert. The good news was the skies were relatively empty, though she imagined it was due to the large number of one time floating ships she saw shattered and broken around the city. The only ones still in the air were keeping a wide berth from the floating city likely filled with air benders.

“We'll have to be careful. Rainbow, Fluttershy,” Twilight started, “do you think you can go up and get some others to help bring us up? You can bring Pinkie and Spike with you too. I can wait... or not.” She meekly looked away from the glare Rainbow was giving her. “Fine. Can you two just go and get some help? We'll be fine down here, we'll hide and keep watch for your return.”

“I'll go by myself, I'll be faster. No offense Fluttershy,” Rainbow added quickly. She took off like a bolt, crossing the distance between them and the cities in mere moments. The friends watched and waited for her return, but she never showed up. What did show up were six sudden blurs over the edge of the clouds. The camps below came alive as unicorns jumped to their hooves and began to shoot water into the air. The six blurs dove and weaved around the attacks with perfect accuracy and sent out a burst of air through the camps, sending ponies and their camps flying back.

The blurs flew straight to them before stopping a few feet away. Six pegasi, wearing goggles and blue tight matching outfits with yellow lightning bolts, stood before the group. Wonderbolts. Slowly they looked her over before bowing. “Avatar. We've come to bring you to Cloudsdale. If you would be so kind?” one with a frosty blue mane said.

All Twilight could do was nod and soon her and her friends were being hauled through the air at breakneck speeds. She regally and majestically held on tight and tried not to scream like a filly. Sure, she'd flown faster with Rainbow. But that was Rainbow. This was a stranger flying her over a veritable army of ponies who were shooting spikes of ice at them. Even with her added weight the pony carrying her weaved around the attacks as if they were standing still and not hurtling past them at rapid speeds. She was beginning to see why Rainbow admired them so much.

Soon they were dropped off on a small bit of stone molded to the clouds. A group of pegasi were wearing hard hats and slowly crafting walkways and flat areas of stone into the clouds where non pegasi could walk.

“What's going on here?” Twilight asked as she gingerly put a hoof against the clouds. Yay! It held her!

“We've had survivors pouring in from attacks to the east. A new secret weapon from the Water Nation,” the pony who carried her said. “We've been adding to the city as fast as we can, but at this rate we won't have nearly enough space for the ponies on the ground.”

“You're just planning to hide?” Twilight asked in confusion. “But I thought you were fighting them?”

“We are, but defense's come first. We can't win this war if they slaughter our comrades. That's why we were so happy to hear you were coming.”

“Y-you heard?” she paused for a moment as it dawned on her. “He made it here?!”

“Aye. We received your message yesterday. We've been waiting ever since,” the wonderbolt said solemnly. “We heard you could fight this thing they have created. We just want you to know the Wonderbolts will support you in any way we can.” The stallion saluted.

“I see. Well I'll need time. I've never actually gone to the spirit world on my own before, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. For now just work on defenses and doing what you've been doing, okay?”

The wonderbolt nodded as he flew off, the others joining him. She still needed a teacher, but that would have to wait. For now she had to figure out a way to stop this unstoppable force before it over took these ponies.

The Great and Powerful Trixie sat on the deck of her ship, the sun rising behind her. All her searches had been in vain, whoever took her scroll was obviously long gone. She'd have to begin moving again soon. She was distracted from her moping by something flying towards the ship from the west. The soldier she had sent out, Shadowblade, was returning!

The pegasus landed on the deck and bowed her head. “General, I have news from Cloudsdale. The avatar has made her way into the city. She appeared last night carried by the Wonderbolts. The soldiers tried to stop them but they were caught by surprise.”

“The avatar?” the blue unicorn was in shock for a moment until a grin slowly formed on her lips. The avatar! Of course! “Ready the ship! We depart at once!” Yes. She would bring her full force against Cloudsdale and destroy all the enemies of the empire at once and bring the avatar back to the nation as yet another prisoner! In her excitement she failed to notice one of the unicorn guards slip down below deck.

Shadowblade merely smiled from her kneeling position. Smile while you can, general, the mare thought to herself as a wicked grin formed on her lips. “As you wish General. For the glory of her highness, Nightmare Moon.”

Within the bowels of the ship Rarity could barely contain herself as she made her way to her aunt's room. She passed security, claiming news from the general, and rushed to Celestia's side. “The avatar. She's arrived at Cloudsdale. The griffon failed.”

“That is interesting news,” the unicorn suppressed her smile. “There is only one thing we must do then.”

“Get in and capture her?”

“Give her your father's notes,” the aged mare said quickly.

Rarity barely managed to contain her scream of frustration, instead letting it out as a small squeak of indignation. “Y-you want me to give HER of all ponies those notes? Impossible! Why would I ever... WHY?!”

“Because you must. The avatar will need that information to stop Trixie. You are the only one who can deliver it to her.”

“But why her? It would be better for the avatar to be weak and vulnerable so she is easier to capture.”

“Rarity!” her aunt actually hissed the name. “You do not know of what you speak. The general is dealing in matters beyond us. The avatar has to stop her and it is our duty to help. There will be time to capture her later.” Celestia glared down at the banished princess.

“I...” Rarity had never heard her aunt sound so frustrated and angry, especially not with her. Slowly she nodded her head. “Very well. I will help the avatar if we must.”

“Very good. First you'll have to make your way back to our ship, from there...”

Twilight took deep, slow breaths as she tried to focus. She had been sitting in an empty cloud-made room for hours, trying desperately to get back to the Spirit World. She didn't understand what she was doing wrong. Sure, the first time the great dragon had been there to help her, but how hard could it be? Why couldn't she make any progress?

Her shoddy focus was shattered by a light knock on the cloud doors, barely audible even in the silent, empty room. She slowly moved to the door and pushed it open. The frost maned wonderbolt greeted her. “Avatar, you should see this.” Outside the room she could see ponies were running around frantically as pegasi were streaming off the cloud, only to return with ponies from the city below. At least those that returned. She ran to the side of the cloud city and looked over the edge.

Pegasi were dropping from Cloudsdale and grabbing the ponies in the city one by one while other pegasi struggled to fight the water benders off. Water and ice flew through the air as the benders tried to keep the city from evacuating, sadly many pegasi had already fallen before the assault while others struggled to keep going for as long as they could endure.

As she looked up she saw the cause of the evacuation. The three Water Nation ships, as well as their prisoners, were making their way towards the city. They would likely arrive within the hour and, if what Twilight heard was true, the city below would quickly fall.

The ship continued to draw closer and closer until finally it joined with the rest of the remaining flying ships of the Water Nation. She could almost see the blue mare as she slowly strode out on the deck. She couldn't miss the blue burst of magic.

For a while nothing happened. Then silence fell over the city as every pony on both sides watched with anticipation. Slowly a blue glow formed in front of the flying ships. It started out as a formless swirl but began to harden and take shape. It began as a large sphere as two clawed arms shot out from it, massive enough to crush a home in one strike. Two powerful legs, wider than even the largest pony, sprouted out from the bottom next. Finally a second, smaller sphere began to form above the first as two eyes and a massive maw pushed out. The thing stood tall in the form of a bear. Stars could be seen across the massive creature's body, as well as a large one on the creature's forehead. The most impressive thing about the creature was the fact it was larger than a house, a size to rival even the great dragon.

The bear's eyes slowly opened, a blue glow emanating from them. After a few seconds it charged forward, the Water Nation soldiers trailing behind. It broke through the wall in seconds and tore into the city. The ponies below attempted to fight it, but all their weapons seemed to fly through the massive creature. Within moments the pegasi were retreating from the carnage, abandoning those trapped on the ground to the Water nation.

Twilight looked away, unwilling to watch the ponies being captured and tossed into cages. Slowly she headed back into the room of clouds and focused on the Spirit World. Now, more than ever, she knew she had to succeed. She had to stop that thing before it spelled the end of all of Cloudsdale.

Rarity had waited until Nightfall before making her move. Getting back to her original ship had been easy. Getting down, well... THAT have been difficult. She had hidden the scroll and a note within a black cloak and donned the metal hooves of the Phantom, but she really wished she still had the weapon to go with her tail. She had to hide within her cloak and climb down a rope in the darkness, holding the rope end in her mouth and wrapped around her so she would only let enough slack down as she needed, careful to not alert any pony below. It took her over an hour of cautious sliding before she was finally down on the ground and as she trotted away she kept walking funny as her sore arms begged for rest.

She didn't allow herself a moment of it though, instead moving quickly towards the nearest tree and removing her armor. Her horn glowed for only a scant second as the bark and cloak molded around her body, revealing the Phantom. She wished she had come up with a better name for herself, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Not that she ever lowered herself to begging.

Her disguise complete, the unicorn slowly made her way to the cages where the prisoners were held. It was almost to easy, the moonless night made her near invisible. Dozens of crude cages had been made to house their excess of prisoners and there was only a skeleton guard around the prisoners. After all, who would dare attack the encampment with such a powerful creature protecting them and still residing within the cities walls?

The unicorn looked around before finally finding what she wanted. A few hastily made, single pony cages had been filled with multiple ponies. Air benders, their wings tied to their backs, blindfolded, gagged and hog tied. She chose a cage housing four of them. Opening the cage was simple, the prisoners were tightly tied so all they had done was wrap a few chains around the door and call it good. Once they were removed, she slowly walked inside and nudged the pegasi until they awoke.

“Silence. I have a message for the avatar. You must make your way to Cloudsdale and deliver it. If you do this, I will release you from your binds. Agreed?” Rarity said in the gruffest voice she could manage. After a bit one of the pegasi nodded. She dropped the note and scroll in front of the pegasus before getting to work.

A few moments later the pegasus's legs were freed, but when he removed the blindfold there was no pony there, but his fellow prisoners. He merely shrugged and set about unbinding the others before grabbing the package and taking off into the night.

Rarity watched from the shadows with a grin on her face. Well, Twilight would get the scroll like her aunt wanted. But she didn't see why she couldn't get what she wanted as well.

Twilight looked through the papers, her mouth open in shock. The first note was from the Phantom, who at first she hadn't recognized until Spike mentioned it was the name of the pony who saved her. He was asking her to meet him, alone, after all this was settled. That was the less impressive, if still important, part. The impressive part was the scroll. The spell was amazing! It detailed not only how to get to the Spirit World but also what things she could face there! Had she had more time she would have studied it far closer, but alas she only had a short time to browse through it.

It was just as well too. Cloudsdale was filled to the brim with ponies and food stores were running out. The leaders were estimating at most a few days before they would lose all their supplies. With the city so full they couldn't even risk attempting to move through the sky, as too many ponies could be lost from breakage. The bear was still below the city, waiting for any who would fall into it's grasp.

But this scroll was a new hope. Her eyes read over each word with quickly as possible, skimming over to get to the pieces she needed. It wasn't long before she let out a sigh, pushed the scroll away and closed her eyes. Her horn began to glow as slowly the spell took hold and the world changed around her.

The world was faded and gritty, much like her first time here. She slowly walked away from her body and headed to the edges of the clouds and looked down at the spirit world below. Dense forests filled the world, not a city in sight. She gulped and looked back at her wings, gasping in shock. Her wings were full sized! Actual pegasus wings! Well, alicorn wings. She gulped and spread them out before jumping from the cloud towards the world below.

Flying felt weird, like she was falling very slowly through vats of jello. When she finally landed her wings were sore from being held in the same position so long, but she folded them up to her back none the less. So now that she was here she had to find that bear and general. With her head held high she began to wander through the forest.

The forest was different from any she'd seen before, even the Everfree Forest. Despite the fact she was heading forward she felt as if each step was making the world shift around her at random, as if she was running in erratic directions. The plants were erratically colored, even through the faded and gritty view, as if a foal had tossed random paints around. The bugs were strange as well, ranging from the sizes of her hoof to some the size of a buffalo. She even saw a wild pack of cupcakes attacking and feasting on a small group of cakes. Worse of all, it was starting to rain. Chocolate milk. The Spirit World was a strange place.

She stopped as she felt herself being watched. A slithering sound could be heard behind her and she gulped. She hated snakes. She took a deep breath as she turned around and blasted it! Or rather, she tried too. Instead her horn didn't even glow. Which was a shame, since the thing behind her was far, far worse than any snake.

The creature had a head of a pony with a single antler pointing out of the top and large bushy white eye brows. It had red beady eyes with bright yellow sclera. It's head and neck were a dark gray though the rest of its body was dark brown. It's left arm was that of a dragon's while its right arm was that of a gryphons. It's left leg looked like one from a bear while it's right leg came from a pony. It had two large bat wings on its back and a long snake like tail. "W-what are you?" she managed to barely squeak out in fear as she mentally panicked. Oh buck oh buck oh buck.

Chapter 17: Offender

Rarity watched the clouds with apprehension as the night wrapped her in its dark embrace. The moment the pegasi had awoken she had hidden and watched them fly away, before vacating the encampment. She lay on a nearby hill and watched for signs of the coming conflict.

She wiped some sweat from her brow as she sighed. “Why is it so hot now?” she grumbled. Her entire life the moon had cast its light down on them and the cold kept them huddled inside warm rooms or near fires when on their ships. Now it was so tepid she barely needed her cloak to keep snug and she was still sweating. In fact she had removed the bark and other things from her disguise to keep herself from over heating! Just a few months ago the very notion of such things would have made her chuckle at the insanity of it all. She was unable to resist feeling a little grateful towards the avatar for such a gift.

She, of course, still had every intention of capturing and bringing the avatar to the Water Nation. It was her destiny after all, to return home and be hailed as a hero. Having her birth right returned to her. Taken back from her little sister, Sweetie Belle.

The sudden thoughts of her sister brought a small tear to her eye, though she wiped it away quickly. Sweetie had always looked up to her, but she never had time for the little filly. Always busy with work or designing or trying to improve her water bending. Ironically the little unicorn had always been far more talented when it came to bending.

Rarity could still remember the way Sweetie would run up to her, desperate to show off the new water bending trick she learned. Always looking for any sign of approval or acceptance from her elder sister. But all the fallen princess had given was annoyance and discouragement. Constantly shoving her little sister aside and telling her 'next time, next time', but next time never came.

She slowly got up to sit against a nearby tree and let out a mournful sigh. She wondered what brought these thoughts to her mind. Maybe it was the excitement of knowing soon she would return home? Knowing she would finally be what she had always desired and deserved to be? The future ruler of the Water Nation and eventually Nightmare Moon. “Don't worry mother... sister... I'll be back soon. This time I won't fail. I'll be the princess I should have been from the beginning...” she said as she stomped a hoof down.

“Why I am Discord, of course. Now who, pray tell, are you?” the thing before Twilight asked as he slithered around her in a small circle.

Every nerve in her body was telling her to run long, run hard and run far. Discord wasn't supposed to be here! He was supposed to be sealed away! Gone! Did he escape already? Was this just a part of him? Was this creature responsible for the giant bear? Even worse, was it allied with Trixie? She'd need to think hard and fast if she wanted to have any chance of dealing with him. “I-I'm the a-avatar.” Or she could just tell him exactly who she was. If she could move aside from trembling she'd face hoofed.

“Oh of course you are, my dear,” he said in a mocking tone. “I am certainly getting a lot of guests these days, aren't I? What brings you to my humble abode?” He just gazed down at the alicorn with a cruel smile that sent a chill down her back.

“N-nothing. I was just leaving,” she said as she turned to leave, but found her path blocked by the creature's tail.

“Oh? Why so quick to run? It really has been so long since I've last seen an avatar. Especially one who seems so out of place in my realm,” Discord said as its dragon's claw gently stroked her head. As the claws were drawn away she swore she could still feel it, burning across her flesh. “Please, let me entertain you for a while. I insist.”

“N-no need. Really, I was just-eek!” she shrieked as the tail wrapped around her and she found herself carried along through the woods.

“It's beautiful, isn't it?” Trixie asked Celestia as the two stood on the bridge. The bear was seemingly asleep under Cloudsdale, its massive frame barely moving from its small bed of broken homes and walls.

“Not quite the word I would use,” the elder pony said softly. “Impressive though. I couldn't help but notice it only seems to move when you are using that spell and no longer with us. If you aren't using the spell, how is it still there? It didn't remain at the other places you destroyed.”

“There was no need for it to remain at those places. I think it's fitting to let them look down and see the object of their destruction,” Trixie laughed victoriously. “I think when they finally surrender to me I'll make an exhibition of their precious Wonderbolts first. Dangle them from ship by their precious wings until they break off and fall to their deaths. That will teach those foals to oppose the Water Nation.”

Celestia cringed at the brutality of the general and shook her head. “I wouldn't count yourself to powerful yet, General. You haven't defeated the pegasi yet. You still can't assault Cloudsdale,” the unicorn reminded her.

“Bah. Don't you worry about that. I already have special plans for when the night falls. My soldiers are already in place,” she said as another wicked grin formed on her lips.

“Whatever do you mean?” the white unicorn kept her voice calm and reasonable, but inside she began to feel dread.

“There are plenty of ponies up in that city. Would be a shame if they lost their supplies, wouldn't it?” with those words Trixie turned and trotted back into the ship.

The forest began to get darker as Twilight was dragged along. The comical appearances of the plant life was soon replaced by dark, rotten woods covered in a sickly green ichor with branches that seemed to reach for her. She couldn't help but long for the strange trees and plant life she had seen before.

Little blue eyes watched her from the shadows as light clicking and buzzing began to fill the air. “Now I do apologize that the accommodations aren't what you are likely used to, Avatar,” Discord said as he dropped her into a small stone nest filled with eggs. “But things just haven't been the same since you were last here. Well, one of you. Tell me, how many avatars have come and gone since then, hmmmm?” He leaned in close, his eyes less than an inch from hers.

Twilight stared at the creature as her eyes shifted around to different locations on his face. “I-I'm the first. I-I really should be going, you see I have a bear to stop. A big bear. I'd hate to intrude and ow!” she shrieked as her hoof was struck as she tried to climb out of the nest.

“Oh no no no! We can't have that! After all, it's thanks to you that I'm even here. Please... let me help,” those last words dripped with venom as his eyes narrowed on her..

Twilight stared at the spirit nervously and began to shake her head, trying to focus on what she had to do. On what was at stake. On who needed her. She slowly narrowed her eyes on the spirit. Slowly she took a deep breath and then let out a low growl. “Stop it,” she said warningly.

“Stop what?” he asked with mirth.

“This. All of it. Fine, Discord, if you want to play games we'll play,” Twilight said firmly as she stomped her hoof down on the creatures tail. He pulled it away with a yelp. “I don't know how you're out and moving, but there is no way your power is anywhere near what it used to be. Don't think just because I'm new to this that I will hesitate to send you back where you belong if you get out of line.” She could feel her confidence begin to grow as her horn lit up. Wait, her horn lit up! Her magic, her bending! She could feel it! Flames shot out from her horn and enveloped the draconeus for a second before dissipating and leaving him completely black as he coughed out a little smoke.

“I see,” he grumbled before shaking off the soot. “Very well, Avatar. What do you need?”

“The giant bear. You're going to take me to it.”

“Oh? Giant bear? I'm afraid I don't know of any such things. Perhaps you'd settle for a giant bunny? We have quite a few of those,” he said as he motioned off to the distance.

“NO!” she growled and then lunged into the air. Her hooves caught the creature in the chest and she drove him down as her horn began to glow. “You're going to... going to...” her voice trailed off as the thing under her hooves began to twist and shift. The sound of buzzing and clicking got louder and faster. Slowly she backed away and stared “You're... you're not Discord. A-are you?”

“No. No I am not.” Slowly it got up as the creature's form burst into green flames. As the flames died down a black pony, far taller than her, stood in its place. The ponies body was filled with holes around the hooves and had a long jagged horn that looked as if it had been bent repeatedly. Long dark cerulean insect wings with holes were on her back. She had a dark cerulean mane and tail that had holes through them as well. Her eyes seemed to glow with a wicked green light.

Creatures quite similar to the monster, only lacking the mane, tail and being much smaller, flew from the trees and soon surrounded the two. A wicked grin slowly spread across the creature's lips as it moved closer. “My name is Chrysalis, ruler of the Spirit World and queen of the changelings.”

“But... you're not... why were you looking like Discord? How were you?” Twilight asked as she backed away, only stopping when one of the smaller creatures blocked her way.

“There are many forces that wished to rule once Discord was defeated by you. I merely decided that it would be better for him to never leave. Well, for nothing to believe he left.”

“O-oh. Then I'm sure you're uhhh, quite thankful to me, right?” she said softly as she tried to calm her shaking hooves and regather her courage.

“Oh, of course. I am over joyed to no longer have to deal with that psychotic tyrant. Then again had it not been for your interference oh so long ago,” the creature's body erupted in green flames for a moment before turning into a pink alicorn. “Me and my hive would have escaped into the real world and been free of him so much sooner.”

“Y-you're... you're the one who... Cadence,” Twilight managed to gasp out pathetically.

“Oh, of course. I imagine you'd prefer this form.” Once again the creature changed, this time into a white unicorn stallion with a blue mane.

The avatar could feel her heart begin to pound faster as pain filled her chest, like a knife stabbing and twisting. It took a few seconds for her to realize she was crying and a few more seconds before she began to feel it bubble under the surface. Hatred. Raw and powerful. Burning away in her like the sun itself.

The changelings charged forward and surrounded her, dozens of them dog piling the alicorn. Within moments they were thrown away as a pink light bathed the area. Twilight no longer stood there, instead a tall pink alicorn stood in her place. Her hair and mane were colored in streaks of light yellow, dark pink and dark purple.

The mare glared up at Chrysalis with raw burning contempt. “You DARE to use the face of my love against me?!!” she screamed as her horn glowed so brightly it could be seen for miles. Before the queen of changelings could run she was enveloped in the glow and dragged before the raging avatar. “You took the most important pony in the world to me and you think you ARE WORTHY TO WEAR HIS FORM?!” The spirit world itself seemed to shift and writhe from her rage, thunderous clouds forming above as the weird plant and animal life attempted to hide or meld itself into the ground. The remainder of the changeling horde cowered as the mare yelled at their queen.

Chrysalis ended her transformation and tried to look away from the angry mare. “I was-”

“I know EXACTLY what you were doing. The same thing you tried to do all those years before!” A shock wave spread out from her horn, toppling creatures and some trees as it spread out. “I should destroy you.”

The queen gasped as the pressure of raw magic began to press in on her body, slowly crushing her.

“Destroy you like you destroyed my love.” Slowly she brought Chrysalis's face towards her, gazing into her eyes.

“W-wait...” the queen gasped out.

“Why?” the alicorn asked as she tightened the magic around her, mangling the queen's wings. Rage burned through her body like fire as she watched the creature before her. “Long ago I stayed my hoof out of a sense of mercy and a desire to not harm others. In the end all it has brought me was pain. I should wipe you and your horde from this realm and all others!”

“T-the a-avatar n-needs me...” the queen gasped. “W-without my h-help s-she will be u-unable to find... gasp... what she s-seeks. S-she'll fail...”

Cadence growled. “What do I care? That is the new avatar's problem, not mine.” She tightened the hold even more.

The queen gasped and then shifted once again into the stallion's form. “He... wouldn't... want you to... c-cause her f-failure o-out of v-vengeance...”

The alicorn growled but slowly her horn dimmed and the queen was dropped to the ground. “You will help the new avatar and then you will leave to a corner of the Spirit World and never bother her or any future avatar again. If I ever find you again I will not hesitate to destroy you. It will be the least you deserve,” with those final words dust swirled up around the alicorn and hid her from view.

When the dust settled Twilight stood before the changeling. “W-what happened?” she asked, looking around with confusion.

Chrysalis slowly got to her hooves. “Come. I will help you find what you seek,” she growled, limping a bit as she tried to spread her wings, alas they were useless, crushed in the avatar's rage.

“You'll help me?! Really? I thought you said you didn't know where it was?”

“Your giant bear? I do not. But how things appear in this world and in your world are often different. In the end there is nothing in this world me and my hive cannot find. Now tell me more of this bear.”

As the sun went down behind the mountains a single blue shape took off from one of the ships, a young pegasus colt with a blue coat and light blue mane. His cutey mark was two small wings hiding a ponies eyes. His name was Littlewing, a mockery towards his size. Despite the fact he was as old as any pony out here a birth defect had led to him never growing bigger than the average colt. Knowing he would never be any use to his nation as a warrior, instead he developed more treacherous talents. Talents he could use with his size to give him power. The Air Nomads were extremely protective of their children and tended to try and keep them free from the front lines. Which meant he would often have access to the back lines where he could strike and damage them where it hurt the most.

Unsurprisingly he had found his talents valued highly by the general and sent off to do her bidding. The dye on his mane and coat had only barely dried when he took off for the floating city. He didn't seem to have any tools with him, his duties requiring him to move fast and light. All he carried were four small, but potent, poisons in small fake pony shoes.

Before long he found himself climbing over the edge of the clouds and almost instantly let out an eek as he stared straight into the eyes of a blue mare with a rainbow colored mane. “Hey, where did you come from?” the pony asked as she picked him up in one hoof. “I don't think I've seen you before. Which is strange cause I thought I met the lot of you earlier and I never forget a fan,” she said with a confident smirk.

He struggled and let out a little pathetic squeak, trying to look as weak and small as he could. “I-I w-was h-hiding in a c-cloud when the g-giant bear came,” he said with a pathetic whimper as he formed tears in his eyes.

“Oh. Right,” she looked around nervously once the tears started so he decided to push her a bit more.

“H-have you seen m-my mommy? I-I couldn't f-find her after we were separated... S-she said she'd come and get me b-but she never came...”

The rainbow-maned pegasus let him go and motioned away. “I don't know, all the ponies are scattered about. Just go look for her but stay away from the edge. We don't want anyone falling off, especially not a little kid.”

“O-okay...” he quickly darted off. Now that he was in the city no pony gave him so much as a second glance and he could see why. Many homes had been remade into short multi floored towers and there were dozens of non-pegasi ponies struggling to keep safe on the few solid places they could stand. Even the clouds were covered with ponies, keeping around the solid bits in order to keep their brethren from falling through. Most of the ponies were trying to catch sleep, but a few were still wandering around. He kept his cool and pretended to just be looking for some pony while his trained eyes searched for something to meet his expectations.

He soon caught sight of a large cloud-building with two guards at the front door. They might as well have put a big sign on front that said 'Come grab our food, it's defenseless!' Silly ponies, he thought to himself, even if it's too soon for the hungry to try and steal food, that's not an excuse to leave it so poorly guarded. Come this time tomorrow the food will be the most precious thing on this flying marshmallow.

He slowly moved around the back of the building. Two pegasi were chatting with each other, though their backs were to him. He watched them for a few moments before lunging in through the wall. It only took him a few seconds to move his small form into the building and close the wall behind him, but he went completely still none the less and waited. After a few minutes of silence he looked around the building.

He almost squealed in delight! The place was obviously their store room, holding not only their food but also all their torches and other supplies! Silly ponies, he thought, must have been really hurting for space if they stored everything together, He went for their liquids first.

Most were stored in special large vats with thick lids on top that he had to struggle to remove, but he managed to one by one slide the lids off enough for him to put his front left hoof over. From there it was just a few simple drops from the mechanism in the shoe and then a small stir. It took him almost an hour before all the vats were dealt with.

The food stores were next. He began slowly opening food, such as bags of flour and nuts, and began to dump small powdered toxins within them. The poison wasn't strong enough to kill any pony who ate it, but it would cause plenty of negative effects to the ponies. This part went much faster namely because he didn't have nearly enough to poison all their foods so he made sure to open and spread the poison as best he could. The final part was easier as he went through their stores and found a flint and tinder. He grabbed all the torches and put them up against the food before lighting them into a blaze.

Before the fire could go too far he took off and made another hole through the side of the cloud building. He didn't hesitate and, not even looking to see if any pony saw him, took off like a bat from Tartarus. A few ponies gave him confused looks, but it wasn't until a few minutes later that he heard the yelling and shouting. Once ponies began to run towards the commotion he blended in with the crowds and started to make his way back, eager to see his handiwork.

He was disappointed to see the fire was already out by the time he returned, being surrounded in clouds at such a high altitude did make fires a lot harder to keep going. It was one of the reasons most the cloud cities had fallen during the hundred years of night. He scowled when he saw most the food had survived. Doesn't matter, come tomorrow most of the drinks would have to be gathered from clouds. The Water Nation would pluck them like fruit when they try.

He began to back up with a large grin on his face. Now he only had one final task before he could leave this hovering city. All he had to do was find the avatar and he had a special poison in mind for her. Slowly he turned to walk away and walked straight into another pony. It took him a few seconds to realize who it was. The same blue pegasus who saw him when he first arrived.

“What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked warily.

Twilight gulped nervously as she slowly inched across a long, thin, stone bridge directly over a chasm filled with... well she didn't know what it was. Some kind of giant purple slime? The changeling had warned her not to fall in unless she wanted to face her ultimate destruction. Frankly she was expecting the changeling to toss her in at any moment.

“We're almost there, Avatar,” Chrysalis said roughly. “Let us hurry so I can return to my children.”

“Are you sure this is the right place? How have you gotten here before?” Twilight asked. A moment later she shrieked before darting across the bridge as a large bubble of purple slime popped and sent a small burst up the stuff into the air, coming within inches of covering her.

“Normally I would fly there, but as you can see that is no longer an option,” Chrysalis said snidely. “So a few of the landmarks seem different, but I think I can still tell where I'm going.”

Once they crossed the bridge the land began to change yet again. The trees looked normal, as did the ground. Normal like the real world. They even had fruit bats! Normal, run of the mill fruit bats were resting in the trees!

“Why is this area so... different? Normal?”

“It's where the bonds between our world and yours are weakest. If your enemy wished to bring something from our world into yours it would have to be through here,” the queen practically snapped the answer.

“Why haven't you tried to break through?” Twilight asked suddenly.

“Why would I? Without Discord to cause mayhem and anarchy this world is mine. There are only a few who can oppose me and those ones are still fearful of his wrath. Or did you believe I was queen in words only?” the changeling asked with a chuckle.

“If you're so happy to have him gone, why attack me? I mean, I am responsible for it. Sorta. A previous avatar is,” Twilight asked as she kicked over a small rock.

“Just because you accidentally did me one favor doesn't mean I'm going to like you. Given a chance I'd drop you off the nearest cliff,” the queen growled. “But for now it is in my best interest to just get you out of here. Here.” Chrysalis stopped in front of a small circle only a few inches wide in the ground that radiated light to form a thin pillar into the sky. “A small gateway has been formed here between our worlds, if you can close it the creature should be removed from that world.”

“Oh, well that sounds simple enough. How do I close it?”

“How would I know? You're the avatar,” the queen turned to walk off.

“Wait! You tried to open one of these though? How can you not know how to close it?!”

“I tried to open it long, long ago. Breaking through was no easy task and it was through deceiving the previous avatar I managed it. As to how I expanded the gateway... I used another pony to perform my deeds. Magic was never my skill, manipulation was. Besides even if I did know how to close the gateway I have already done more than enough to help you. Goodbye,” with those words the queen galloped off into the distance.

“Figures,” Twilight grumbled as she poked a hoof into the light and felt a soft tingling in her hoof. She pulled it back to look at it and found nothing wrong. Slowly she inched forward and stepped into the light. Almost instantly she was filled with fear and longing. She felt a prescence call out for her and beg for help. She quickly pulled away and looked at the beam, her mouth agape. She then turned and ran back after the queen, “Wait! Chrysalis! I have an idea!”

“Right there, general, is where we saw it,” a unicorn wearing the Water Nation's armor said as he pointed above the bear. “Your creature seemed to be fading out and for a few seconds we saw the avatar there, but she was as large as the creature. A moment later she was gone.”

“How many saw this?” Trixie asked warily.

“Most the soldiers who were on night guard. I came to see you immediately.”

“A good thing you did, lieutenant.”

“I-I'm not a lieutenant, I'm just a-”

“You are now,” Trixie said with a smirk. “You were sharp eyed enough to notice my little trick AND wise enough to come tell me immediately. I could use a pony like you.”

“W-what? You could? I mean-” He quickly stood up straight and puffed out his chest. “It was one of your tricks?”

“Why of course. I've been practicing on altering the form of the beast for a while now. Turning it into the form of the avatar would surely cause the pegasi to come investigate,” Trixie lied through her teeth. “Feel free to let the others know and stop their incessant worry. As if the avatar could hope to stop my plans,” She laughed as she quickly trotted off towards her office. Soon she had the door locked behind her and sat at her desk.

“So she thinks she can ruin all my plans, does she? I guess I'll just have to defeat her in the Spirit World as well,” she growled as her horn began to glow. “she'll be in for a nasty little surprise once my soldier finds her.”

The soldier in question, Littlewing, tried to make himself look as small as possible as he was slowly brought forward by the pegasus mare. He gulped nervously as he looked at the guard pony and quickly hugged Rainbow's leg. He did his best to seem frightened and terrified.

“Does this pony look anything like the one you mentioned?” Rainbow asked a red maned and orange coated stallion who was talking to the guard as she tried to shake the stallion/colt off her leg, but his grip was firm.

“I suppose it's possible, but I think the pony I saw was bigger than this. I couldn't get a good look of their cutey mark. I'm sorry but I wasn't paying much attention since I didn't think it was important at the time. The colors match though, a blue coat and a blue mane,” the stallion said uneasily as he watched the 'colt'.

“I saw this pony arrive tonight. How about you tell them what you told me?” Rainbow said as she glared down at the little pegasus.

“I-I was h-hiding in the c-clouds a-and w-waiting for mommy...” he whimpered softly as he lightly fiddled with his back right hoof shoe. From this position it would be all to easy to make the pony meet her end.

“For how long?” the guard pony asked. He seemed uneasy about all this as well, the pegasi obviously not used to interrogating a child.

Tears began to form in his eyes as he sniffled. “S-since d-dah sun w-went down...” he whimpered as he buried his head against the mares leg.

“I don't think this child has anything to do with it. He's just a child looking for his mother,” the guard said with a sigh. “Blue manes and coats aren't that uncommon. There are dozens of pegasi here who could match such standards.”

“I guess,” Rainbow said, though she didn't sound convinced. “Maybe you should take him too, just in case?”

“He's just a child. There's no need to worry about him,” the guard said softly. “Just take him back to rest with the rest of the children. He's obviously frightened enough as it is.”

Rainbow sighed and began walking, glancing down at the 'colt' in annoyance. “What's your name, anyway?”

“L-Littlewing,” he whimpered out. He made a mental note that the pegasus mare was smarter than he originally thought or perhaps she was just un-trusting.

“I've got my eye on you kid, so if you're a part of this don't think you'll get away unscathed.” He was beginning to think it was un-trusting. Was it because I didn't fawn over her like she mentioned the other foals doing?

“I-I just want my m-mommy...” he said softly as he fiddled with his hoof shoe again, a narrow needle popping out. He waited until they were a bit away from the large gathering and then he performed one small poke.

The poisons took effect almost immediately, dropping the pegasus to the ground. He untangled himself from her leg and slowly leaned down to look her in the eye. “You were right you know,” he mumbled as he slowly molded the clouds around her and pushed her down a bit so she was little more than a tiny bump. “Should have insisted they take me,” he taunted as he pulled the clouds completely over her. He then leaned down and whispered into the cloud, “Don't worry. The poison is slow but painless. You'll feel like you're falling asleep. A merciful death all things considered. Better than what I have in store for the avatar.”

He smiled as he trotted off. He technically was told to leave no casualties, but he was sure the general wouldn't mind only one. Besides, he could only bring four poisons with him at a time and three had to be prepared specifically for the mission. He had to bring at least one that fit his style. With his escort gone all he had to do now was find the avatar and he could finish with his mission.

Unfortunately for him, finding the avatar was much harder than finding the stores. Most of the buildings had become multi-floor towers and he didn't want to risk bursting into each of them. He let out a sigh as he prepared to find her the old fashioned way.

Twilight happily plodded along behind the annoyed changeling queen. “Are we almost there?”

“Yes,” the queen grumbled in annoyance as she hung her head. I am the queen of the changelings! she thought to herself, How am I being degraded to a mere tour guide? She growled a little as they made there way towards a semi-cave. It didn't help that the place was basically a volcano made of chocolate with molten caramel occasionally spurting out. She hated Discord and what he did to this world soooo much, if she was more powerful she would have removed all traces of the monster long ago. Used to be so perfect. Swamps everywhere, horrible monsters and even had a giant centipede that stole the faces of all who showed emotions. Since that spirit took over he filled her home with candy and nonsense, even after his defeat very little had reverted and his presence still permeated the world like the scent of rotten fruit.

“This is it, inside resides the closest thing to the creature you named. Good luck,” the queen grumbled in annoyance.

“You aren't coming with me?” Twilight asked softly.

“Buck no. This is your problem, not mine. You should be thankful I even led you here. Just hurry up and- eek!” Chrysalis froze as suddenly the alicorn HUGGED her. “Get off me!”

“Thanks for all your help. I'll be back in a short bit, don't leave without me,” Twilight said as she ran inside, a mischievous grin on her face. Making the changeling freak out made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. Her horn lit up and filled the cave with light. The cavern wasn't big so it only took her a few seconds to find what she was looking for. Nestled in the back were a small batch of tiny bears. Made of a strange gel. “You have got to be kidding me...” They had little stars over their bodies and came in a variety of colors. Red she imagined was strawberry, yellow was probably lemon, green was likely apple... she blamed Discord. It was the only excuse. She looked around but didn't see any that looked too big so slowly she wrapped her magic around a yellow one and pulled it towards her. It stirred a little but gentle rocking kept it still.

Slowly she walked back out the exit and held it up to Chrysalis. “I think I found it.”

“Ugh. Gummy bears. I hate those things,” the queen grumbled as they slowly headed back. “They used to be powerful and majestic creatures before discord came and changed them into those. Should have seen what he did to the scorpio creatures.”

“Scorpio? Were they turned into candy too?”

“Nope. Little adorable cartoons with giant eyes, ballerina dresses, and... the rest is to horrible to mention,” Chrysalis said with a shiver. “Discord was a monster like no other.”

“... You say he did these things to them. Hasn't Discord always been around? I mean... I was under the impression he was really old and really powerful. That and most of the stronger spirits in the world never left.”

“He was around as long as I can remember, but he was not always as powerful as he was. He used to be even weaker than me in terms of magical might. I don't know what changed, but the rules here are far different than they are in your world.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight gently held the bear against her back while rocking it softly.

“What you are on the inside is what matters in here. Discord was madness and chaos, so he became madness and chaos incarnate. You are the... well, a tiny avatar on the inside, so you became a tiny one on the outside.”

“Hey!” Twilight objected, “I'm not tiny!”

“You are microscopic. When the last avatar came here he stood taller than me and the entire world shook when he walked. You look like you might fall over from a small burst of air,” the changeling teased.

“I... I'm still learning. I don't know anything about this world. I was never taught. Heck getting in here was kinda a rushed experience. You see-”

“Don't care and don't want your life story,” Chrysalis interrupted. “We're almost there and I-” she froze as her ears began to twitch. “I'm done. Keep heading straight and you'll eventually get back.” The queen took off in a mad dash.

“What? Hey! Come back! Don't run off!” Twilight yelled and then cringed as she heard the bear on her back begin to move about. “Oh no. Rock a bye baby on the tree top...” she sang softly while she gently rocked the bear.

Littlewing stared at the avatar's body with a wicked grin. Finding her hadn't been easy. He had ended up asking a little yellow pegasus where 'dah big stwong avataw who'sh gonna save us all' was. The mare had just pointed and kinda meekly squeaked, she seemed a bit weird to him.

It didn't matter now though. Slowly he circled the mare, poking her and waving his hoof in front of her face. Not a move. What a bunch of foals, he thought to himself. The avatar was completely defenseless and they hadn't even left a single guard to protect her. They are practically begging some pony to come assassinate her!

Fortunately for them the avatar was wanted alive. Slowly he pushed her body over and adjusted his hoof shoe until a small needle popped out, a single drop of poison dripping out. Without a second more to waste he jammed it into her side and slowly injected the poison.

Once the baby had settled down Twilight slowly laid the bear on her back and continued onward. Before too long she was back to the beam of light, except in front of the light a small cage of ice was laying on the ground with a small blue gummy bear inside it. Twilight darted over and grinned, “So you're the little thing that's been causing so much trouble. Well I'm happy to see you're out, though that makes my plan A kind of useless.” Slowly and gently she laid the yellow gummy bear on the ground as she poked the ice cage. “Don't worry, I'll have you out of there in a moment. I wonder where you were when I-” she never got to finish the sentence as she was suddenly crushed by a massive blue hoof. The blue hoof slowly lifted the mare into the air and brought her to a triumphant blue ponies face.

“General Trixie...” Twilight groaned as she glared at the face. “H-how did you get so big?” The pony was as large as the giant bear that had been let loose on the Air Nomads! Heck, it was almost as large as the water benders ego. Slowly the alicorn tried to gather magic in her horn to make fire, but nothing formed. Her horn refused to even spark.

“Avatar, I've been waiting for you. Please, don't try and bend. It seems my little spy finished his mission,” the Great and Powerful Trixie said with a grin as she slowly gave the mare a squeeze with her massive hooves.

“W-what have you done, Trixie?” Twilight asked with a groan as she struggled to get free.

“Oh, don't you worry about that. I just took measures to ensure you don't cause me to many issues,” the unicorn said smugly. “Now onto important matters. Do you like my look? I think it suits me.” The general slammed the avatar back into the ground, eliciting a scream from the alicorn. “I'm happy you approve. It seems you still don't have a complete grasp on how the Spirit World works. Allow me to give you a demonstration.” Trixie's horn began to glow as more of Twilight's cries filled the air.

Rainbow struggled to push the clouds away, but it felt like her entire body was numb. She wasn't sure what that pony did to her, but who knew what would happen if she didn't stop him? Who knew what evil and malevolent plans that pony had planned? Even if he was a little colt, that wouldn't stop her from enacting vengeance!

Sadly the thin layer of clouds were too heavy. Each movement was strained and the clouds felt like an immovable wall of steel, encasing her. It didn't help that she kept drifting in and out of consciousness. Slowly, through diligence, she managed to create a small hole just wide enough for her leg in the clouds above and slowly slid her hoof out. Before she could make it any thicker the world went dark around her and her hoof fell back inside, lost in the sea of white clouds.

Chapter 18: Seasonally

Twilight gasped in pain as the pressure finally loosened around her body and she fell to the ground. She laid completely still as she gazed up at Trixie, each breath causing pain in her chest. Her vision was blurry but even she could see the massive grin on the general's face. “I want to thank you, Avatar. Going through the effort of bringing me a second weapon to use against the air nomads? How kind,” the unicorn said as her horn glowed. She picked the avatar and the little bears up, removing the blue one from its cage. “How about you come and watch the destruction of them all, first hoof?” with those words she walked into the white beam of light along with her three prisoners.

In the real world both bears appeared this time. One yellow and one blue with eyes that glowed with the light blue magic aura of the general. The Avatar could see it all as she floated high above them, but was helpless to do anything as she struggled against the general's magic. She could merely watch hopelessly as the blue one sat on its stomach and was stood on by the yellow one. With the added height it was within reach of the city! She screamed in horror as the first claw slashed up and tore into the clouds, bringing pieces of it down and sending ponies hurtling to the ground. Fortunately they were pegasi and able to catch themselves mid fall. Unfortunately the Water Nation soldiers were on alert and darted out to capture many of the ponies who were confused and disorientated.

The Air Nomads ran screaming through their city in a panic. One moment there was a quiet night, the next a massive claw tore through the clouds and brought one of their homes crashing down. Before they had a chance to fully awaken the claws were tearing into the city with vigor, shattering homes and bringing ponies down to the ground. Within moments the words had been called. Retreat.

The pegasi grabbed as many as they could, abandoning their homes and took off east towards the Earth Kingdom. It was their only hope. The clouds were slowly torn asunder as those unable to fly could do nothing but watch as the ground around them slowly gave way. With no hope left many closed their eyes and jumped from the city to be captured by their enemies.

Fluttershy was flying as fast as her little wings would let her in the turmoil, looking around in the darkness trying to find her friends. The avatar had been grabbed by some of the retreating pegasi so she knew she was safe, but she couldn't find Pinkie or Rainbow. Even worse with the city being destroyed there was almost no light to see so she couldn't make them out from a distance.

“Pinkie! Rainbow!” She yelled as loud as she could, which was sadly only barely above a whisper. What if they'd already fallen?! Rainbow would be down there fighting if she could and Pinkie... Pinkie was Pinkie!

Her wings slowed as the city continued to fall apart around her and the turmoil made it difficult to see. How can I possibly find them in all this? They could be right in front of my face and I'd never know!

Suddenly a massive yellow bear claw ripped into the air in front of her, making her shriek and jump back as it tore a line through the clouds. She stared at the large slash with her mouth agape. Such destruction, such power! It was unbelievable! How could they ever hope to... to... was that Rainbow? She looked at the small tail that was poking out from the clouds, right by the massive claw mark. She couldn't see the colors in the darkness but she could see whoever it was was buried under the clouds and had a multi streaked tail! She took off and crossed the gap in an instant, her wings flapping wildly, and began to tear into the clouds with her hooves. Within moments she found her friend.

Rainbow wasn't moving, her entire body limp. The little yellow pegasus let out a soft gasp as her eyes widened and she slowly leaned her head down to the rainbow maned pegasus's chest. She couldn't hear anything! There wasn't a heartbeat! Nothing! “N-no... please no...”

The tears began to form when she suddenly heard the single soft, pathetic heart beat. It was weak, but it was there. “Rainbow, wake up! Rainbow!” Fluttershy did manage to yell those words as she gently shook the mare, but she received no response. “Rainbow, please!” The hurt mare refused to move, her body completely limp. Another yellow claw tore through the clouds just a bit away from them. “Don't worry Rainbow, I'll get you out of here...”

She grabbed the cyan mare and took off as fast as she could. She was nowhere near as strong as the wind bender but with her friend's life at stake she refused to give up. Her wings flapping as strong as she could she slowly made her way up and away from the viscous claws. She gently laid the pegasus on a small cloud that was once part of a cloud home, which was now little more than a shattered roof, and pushed it up and out of reach of the claws. With the two safe for the moment she put her hoofs together as a yellow glow formed. With great care and trembling of her hooves she gently pushed it to the blue pegasus's chest.

Littlewing looked around the city with a large smirk on his face as it was torn piecemeal to shreds. Homes and supports crumbled as the creature below tore into the clouds. He gave one last victorious look at the fallen city before jumping off the edge and flying back down to the ground. In the darkness he could see the two bears as they worked together to destroy the floating city. He almost regretted having wasted those poisons on destroying their supplies, now that it would mean nothing.

He didn't even see the black blur until it slammed into him, sending him off balance and hurting his wings. Powerful legs wrapped around him and pinned his wings down as he struggled. “L-let me go!” he yelled. Oh buck. The Air Nomads figured it out! He looked up and did a double take when he saw the pony was wearing the Water Nation armor. “What the buck are you doing?! Put me down this instant!”

“Stop struggling, colt. You are a prisoner of the Water Nation now. Resist and you'll suffer,” the mare said into his ear.

“I am a Water Nation soldier! My name is Little Wing. I'm one of General Trixie's spies. Put me down this inst-ow!” he yelped as his wing was twisted.

“Sure you are. Now keep still or I'll break your wing, the little one,” the soldier taunted. He went quiet as he was slowly brought down to earth.

“Ask the general! She'll vouch for me! I'm part of the fift-mmph!” he tried saying the moment he was below but was silenced by a gag thrust into his mouth, followed by ropes binding him up. The pegasus flew back into the air while the earth and unicorn ponies tended to taking care of him and the other prisoners the pegasi were bringing in. He was unceremoniously tossed in a pile with other colts and fillies, his objections ignored.

Tears went down Twilight's face as she watched the destruction helplessly. They'd lost. They'd failed. No, she'd failed. All those ponies were depending on her and waiting for her and in the end Cloudsdale had fallen just like Cadence. She went limp in the magical grip as she refused to look at the obliteration of the last Air Nomad strong hold. She looked at the ground instead, watching the ponies being captured and caged by the dozens.

After a bit she realized she could see them all quite clearly and the world seemed slightly brighter. Was it already day time? Had she been here so long that the sun began to rise? Slowly she turned her head upwards and her mouth fell open. Far in the west the moon began to rise, a massive beacon to all the ponies in the world.

Cadence! They did it it! Twilight thought excitedly. They figured out the spell! Buck that, they are okay! They escaped! They did it! The excitement began to die as she realized they wouldn't be safe for long. Trixie was unstoppable. It doesn't matter. Trixie is unstoppable... she will tear across the country and destroy them all. Nothing can st- NO!

She growled as she turned to look at the bears. Too many ponies were counting on her to just give up! She tried to use her magic but nothing happened. Her horn refused to spark, let alone glow. Her horn refused to bring out the smallest burst of magic. “WHY?!” She screamed. “Work! Why won't you work?!” she howled and struggled against the magic holding her. “Ponies need me! Every pony needs me! My friends need me!”

A small spark went off behind her eyes as she tried desperately to fight the magic around her. For a moment the world seemed to stop, the bears, the pegasi, the Water Nation soldiers. Everything stopped. “ENOUGH!” She screamed as a crown formed on her head and her eyes began to glow. Lights shot out from it and spread out as far as the eye could see while more spread across Cloudsdale and connected to the ponies there. She could feel hope and light leaving them and filling her. Power. Magic. She spread out her hooves as the bears disappeared from the city and she and the general were thrown back into the Spirit World.

Fluttershy softly nudged Rainbow Dash and tried to wake her. Sweat coated the healer's body and she kept panting as she continued to heal the damage. Fortunately she had managed to fix most of it, but had yet to find the source and could only repair as more things were damaged. Her body was sore from her unmoving position but she refused to stop aside from occasionally glancing down below.

The city below had finally been over run. The bears were gone, but the damage had already been done. The airships were moving in to capture all those who still remained. From up here she could see the ponies being taken away in chains. It was only a matter of time before her little cloud was noticed.

She shook her head and tried to clear it of such worries as she refocused on healing her friend. For the moment she was winning, slowly repairing all the damage dealt to the poor mare. Sometimes she was even able to remove what she thought was small drops of the damaging substance, a small purple liquid.

The sound of beating wings made her turn and she cringed as she stared at the Water Nation ponies, though she didn't remove her hooves from her friend.

“Surrender and come peacefully,” one of the ponies said as he moved closer to her. She shook her head and mumbled her response, to quietly to be heard. “Very well then. Take her!” The pegasi surged forward on command. She flapped her wings and tried to knock them off while she held her hooves to her friend, but they grabbed and pulled at all of her.

“STOP!” She finally managed to scream out so loud she managed to startle herself. She flapped her wings to shake one of the ponies off before lunging forward and wrapping her hooves around Rainbow. The ponies quickly recovered and tried to pry them off each other, striking Fluttershy with their hooves. She refused to let go even through the hail of painful blows. She curled up around her friend and tried to make herself as small as possible as she sent her healing energy into her friend. She let out a pained cry as one of them grabbed and tore at her wing, ripping the feathers out and drawing tears from her eyes.

An explosion went off over her head as the attacks stopped. She slowly loosened her grip and looked around. A single pegasus was standing over her, wearing an all to familiar blue uniform with a yellow lightning bolt. A Wonderbolt! Not just any Wonderbolt either, she recognized the mane. It was Spitfire! The experienced flier dove down out of sight. Fluttershy moved to look over the side of the cloud and, still holding her friend, gasped in amazement. The Wonderbolts were launching a counter offense, attacking the ponies ships and fliers with all their powerful air bending. Despite the fact they were heavily out numbered the trained benders dove and weaved between attacks like lightning as their bending tore holes in the balloons that held the ships afloat. She stared as the remaining ships began to pull back from the city.

Fluttershy turned back to her friend and redoubled her efforts. She used every skill her teacher and hours of practice had taught her. After a few more minutes she was rewarded with the rainbow-maned pegasus opening her eyes.

“Fluttershy? What ha... t-the kid! He's a traitor!” she said as she tried to jump up, but was unable to gather the strength and instead wobbled a bit on the ground.

“Calm down. It's going to be okay. The Wonderbolts are here and they're-” she was cut off by a sudden scream from below. She turned to look down and gasped in horror. All of the Water Nation air forces were in position and the Wonderbolts were being overwhelmed. Despite their superior skill in the air they were slowly having their formations broken and picked off one by one by their enemies superior numbers. They had managed to sink a few more of the flying ships but the remaining were filled with water benders who sent spikes of ice sailing through the air and twisted the clouds around to attack the fliers. Even worse they were more than willing to launch attacks at the non flying ponies who were helpless and trapped in the air, so the Wonderbolts would try to defend them. There were only three Wonderbolts left, one of which she recognized as Spitfire but the other two she didn't know. They were already bruised and battered, but they continued to fight on.

“I need to get down there,” Rainbow said through gritted teeth as she struggled to get up despite her friend holding her down.

“You can't even move! They'd tear you apart,” Fluttershy said with a squeak.

“They need me! The Wonderbolts need me! I didn't come all this way to just sit by while Cloudsdale falls!” she growled as she slowly pulled from her friend and got to her hooves, weakly. Her legs shook as she slowly walked to the edge of the cloud. “Don't try to stop me. I have to do this.” she said as she dove off the edge of the cloud.

Rainbows on mountains and soft fuzzy kittens, jump up and down on the guards head. Bright copper baking pots with warm cooling muffins, duck down as the guards slam into each other. Lots of guards all tied up with chains these are a few of my favorite things, steal the key and toss it to the cage.

“Some pony stop that mare!” a guard yelled as he pointed at the pink earth pony that was somehow managing to make a fool of him and all his guards. Not only was she evading them easily and making them look like bumbling foals, she had already released five cages of ponies and started a riot! The worst part was she kept humming to herself the entire time!

The mare in question stopped for a moment and sang to the heavens, “Wild parasprites that fly with the moon to their wings, these are a few of my favorite things.” Right before she took a step back which resulted in two water benders accidentally freezing each other.

Two pegasi tried to dive bomb her, their hooves out. The faster one suddenly found his hooves grabbed by hers and she began to DANCE with him, the other slamming into the ground. The dancing stallion looked so confused, even more so when he soon found himself dancing with a water bender mare. It took a few seconds for them to realize what was going on and then they quickly backed away, cheeks aflame.

“Some pony stop her! We, hey, where did she go?” The lieutenant asked in confusion. He would have sworn she was- He let out a shriek as her head popped up in front of his!

“Why you all frowny wowny? Come on, sing with me! Turn that frown upside down! Snowflakes that stay in my mane and nibble at my tongue, silver white flakes that melt in the sun, these are a few of my favorite things~” the poor lieutenant found himself spinning in circles as the earth pony danced with him.

“Stop! Halt! Desist! Listen to me! Let me go! Not what I meeeeeeeant!” he shrieked as he was spun off suddenly, knocking over a group of water benders who made the unfortunate mistake of grouping up. The camp was a zoo! Ponies running around trying to stop the escaping prisoners while simultaneously trying to stop the strange pink mare. He swore if he ever found which pegasus 'captured' her he would see them demoted so fast their wings would spin! Assuming he even had a position after this fiasco ended! The escaped prisoners were quickly beginning to outnumber the guards sent here to watch them, which wasn't a surprise considering they were made up of almost the entire population of the Air Nomads.

His mouth fell open as the pink mare jumped high in the air, performed a double spin flip, bucked the door off a cage and then managed to land neatly on another cage as a group of his soldiers struggled to force the door back up. They were promptly squashed by her jumping on the door and soon groaning as she skipped off.

“Oh buck me,” the lieutenant grumbled as he turned to the right and saw that a number of the captured air benders had finally been released and untied. “Oh double bu- RETREAT!” he yelled as he and his soldiers made a prompt and less than dignified skedaddle from the scene of the crazy dancing mare.

Twilight stood before the Great and Powerful Trixie. Her eyes were glowing and the magnificent crown on the Avatar's head filled her with power. Through the glowing jewels she could feel her friends and the trust they put in her. The general still stood over her, as large as a mountain and far more powerful. The little bears were huddled behind the alicorn, sticking close together and looking fearfully at the two.

“You've lost, Trixie. You can't defeat us,” Twilight said as her voice seemed to almost echo. The world trembled as she took a single step forward.

“I'll give you credit, Avatar. I really didn't think you'd be capable of using the elements at your current level, it seems you've hidden your capabilities quite well. This makes my victory all the sweeter,” Trixie said as her horn glowed once again. Water shot out from the trees and wrapped around the avatar, binding her up. “But you still don't understand how to fight here, you don't-”

Twilight merely turned her head and the water around her evaporated. Flames coated her body as she stared at the unicorn. “You've lost. I am the bridge between the Spirit World and the real world. You have knowledge and power Trixie, but it is not enough!” The crown began to glow as a purple gem, shaped like her star cutey mark, formed on top of the golden head wear. A rainbow beam shot out and enveloped the blue giant in its magic.

Trixie cringed as the light enveloped her and let out a loud scream! When the light fell away the general stood there, cowering. It took a few moments before her eyes opened and she gaped. “T-that's it? That's all you could do?”

Twilight panted as she felt the crown disappear from her head. Ever muscle in her body was aching and she felt as if she was on borderline burnout. Her mouth fell open as she watched the General slowly stand up, as large and powerful as ever.

“That's all you can do?! The mighty Avatar and all you can do is a pretty light show?! You may have the elements but you don't know how to use them!” the Great and Powerful Trixie burst into laughter as her horn began to glow and she used her magic to pluck Twilight from the ground. “You're pathetic!” Both her hooves enveloped the alicorn and began to crush her once again.

Twilight screamed as she tried to figure out what happened. I put all my power into that attack, why didn't it do anything?! Is Trixie really so powerful that she can't be hurt here? Am I really going to lose?

The alicorn was unceremoniously dropped to the ground as the general let out a shriek of pain. From behind her a big purple gummy bear was attacking her leg. As opposed to the baby ones this bear was as big as a tree with massive claws and fangs. It tore into the water bender's leg with all its might, drawing pained cries from the mare as she kicked her leg out hard. The bear was sent hurtling backwards, but landed on its feet. Almost immediately it charged forward again and tried tearing into the mare.

“Get off me you gummy fruit snack!” Trixie growled as she lifted a hoof up and stomped on the bear. The bear was quite solid and gummy so it was easily squished down by the mares foot. She was reveling in her triumph as her front hooves started getting gnawed on, this time by the baby bears. Her horn glowed as she tossed the tiny snacks into a nearby tree, drawing cries of pain from their little bodies. With the distractions gone the general returned to squishing the larger bear into a small gummy blob.

Twilight groaned from her position on the ground, watching the general through blurry eyes. Slowly she got to her hooves and looked around at the poor bears. Trixie was right, the little alicorn couldn't win here. She wasn't powerful enough, but there was still more the avatar could do. She charged forward and slashed her horn against the General's other back leg, the one not crushing the bear and kept running.

“AGHH! You!” the unicorn howled as she turned to the retreating alicorn. “Get back here!” she turned and darted after her, ignoring the beaten bears.

Twilight ran as fast as she could, only barely keeping out of reach of the furious giant. She felt fatigue begin to run through her bones so she tried to focus on thoughts of her friends. Rainbow Dash was one of the first she thought of. The fastest flier she knew, graceful, powerful, strong and filled with endurance. If she was the flier, she would be able to outrun a thousand Trixies! It then dawned on her. Here she was a flier! She leaped into the air and took flight.

This time flying felt amazing. She shot through the air like an arrow, the world below her turning into a blur. She was easily able to keep out of reach of the general like this, though she slowed down enough so the unicorn could keep up despite having to knock over everything in her path. At this speed it wasn't long before she saw her destination.

She flew over a small stone bridge as the general followed behind her at maximum speed. Rather than crossing the much to small bridge the blue unicorn leaped over it!

The moment the mares hooves left the ground Twilight did a sharp U-turn and came right at her full force. The general's eye went wide as the little alicorn slammed into her chest. It wasn't enough to stop her jump completely, but it was enough to throw off her lunge enough that her front hooves barely grabbed the edge of the ledge and her lower body dangled over. She glared at the avatar in rage.

“Was this your plan?! Don't think you've won! I'll pull myself up and then... and then... what's that?” she asked as she looked down below.

The purple slime from below had started to crawl along the general's leg and was inching its way up her body. She shrieked and kicked out, but the more she moved the faster the slime pulled her in. “Let go! Get off! Avatar, what is this?!” Her horn glowed as she tried to use her magic to knock it away.

“I'm not quite sure. All I know is it's dangerous,” Twilight said as she landed just out of reach of the unicorn.

“Stop it! Get it off me, get it... off...” the mares voice began to trail off as her horn stopped glowing. The color seemed to be draining from her coat as well. “N-no... stop... it...” her hooves lost their grip as the mare plummeted below into the purple sludge. When Twilight ran to the edge all she could see was the horn disappear under the thick liquid.

“... Trixie?” she asked softly, but got no response. She watched for a few minutes, half expecting the unicorn to lunge out with glowing purple eyes while screaming about destroying her. In the end nothing happened, not even a bubble. She gave it one last look before flying off again, back to the bears.

Rainbow Dash waved her tail back and forth in frustration. She could move her body, albeit sluggishly. Her head had cleared. She didn't even feel like she was dying any more, so all in all a definite plus from an hour ago. The big issue with her day at the moment was when she jumped off the cloud to make her dramatic entrance she had mistimed the take off. Which was why she had plummeted head first into some clouds below and was now stuck trying desperately to climb out. She tried hopelessly to not imagine how big of an idiot she looked like with her flank in the air. She finally managed to dig out enough to pull her head out with a 'pop' sound.

She was surrounded by Water Nation pegasi and she saw the remaining Wonderbolts had already been taken down, one even had their wings encased in ice. She hmphed and put both hooves firmly on the cloud and spread out both her wings. “You wanna go? Let's go,” she took off like a bolt, straight forward. Her burst took the three in front of her by surprise and sent them spinning out of control. The remaining pegasi took off after her, barely able to keep up despite her weakened state.

A spike of ice shot by her face and she looked towards the source, a water bender on one of their flying ships. A wicked grin flashed on her face as she did a sharp turn straight at the bender, the pegasi behind her struggling to match her movements. She weaved between the shards of ice the benders sent at her and did a hair pin turn straight up a few inches in front of the startled bender. A moment later she was rewarded by the bulk of her pursuers slamming into the benders and each other. She burst into laughter, clutching her stomach. “Hah hah! You bunch of slow pokes would have to be ten times faster to be even half as fast as me!” She let out a startled yelp as some pony slammed into her from behind.

The pony in question wrapped his hooves around her stomach and pulled, directing her down. She struggled and flapped her wings as hard as she could, trying to move against the pony holding her. She was unable to escape in time as more ponies latched onto her, drawing her down to the clouds below.

“Let! Go!” she screamed as she thrashed about to try and shake them off. She let out a sudden scream of pain as her wings were encased completely in ice, stopping their movements and grounding her. She was slammed head first into the clouds as they laughed over her fallen body.

“You lose, air bender. You all should have just submitted to the Water Nation like smart ponies,” the pegasi who grabbed her said into her ear. An ear splitting roar filled the air as slowly a massive purple bears head, with a little star on its forehead, appeared over the edge of the clouds. “See? Our general has brought an unstoppable-” he fell silent as the bear grabbed one of the Water Nation air ships and slammed it down into the ground in a single powerful motion.

Chaos spread through the Water Nation soldiers as the bear began tearing their remaining air ships apart, piercing the balloons and drawing them down. Its massive claws then shot out to snatch the Water Nation soldiers from the air, bringing the pegasi crashing below.

“It's the avatar!” Rainbow yelled as the soldiers scattered. The Wonderbolts got back into action almost immediately, with the bear on their side they moved to free their bound comrades and launch their own counter attack on the soldiers. The remaining pegasi on the ship grabbed who they could and took off into the air, fleeing the bears wrath.

Within moments of the massive bears appearance the city was clear and the goliath turned its gaze down to the ground forces of the Water Nation. It got down on all fours and slowly lumbered towards them. The soldiers found themselves all to willing to abandon their posts at the sight of it bearing down on them until the bear leaped over them and landed so hard the ground shook so violently many of the runners fell over. It let out a massive roar that made even the bravest of them sit down in fright.

Trapped between the massive bear in front of them and the escaping prisoners behind them many of the soldiers threw down their helmets and laid down, hooves over their heads in surrender.

Trixie huddled in the remains of the Tsunami as her soldiers struggled and ran for their lives. She could still feel the sludge as it wrapped around her. Covered her. Drained her. All her magic being eaten. Her mind devoured. Her very soul sucked out by that... stuff. There was no escape. No hope. For any pony else. Fortunately she did have a way to escape, albeit dangerous and costly. She had to forcefully sever herself from that realm. A costly escape measure that meant she would never be able to return, not to mention she could feel a piece of her... inside... missing.

She watched as her forces crumbled before the bear and could barely even feel angry or sad. She just felt... empty. Drained. Like it was happening to some pony else. Her retreating army took off towards the sea as they attempted to use a thick mist to cover their retreat. A pony grabbed her and suddenly she was flying through the air after her forces. It took a few moments before she realized it was one of her soldiers, Shadowblade. Of course! She shook her head and tried to focus.

She was still the Great and Powerful Trixie. She may have lost a piece of herself, but it didn't matter! She didn't need the Spirit World to conquer the world. She would return home and destroy Nightmare Moon the normal way. Yes. Take over like that. She still had loyal soldiers at her beck and call so it couldn't be that difficult. It took a few moments for her to realize the pegasus was talking to her.

“... You think, general?” the pegasus finished.

“I think what?” Trixie asked with annoyance.

“Have you not been listening at all?” Shadowblade asked in annoyance before dropping the unicorn. She screamed until she was caught by the tail and it was only then she realized how high she was, though the mist around them made it hard to tell.

“W-what are you doing?! Put me down! Put me on the ground! I'll have you hung for this!” the general said fearfully as she kicked her hooves, trying to find something solid in a world of air.

“Of course you will, general,” the pegasus said as she spun her hoof along Trixie's tail and then gave the mare's flank a kick, pulling out some tail hairs in the process. “Now that you're listening, I want you to know why I'm doing this.”

“Doing what? Put me on the ground, gently! Stop going up!” the general shrieked as she looked down below.

“I was one of the Shadowbolts before you so callously destroyed our leader. I wasn't her daughter or friend or anything like that. No, I was one of her loyal soldiers. I imagine a pony like you can't quite comprehend loyalty, now can you?” She shook the tail around in a tight circle, spinning the unicorn as the mare struggled to keep her lunch down. “We were all loyal to her. We were great warriors of the great Nightmare Moon. Despite being pegasi, we were regarded with the same reverence as you water benders. Then you killed our leader and dishonored our name, branding the Shadowbolts as TRAITORS!” she yelled and let the tail go. She watched the general fall down a good ten yards again before flying down and grabbing her tail again, almost yanking it out. “I've been waiting all this time for a chance to get you back. We all have.” She then tossed the unicorn again.

Another pegasus caught her, confusing the dazed general as she looked around. Five more pegasi had joined the two. She latched onto the one that held her. “Please, you have to get me away from her! I'll have you promoted! You'll be a lieutenant, no, a corporal! Any position you like!” She shrieked as the pony holding her shoved her off, only to be caught by her leg by Shadowblade.

“Don't worry, general. We'll tell her highness, Nightmare Moon, all about the things you did. I'm sure in the end she'll agree that you, like our leader, were just another threat to the nation,” with those words the pegasus let her go, one last time.

Trixie screamed as she plummeted towards the ground, her legs flapping wildly. Within a few moments even they could not be heard as the pony disappeared into the mists.

Twilight watched from the massive bears eyes as the Air Nomads threw the Water Nation soldiers into the very cages they once used. Families and friends were reunited as the ponies milled about, hugging and cheering in the midst of their victory. With the massive bear towering over them none of the water benders even tried to bend, merely waiting to be imprisoned.

The alicorn watched with a smile on her lips as after a few hours of guarding it was all over. Some of the enemy had escaped but many more had been captured. Rather than pursuing the Air Nomads began to rebuild. The bear disappeared from the real world as both she and the giant purple gummy bear stepped out from the pillar of light. “Thank you for your help,” Twilight said as she bowed politely to the bear.

The bear merely growled a little before gathering its two children and wandering back into the woods towards its home. Twilight sighed and took to the air again. “Queen! Queen Chrysalis!” she called out as she flew over the woods. “Hey! Where are you?” After a bit of time with no response she took a deep breath. “Fine then! I'll just have to start yelling out your secret and letting everything know about-”

“I'm here! I'm here you flying grapefruit!” a voice from below yelled. She glided down to land by a tree that she swore was glaring at her.

“Queen?”

“Who else?” the tree responded before turning back into her strange pony-like form. “I'm judging by the fact you're looking for me that you still want something ELSE from me. Correct?”

“Yep. I need to get home and stop looking at me like that. I'm not an idiot,” she said defensively.

“What a sad state your world must be in if you are the greatest avatar they could make. Very well, where did you come from?”

“I... don't know. I was in a cloud but when I flew down it disappeared. I don't remember where I landed.”

“Wonderful. I guess we'd best start looking. It would be a severe annoyance if I had to deal with one of you for the rest of your hopefully short life,” the queen grumbled as the two walked off together.

Rainbow cringed as the pegasi slowly chipped the ice off her wings with small ice picks. “Ow! Careful! I need those feathers for flying!”

“Sorry miss. Hold still,” the pony grumbled.

The normally lightning fast pegasus merely sighed and tried to relax as she looked around. Her heart lifted when she saw Fluttershy returning from below. “Have you seen Pinkie or Twilight?” she asked the yellow mare.

“U-uh... N-no. N-not every pony is accounted for y-yet...” the timid pegasus mumbled gently. “M-most of the captured haven't been f-fully dealt with yet a-and the r-retreaters h-haven't all been found. I think the ones that had the Avatar are still missing.

“Ugh. Stupid water benders. If they hadn't gotten my wings I could go find her myself!” Rainbow snapped in annoyance before letting out another yelp as she lost a feather. “CAREFUL!”

“Easy lady, this is harder than it looks!” the pony grumbled as two ponies landed by them. Soarin and Spitfire looked the scene over before the stallion stepped forward.

“I'll take over from here,” he said as he took the tools and started chipping away at the ice.

“H-hey!” Rainbow said nervously, a light blush coming to her cheeks as she waved at the two Wonderbolts. “I didn't see you guys when we arrived, where you guys been?”

“We only arrived midway through the attack. We'd been working on a lot of missions away from Cloudsdale when all this happened, we caught sight of the retreating ponies and had to throw our wings into the ring. Can't deny I was a little surprised to see you fly out of the clouds,” Spitfire said with a grin. “Gotta admit I loved the landing.”

“Eh... heh heh... you saw that?” Rainbow said with a squeak as she suddenly felt only a few inches tall. “I-I was still hurt. I normally fly a lot better than YOWCH!” she shrieked as the block around her right wing cracked down the middle and came off into two large chunks.

“One down,” Soarin said in a chipper voice, gaining a glare from the rainbow maned pegasus.

“Anyway. Once I got going I was thrashing them. Tell me you saw those moves I pulled? I had those Water Nation ponies looking like one winged chickens,” she said with a smirk.

“Sadly I was detained at that time. I did catch a glimpse of what the avatar did though. How did you know it was her?” Spitfire said with a smile. “I will admit I was a bit worried when I first saw it, even though it was attacking their ships.”

“Oh, that? Well ummm... I kinda just guessed,” Rainbow said with a nervous smile. “It was attacking their ponies and stuff! So I just guessed Twilight finally figured out how to do all her avatar magic. Speaking of Twilight, have you seen her since then?”

The Wonderbolt shook her head before speaking, “I'm afraid not. I was actually hoping she would be here with you guys. I'm sure she'll be here soon though. While we wait, why don't you catch us up on all that's happened?”

Rainbow snickered and looked to Fluttershy. “Oh. Well, I hope you guys are ready for a really long story then.”

Rarity huddled against the tree once again as pegasi flew by. She had re-donned her disguise once the battle had turned south for her nation. While being forced to watch the ships be destroyed she prayed for her aunts safety. Despite the fact pegasi continued to fly and scout for straggler's she refused to vacate the meeting place, instead hiding against the tree as best she could. She even had a few small pools of water prepared nearby.

“I'll win this time...” she mumbled. Trixie was too arrogant and had no style or grace, that was why she lost. But the princess was different. She would defeat the Avatar and take her place at her mother's-

“What are you staring at?” a voice said from behind her, making her jump in the air.

She whipped around and backed up. The Avatar! she thought. She came! She actually came! Ack, no, pose! Grace! Dignity! Don't let her see the sweat! She quickly stood up straight and held her head high, watching the pony.

“Uh... Well... I guess it is you then. I wanted to thank you...” the avatar said softly as she looked off to the side, almost shyly. “For saving me before I mean.”

Rarity merely nodded, contemplating the best way to launch the attack.

“I just, well... thank you. Listen, I'm sure you're really cute under that disguise and all..”

Wait a moment.

“But right now my duties are to the world.”

Hold on, back up there lady.

“After all you've done to help me though, I ummmm... Wouldn't mind if you wanted to come with us. I mean, we could use a stallion like you around.”

A STALLION?!! She thinks a mere stallion could match my poise? Grace? Not to mention color coordination?! Well, okay there was that one stallion she knew called Daisy Hoof but that was different!

“You seem like a good fighter and really good at getting around things...”

Well, true. I do have finesse in those areas, the princess thought with a puff of her chest.

“And I wouldn't mind getting to know you a bit better...”

Okay. The avatar is definitely blushing now. I can even see it in the dark. I can't believe this.

“Besides, I-”

“Okay, ENOUGH!” the princess yelled as she stomped her hoof down. “I am neither a stallion nor am I your friend!” Her horn lit up as the disguise fell away, revealing her in the dark cloak. “I am your worst enemy. The pony who is going to capture you! “

“W-what? But... but you saved me! You risked your life to save me! You gave me the scroll to help defeat Trixie too!” Twilight said in confusion as her mind reeled. “Why would you do that? It doesn't make any sense!”

“Of course it does. Trixie was an arrogant brat who was desperately trying to capture you for her own goals. She was selfish and cruel. I on the other hoof am nothing like her,” she paused a moment for dramatic effect. “I am a princess, my throne taken away.” She gasped and put a hoof over her head. “For years I have toiled and struggled and fought to get it back and now the very opportunity is staring me in the face. When I capture you and bring you to my mother I will finally become the princess I so rightly deserve to be.” She did a dramatic spin before placing both hooves firmly on the ground again.

“But what about-”

“I know, I know. It's really nothing personal, Avatar. Really, had things been different and we not been mortal enemies we may have been friends. In fact I likely would have loved to design an outfit for you,” she then looked the avatar over again. “Actually I probably could design something truly amazing for you. Do you have any idea how rare it is to have streaks in your hair like that? Those are natural, please say they are? Not to mention the colorations, I could probably design a fabulous ensemble the likes of which would make even the most up tight of the Water Nation elite gape. Imagine the accessories you could wear with both wings and a horn! Not to mention what I could do for your rainbow maned friend. I honestly had never seen any pony with-” she face hoofed and shook her head. “Stop distracting me!”

“Um... Sorry? But that's not what I wanted to ask,” Twilight said meekly.

“Very well then. Tell me, what DID you want to ask?” Rarity asked in frustration.

“How do you plan to capture me? I mean, look.” She pointed towards Cloudsdale. “Your soldiers who are here have been captured or are running away. If we fought chances are the pegasi who I sent on ahead would notice and come galloping. Even if you did manage to defeat me, somehow, you'd likely be caught in the process. I'd then be fine and you'd be trapped in a prison with the rest of the Water Nation soldiers. What if they found out you were responsible for me getting into the Spirit World and defeating Trixie?”

“...” Rarity just stared at the avatar as all her plans and plotting crumbled around her. She really hadn't thought of that. Granted, she hadn't expected Cloudsdale's victory to be so complete or as quick as it was. Then again a mountain sized bear that couldn't be hit was a fairly powerful weapon.

“Even if you did manage to escape all that and capture me, how far away is the nearest Water Nation base that you could drag me too?”

Rarity just stared. It wasn't fair. She had worked so hard! In a situation like this there was only one thing she could do. She put a leg over her head and fell backwards while weeping. “I can't believe it! I'm a failure! I tried so hard and everything just crumbles around m-m-m-m-meeeeeee,” she sobbed.

“I...” Twilight said nervously. Well, this was the last reaction she had expected. “There there...” she tried.

“Oh leave me alone to wallow in my... wallow in my... whatever it is ponies are supposed to wallow in! Do ponies wallow in pity? Oh, listen to me! I don't even know what I'm supposed to wallow in! I'm sooo paatthhheeeetic...” she cried.

“Nooo. You aren't pathetic. You are really scary and tough. You ummm, totally almost had me. It was just one tiny, itty bitty, almost microscopic flaw. Any pony could have done it.”

“You're just s-s-s-s-saying thaaaaat! You never liked me!” the princess whined.

“No! I mean it! Really! You're the most dangerous water bender I know,” she added quickly as she shifted nervously from hoof to hoof.

“R-really? You *sniffle* really mean that?” Rarity asked as she slowly looked up, wiping her tear soaked eyes.

“Yes! Really! I mean, luring me all the way here alone? Brilliant! I can hardly believe it. I totally fell for it. Not to mention the phantom disguise. It looks ummmm...”

“Dashing?”

“Yes! Quite dashing! I never would have recognized you in a hundred years!”

“Well, I will admit I did outdo myself on the disguise. Can you believe all it took was a plain old cloak and then some tree bark? Sure it took the right spell preparations, not to mention an eye for fashion, but I still think it was one of the most fashionable double agent disguises around. It is amazing what you can do even with the bare essentials,” the little princess practically preened now.

“Yes! All those things! A hundred times that!” Twilight let out a sigh of relief as the princess seemed to have calmed down. “Welp, I'd better go. Lots of avatar things to do. It was a ummm... pleasure to see you. I guess.”

“Wait!” Rarity snapped. “You're right. I may not be able to capture you this time, but that doesn't mean you don't owe me for the times I have... helped you,” she grumbled out in annoyance.

“I'm not going with you. Ponies need me,” the alicorn said with a glare.

“I know, but there is something I want from you. My aunt... a white unicorn with a clear mane and tail. She was wearing a rainbow colored cloak with pictures of wings on it. If she has been captured I... I want you to let her go. Her name is Celestia,” the unicorn grumbled.

“You want me to release a water nation soldier?!” the avatar paused for a moment. “Wait, your aunt? Didn't you say before... wouldn't that make her in line to rule Water Nation?”

“No! My mother rules. My aunt just... she's watched over me. Listen, you owe me! I've saved your life, possibly twice. Releasing my aunt is not that big a thing to ask you ungrateful horned pigeon!”

Twilight took a step back in shock before shaking her head. She narrowed her eyes on the mare before turning to walk towards Cloudsdale. “Very well. I'll do my best to have her released. But after that we are even. Where do you want me to tell her you went?”

“I'll be heading south, back towards the Water Nation outposts. Tell her I'll meet her at Starfall Bay.”

“Very well. Good bye, princess.”

“Good bye, Avatar. Don't think I've given up on you. Next time we meet, I will get you.” With those words the two parted ways.

Twilight shrieked when she finally rejoined with her friends on the ground under Cloudsdale, moments before being dog piled by three ponies and a baby dragon. “Eek! Ow! Hurting me! I'm happy every pony is fine, but you're all really heavy!” she said a bit pained but was unable to suppress her smile.

“You missed all the action! Well, most of it. The bear was you, right? Can you do that again? That was totally awesome!” Rainbow said as she jumped up and flew in a little circle. “They thought they had us creamed and then BAM! Giant bear tearing them to pieces! Oh, and guess what?” the pegasus couldn't even hide the grin on her face. “I talked to Soarin and Spitfire! We're going to be taught real air bending by none other than the WONDERBOLTS! Can you say cool or what?”

“Errr, yay?” Twilight said with a grin. “Honestly the whole needing an air bender to teach me kinda slipped my mind. It's been so long since we set out and all. So how is everything now? Rebuilding going okay?”

“As well as could be expected with such a short time, Avatar.” Soarin said as he walked in on the two. “Most of the Water Nation soldiers haven't moved since we captured them. Losing the bear and having most of their supplies wiped out has kind of weakened their resolve.”

“What do you plan to do with those you captured?” the alicorn asked softly.

The pegasus sighed before answering, “I don't know. We can't keep them here. We don't have the supplies to deal with it. If we let them go we'll strengthen our enemies. Finally, execution doesn't really sit well with any pony here. So in the end we sent some messengers to Earth Kingdom to ask for aid.”

“What about your country?”

“Their main forces have been wiped out but the damage has been done. Our resources are going to be spent now repairing our homes and driving the remaining soldiers out of our country. I'm afraid that means we won't be able to offer you much aid aside from tutelage. I'm sorry, Avatar.” Soarin bowed his head politely.

“N-no! No worries, really! Teaching me proper air bending will be enough. Really! That's all I could ask from any of you. Well... there is one more thing. One of the prisoners captured. Was any of them a white unicorn with a clear mane and tail? Went by the name Celestia?”

Soarin froze. “Why, errr, we may have a prisoner like that. Why may I ask are you asking?” His eyes shifted a bit as he spoke.

“I need to talk with her. Is something wrong? You seem a tad jumpy,” Twilight asked suspiciously.

“What? Wrong! No, nothing! Nothing at all! Just curious why you need to speak with this mare who we may or may not have in our custody and who is totally not having tea and crackers with the captain of the Wonderbolts this moment or anything like that because that would just be silly and I'll go see if I can find her amongst the prisoners bye!” the Wonderbolt took off like a bolt, leaving the avatar and her friends to stand there looking confused.

“Why would a Water Nation soldier be having tea with the head Wonderbolt?” Rainbow asked. The five friends looked at each other for a moment before taking off after Soarin. Soon enough they came to a large tent and sure enough, inside Celestia was playing a game of three bears with the captain of the Wonderbolts. The five just gaped at the strange sight before Rainbow charged, “Get her! She's obviously using Water Nation mind control magic!” She was stopped short by Twilight grabbing her tail with magic.

“Ah yes, Avatar,” the white unicorn said as she got to her hooves and bowed politely. “I was wondering when we would be able to meet.”

“Who are you? Why aren't you in prison with the others? Why are you all buddy buddy with-” Rainbow was silenced by a motion from the mare. She wasn't sure why she went quiet, just something about the unicorn made her want to listen.

“My name is Celestia, a unicorn of the Water Nation. I imagine the only title I still maintain is caretaker to princess Rarity. Speaking of my niece, have you seen her?”

“Yes. I did. Actually she's the reason I was looking for you,” Twilight grumbled. “I didn't imagine you'd already be out. You didn't answer the other question.”

“I'm afraid I cannot answer that yet, please forgive me.” The unicorn played a card, the yellow daisy. “There is still much for you to learn and so much of the world I would hate to spoil.”

“... Fine. Are you supposed to be an ally or a friend? Last time I saw you, weren't you attacking my friend's village?”

“Yes I was. For that I am dreadfully sorry, but it was one of my duties. It truly was a shame we couldn't have that party your pink friend mentioned. I'm sure it would have been magnificent. I did my best to not cause any harm. Hmm. It seems I lose,” the unicorn said as she put the cards down on the table.

“You didn't answer my question.”

“For now it would be best to consider me an... unwilling adversary.”

“What are you hiding?! You!” She glared at the captain of the Wonderbolts. “Why aren't you saying anything?! She's one of your enemies and you just sit here and play cards? What are you hiding from me?!”

“Avatar!” Celestia yelled as she stamped a hoof on the ground. “We have no desire to anger you, but please realize the things hidden from you are for your best interest. You're still young. There is plenty of time for you to learn everything, but for now please focus on what is important.”

“... Fine,” Twilight grumbled as she shifted nervously under the unicorn's glare. She didn't know why but something about her just made her want to listen. “Your niece said she'd meet you at Starfall Bay. I imagine you'll have no problem getting there.”

“No. Thank you for the information, Avatar. Until we meet again,” the unicorn said as she got to her hooves and walked out from the tent.

“... Listen. I don't know what's going on here and I don't trust it. But for now I'll listen to you,” Twilight said firmly before stomping her hoof down. “But if you are doing anything to help the Water Nation...” she warned the captain.

“Worry not, Avatar. My loyalty is to my people. Despite the measures Celestia may take I assure you in the end her motives are for the good of all. If you would please be so kind as to not mention this to any pony... Now please go with Soarin. He will be able to start your training,” the captain said as he returned to his tea. The avatar nodded before turning to follow the Wonderbolt as her friends lagged a bit behind, confusion etched on their faces.

Littlewing groaned in pain as the morning sun slowly brought its light over the Cloudsdale camps. He had been fortunate to have been mistaken for an actual prisoner when their the Air Nomad forces had overrun the cages. Unfortunately they seemed to have a strict 'children get first meals' policy. As such, he and a number of the children were now suffering from the effects of the poisons.

He was slowly creeping along the camp and trying to make his way out, but unfortunately every few steps he was forced to stop as a burst of pain shot through his stomach. Even worse his hearing and sight were both fuzzy and bouncing about.

The little pegasus stopped as a few ponies walked by, fortunately they didn't see him. The moment they were passed him he made a mad dash for the next tent. He managed to keep from shrieking as he slipped on a pile of mud and went skidding along the ground a few feet. Slowly he got back to his hooves, muddy, wet and cold,. He took a quick glance around and was unable to stifle the moan as another sharp burst of pain shot through his stomach.

He took a deep breath before running again, each step jarring his stomach, straight into the nearby wood line. Unfortunately the woods didn't go in the direction he needed to be, but they would enable him to get out of sight of the village and make his way back.

He barely made it three feet before he heard it. Just the sound of it made his blood chill and heart race. There was just no way!

“Hey! Little cooollllt! Where are you?!” a voice yelled out as others echoed it. He hadn't even been gone that long! Don't these ponies have anything better to do than find every lost child that runs away?! He bet the search was started by the pony who had practically force fed him breakfast. He had left mere moments after before the poisons would be felt.

He took off as fast as he could, tearing through the trees, as he did his best to ignore the building pain in his stomach. Before long he had to stop and crumble to the ground, burying his head in the ground to stifle his moans of pain. Oh he swore if he ever got his hooves on Trixie he would make her pay for this! He'd make it look like an accident. A heart attack maybe, those were easy for him to imitate.

He groaned again when he heard a pony running towards him, drawn by his mad dash through the woods. He sighed and just decided to wait, adjusting his poisonous hoof. All it would take is one little poke and then the pony wouldn't be an issue any more. No pony could survive it. With one of their kind dying it would hopefully slow down the search.

The pony finally broke through to him as he slowly looked up and screamed.

“YOU!” Rainbow yelled with a glare.

“Ahhhh g-get away!” Littlewing shrieked as he backed away. “You're dead! You can't be here! I killed you! You're dead!” he shrieked and turned, running as fast as he could right into a tree. The blow stunned him long enough for the rainbow-maned pegasus to dart up behind him and clonk him once in the back of the head, right into the tree a second time. He went out like a wet torch.

Far across the world and many days later, deep in the heart of the Water Nation in the palace of Nightmare Moon silence reigned. A small white unicorn with a bouncy mane and tail, with streaks of light purple and light pink, slowly made her way through the halls of the massive castle. She wore a dark blue helmet along with a blue chest guard with the emblem of the moon. Her hooves were covered in dark blue guards with emblems of the moon on them as well. Her cutey mark was a large purple heart with a viper coiled around it.

Guards stood at attention as she made her way to the royal chambers and the two final guards opened the door for her without a moments hesitation. The Shadowbolts stood at attention along the path to the throne, watching as the mare walked while bowing as she passed. Soon the young mare stood before the throne housing Nightmare Moon and she bowed obediently. “You called, your highness?”

“Yes. General Trixie has shown her incompetence one final time and failed to destroy the Avatar or even Cloudsdale. Celestia is a traitor and Rarity is a failure. I have a final task for you,” the powerful ruler of the Water Nation said slowly as she gazed down at her subject.

The unicorn slowly raised her head as a deadly smile spread across her lips.

cH4P73r Platypus

Trixie groaned as she looked around. The mare was floating in an empty white space. She slowly kicked her hooves out, but she couldn't feel anything. Not even if she was falling.

“It sucks being predestined for failure, does it not?” a voice asked from behind her.

“What? Who's there?!” she shrieked as she tried to turn around. After flailing about for a few moments she imagined she had to have turned around, but all she could still see was the eternal vastness of empty space.

“Oh, don't mind me,” the voice said loudly, its voice brimming with condescension. “I'm just another voice in your head.”

“W-who are you?” Trixie asked as she kept looking around. “Where am I? How did I get here?”

“Oh, that would spoil the fun. Though I imagine our smarter readers can already guess,” the voice said before erupting in booming chuckles. “You're dead, my dear. Or rather, ended. After all, your character is no longer needed. The commander dies at the end, never seen again. Well, at least in the first. No more words remain to bring you to life, after all.”

“What are you talking about?! SHOW YOURSELF!” the general screamed as she flailed about.

“Fine, fine,” the voice said. There was a light snap as the creature appeared. He had a head of a pony with a single antler pointing out of the top and a strange horn that curved so it looked like it was made from bubbles on top of each other. He had red beady eyes with bright yellow sclera and large bushy white eye brows. His head and neck were a dark gray though the rest of its body was dark brown. His left arm was that of a gryphon's while its right arm was that of a dragon's. His left leg looked like one from a buffalo while it's right leg came from a dragon. He had one large bat wing and one large blue pegasus wing on its back and a long snake-like tail. He stood hundreds of feet tall, though he was sitting below her so she floated near his head.

Now that Trixie had something to focus on she could tell that she was indeed spinning head over hooves uncontrollably. “AHHHHH!” she shrieked.

“Oh, do calm down,” the creature said with a chuckle as he reached out with his right claw and gripped her head to stop the spinning. “Now allow me to introduce myself, I am Discord. Spirit of chaos and disharmony. A pleasure to meet you.”

Trixie stared up at the creature for a moment before hmphing. “Discord? Impossible. He's nothing more than a fairy tale used to frighten those who try to disobey our queen.”

“Oh, I am very much real. I've come to offer you a choice,” he said as a grin formed on his lips. “I can... alter your story. Change it. Just a few words. Give you a one in a million chance to survive.”

“What? Why would you help me? If you're powerful enough to do that, then why?”

“Easy,” Discord said as he held out his claw. A stack of papers formed into it. “Ahem. Allow me to read you a summary of the final notes. 'Nightmare Moon stared down at the avatar, yada yada, friendship, love, evil queen is defeated and the ritual is stopped. Friendship and harmony win the day.' Gaaaaaaag,” the spirit said with a retching sound.

“So if I don't help you, you lose? Why should I care?” the unicorn asked as she crossed her hooves.

“Oh Trixie, Trixie, Trixie. Isn't it obvious? I'm giving you a chance. One chance to destroy the avatar and become even more powerful than Nightmare Moon,” Discord said as he smiled ever so innocently. “Don't you trust me?”

“... How much more powerful?” the mare asked as she rubbed a hoof under her chin.

“More powerful than either of them could ever dream. Powerful enough to crush the empire under a single hoof.”

“... I... agree. But don't even think about betraying me,” she grumbled.

“Oh, I wouldn't dream of it,” he said with a snicker as he put his fingertip to her horn. Her eyes went wide as images flashed behind them. After a few moments she groaned.

“So that's... how you did it,” she said as she held her head.

“Of course,” he said with a chuckle as she disappeared in a flash. “After all, no one ever checks the titles.” He slowly turned to gaze at the empty void as he places a finger to his lips. “Remember everyone... shhhhhhhh.”

Spoiler: Book 2

The sun slowly rose into the sky as the moon dipped back behind the mountains. Its glow rapidly spread across the land, awakening all manners of animals as its warmth alerted the world to the beginning of a new day.

The light quickly found its way to a large floating city, built on top of the clouds that hovered above an even larger walled city. Ponies ran about doing their daily tasks, be they working on homes, planting food, moving the clouds about or even practicing their air bending. A slight distance from the city a small course of obstacles, including a miniature cyclone, blizzard and a flurry of electricity-filled rain clouds, was stationed. A pegasus wearing a blue skin tight suit with yellow lightning bolts gazed at a clip board. She also had an orange and yellow mane. She was Spitfire, of the wonderbolts.

“Okay everypony!” she called out towards a small group of pegasi in similar outfits. “You all know why you're here. Most of you have spent the last month recouping after the Water Nation's attack. As a matter of fact, everypony has been working their hooves to the bone!” The mare began to pace as the ponies nodded in unison. “That's why today is so important! They've only been here a short bit, but Chickenwings and her friends have been invaluable both morally and with the defense of the last bastion of air benders. It may be the last day of their stay, but we won't let them just fade out like a gentle breeze! We're going to throw them a real twister of a party!” the ponies cheered and jumped up and down on the clouds. “Not only that, we're going to show them just how much we appreciate what they've done for us. That's right...” she turned towards the cyclone as a grin crossed her lips. “We're going to send them through... the Wonder-maker.”

The gathered ponies gasped as one near the front let out cries of disbelief as he looked back and forth between the others. “Ih wha, uh, gwa, UWAA! WAAAA! WAAAA! Grggg... grgggllll...” he foamed at the mouth for a few moments before dropping in a faint.

“Yes yes. I know they've only been with us a single month. But they can handle it! They've already stood up against the best the Water Nation has to offer. After that, this'll be a piece of cake,” she said with a nod as she turned back towards them. “We need to have it ready first! Every pony, I need this moving fast, moving hard and down near the ground! There isn't a pony within ten miles who'd wanna miss this! Now break!” she yelled as the ponies let out a cheer and flew off into the air.

Author's Note

Okay, I really should have done this ages ago, but it never occurred to me at the time. This is a small little spoiler for book 2, namely to alert everyone who favorited the first book and wasn't aware there was a second, that the second is out. Thanks.

Chapter 14: Change

Rainbow shivered as the ground squished under her hooves. Each step made her hooves sink an inch or so into the muck and she left a long wet trail of muddy hoof prints behind her. Gilda had taken point and even though the griffon's long claws made the trip even messier for her the mercenary had yet to complain. The silence was slowly eating at the pegasus and the morale crushing wetness wasn't helping, so she finally gave in and tried talking to the griffon. “So tell me about yourself. What are griffons like? Where do you live?”

“Heh. Around. Mountains mostly. We aren't like you ponies with your magics and bending things. We're true warriors, some of the best mercenaries around because we don't depend on pathetic magic to keep us safe,” she said, condescension flowing in her voice.

“Right. Just depend on the fact you are the size of a house and have razor sharp claws. Oh, and blades on your wings. Real tough.” Rainbow rolled her eyes, ignoring the squish squish of each hoof.

“In case you forgot, I saved you from the timber wolves. Not the other way around.”

“Hey! They startled me! If I had a time to catch my breath I'd have thrashed them easily! I'm a master air bender!” She felt a little guilty lying, but it would be true soon enough so she was sure it wasn't that bad a fib. “Even without my air bending I'm twice the fighter you'll ever be. If we could fly in this place I would soar circles around you. There isn't anything that can take me down in the sky.”

“Oh yeah? Then where did you get those cuts on your wings? Besides, I doubt you could barely fly on those tiny little hunks of feathers on your back.”

“WHAT?! I'll have you know I'm the best flier you'll EVER see. Heck, I've performed the sonic rainboom, something NO PONY has ever been able to perform!” Rainbow snapped, glaring at the griffon.

“If no pony has ever performed it, then how does it have a name?” Gilda just smirked back at her.

“I... It... Fine. Apparently the avatar performed it before. But other than that no pony has ever done it,” she grumbled, walking faster as she pushed past the griffon.

“Are you sure you know the way? This swamp land is getting worse...”

“Yeah, I know the way,” she snapped in annoyance. They were going straight, so the forest had to run out eventually or at least open up. Once they got out and could take to the air getting back to Cadence would be a breeze. She just had to make sure she kept going straight. It didn't help that all the trees looked the same. But hey, if they had kept going in circles they'd have seen their hoof prints by now. Besides the more she walked in this direction the more she would swear it was getting brighter, she wasn't tripping over roots any more after all. She was certain they'd be out and able to fly free. Then she'd ditch the griffon, get out of here and wait for Twilight and the others.

Twilight's eyes felt like they were weighed down with lead. Her mouth was dry and she swore some pony was fire bending between her ears. The rest of her body wasn't fairing any better. It felt like she had been slammed into a few mountains before falling off one. Heck, even her tail and mane hurt! At the very least she was warm and whatever she was laying on was soft. There was even a pleasant rhythmic sound coming a bit away from them, that threatened to lull her back into unconsciousness. Slowly she opened her eyes, though it felt as if she was moving gravel. She was in a large but low roofed tent and her friends were sleeping on beds close to her. Even Spike was there in his own little bed. A bit away she could see a pony wearing a large hooded cloak.

The pony was grinding something into a fine paste before mixing it in with a purple liquid. Slowly the hooded pony grabbed the cup and brought it over to Twilight, placing it within reach. “Please stay where you are. Drink this potion and it will help you move, Avatar.” She was a little wary of the strange liquid, but in her condition she could barely move. So with no real other options she slowly dipped her head forward and drank from it. It tasted oddly minty, but not too bad.

After she drank all of it she waited for a few moments as nothing seemed to happen, but then the pain between her ears started to clear away, her dry mouth slowly faded and she began to feel rather hungry. “T-thank you. I don't know what that was, but it was amazing.” Even her sore muscles and eyes were starting to be relieved, albeit slowly.

“An old herbal remedy for those who know how.” Slowly the pony removed the hood, revealing a red coated and blue maned earth pony. “I found you in the forest, I must say I was surprised to find one with a dragon, but your fire bending and your little wings revealed you to me.” She reached out to gently help Twilight up. “I was amazed to see you and your friends eating poison joke. I'm sorry I did not reveal myself sooner, but the effects of digesting the plant can make one quite... volatile. I decided it was safer to just wait for you to lose consciousness and bring you here.”

“How did you bring all of us here? E-errr... Not that you don't look... strong or anything...”

The pony moved back towards a small counter and began grinding more herbs. “There were others about. We live in these forests and we know how to get around them. I just used one of our signals to draw a foraging team to me and we brought you here to our village.”

“Village? W-wait. Could it be. Is... is this the tribe of fire benders?!” Twilight couldn't hold it in. She darted towards the door and shoved the cloth covering aside, exiting the tent. It was beautiful. Above she could see tree branches and foliage covering the area but, as opposed to inside the forest, it was thin and allowed the sunlight to peek inside at points. There were dozens of tents and small cabins all over with even more ponies. The area itself was huge with a large number of trees removed to build the homes, only enough remaining to keep the thin cover above.

Within moments of her arrival ponies began to gather, whispering as they congregated outside the tent to see her. Some looked nervous, some happy and some startled. The best part of all was they wore the common reds that her tribes had used for years. These were her kind. A single tear went down her face as she smiled. She was home. Sadly her joy was not to last.

“So you are the Avatar I've heard so much about.” The crowd parted as a white unicorn with a radiant blond mane and tail walked forward. He looked her over with scrutinizing eyes, seeming unimpressed.

“Y-yes. My name is Twilight Sparkle and I am the avatar. And you are-”

“My name is Blueblood. Leader of the last remaining fire benders. I don't know why you've come here, but-” Before he could say anything more a cheer broke out from the crowd and they surged forward, picking her up and hefting her onto their shoulders as she eeked. The crowd took her away as the white unicorn glared. “I was speaking still!” he snapped as they ignored him.

Rainbow sat under a small tree, gently poking at the small round fruit the griffon had given her. Gilda was a few feet away eating a similar fruit.

“Something wrong, flutters?” the griffon asked between bites.

“You sure this is safe to eat?” The pegasus poked at it a few more times before taking a bite. It was juicy but a tad tangy.

“Yeah, I've had them before outside these woods. Unless you have a buncha food hidden under your wing I wouldn't complain about it. I don't have enough rations for the both of us and I'm sure not giving you any of mine. So eat it and shut up.” The griffon tossed the remaining husk of hers away as her ears shot up. “Somethings coming... hide,” she whispered as the two quickly moved into the bushes and waited.

They waited in silence, their bodies sinking slowly into the damp marshland up to their knees before stopping. They still didn't move, instead watching and waiting for whatever it was to arrive. After many long minutes the thick mud under them began to tingle. A strange, long creature that seemed to have electricity coursing all through its body swam through the swamp water. It stopped for a moment directly in front of where they had been moments before. Fortunately it didn't seem able to come any closer, only able to traverse through the water and not the thick mud.

Rainbow held her breath as she watched the creature. An electric eel. She'd never seen one before, but it was still impossible to not recognize such a creature. She had heard they only usually grew to a few inches long as opposed to this behemoth that was easily five feet. She didn't even want to think of what kind of charge it could give off especially with the way her legs were tingling just from it's passive shocks. After what felt like hours the creature began to move again, continuing slithering in its original direction. After the tingling sensations went away the two slowly pulled themselves from the thick mud and climbed back against the tree, sitting against it to avoid sinking back into the swamp.

“That was close. Think there are any more?” Rainbow asked as she shook the mud off her hoof and began to eat her fruit.

“Probably. Maybe I should just try breaking through the canopy again.” Gilda grumbled as she glanced up. Her wing blades were dented from the last few times she'd tried, the tree branches refusing to snap and let her through.

“You keep trying and your wings are going to break. We'll find a place to get out soon enough. No way this place goes on forever,” the pegasus muttered between mouthfuls of food.

“I thought you knew the way out?” the griffon growled, watching her closely.

“Course I do. Doesn't mean we won't get lucky before then.” Rainbow quickly got to her hooves and started walking. “Come on, let's keep going before any more of those things come by here. I'd rather not find out just how much damage one that size could actually do.”

“They aren't supposed to grow that big,” Gilda mumbled, “and they usually hunt in packs. Here's hoping that one just ate the rest of its pack.”

“.... That's disgusting.”

“And if we're lucky, it's what happened. Come on, move it slow poke.” The griffon took the lead, ignoring the pegasus's annoyance at being called slow.

Twilight was in heaven, being led around by the ponies and shown the homes of the fire benders. “So how did all of you come to be here?” she asked as they showed her another small hut. It really wasn't a lot, but to her it meant everything.

“Well that's a pretty long story, though none of us were around for it. It all started a hundred years ago when the Water Nation attacked,” her guide started, the same pony who's home she had awoken in. Her name was Ashmane, one of the few scouts of the villages hunting parties.

Twilight shivered, slowly nodding.

“We call it the Day of Star Fall. The stars themselves seemed to rain from the heavens on our homes and cities. Armies of the Water Nation soldiers attacked, capturing all they could and slaughtering those who resisted. Our ancestors escaped on the back of the great dragon, carried off to find a new place to survive. Actually I believe you were supposed to be with them. I'd love to hear what happened and how you managed to still look so... young. I mean... you must be well over a hundred by now?”

“Oh... That... Eh heh... I was on the great dragon but... I was knocked off. I'm not clear on the details after, but I was... encased. Locked away for a hundred years. I've only recently been released. So, what happened after that?” Twilight smiled at the earth pony.

“Allow me to answer that,” a voice said from behind them, making them pause to turn around. It was Blueblood. “With our leaders lost and our people torn asunder, my grandfather took the reigns. After the elder dragon left us far away from the battle my grandfather led our remaining members into the Everfree forest. Through hard work and dedication he rallied every pony together to create a home for us in these woods. It was thanks to his leadership than any of us have lived this long.” The unicorn posed proudly, his horn held high. “Since then my family has led us to survive in this harsh forest. My name is Blueblood, leader of the fire benders.”

“Oh, I know. I heard when you introduced yourself before. I'd love to hear more about how every pony works here and your methods of leadership?” The Avatar couldn't shake the feeling that this pony disliked her, though she couldn't imagine why.

“Well it is quite simple. As you probably deduced from your frolic through the woods, they are quite dangerous. The magic they have is different from the outside world. However since we have all lived here our entire lives the danger is non existent. Our best explorers are sent out in teams to find food and other things we need from the woods,” the unicorn said with a smirk.

“Wow. So you know how to navigate these woods? That's amazing!”

“Well... not me specifically. I'm much to important to go out and risk myself in the forests.I direct our scavenger parties and make sure everything goes smoothly around here. As a matter of fact I'd say we don't actually need you at all, Avatar. Our tribe is doing smoothly without your interference.” Oh, Twilight no longer doubted he disliked her, but an idea did form in her head.

“Wow. You must know all that goes on in the forest, maintaining all the scavenging parties, right? That must be really hard,” she flattered with a smile.

He quickly rose to the bait. “As a matter of fact it is, but I work tirelessly to held lead my ponies into safety.” He smiled and continued his pose.

“With such vigilance, nothing must escape your eye.”

“Not a thing.”

“That's great! In that case I need a favor, something only you can do.”

Blueblood's eyes narrowed, “What is it?”

“My friend, Rainbow Dash, she was lost on the way here. Surely some pony as organized and as great a leader as you would be able to locate her?”

The unicorn glared for a moment before turning away. “Very well. I will find your little friend. Avatar.” He then trotted off.

The moment he was out of earshot Twilight turned to Ashmane. “Is it just me or does he really dislike me? Is he really that important?”

“Only in his mind. He probably doesn't like you because he assumes you'll try to take over his command.” Ashmane sighed. “Though if any pony can find your friend, he can. He actually does keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary and has every pony report everything to him. Especially if they see any other ponies.”

“Do you get a lot of ponies going through these woods?”

“No. Not really... on occasion we'll find some pony lost. Technically Blueblood tells us to just leave them, but we tend to help them get out of the woods or at least on the path.”

“So Blueblood really does lead the village then?” Twilight looked a little shocked.

“Well... sorta? For the most part he stays back in the village and we just let him think he's in charge. Most of the older ponies feel kind of obligated to it because of how great leaders his father and grandfather were. Despite his attitude he is one of our stronger fire benders. Not to mention when his parents died ages ago no pony else tried to take over the leader position so he kind of got it by default.”

“So... I'm guessing the village isn't normally welcoming to the outside ponies then. But then why is every pony so happy to see me? I mean... Its been a hundred years. Aren't you mad I disappeared?”

“... Some are, but to be honest most of us grew up hearing stories about you. How one day the avatar would return and defeat the Water Nation. My mother used to tell me how amazing and powerful the avatar was, how she could defeat an entire army of benders with a single gesture of her hoof. While there are a few who aren't happy to have you and are mad about your disappearance, most are excited and rooting for you to defeat the Water Nation.”

“Oh. Well, that's good. I'm happy that every pony is so... Actually... how long would it take to get every pony together? Well, all the fire benders.”

“Why?”

“Well... I do need to take over command, just for a short bit. Its been a long time, but I have something I need to teach them all. I got so distracted by all the excitement that I almost forgot.”

“Well... It could take a while, but I'll see what I can do. How about you go check on your friends? I'm sure they'll be up by now.”

“Okay! Thanks!” Twilight grinned as she started to trot off... and then froze in mid step. “Ummm... ehh... heh heh... Ashmane? Which one are they in again?”

The earth pony face hoofed before pointing, shaking her head as the alicorn trotted off.

Rainbow slowly tip toed through a narrow strip of muddy grass that separated two small ponds of muddy swamp water. She could tell it was quite deep because on each side there were two electrical eels giving off a blue radiant glow, bathing the area in a soft blue light near the bottom.. Fortunately they didn't seem to be moving much, unfortunately the pegasus and griffon were forced to try and sneak by them. Every step in the muddy water made little jolts of electricity flow through her hoof, making her mane stand on end and Gilda's feathers to puff up.

It also didn't help that the heavier griffon sank a lot deeper with each step than Rainbow did and was a lot louder. The pegasus was forced to keep hissing at her to be quiet, not that it did any good. She was about half way across the small grass bridge when another glow appeared on their left. Quickly she ducked down and went as still as possible as the Griffon mimicked her. The other two glows began moving around and she could feel their muddy bridge begin to shift slightly under their hooves and talons. It slowly began to sink, just a tiny bit as water started coating her stomach and bottom of her face. Fortunately the eels didn't seem to notice them yet.

Unfortunately it was at that moment that water shot up Gilda's nose and she thrashed about a bit, hacking and coughing. Six pairs of electricity filled eyes turned to them, the fact the eels were the only source of light nearby gave the eyes an ominous glow through the dirty swamp water. “RUN!” Rainbow yelled as she took off, flinging mud and grass behind her with every step. She took to the air as she moved forward, skimming over the water and heading away as fast as she could, narrowly dodging and weaving through practically invisible branches.

Behind her she could hear thrashing and branches being turned to splinters as the griffon tried desperately to keep up. Even farther away she could hear the crackle of electricity as the eels discharged and began swimming after them. Blue light lit up the waters as the forest seemed to come alive, more and more of the creatures being awoken as the water turned into a veritable death trap. She could hear Gilda grunting as she traveled through the mud. Even if it wasn't as deadly they could feel the jolts through the muddy ground. Rainbow's wings and mane kept getting caught in branches as she flew, but she ignored them as she pushed on, leaving an easy trail for the Griffon.

Soon the pegasus was forced to soar over small pockets of murky water as little bursts of electricity started to explode around her, forcing her to spin from side to side as she went. It wasn't easy but soon she saw hope. The swamp lands seemed to be almost at an end. All she had to do was make it over one final hurdle of murky water and they'd be out! “Come on!” she yelled at her comrade and took off full pelt. She made it half way across when the water under her turned completely blue. Arcs of raw power flowed under her as dozens of the creatures gazed up at her. An entire nest of them. “Gilda, don't come thi-” The voltage shot from the water, encasing her body as she screamed. She didn't know how long it lasted. All she could think about was the pain, followed by the cold envelopment of icy water as she sunk under the depths. Consciousness mercifully faded rather than allowing her to feel the pain flowing through her aching body.

Twilight entered the little tent with a smile on her face. Everything was going smoothly, Rainbow would be found soon enough, the fire benders would lower the sun, and everything would... She froze in mid step. Pinkie was hopping around and speaking so fast that it was impossible to make out the words, something about kebobs named Fred or something. Fluttershy was trying to hide under her blanket, while a red unicorn tried to drag her out.

“What is going on here?” Twilight slammed a hoof down, making the three ponies freeze in mid motion. The purple alicorn couldn't understand how Pinkie managed to freeze in mid air, but that was just Pinkie being Pinkie she supposed.

“I was merely trying to help your friends. I mentioned a celebration to the earth pony and she... well... Your pegasus friend has refused to come out since I informed her that every pony is going to be there.”

Twilight chuckled a little bit before moving forward. “Come on, Fluttershy, there's nothing to worry about. Every eye isn't going to be on you,” she gently patted the shy pegasus's back, slowly trying to guide her out from under the covers, “and you don't have to come out if you don't want too.”

“R-really?” the timid pegasus asked with a squeak.

“Yes... but I'd really like to have all my friends there. Oh! That reminds me... ummm. Pinkie, you can move now. Rainbow Dash should be found soon. Apparently they have ponies traveling all through the woods, so they should be able to find her no problem.”

“Oh! That'll be awesome! Once Rainbow gets here we can have even more fun! We can play all kinds of fire bending games, like pin the flame on the torch,” Pinkie began hopping around excitedly again, “hide and go flame, pictionafire, fireopoly, hungry hungry fire eaters, ummmm...”

“... Pinkie you're making all those up. We don't have any games like that.” She glanced to the red unicorn. “I think. A celebration does sounds great though, but first Ashmane is working to gather all the fire benders. I'm going to show them the spell. Everything is working out so wonderfully!” She couldn't help but hold her head high as the red unicorn departed. Soon all their worries and travels would be... Well. She'd still have a lot to do, but this was definitely a crowning achievement. If she could pull this off she could do anything.

As if in response to her enthusiasm, the tent flap opened up and Ashmane walked inside. “Avatar, every pony who isn't scouting has gathered. We await you.”

“Coming!” Twilight trotted out, head held high. Once again dozens of ponies had gathered outside the tent, watching her and waiting. The way they watched her made her heart soar. These ponies looked up to her, admired her even! This would be easy! “Okay, every pony. As you all know for the last hundred years the cycle of the sun and moon has been disrupted. I managed to hide the moon and bring out the sun,” Cheers erupted from the ponies as the stamped their hooves, “but that isn't enough. Now the sun is stuck above, drying out the world and that is why I sought you out. Together we are going to set the sun back on its natural cycle. Raise it each day and allow it to travel its path before sinking it behind the mountains each night.” She awaited a cheer, but all that greeted her was silence. “Well? What does every pony think?” She got the oddest feeling of deja vu.

“... You want us to raise the sun? Won't that let the Water Nation know we're here?” a voice called out from the crowd.

“Well... maybe that you exist? But that's only-”

“Why does it matter if the sun is out a long time? We lived with the moon for a hundred years! Let the world deal with the sun for a hundred!”

“But everything is drying out, and-” Again she was interrupted.

“We're safe in these woods now but if we lower the sun they'll be searching everywhere for us!”

Twilight gulped nervously. “Please, I know this sounds dangerous, but trust me. This needs to be done for the sake of the entire world. If we don't we won't be able to stop the Water Nation at all and countless ponies could die.”

“How does lowering the sun keep the Water Nation from winning? Don't they hate the sun?”

“Yes, but this hurts all the countries. Even the ones opposing them. I can take care of the Water Nation, I just need time, but I need every ponies help for this. Please, I know it's scary. Having hid for so long the idea of revealing yourselves in any way, no matter how minor, must be terrifying. But if ever there was a time for the fire benders to return, now is it. We need to make a move now before it's to late. While there is still a world to save.” Slowly she could hear the ponies murmuring amongst themselves, but no more objections were raised. Silence fell and they turned to her again. “Thank you. Okay, to do the spell you need to-”

“Wait! Avatar! I have pressing news.” The crowd of ponies parted as Blueblood ran forward. “I just received news from one of our scouts,” in fact he had received it earlier but had waited for the best time to inform her, “a pony matching your friends description was seen entering the froggy bottom swamp.”

“Really? That doesn't sound to threatening, why would-”

“It was called that back before it became the nesting grounds of electric eels. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of them roam those waters.”

“Electric eels? Those sound... unpleasant.”

“They aren't even the worst part. Past the swamp are the tunnels. If they enter those, well... it could be fatal. They are filled with quarry eels.”

“Is that section of the forest just filled with eels?”

“Yes. Yes it is. They are deadly. Even our greatest scouts can't go there. I'm sorry to say... your friend is as good as dead,” he said with a solemn face though internally he cheered at the thought of disorientating the avatar so.

Twilight froze as Fluttershy and Pinkie gasped. “That's.... that's impossible. Very well.” she stomped a hoof down. “I'm going to froggy bottom swamp. I'll need a guide however. Some pony who can help get there and try and find them. Would any pony be willing to volunteer?”

The ponies looked between each other but would not look her in the eyes.

“Any pony? Please. Rainbow is my friend. I can't just leave her there.”

“Avatar, you ask too much of us. Your friend is dead and you want us to go on a suicide mission to rescue her?” Blueblood shook his head. “Isn't it bad enough that you want us to unveil ourselves to the world that we are still around?”

“Hey!” A small voice yelled out, drawing the attention of the crowd. Spike was standing on a small hoof made box that the ponies stored seed in. “Twilight Sparkle is the avatar! She's going against the entire Water Nation by herself, she never even asked any of you to help her despite the fact they are your enemy too! All she wants you to do is help lower and raise the sun, something that will save your sorry hides too! The least you can do is show us the way to help one of our friends.”

For many seconds there was silence as the ponies guiltily shuffled their hooves before a soft voice spoke up. “I'll take you,” Ashmane stepped forward, “but there are some conditions. First, the spell. If it's really that important... teach it to all the fire benders first or at least enough so they can start it. Then just you and I, Avatar. The fewer of us there are, the better it'll go. I can't keep track of you and all your friends, but just you should be fine. Finally... if your friend is dead... we come back. No screaming, no trying to get vengeance, no trying to hurt yourself. We just come back. Deal?”

“... Fine,” Twilight grudgingly accepted. “That's perfectly reasonable, but we'll have to make this... well...” she let out a sigh as she began. At least this time she knew how to fire bend so she knew how the spell would interact. She just hoped Rainbow was safe. That the pegasus would be there for her when she got there.

Rainbow's body felt like she had been stomped on by a dragon, ran over by a cart of muffins and then thrown off a mountain top. To sum it all up she hurt. She hurt a lot. She couldn't move. Though she did feel a bit warm and something soft. It took her a few moments to realize she was bouncing around a bit and being moved. Great. That likely meant she wasn't dead. Unfortunately that probably... wait. She could breathe. She wasn't underwater! Slowly her eyes opened as she tried to look around. She saw dark, wet fur. “Gilda?”

“Yeah, flutter?”

“... You saved me?”

“Hmph. If that's what you wanna call it. I just saw you floundering about and thought I'd give you a lift. Would you rather I left you there?”

“... No. Thank you. For saving me I mean.” She began to notice her transport seemed to have a slight limp.

“Good to see you're up. Tired of hauling you around. Off!”

“No, wait!” Rainbow shrieked, but it was to late. She flew off the griffon's back as the larger creature reared. The pegasus landed with a groan, her body going limp. “I can't move...” she grouched into the ground her face was jammed into.

“Wow. Really? Like... at all?”

“Hate. You,” she groaned as the griffon rolled her over. Looking up at the griffon she could see that the girl had obviously been in a tough fight. Her feathers were all ruffled and her leg had a large slash up the length. “Wow... did you fight the eels off?”

“Huh? Nah. One just got close when I grabbed you. Luckily you seem to have of taken most their voltage when they zapped you. I was out so fast they never even got a chance to get me,” the griffon chuckled before poking Rainbow's nose.

“Stop that.”

“Or what?” Poke poke poke.

“Hate. You. Every fiber of my being,” Rainbow growled as she was poked, helpless to move. “Where are we anyway?” she let out a content sigh as the pokes ceased. At least temporarily.

“Don't know. Grabbed you and kept running, came to some tunnels and went inside. Been looking for a way out ever since.”

“... We're underground?”

“Yeah. That a problem?”

Rainbow groaned. “Don't fly and don't go underground. Cause it's suicide... We need to get out of here and back outside, who knows what's in these tunnels? I certainly don't want to know,” The pegasus grumbled as she tried to move again. She was able to slowly move her right hoof, though it felt like she was moving it through thick mud. But hey, it was a start. At least she wasn't permanently paralyzed. “I hope whatever Twilight wanted in these woods was worth it. As soon as I can move we can-” She went silent as she heard a grunting sound down the dark tunnel. She looked up at Gilda and hissed, “Put the glow out!”

“I can't! They aren't made to be put out!” The grunting was coming closer.

“Toss it and get us out of here! Who knows what that could be? It could-” But it was to late as the creature was upon them. The two let out a scream as it revealed itself.

It was dark red with a strange purple mane. It also had yellow eyes and a massive mouth with small teeth. It was definitely an eel with its shape, but not a type Rainbow had ever seen before. It was only about a foot long and a few inches around. The two stared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter.

“Oh man you should have seen your face! You looked terrified!” Gilda chuckled.

Rainbow laughed just as hard as she rebuttaled. “Me? You looked ready to wet yourself! It's just a little eel. Heh. Not like it-” There was a rock crunching sound as the ground began to shake around them. “.... What was that?”

“...” Gilda grabbed the pegasus and ran, moments later a much larger eels head sprouted from the wall, gouging out the place where the two had been a moment ago and burying the much smaller eel.

“Oh buck me,” Rainbow squeaked as the ground began to shake again.

Twilight grumbled as she followed closely behind Ashmane, having to occasionally reach out to grab the mare's tail to be sure she was still there. She wasn't allowed to use any of her fire to light the way as they went, since she might alert something in the woods.

The sun moving lessons had gone rather well as opposed to the moon raising. She was able to work with them and show them how the spell was done. It hadn't taken very long to demonstrate how to feel the sun, but grabbing it was another story. Grabbing it was turning out to be as difficult as trying to grab a big pile of mud, the majority of it just slipped through their magic and was unhindered. She was also having trouble understanding why it was that way for them. When she had tried doing it grabbing had been easy, she just enveloped the entirety in a thin layer of magic. It was moving it that was impossible. She didn't have nearly the amount of magic required to move it outside of her avatar state. She had given them a few small tips and then quickly departed, wanting to go find Rainbow immediately. Which was why they were now traversing through the woods towards the swamp.

There had been a few close calls when they went by a pack of timber wolves, but for the most part Twilight's guide knew exactly where to go and the fastest way there. Even without an ounce of light the paths they took made it easy for the alicorn to keep her footing, though she wished she could see her guide better. She wished it even more as she walked into her guides flank, falling back a little. “What is it?”

“Prints... hoof and timber wolf. Another pair, though I can't tell what they are. We are almost there,” the earth pony mumbled as the walking pace got even slower. Before long they were at a small river bed. “There is no doubt. Your friend traveled through here and across to the other side. I am afraid she is as good as dead...”

“No,” Twilight growled. “I refuse to believe that. I'll believe it when I see proof. Are you sure you won't come with me?”

“I know nothing of the swamp and would be nothing but a burden if danger arose. I will wait here for your return. But please, be quick.”

Twilight nodded and slowly she stepped into the water, shivering at the cold. Fortunately she did know how to swim so getting across was easy enough for her. Unfortunately the water was cold as ice and it chilled her down to the bone. She crawled out on the opposite side and walked briskly forward, feeling the swamp begin to tug at her hooves. She glanced up on occasion at the leaves above. It was hard to believe that behind that dense foliage the sky was blue and the sun was bright. She felt like she had been in these woods a life time and it was slowly getting to her.

She breathed a small bit of flame from her mouth, trying to warm herself as she walked. Occasionally she'd find spots where the ground would suddenly give way under her, turning to deep water, but she quickly pulled herself out. By the time she finally found something of use she was covered in dirty swamp water up to her mane. It was quickly forgotten as she picked up a small blue feather with her magic, a grin crossing her face. Rainbow! She was almost there! She grinned as she picked up the pace, her horn lighting up as she searched for tracks. Her blood froze when she identified them. The griffon. She kept her head low as she followed the tracks, occasionally she saw small strands of multi-colored mane or blue and brown feathers, but nothing definite.

She wouldn't give up though. She finally found a sign of her friend and she wasn't going to let it go no matter what.

Back at the fire bender's village a large hut near the center had its doors closed tightly. The only sign that any pony resided within was the small trail of smoke coming from the chimney. Inside the hut a large stump was used as a desk, makeshift inks and paper covering it. Blueblood paced around the room, practically glowing with glee despite the small amount of light from the fireplace.

He was giddy with excitement. The Avatar is gone! The Avatar is gone! Ashmane would return in a few hours with the 'troubling' news that the Avatar had died at the... whatever those things in the swamp have! Then he would be in complete control again. He'd been doing his best so far to stir up trouble for her, back handed comments, fanning the flames whenever some pony looked tired from these new additional tasks the mare had set on them.

His first order of business would be disposing of the Avatar's little 'friends'. Then stop all this lowering the sun nonsense. Bah! He'd actually already figured out how to properly grip the sun ages ago and been busy feeding false information to his less adept comrades. When would these ponies learn they needed him? If it wasn't for him they'd have gone off gallivanting around and alerted the Water Nation to their presence a dozen times over!

A small tapping on the door drew his attention. Quickly he moved behind the stump and sat down. “Come in!” he called out. The door opened to reveal a black coated unicorn with a purple mane.

Slowly the unicorn walked into the room. “Errr... Mr. Blueblood?”

“Yes Ashdancer?” Blueblood did his best to look as if he was trying to be comforting, but he knew the small fire cast flickering shadows that made him look much more intimidating than he truly was.

“Well... it's about what the Avatar said before. You have all the information from the scouts, so I was curious. How much danger is the world outside the forest in? I mean from the sun?” Ashdancer kept close to the door, not wandering to far in. He even jumped a little when it closed behind him.

“Ah yes,” the white unicorn mentally scoffed. Sure, they all think my reports are a useless waste of time before, but the moment something from the outside world affects them they all come running! Ashdancer hadn't been the first and wouldn't be the last. Blueblood knew exactly how to poison the mind just like he had the others, to slowly turn him against the Avatar. His horn glowed as he made a show of going through the records he held, only a few of which had been placed on actual paper. The spells to create paper was quite difficult and not one he enjoyed performing. “Ah yes. As a matter of fact... oh dear. According to our scouts there doesn't seem to be any real danger outside the forest, at least from the sun. But I'm sure the Avatar knows what she's talking about. It's not like she would ask us to throw away our lives for nothing, right?”

“Throw away our lives? You don't really think the Water Nation would be able to find us, do you? I mean, if she raised the sun why wouldn't they think she did it?”

“Oh. I'm sure they will. I mean, despite the fact they have been very precise and methodical in our extermination... Well, I'd say the chances of them actually finding us with their resources would be one in three.”

“O-one in three?!” Ashdancer squeaked, backing away and actually connecting with the door. “But... but...”

“Oh relax, Ashdancer. Sure the Avatar won't be here with us if they do attack... but I'll be here.” He held out a hoof as the flame got brighter, lighting up the room. “No matter what happens. Even if the avatar sees fit to make us do this act and then turn tail and run, I will always remain to help keep the village safe. Is there anything else?”

“Err... no... sir...” The unicorn left, head down. Blueblood just grinned as the door closed behind the scared unicorn. A few words here, a few words there. Without the Avatar's prescience there to give them hope, it was almost to easy. Now he just had to wait. Once Ashmane arrived with the news, he would just have to perform an act that would get every ponies attention and make them forget there ever was an avatar. Something flashy and awe inspiring.

He chuckled softly, Sometimes it is almost to easy.

Twilight's tracking brought her to a large river, far wider across than the first she had traversed. She couldn't even see to the other side in the dark, but she guessed Rainbow and the Griffon crossed here judging by the tracks. She could feel a light tingling racing up her hooves as she slowly reached out to the water. Slowly she put a hoof into the liquid, letting out a little yelp as it shocked her. She let out another yelp as light suddenly blossomed from the depths. Electric eels swarmed about as they came to the surface, hunting their new prey.

Twilight gulped, looking across the water towards the now visible shore. It wasn't to far so she doubted Rainbow would have any trouble getting across... So long as she hadn't gotten eaten by the- No. Not thinking about that. Her friend did get across... but the question was how would she? She turned and galloped as the swamp seemed to come alive. Electrical light burst from the murky swamp water as she ran, painting the forest a light shade of blue as she felt little bursts of static through her hooves. She didn't know which way she could escape the creatures, so instead she ran blindly through the forest.

Unfortunately blindly running didn't work out as she fell into another pit of muddy water. Before she could get stabilized electricity enveloped her and something wet and slimy coiled around the alicorn, pulling her deeper into the depths. She screamed as the slimy water filled her mouth and she struggled against the creature, hooves thrashing out.

Down deeper and deeper she was dragged as the creature took her to the muddy bottom, holding her there as it slowly gathered another charge. Twilight trembled but knew if she wanted any chance to survive she'd need to do it fast before it shocked her again.

She rammed her head forward, stabbing her horn into the creature. Focusing as hard as she could she formed an explosion of fire, the water around it quickly boiling as the eel exploded into a burst of blue lights. Released from the creatures grasp she quickly swam back to life giving air, crawling out of the murky depths. Every part of her ached though the air tasted sweet as she gulped it down, accidentally swallowing some of the swamp water as well. Though she was only given a few more seconds of relief before she heard the familiar sparking sound as the eel regathered itself and she was forced to run again.

She started running slower this time as she did not want to risk falling into another pit, but she could hear the things surrounding her and coming from the different sides. Waiting under the water to capture her. She was safe as long as she stayed away from the deeper areas but she didn't know for how long. She had to fight if she had any chance to find Rainbow. She planted her hooves down and glared defiantly. Fine! If they wanted a fight, they'd get one! She walked forward to the next pit of water, this time careful to avoid stepping fully in. Her horn lit up with fire as the creatures sparked at her. “Fine. Lets see how you like this!” She jumped onto the nearest tree and held herself on one of the lower branches as flame formed on her horn. The water and mud below was flooded with electricity as she glared down at them.

Sweat formed on Twilight's brow as a small sphere of flame formed and then quickly flew down into the water. A few moments later it exploded, sending a few of the eels flying into the air to explode into electric sparks as they slammed into trees or the muddy ground. She did it one more time but still the creatures seemed unwilling to abandon their prey, swimming around below. She knew if she touched the muddy ground they'd likely send another burst through it, but she couldn't do those explosions all day. She then grinned as an idea formed in her mind. It was a long shot but what did she have to lose?

She closed her eyes as once again she compressed the fire into a little sphere by her horn and, instead of sending it down, it flew up into the trees above the river. After a few seconds the large explosion erupted and sent branches falling from above into the water and, for the first time in about a hundred years, light from the sun punctured the Everfree forest. In a panic the eels fled from the light, unsure and unwilling to pursue their prey with this new experience upon them.

The alicorn groaned as she laid on the tree, exhausted. It wasn't easy compressing all the flame, it took time and energy. Three times was pushing her beyond what she should risk. She laid on the branch panting, barely able to move her hoof, but she knew she couldn't fall asleep. Not here, not in these woods. Who knew what could happen to her?

With great difficulty she dropped down from the tree, sinking into the mud a bit when she landed. Her vision was still blurry from the explosion, but she started walking again. Keeping her head low she couldn't help but feel her spirits rise with the sunlight piercing the darkness. The eels seemed to be stalking her again, occasionally she could see a little burst of blue light to the side and feel a tingle in her hooves. Fortunately they seemed unwilling to get to close after her earlier encounter. She just wished she knew which direction she should head, having to walk in a random direction again.

As she walked the swamp slowly gave way to the hardened ground she found herself back at the same river she had crossed before. “Oh you gotta be kidding me...” she groaned. “Ashmane! Are you there?” she yelled out. “ASHMANE!” She knew yelling was probably not the best but... well... she really didn't care. She was tired. She was wet. She was filthy. She was not in the mood to deal with these woods any more.

“Avatar? Keep it down!” a familiar voice hissed from across the small river as Ashmane came out from behind the bushes.

“I'm coming over,” Twilight growled, swimming through the river. It took her longer than she liked and she ended up farther down stream than she had expected, but soon she was across.

“What happened to you? You-” the earth pony gagged, backing away. “You smell horrible.”

“Thanks,” the alicorn grumbled. “I think I found where Rainbow went. I'm not going to be able to follow her without some rest. I'm going to need help.”

“No pony is going to be willing to come with you,” the guide said as they slowly started walking back towards the fire benders village.

“I'll deal with that when I come to it. For now I just-” She was cut off as a loud growl came from ahead of them. Timber wolves.

“I told you not to yell!” the earth pony hissed, backing away. “That or your smell. Okay, wait until- Avatar, what are you doing?!”

Twilight growled as she charged forward. The wolf looked confused, prey almost never charged at it. Granted prey never burst into flame and oh buck the pain! With a yelp the timber wolf retreated, its two comrades meeting a similar fate as flames enveloped their retreating flanks.

“Well... I guess that... works too,” Ashmane said with a slight tremble as they walked.

“Sorry... I'm just really not in the mood. Compared to what I found in that swamp, those were nothing,” Twilight grumbled softly as they walked. All she wanted was to sleep. The rest of the trip she barely remembered, dropping into her bed when they arrived without even washing off the smell. Fortunately she was so tired she didn't see her friends escaping the small tent to avoid the smell, even Fluttershy wasn't polite enough to try and ignore it. She also failed to notice the open mouthed look of shock that Blueblood gave her as she passed him on the way into the tent.

When she woke up she groaned weakly and rolled over. Lifting each hoof felt like lifting boulders. For a moment she considered just laying in bed, until thoughts of her friend popped into her head. With all the energy of a beached goldfish she crawled out of the bed and slowly walked towards the exit. She softly gasped when she found every pony wasn't hanging outside her tent for once. “Ashmane?” she called out, as the pony slowly came out from another nearby tent. “How long was I asleep? Ugh, anyway. Can you gather all the benders again? This time it's... well, personal. Also, why were you in there?”

“Because you smell like a skunk that's been rolling in trash and were laying in my bed. Thanks for that though. Happy to see you too,” she grumbled with a roll of her eyes before heading off to perform her task.

Twilight glanced down at the ground with sad eyes. Am I being to demanding? “Sorry...” the alicorn mumbled as she watched her new friend leave. She then moved her head back to sniff herself and recoiled in disgust. She quickly galloped off in search for a place to quickly clean up. Fortunately she found some ponies who were willing to donate some soap and water to help her. In fact, they practically threw it at her, unwilling to let her come to close. By the time she finished freshening up the unicorns were once again gathered, many starting to grumble and give her glares. “I'm sorry every pony that I have to keep doing this, but I really must ask. I know how to travel through the swamp,” she said as cheerfully as she could manage, “but I need help to get past it. I'd like to ask again. Please. Will one of you-”

“Go buck yourself!” an angry voice rang out.

“E-excuse me?”

“You heard me!” The crowd parted as Blueblood stepped forward, his eyes narrowed and mouth twisted in a sneer. “You've done nothing but boss us around since you arrived here. Making us run around at your beck and call, risking ourselves by raising the sun and drawing attention and now you want one of us to risk our lives on a suicide mission to save one of your friends?”

“I-I never, I just thought, that...”

“You never thought of anything! You think you can just disappear for a hundred years and then come back and become our leader? I don't care about your reputation. You're nothing but a spoiled child. I'm through letting you abuse your position and trying to tell our tribe what to do,” he growled and stamped a hoof down. “Avatar! I challenge you to an Agni Kai!”

The other fire benders gasped as they backed away from the two. Pinkie Pie popped up behind Twilight with her own gasp, hooves to her cheeks. “An Agni Kai?! Oh no! Twilight! He's challenging you to an Agni Kai!” She put her hooves on Twilight and shook her a little. “A real Agni Kai!” The alicorn was beginning to get dizzy when the shaking stopped. “What's an Agni Kai?” The silence was only shattered by the sound of the purple pony's hoof connecting with her face.