Sunny could never forget the horrific vision she received after she, the rest of the Mane 6 and Comet got back from Christmastown.

The battle… the fear that she felt for her friends and herself… Allura’s wicked laughter… the figure she and Twitch were with.

And the worst part was… she had no idea where they were or what they were planning in that moment.

Allura could gain enough power to jump to Equestria with just that one shard, and she would stop at nothing to claim the others they had collected.

That’s when Sunny seemed to get an idea-- Allura was no match for the Mane 6 when they all worked together as a team, so… maybe, if they got all their friends and families together to create one big mega-army, they would actually stand a chance if Allura and Twitch did find their way to Equestria to get the rest of the shards.

So it was settled.

Once the snow in Bridlewood melted a bit, training would begin for the biggest battle of their lives.

XXXXXXXX

Sunny and her friends looked over the field where the third training session of the day was taking place. After weeks of training, the citizens of Equestria improved in their fighting techniques, but to be able to defend themselves against Allura's ice army… they still had a long way to go. The problem was, the Mane 6 had no idea when Allura was going to strike next, or when their next Unity Quest mission would be.

Hitch turned to Sunny after a long moment of silence. “You think they'll be enough?”

Sunny swallowed nervously, the vision she had flashing through her mind. She didn't know how to answer that. So, instead, she settled for, “They have to be.”

XXXXXXXX

Back down in the training field, Jazz, Posey, Dahlia, Onyx, Dapple, Windy, Comet, Rufus, and Rocky were all taking a water break from sparing, the earth ponies using their earth pony magic against another team of earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi, to test both sides, and they were exhausted. It seemed as the weeks went by, these training sessions only got harder and harder.

That was when Windy noticed Comet seemed a little quieter than usual. “You okay, Comet?”

Comet snapped out of his daze, looking up at his newfound friends. “Oh, I-I'm fine. Just… nervous.”

“Oh, that's right,” Jazz said softly as a realization hit her. “You've faced Allura before, haven't you?”

Comet shivered just thinking about that time he and his fellow auroricorns were under Allura’s control, but nodded anyway. “Well, how did you get free of her?” Rufus asked. “Maybe it could help us with our fight against that overgrown housecat.”

Comet was about to answer when Onyx spoke in a cool, calm and collected tone. “Technically, he didn't. Because he's here now, preparing to face her.”

“Well, that just got dark,” Posey muttered, rolling her eyes at Onyx's choice of words. “Though, Onyx is right,” Comet agreed reluctantly, his gaze down at the forest floor. “We only put off the inevitable by not making sure that Allura was defeated properly.”

The rest of the group was silent after Comet's statement, their fear palpable. If Sunny and her friends couldn't defeat Allura permanently with the help of every auroricorn and the friends they made on their Unity Quest missions in the past, what chance did they have?

And how much were they willing to sacrifice for their home world before they ended up just like the auroricorns did before the Mane 6 came to their rescue?

It didn't take long before Dahlia tried to flash a hopeful smile. “Hey… Sunny and her friends haven't let us down yet, guys. We gotta trust them, don't we?”

“Yeah. I guess you're right,” Windy muttered, trying to keep the same hopeful attitude Sunny tried to encourage them to keep. Suddenly, a whistle sounded, grabbing the group's attention. “Alright, ponies. Break time's over,” Hitch called, with Sparky on his back and his friends following behind him. “Back on the field.”

“Sorry, Hitch,” Rufus apologized. “Just… trying to devise up a new strategy.”

“That's why we're here,” Zipp answered, her face stern. “Fighting Allura won't be easy. You need all the training you can get. Which is why we're gonna try a new exercise.”

“You're gonna break off in pairs,” Hitch explained, pacing in front of them. “Izzy, Sunny, and Pipp will join a pair, making it a group of three, to help you out and give you pointers. And each group will be fighting me, Zipp and Misty.”

The other ponies gasped, glancing at each other with wide eyes. “Uh… are you sure that's fair?” Posey asked with a raised eyebrow. “I mean, you six have WAY more experience than all of us combined. And I…”

“I know,” Misty interrupted, stepping forward with a gentle yet stern look on her face. “That's why each pair will have Sunny, Izzy, or Pipp. But… here's the real kicker, Posey… Allura won't fight fair. And she has a lot more experience than all of us, due to stories we've heard from flying leopards we've encountered on our missions and the ice beings she has the ability to create. You will be outnumbered, and she won't go easy. The point of this exercise is to be able to fight us three in pairs by the end of training. To teach you how to fight while outnumbered. Sunny, Pipp and Izzy are just training wheels.”

Posey gulped nervously. “Training wheels I hope we never have to take off…”

“Pipp? Do you have the group assignments?” Zipp asked her sister, who nodded and pulled a roll of paper out from under her wing. “Yep. Right here,” she said before facing the crowd of ponies. “Each pair will go one at a time. As you're waiting for your turn, you should be practicing. Not sitting around.”

“We will be switching up your pairs every round,” Sunny explained. “So you can learn to fight with anypony you're teamed up with as a team. The only way we'll win this fight is together.”

“Alright, ponies,” Hitch concluded sternly. “See Pipp to find out your partner and we'll begin. Any volunteers who want to go first?”

The entire group was silent, nopony even daring to raise a hoof. “Maybe we should… draw names from this hat?” Izzy lifted a hat up with her magic. “To make it fair and fun all at once! But uh… more serious than fun, though.”

“Good idea, Izzy,” Sunny reached into the hat, pulling out a name while Pipp pulled out a name of her own. “Posey, you and your partner will be going first. Which is…?”

Pipp squinted at her paper. “Uh… Onyx.”

Sunny turned back to Posey with a smile. “Since you two are going first, you can decide which one of us three you want on your team.”

“I say we get Sunny,” Posey whispered to Onyx. “She's the most formidable fighter, since she's an earth pony AND an alicorn.”

Onyx nodded. “Uh, okay.”

“We want Sunny,” Posey pointed at Sunny expectantly, and this made Sunny chuckle nervously. “Uh…okay. But… I'm not gonna use my alicorn form. This exercise is for you to learn how to fight while being outnumbered. You're not gonna learn anything if I do most of the fighting for you.”

Posey gulped nervously at this, but she and Onyx nodded with compliancy. Hesitantly, Posey and Onyx got into defensive positions, with Sunny by their side.

Hitch, Misty, and Zipp lined up across from them, wirh Sparky jumping off Hitch's back and waddling over to the Pippsqueaks and Violette, who were cheering on the side. “Thanks for letting us watch the combat practice, Pipp!” Seashell said with an enthusiastic smile. “Our parents probably would be worried out of their minds with us being here if they weren’t counting inventory.”

“Ah, well, you know… as long as you don't do any fighting… or you don't tell your parents…” Pipp added the last part in a mutter before she cleared her throat. “Look! I think they're starting!”

“Okay,” Zipp started as she faced Posey, Onyx and Sunny. “Remember, this may be only sparring practice, but this is supposed to imitate real life. We won't go easy on you, so don't go easy on us, okay?”

Posey and Onyx nodded before, with absolutely no warning, Hitch launched Zipp up into the air with a plant grown from earth pony magic. She flew into the air, curling her wings so she dove back to the ground with a crazy amount of speed. Posey panicked, stomping her hooves and creating a dome around her, Sunny and Onyx made of plants.

Immediately, however, Misty blasted a hole right through the plant dome, leaving a way for Hitch to use his earth pony magic to slither in a plant, intent on having it wrap around Posey. “Posey! Look out!” Sunny warned, stomping her hooves to block Posey from Hitch's attack. And once they were safe, Sunny decided to give the duo a little piece of advice. “Make a plan. Communicate! Take out the strongest first.”

“The strongest is Hitch, so… if we take him out, we can take Zipp and Misty easier,” Posey muttered. “But how do we take him out when his magic is so darn powerful?!”

Hitch pounded his hooves again, making a small plant tower for Misty to stand on, so she could fight with magic from above. Zipp was flying in speedy circles, trying to distract them. “Turn their strengths into weaknesses,” Sunny advised again. “Use it against them.”

Posey gasped upon getting an idea. “Divide and conquer,” she whispered before turning to Sunny and Onyx. “Two of us will take on Misty and Zipp, and while Hitch is distracted helping him, one of us takes him out.”

“Uh, I can take Hitch,” Onyx raised her hoof calmly. “I'll take Misty using my earth pony magic,” Posey volunteered. “That leaves Zipp to me,” Sunny finished. “And make sure to stick to the advice I gave you.”

“BREAK!!” the three of them shouted before springing into action.

Posey tried to capture Misty with her magic grown plants, but Misty would just blast them away with her magic. However, as Misty blasted at the plants, one slithered up behind her, capturing her. She yelped, catching Hitch's attention. He stopped his hooves, whacking Posey away with a plant of his own, allowing Misty to blast herself free.

“You can do it, Posey!” Sunny shouted over to her as she tried to grab Zipp with her earth pony grown vines. “Keep trying!”

“C'mon, Onyx,” Posey muttered to herself. “Any moment now. We can only keep Hitch distracted for much longer.”

Sunny finally caught the zooming Zipp, but Zipp began flying in circles over and over again, twisting the plant so much, it broke. Zipp flew off in a direction out of control, but recovered quickly. Hitch gave Zipp another boost in speed with his earth pony magic, somehow kicking the other team’s flank without taking a step.

However, this one small moment gave Onyx just the opportunity to step in.

She crept in the shadows of the trees, trying to remain out of sight until she was directly behind Hitch. “Down comes Sheriff Hitch…”

A magic lasso appeared and Onyx behan whirling it around in her magic before wrapping it around Hitch's hooves, knocking him to the ground. Onyx smiled triumphantly, but Hitch also smirked. The side of his hoof touched the ground and a plant grew behind Onyx, wrapping around her, immobilizing her.

Posey looked stunned at this. “Wha… how…? How did he do that?!”

“That’s the thing about these things, Pose,” Pipp smiled. “Always expect the unexpected.”

“Okay, let's pick the next team while you guys catch your breath,” Sunny said, panting slightly. “And while I catch mine.”

XXXXXXXX

The Mane 6 panted heavily as they walked into the Crystal Tea Room, Pipp, Izzy, and Sunny looking ragged from getting their flanks handed to them.

After two hours of the same exercises, the pairs yielded about the same results as Posey and Onyx. Hitch, Zipp, and Misty briefly wondered if they were going too hard on them, but Sunny's thought about the last time they faced Allura flashed through her mind, along with the vision, before she said that the only way to prepare them is to make it as similar as it'd be in battle.

Besides, Sunny wanted to get as much practice as possible fighting without her alicorn form. It could sometimes be unreliable, and she needed to be a valuable asset to the team whether she be an alicorn or an earth pony.

All of their muscles hurt and ached, but as soon as they walked in, they smelled a wonderful aroma that soothed their starving stomachs.

Pipp sighed wearily as they sat down at the bar. “I don’t know how the Guardians of Harmony did this all that time ago… facing stuff way worse than Allura, based off of Sunny's stories.”

“Me neither,” Izzy laid her head on the bar. “I'm exhausted.”

“Well, from what your dad's stories told you, Sunny, they didn't really use that much hoof to hoof combat, did they?” Zipp asked, turning to Sunny. “No, not really,” Sunny shook his head. “But we have to figure out our own way to fight if we're gonna protect Equestria from Allura and Twitch… despite whatever they're planning.”

That's when Alphabittle, Queen Haven, Grandma Figgy and Paradise came out from the underground bunker beneath the Tea Room, having heard ponies up above and wanted to come and greet them. “Ah, hey, kids,” Alphabittle said as he spotted the Mane 6. “How was training today?”

“...a lot...” Misty muttered, dropping her head. “Well, Misty, dear,” Paradise said as she rubbed the top of her daughter's head. “You and your friends can have dinner here if you want.”

Misty smiled up at her mother. “Thanks, Mom.”

“And I would love some of your marshmallow citrus crumblies, Granny,” Hitch sighed wearily. “Sparky too… poor guy needs the energy.”

“What did he do?” Zipp asked. “He stood on the sidelines and cheered with the…”

Zipp trailed off upon seeing Pipp's warning glare. “With the others.”

“Oh, of course, dears. I'll fix you a whole batch of cookies for you and your friends,” Grandma Figgy said before she got to work. But as Grandma Figgy got to baking, Queen Haven rubbed the top of Pipp's head with her hoof. “You poor darlings have been training so much since Sunny's vision, and I'm afraid you'll overwork yourselves if you're not careful.”

Zipp waved a dismissive hoof as Sunny patted Cloudpuff on the head. “We'll be fine. A little work out never hurt anypony.”

“Speak for yourself, Zipp,” Izzy responded, stretching her limbs before wincing. “I think I pulled something.”

“I can take a look at it for you, dear,” Grandma Figgy offered as she put the cookies in the oven. “I have an old earth pony remedy that works wonders.”

“Thanks, Grandma Figgy,” Izzy responded. She wanted to be polite and say she was okay, but honestly, a remedy sounded too good right now to pass up. “Haven's right, though,” Alphabittle pointed out, making the kids some chamomile tea. “If you tire yourselves out too much, by the time the final battle is here, you'll be too tuckered out to fight.”

“We're screwed either way if we're not ready,” Misty muttered. “Misty!” Paradise admonished. “Misty's right though.” Sunny agreed. “We barely beat Allura the first time we faced her, and that was with all that helpful. And even then, it was just temporary. We still had to face her and Twitch countless of other times, and we barely managed to stop her those times too. If we aren't prepared or good enough…”

Sunny trailed off, shuddering at the thought. “...we just don't want anypony getting hurt because of us,” Zipp said as her ears lowered slightly. “Opaline was one thing, but… as long as Allura has that one star shard, she could easily find a way to boost its power, she could get into Equestria at any given time and hold you all as hostage to surrender the rest of the star to her.”

“That's not even including her powers of persuasion. She wouldn't even need to hold you captive. She could just… make us give her the rest of the star without us even realizing it,” Hitch added, holding Sparky close. “I mean, she forced the auroricorns to think they were happy!” Izzy exclaimed. “How messed up is that? Who knows what else she could do with that persuasion magic.”

“Opaline had an army of dragons at her side. But Allura… she's like a one creature army on her own. Plus with those ice beings she makes…” Misty shivered, and after a moment of silence, Pipp nodded at her friends' statements. “...I guess we're more scared than we let on.”

“It sounds like you ponies have a lot on your shoulders,” Queen Haven observed sympathetically.

“We knew that it was a lot to let out on you guys, and we didn't wanna worry you,” Sunny admitted, looking embarrassed. “We're the Guardians of Equestria… we should be able to handle anything that comes our way, but… Allura… she's different.”

Alphabittle smiled at the earth pony mare gently, tilting her head back up so she could look at him. “Oh, Sunny. You united the pony kinds and you kids preach about friendship on all your adventures m, but don't you see? You can't handle everything alone. And it sounds like Princess Twilight didn't either. Didn't you say in the final battle, it took all of Equestria and creatures outside of it to defeat the villains?”

Sunny nodded at this question. “Yeah, but…you've already done so much…”

“We're parents,” Paradise interrupted gently. “Whether you tell us or not, we're gonna worry. It's our job. Nothing you do will ever change that.”

“But… what if we let ponies down?” Izzy asked the older ponjes softly. “What do we do when that happens?”

“You're always gonna let ponies down. It's a fact of life. But true friends won't care. They'll step up to help you, no matter what,” Alphabittle answered bluntly, but gently. “And after everything you ponies have done, I'd say you have quite a few true friends.”

Misty smiled softly at that. “I guess we really do.”

“When you can't do something all alone, lean on your friends to help,” Sunny muttered, repeating a lesson Hitch taught her during one of their adventures.

And it certainly was a good lesson to remember.

Grandma Figgy then pulled some cookies out of the oven. “Here you are, dears. They're all yours. And I'll get that remedy for you right now, Izzy.”

“Thanks, Grandma Figgy. You're the best,” Pipp said, reaching for a cookie. “Yeah. I wish you were my grandma. Hitch is lucky,” Zipp agreed. When Queen Haven cleared her throat, the two sisters paused. “Er…” Zipp started to say something, trying to figure out a way to backtrack.

However, Queen Haven just chuckled. “It's okay girls. I was just kidding with you. I understand that I'm not the best cook.”

“Yeah, but… we wouldn’t trade you for anything, Mom,” Zipp said softly. Queen Haven smiled and hugged her daughters… just before a glow caught her attention and caused her to gasp. “Darlings, look! Your cutie marks!”

The Mane 6 looked down to see their cutie marks glowing once again, and Zipp let out a sigh. “We better let everypony know we're leaving, just so they don't get worried. Come on.”

The Mane 6 and their families left the Crystal Tea Room… only to find Posey, Windy, Comet, Dahlia, Rufus… ALL of their friends from Equestria waiting for them… as if they had known they were going to leave the whole time.

Sunny had to take a minute to get ahold of herself. “W-What is all this?”

“Well, it's kind of hard to hide glowing cutie marks, isn't it?” Posey asked with a smirk.

“Plus, the portal over there was kind of a dead giveaway,” Comet added, adjusting his glasses and pointing at the portal at the end of the walkway.

“Anyways,” Jazz started, stepping in front of Posey and Comet. “We wanted to see you off and assure you we've got everything under control.”

“Good,” Hitch said with a smile. “Because I've composed a very detailed training regimen for this very situation.”

When everypony, including the rest of the Mane Six, stared at him, he shrugged. “What? I like to be prepared.”

After a moment, Hitch's full attention turned to Alphabittle. “The tapes are under the Tea Room counter.”

“Tapes? How many are there?” Alphabittle asked. “Enough to fill you in on current situations till we get back,” Hitch explained. “Trust me.”

As Hitch and Alphabittle spoke, the Pippsqueaks and Violette Rainbow came up and hugged Izzy Pipp tightly. “Please be careful out there, Pipp,” Peach Fizz begged. “You’re our hero…”

“We don't want anything to happen to you guys,” Violette agreed, looking frightened as she gazed up at Izzy. “You gotta promise you'll come back safe.”

Izzy paused, looking at Sunny for help. She didn’t want to make a promise she couldn't keep. But Sunny was internally panicking. They couldn't leave now. There was still so much to do. Allura could be back at any moment. Allura could come because the 6 weren't there. Attack Equestria when it was at its weakest.

Suddenly, Sunny felt a hoof on her shoulder. She looked up to see Misty's mom standing behind her, a soft smile on her face. “Remember what we talked about, Sunny,” she whispered. “You're not alone.”

Sunny took a deep breath, calming the storm inside her. Paradise was right. They weren't alone. This was why they held training in the first place.

“We'll do our best,” Sunny finally answered for Izzy. “Hoof to heart. We'd never leave Equestria defenseless.”

And none of it was a lie. Even if Sunny and her friends didn't come back, others would pick up what they started, and bear the mantel, just as Sunny and her friends did for the Guardians Of Harmony.

“Hitch… do you need us to watch Sparky?” Dahlia asked the earth pony stallion gently. “With Allura and Twitch still out there… we don't wanna take any chances.”

“What? No!” Hitch said defensively. “He's a baby dragon. Allura still being out there is exactly why he should come…”

“Hitch…” Zipp said softly. “He's more use here. If Allura attacks, he can change the tide of the battle. His transformation magic is powerful.”

“Yeah. Take our word for it,” Posey said to the sheriff gently. “He'll be safest here with us.”

Hitch whimpered a bit, before sighing, and giving Sparky to Dahlia. “Fine. You're right...” he muttered before he finally turned to the ponies. “But I swear if I get back and he's hurt…”

“We'll take good care of him, sheriff,” Posey assured.

“Yeah. How much trouble can he be?” Jazz added.

“That's what I said!” Izzy exclaimed, bouncing up and down.

Misty turned back to her parents and gave them one final hug. “If anything happens while we're gone, use the Marestream to find Spike and the dragons at the Isle of Scaly. They're our best bet in case things go wrong. And… please be careful.”

Paradise and Alphabittle nodded at this. And then, when all the farewells had been exchanged, the Mane 6 leapt into the portal before it closed, ready for what could be the biggest Unity Quest mission thus far…

…and possibly, one of their most dangerous.

Author's Note

This story will be co-written by the incredible, amazing Willow-- show her some love, people!