“The melting wax house.” Harmonious Flash said as they looked at a sign above the doorway of a large grey building. “Is this a good idea?” She asked Lyla Firecracker picturing a more haunted version with actual wax figures melting giving off a grotesque appearance.

“Yeah, ponies knew the name because this was once a horror that scared the young ones.” Lyla Firecracker replied. “But they got a lot of complaints from several hoofball mares so they cleaned up the place so to speak.” The only way in and out was the door they stood in front of and there was one window to the right of it to let some light in and as they entered, a bell ran alerting a pegasus to their arrival.

“Welcome to the melting wax house.” She greeted in a bored tone after looking up from the magazine she was looking at. “It’ll be fourteen bits per pony and we also having a no flying policy except for one area. Pictures are welcomed as well.” The four paid their fare and as they entered through another door, the pegasus went back to her magazine.

The first room was a corridor with three ponies of each race on either side of them. The earth ponies first, unicorns second, and pegasi third, standing at attention as they walked passed with the corridor opening up into a smaller version of the throne room. They were soon greeted with both Princess Celestia and Luna smiling with their wings outstretched and yet looking regal at the same time.

“Should we bow?” Blue Jay asked, wondering what they were supposed to do.

“I would think it wasn’t needed. But I’m not sure.” Lyla Firecracker said, then she shrugged. “Though to be honest, I never really did and haven’t seen any pony else do so.” With the agreement that they didn’t have to, they exited right, they left the throne room and walked out into the courtyard with dimmed lights and painted walls to suggest an evening scene. It was set up much like it would be for the Grand Galloping Gala but there was a painted cobblestone pathway that led the shortest way through that room. Off to one corner stood Octavia with her trademark cello, Symphony on her violin, Frederic Horseshoepin sitting at a piano, and Parish Nandermane playing the harp as soft classical music played around them. In the middle of the room, there was a large fountain and standing beside it was Star Swirl the Bearded looking up at the night sky as if casting a spell to make the stars twinkle in the night sky. Standing on the edge –clad in her cape and pointed hat– of the fountain near Star Swirl was Trixie creating an ursa minor illusion for some foals. A few feet away from them stood Photo Finish standing beside her camera and instructing the mane 6 into position, with Twilight Sparkle being in the middle but there was enough room around each pony to see them from all sides.

As they exited through the doorway besides the mane 6, they ducked under a set of tied-back red plush curtains and found themselves standing at the beginning of a fashion runway. On either side, there were ponies looking up and some had camera while others didn’t and standing at the end stood Hoity Toity. As the four walked to the end, he had an audio clip giving them a random compliment.

Exiting the fashion show, they found themselves hearing rushing water and as they turned the corner, they found a wall painted blue with white clouds and a wooden set constructed to be an inner tube about to go over the edge of Neighagra Falls.

“This is cool.” Harmonious Flash said as she walked around the falls and stood in the inner tube. Then she threw her fore hooves into the air and whooped happily as if she really was going over. There was a click of a shutter, thus drawing their attention to the opposite wall.

“Feel free to pose however you wish.” Paige read the flyer besides the camera. “You can pick up your photos at the end. Please be courteous to others if they are waiting.” She looked at the others. “Guess we don’t need to worry about the last one for now.” She joined the others in the inner tube and all four pretended that it was the end for them. The next photo had them cheering as they were almost over the edge. Harmonious Flash flew out of view of the camera and flapped her wings to provide wind that ruffled the others manes and Blue Jay cried out as she pretended to fall out of the inner tube and was holding on for dear life.

“Don’t let go!” Don’t let go! Please don’t let go!” Blue Jay pleaded to Lyla Firecracker, who was holding her hoof and Paige was holding onto Lyla Firecracker’s waist.

“Don’t worry, I got you!” Lyla Firecracker replied but she could feel Blue Jay’s hoof slipping out of her grasp. “BLUE JAY!” She cried out with Paige as Blue Jay fell to the merciless water, her voice getting smaller. “I can’t look.” Lyla Firecracker said as she buried her face into Paige’s chest.

“I don’t believe we lost her.” Paige held Lyla Firecracker tightly and shut her eyes, picturing the splash.

“Whoo hoo!” Harmonious Flash cheered as she hovered into view holding Blue Jay by her waist. “That was close.”

“Blue Jay!” the four friends hugged and laughed. “I can’t wait to see the photos.” Lyla Firecracker said as Harmonious Flash’s eyes lit up as the second to last photo was taken.

“We need one more. Since we saved Blue Jay, we should go from relieved to remembering that we’re all going over.” Harmonious Flash suggested.

“Um… girls…” Paige swallowed and was looking worried once more. “We’re about to go over as well.” The four adopted an ‘oh buck’ expression as the camera took the final picture.

“To be honest, I’m not sure if my last words would be “I regret nothing!” or “Oh buck!” with the last word trailing after me the entire way down.” Blue Jay said as she was looking back at her friends, she didn’t see but felt a large leaf smack her head. Turning around, she saw the leaf was nearly as big as she was.

“Now where are we?” Paige asked as they pushed the leaves aside during their trek through a jungle until it opened to reveal a path leading to a golden pyramid. On their left stood Daring Do with an ancient artifact with a speech bubble wishing Ahuizotl better luck next time while on their right stood Ahuizotl and his hench-cats, including the fussy white house cat.

Entering the pyramid, they walked up the spiral staircase with the scene changing from ancient civilization to that or a night club halfway up the stairs with a soft bass reverberating through the area. As they reached the second floor, the bass was a little louder but kept quiet as different color lights pulsed randomly to give the feel that the ponies on the dance floor were really dancing. Along one wall was a bar and on the opposite side stood the DJ, the one and only, DJ-Pon3 behind her mixing tables.

They left the nightclub scene and they soon came to came to a door with a sign daring any and all brave ponies to enter. “Hey, let’s go in here.” Blue Jay said as she put her hoof on the door to open it.

“Um… I’m going to go around and meet you on the other side.” Lyla Firecracker said as she stood far from that door as possible.
“Why?” Blue Jay asked and paused from pushing the door open.

“Because that’s where they keep the villains.”

“Sweet! I always wanted to see them up close.” Blue Jay shot in before anypony could say anything and the others followed, with Lyla Firecracker swallowing and bringing up the rea. The first villain they were greeted with was Queen Chrysalis and a couple of changelings, including one that was halfway through the process of becoming a crystal pony with a fleur-de-lie cutie mark.

“Can we hurry up?” Lyla Firecracker asked as she attempted to push her friends along.

“Why, you’re not sacred of wax are you?” Harmonious Flash teased her a little as they reached Lord Tirek, who was charging up an energy blast.

“Not the wax. Remember, I travel a lot, so I’ve seen the aftermath of their destruction.” Lyla Firecracker said as they walked passed King Sombra standing over two low-spirited crystal ponies.

“Okay, I can see that. But all of them have been defeated.” Harmonious Flash said.

“Or reformed.” The wax statue of Discord said, causing all four to cry out in surprise. “I chose to be reformed rather than completely stripped of my powers.” He snapped a talon and appeared directly behind them. “Would anypony care for a cup of tea?” he asked as a teapot appeared with five cups and the pot poured itself.

“But… but… you shouldn’t be able to move… you’re made of wax.” Lyla Firecracker stammered.

“Oh am I? Or am I the real discord?” Discord smirked as he took a tea cup and sipped on the tea. “But the question is, why are you here?” He looked directly at Lyla Firecracker, who shrank back a little.

“Because I didn’t want to leave my friends.” Lyla tried to sound braver than she felt.

“Yet, you know the two paths meet up again.” Discord lazily floated in the air on his back using his back legs to push himself along. “It’s not like you would have been separated for very long.”

“But this time I have friends.”

“So you’re saying you’re braver with friends?” Discord rolled over and finished his tea before making everything vanish seeing how nopony was having any. “Have you told them the reason why you fear me so? Thought not. You try to be a brave little pony and not let others see that you’re really fragile inside.” He said once Lyla Firecracker shook her head.

“Lyla, what does he mean?” Blue Jay asked, now looking concerned.

“I didn’t want to tell you girls since I felt ashamed of an irrational fear.” Lyla Firecracker said and looked at the floor. “There were times I would arrive somewhere after he did his damage and from the stories I heard, each describing him worse and worse… eventually I began believing in the descriptions.”

“And what happened when we met for real?” Discord asked, obviously happy and he coiled himself around Lyla Firecracker and leaning far too close to her cheek.

“I ran and hid like a coward.” Lyla Firecracker answered, her eyes starting to water as Discord laughed.

“Yep. If you want, we can revisit that moment.” Discord put his paw in front of Lyla Firecracker’s eyes and watched as they widened.
“NO!” Lyla Firecracker yelled as Discord started snapping the paw pads together, but before he could use his magic, he saw Harmonious Flash about to tackle him. Disappearing in a pink puff, the two ponies crashed and went down.

“It’s a shame really. I wanted to see the day again.” Discord said once he appeared lounging in King Sombra’s mouth.

“Lyla, it’s okay to be afraid of Discord, but right now he’s trying to get in your head. We haven’t known you for long, but there’s no way you’re weak anymore.” Harmonious Flash stood and helped her friend up. “A weak pony doesn’t trek through the land carrying highly explosive by being afraid. So he corrupted your town with his magic, Ponyville was nearly destroyed by Tirek over there.” She pointed to Lord Tirek. “It’s okay to be afraid, that’s why you have friends that can help you out in a pinch.” She smiled and got a small smile in return.

“Thanks.” Lyla Firecracker stepped out from around Harmonious Flash and saw that Discord had his back to them while checking himself in the mirror. “I might be sacred of you. I witness the aftermath of the destruction you can cause. But if you try to make me relive that day, I will fight back next time.”

Discord turned to face them and tossed the mirror behind him before he clapped. “Congratulations, you’ve taken your first step to overcoming your fear.” He disappeared with a soft pop and when he reappeared, he stood in the same pose and spot they first saw him.
Lyla Firecracker looked up at the now motionless Discord, now feeling more at ease. “Thank you.” She said before looking at her friends. “Shall we continue?” She smiled and the others nodded while Paige looked thoughtful. The last villain they saw was Nightmare Moon and three Shadowbolts, one in flight and the other two standing on either side of Nightmare Moon.

“Can you imagine what Equestria would be like if Nightmare Moon had won all those centuries ago?” Paige asked and they opted not to spend too much time before Nightmare Moon because her eyes seemed to look straight to their souls.

“I’m glad she didn’t.” Harmonious flash replied. “Though a fight between her and the other villains would be interesting to watch.”

“But if they’re both villains, who do you cheer for?” Blue Jay asked as she tried to picture which of the villains would ultimately come out on top as the exited the room.

“That’s easy, we cheer for the Elements of Harmony.” Lyla Firecracker replied.

“Or you could just cheer for me.” Harmonious Flash grinned. “I’d just need a sign that had elements painted on it.” They laughed as they found themselves on the landing strip of the Wonderbolt Academy and were greeted by Colonel Purple Dart and Admiral Fairweather holding a banner between them that read ‘welcome to the Wonderbolts.’ General Firefly was a pony length away, but had his back to them as he looked at a wall painted with lighting and sparkles trailing after the first set of Wonderbolts and a speech bubble having him saying “those are my Wonderbolts!”

Commander Easyglider stood a little further down with drawings of different maneuvers blue prints that the Wonderbolts could perform for the shows. They also had Admiral Fairy Flight and General Flash of the seventh and tenth squadrons respectively getting ready to lead their teams. As they got closer to the current Wonderbolts, they paused by Flaire De Mare who was watching a set of six costumes slowly rotating in an oval shape with each one getting more streamlined.

Captain Spitfire, Soarin, and Fleetfoot stood at the very end of the room saluting while the other current Wonderbolts were flying overhead with half of them creating a storm cloud trail behind them. Several mirrors on the ceiling allowed ponies to see the tops and sides of those in flight.

They left the Wonderbolts behind and walked into a hallway with a small science classroom with Professor Bill Neigh standing behind a desk with the desk being filled of apparatuses filled with five different color lights that were supposed to represent liquids. They couldn’t get too close due to a railing but there was a panel that had five different color buttons on it. Blue Jay pressed two of them and the corresponding liquids were mixed into one beaker in the middle of the desk. There was an audible poof and a cloud of black smoke shot up and when it was clear, his face was covered in ash and he had wonky eyes before he coughed out a smoke ring. A minute later the area reset itself so each of the girls had a shot at it with Paige getting a green liquid, Harmonious Flash hit all five colors which had the same result as Blue Jay’s and Lyla Firecracker was able to get a gold liquid.

Opposite of Professor Bill Neigh and his science class was the Power Ponies. Mistress Mare-velous, Fili-Second, Zapp, Radiance, Masked Matter-Horn and Saddle Ranger stood ready to defend Metropolis with their powers ready, Though Saddle Ranger had a large darken shadow painted behind her. Hum Drum was pointing ahead of them to where Mane-iac was emerging from a space trough with a speech bubble saying “Ah! After ten-thousand years I’m free, it’s time to concur Equestria.”

Since the way through was closer to the Power Ponies than Bill Neigh, the door and hallway were represented by a portal and when they emerged, they stood on a crystal walkway while the walls had a pinkish hue to them with a several changelings being blasted away and there were a few crystal ponies waving at them. Beside the crystal heart, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor stood close to each other. Cadence’s horn was glowing pink while Shining Armor pinned a changeling under his hoof like it was no big deal.

They exited the building and stood off to the side so they wouldn’t be in anypony’s way while their eyes readjusted to the sunny day. “That was totally worth every bit!” Blue Jay exclaimed as she looked at the photos they had taken with the inner tube.

“Definitely. It’s amazing how much detail they put into each one of those figures.” Harmonious Flash agreed and looked through the pictures once Blue Jay was done.

“Blue Jay.” Paige said to get her attention after looking away from Lyla Firecracker. “While watching the whole thing with Discord and Lyla, I had an idea of how we can help you.

“What do you mean?” Blue Jay asked, though she hid the fact she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know or not.

“I think the best way to do this is to confront Feral Lupus head on.” Paige watched as blue Jay stiffened at the mention of Feral Lupus’ name and hugged her friend. “I think that until you do, you’ll never fully be ready to move on.”

“I won’t have to do it alone will I?” Blue Jay asked with the fear shining in her eyes. Paige pulled back but left one hoof on Blue Jay’s shoulder.
“Of course not, we can work out the fine details later, but we’re going to be right by your side.” Paige smiled and the other two nodded.

“Yeah, it wouldn’t be fair of me to help Lyla and not you.” Harmonious Flash said. “Soof course I’ll be there.”

“I wanted to become your friend and it would be terribly bad manners to ditch you when you need it the most.” Lyla Firecracker agreed.

A week passed and Fainthoof slacked off as much as he was able to safely get away with. With a sigh, he looked at the clouds. “I’m not meant to do this in my age.” He grumbled.

“Then why are you here?” A sharp voice sounding exactly like Spitfire’s asked and Fainthoof’s eyes snapped open.

“Because you know… oh, it’s you, White Rose.” Fainthoof relaxed as he looked at his wing mate.

“I thought I’d find you hear.” White Rose said in a softer tone. She was white as freshly fallen snow with a ruby mane and tail. Her eyes were silver with a certain warmth to them at the moment while her cutie mark was a white rose outlined in red. “Captain Spitfire needs to see you in her office.”

“Really? That blows.” Fainthoof stood up and stretched as he glanced back at his tail, still finding the missing blade a disturbing sight. “Well, better go before I get yelled at for not showing up promptly.” He began walking along the clouds while White Rose followed.
“Want me to walk with you?” She asked.

“No, that’s fine. Besides, don’t you have barrack inspection today?”

White Rose’s eyes widen. “I nearly forgot. Thanks for the reminder.” She then bolted off to find the other members she shared the barracks with while Fainthoof chuckled.

“That mare is something else.” He muttered to himself and glanced up in time to dodge Spitfire from nearly tackling him through the clouds.
“Very good cadet.” Spitfire said as she folded her wings in. “I see you’re still in top form even from your slacking off all the time.”

“I don’t do it all the time.”

“Yet you do it far more often than I would allow. Trust me, I know every time you do.” She smirked at him like she knew a big secret.
“What do you need ma’am?”

“I want a report tonight.”

“Yes ma’am. I’ll make sure to be ready.” Fainthoof said and stood facing Spitfire. “I need to leave for Canterlot.”

“Oh? And I guess you’re going to go whether I clear it or not? Since after all, you only serve the princesses with a rank that doesn’t exist. Must be nice to be in the-” Spitfire didn’t finish as Fainthoof lunged forward to stop her from going any further but Spitfire spun to the side and flipped him onto his back. “Or, maybe I was wrong about the tip top shape.”

Fainthoof nearly threw a punch to retaliate but paused when Spitfire shook her head and extended a hoof to help him up. “What was that for?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure.”

Fainthoof put a hoof Spitfire’s forehead. “Well, you don’t you have a fever. Anything else feel off?”

Spitfire knocked his hoof away a little harder than intended and shook her head. “Nothing I can’t handle. When will you be back?

“Once I find out more about the pendant. Hopefully it won’t be too long.”

“Very well, fly safe.” Spitfire stepped back and Fainthoof took off but a second later Fleetfoot walked up.

“Spitfire. Regarding the break in two nights ago, the only files that were taken were the ones on the Wonderbolts.” She watched Spitfire groan and massage her forehead with a hoof.

“All of them?”

“Just the current team. Former members are still there.”

“This is getting serious.” Spitfire sighed and started trotting to her office to give her time to think. “Fleetfoot, tell the Wonderbolts that are stationed here to focus on me and Princess Luna as they fall asleep.”

“Yes ma’am.” Fleetfoot saluted and flew off.

Fainthoof flew for a while, finding it to be relaxing and annoying at the same time since it allowed him to see sights he’d normally wouldn’t see. As he flew over some trees, he dove down aiming for the shadows that the trees were casting. I really hope this works. He thought with emphasis on the really part and it turned out his fears weren’t needed as he slipped into the shadows before emerging on the outskirts of Canterlot. Flying the rest of the way, he spiraled down alongside the mountain side and passing his and Kitsune’s favorite place until he reached the ground where the Training Guild once stood. Pasting though an invisible barrier that had been erected once Nightmare Moon shut down the place, he found the building was nearly demolished but still standing in parts, the grass was either dead or over grown and dead and had grown in areas where it never did before and overall the place was nothing more than a shell of its former self.

Finding the secret passageway from memory, Fainthoof descended a set of stairs holding a lantern in his mouth. The areas closer to surface level had some damaged and several puddles of water pooled in the hallway. Going down two more levels, he came to a set of double doors and the rusted hinges screamed in protest as he pushed the doors opened but waited for the air to flow through them. Walking into the library, he tried breathing through his mouth so he wouldn’t have to smell the musty, stale air but soon gave up. “Now, where to start.”

A large stack of books later, he sat at a table after coughing from a large dust cloud that he realized letting the books hit the table was a bad idea a second too late. Being careful, he used his magic to turn the pages but even then some pages ripped from being so old while other pages glued themselves together. He paused and rubbed his eyes after looking through the eighth book and roughly three-quarters into the ninth book when he came across a drawing of the very pendant he normally wore around his horn.

“Everlasting Shadow Pendant.” Fainthoof read and leaned close to the book as to not miss anything. “The first attempt to harness the shadows failed as made evident from the skeletal remains of the subjects as they fell apart in front of us.” He ready the scientist’s entries and noticed there wasn’t any correlation with the dates. “Third time’s the charm for us! One of our scientist developed a container to house the darkness and every subject that wore them survived.” He paused and turned the page.

“Another great finding for us! The pendant allowed the subjects to melt into any shadow and reappear elsewhere. Right now we’re terming it shadow hopping, but perhaps later we can decide on a different name later. At the same time, the more the subject uses the shadows, the more addicted they get. Oh! Have you ever heard of a more wondrous cycle?” Here two pages were stuck together and he tried to peel them apart but only succeeded in ripping them. The next page was a dark black blob with only the outer letters being visible, except for a small note cursing the one that startled the author as the ink covered the page. Fainthoof hoped the entry was written on the next page and was disappointed to find the author hadn’t rewritten it.

“Our first tragedy today. While two subjects were fighting (the most wonderful sight) one had their pendant shatter and they were instantly devoured by the shadow while the other subject came close to losing their life. We were successful in saving the subject, though they became a shadow/pony hybrid as the shadows seemed to compensate for the missing limbs. Within an hour, the subject felt his mind slipping slowly and begged us to end it, but it was too good to just let a prime testing subject die.”

“We’ve been noticing that there are slight side effects that depends on how close the subjects are to the shadows. First to go is personality, no matter which race the subjects come from until….” There the rest of the page was ripped out and on the back of that page were three lines that was too faint to read but he was able to make out the words ‘shadow hopping’ after comparing the letters to previous ones.
The next entry simply read; “Shadow hybrid subject committed suicide. A pity, there was much more test to run.”

“A subject removed the pendant but the effects remained surrounding them. However, it’s noted the withdrawals led them to taking on the other subjects in order to gain their pendants as we hid the subject’s original one. However, the other subjects had no qualms about defending themselves.” Fainthoof felt sick as he pictured exactly how that had ended before feeling a sharp pain just above his eye and closed it while massaging that spot. Trying to ignore it, he flipped the page over on to see the back cover with three words on it and some paper near the spine.

“Say good night?” He asked with a puzzled tone while something felt off behind him and instinct made him roll to the side as four small knives embedded themselves where he had been just before. Spinning around, he tried to determine who was attacking but could only see so far due to the limited light. “Show yourself!” He called out loudly, but that only served to hurt his head more and this time he shut both eyes willing the pain to pass.

“It’s about time.” Somepony walked into view, staying just on the outer edge of the lamp light as Fainthoof reopened his eyes. The stallion pegasus stood still with every inch available being covered by a suit much like the Wonderbolts, though it was darker and the lines were more jagged. Even the mane and tail were covered and appeared to be very dark in color and one could only guess as to the eye color since they were hidden by yellow goggles. “I was waiting to see how long it would take for the withdrawal to kick in.” Though the eyes were covered, it wasn’t hard to picture the amusement in them.

“Who are you Shadowbolt?”

“Like I would tell you my name.” The Shadowbolt smirked. “All you need to know is that I’ve been watching you and how Spitfire now wears your pendant.” He watched as Fainthoof’s eyes widen. “And you came here looking for answers on how to save her, am I right?” With a flick of his wing, he sent another knife flying towards Fainthoof.

Fainthoof ducked as the blade passed by. “If that’s the best you can do when facing an enemy, I don’t have to worry about anything.” He said feeling confident he could win and get more information out.

“Are you sure about that? Look behind you.”

Fainthoof turned and watched as the lantern tipped over with the flame catching the edge of the book, said book was soon engulfed in flames and due to the age, it didn’t take long to burn.

“There’s only one way to save her now.” The Shadowbolt calmly said as Fainthoof managed to put out the flames but the damaged had been done. He then held up some pages and rustled them to get Fainthoof’s attention. “These are the only ones you really need.”

“Give them to me now!”

“You’re demanding now, I quite like that. But that’s not the way it’s going to work. Though honestly it might be fun to see you beg, if I had time to wait.”

Fainthoof bit back a growl. “What would I need to do?”

“Join us.” The Shadowbolt said simply, as if that was the key to unlocking the universe.

“Why would I do that?”

“Because we can take care of your withdrawals issue. After all, look what happened to the one subject that went through it. And you can save your marefriend.”

“I’m stronger than he was, I won’t succumb to that temptation and she’s not my marefirnd.”

“No?” Amusement was clearly evident in the Shadowbolt’s tone. “That subject went after the others did he not? Tell me, how many of the pendants do you know of? Just one, and you’re around her quite often.” The Shadowbolt turned his back to Fainthoof. “Tell you what, I’ll let you take a few days to decide. If you agree to join us, meet me at the base of the mountain where the Wonderbolt Academy resides and make sure you come alone.”

“And if I decide not to?”

“Then don’t worry, you’ll cut your addiction one way or another.” The Shadowbolt started walking away but stopped after a few steps. “Oh, nearly forgot, here you go.” He set the pages on the floor and looked back at Fainthoof. “Aren’t you going to say it?”

“Say what?”

“Good night.” The Shadowbolt pressed a button on a remote he had and the first explosion went off behind the table Fainthoof was standing while the Shadowbolt slipped into the shadows.

Fainthoof struggled to get his ears to stop ringing as a second explosion went off. Flying over to the pages, he picked them up only to see they were fake with the words ‘join us’ repeating over and over. Throwing them down in frustration, he flew towards the doorway silently cursing himself for going in so far when another explosion blew the door and the surrounding areas into nothing more than rubble to block the only way out. He tried to look for another way but when he saw some items that belonged on the level above him, he knew he was running out of time. Ears ringing and pain shooting through his head and down his body, he gritted his teeth and concentrated, his eyes widening as the largest explosion yet went off two pony lengths away.

Author's Notes:

Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony, Hasbro does.
However, I'm pleased to say I do own Blue Jay, Paige, Harmonious Flash, Kitsune/Feral Lupus, Lyla Firecracker, Minako, and Shadow.

Fainthoof is used with permission from Damien, a good friend of mine.

As always, constructive criticism is welcome. It'll help me to improve my writing and seeing what people liked.

I'll also say, much of the scenes at Neighagra Falls actually does extend from my personal experience. And some is wishful thinking.