“Rainbow have faith, I’ll bet you we’re on our way!”

The quintet rushed through the town, ever cheerful that they would soon be able to defeat Feilbach. They were heading straight for Rainbow Dash’s cloud-top home in the sky. Experience showed that the possessed ponies were still usually hanging around wherever it was they did when they were normal. It didn’t take too long for the ponies to reach Dash’s home.

The only problem was that not only could none of the ponies aside from Fluttershy even reach the house, but also only Pegasi can stand on clouds. This virtually left Fluttershy on her own to investigate the house. She looked back at her friends, nodded, and with a deep breath she opened her wings and leaped into the air, gliding upwards toward the building on the cloud.

Twilight stood on standby, waiting for the moment she may have to cast her magic. Applejack stood ready with her rope for just about anything to happen. If it came down to it, she could lasso Rainbow. She’s done it before, after all. Pinkie and Rarity waited on the side, pretty much useless for this task.

Fluttershy landed on the cloud right outside the door. Noticing the door was ajar she gently placed a hoof on it and pushed it open slowly. To her surprise there was nopony in the house. She took a few steps in, but there wasn’t any noise coming from anywhere in the cloud-house. In fact, it seemed as if no one had been in there all day.

Fluttershy walked out of the house and gently glided down to the ground. “She wasn’t in there. It was completely empty.” Fluttershy looked at Twilight, hoping she had an idea.

Twilight chuckled, “What’re you looking at me for? You’re the leader after all…”

Pinkie laughed, “I don’t know why we thought she’d be here. I mean, her home is in the sky, not some cloud-house. She’s probably off zooming around the skies somewhere.” Pinkie pointed a hoof at the sky.

“That would make sense, after all. She isn’t one to be cooped up.” Rarity agreed.

Fluttershy shook her head in disappointment, “If she’s out flying around, we may never find her. She might not even be around Ponyville.”

AJ cleared her throat, gathering the attention of the other ponies. Once she had it, she gently said, “Or, ya know, she could still be at Sweet Apple Acres.” The other ponies gave her a confused look. “I kinda just remembered her showin’ up to challenge Big Mac to a contest o’ strength. It was something about wanting to be the ‘best minion in Ponyville’.” She blushed, turning her head away.

“You just remembered that?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yep. She showed up just before Fluttershy did, if memory serves right.” AJ turned in the general direction of Sweet Apple Acres. “They were headed for the apple orchard, last time I saw them. A race, if I’m right.”

Before anypony could get another word in, Fluttershy took off flying toward the orchard, leaving the other ponies behind.

“You’ll catch up later!” she called back at them as she flew away. She wanted to find Rainbow Dash and keep an eye on her, at least long enough for her friends to catch up. The other ponies took off running through the trees, trying to at least keep an eye on her.

It took maybe a minute for Fluttershy to arrive at the orchard. And sure enough, she found Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh having a contest of strength. They were pushing huge buckets of apples into a small grove at the back of the orchard. Considering how being possessed gave them extra strength, Fluttershy was sure the contest wasn’t accurate. It wasn’t much longer before her friends showed up underneath her.

At the same time the grounded ponies arrived, both Rainbow and Big Mac took notice of the Pegasus flying just a little ways away. “That’s Fluttershy, ain’t it?” Big Mac asked Rainbow.

Rainbow smiled, “Sure looks like it. And there are all my other friends!” Rainbow watched as the others emerged from the trees. “I’m guessing they want to hang out… Time to have a little fun!” Rainbow took off, darting toward her friends at a freakishly high speed.

With a loud thud, Rainbow crashed right in to Fluttershy, sending her falling to the ground. Twilight caught her with magic, while AJ tossed the lasso up at Rainbow. Of course, the lasso was easy enough to dodge, all Rainbow had to do was fly up a few feet. What she wasn’t expecting was the apple that struck her in the head. It was followed by two more, both with enough force to disorient her, sending her falling to the ground as well.

Big Macintosh came rushing out of the orchard to meet his sister’s friends. His eyes were normal, his smile average, and his responses typical. “Howdy, everypony.”

AJ looked at his brother in awe, “Were you the pony that threw the apples?”

Big Mac smiled as he said, “Eeyup.”

Fluttershy stepped right up in his face, looking him over carefully. “How didn’t you get possessed? I was sure Pinkie would’ve spread the Shadows as soon as I flew away…”

“Heh, sometimes it’s nice to be a little quiet. Ol’ bad guy can’t have a fella like me on his team. Not enough enthusiasm.” Big Mac laughed.

Twilight interrupted the cool story, “Um, Fluttershy? I can’t hold her forever! Use the gem!”

Fluttershy undid the clasp on the pouch once again, allowing the crystal to do its thing. A flash of blue light, the empty realm, and life springing up around them. This time, however, the area that spawned was unlike the others. It was different in the sense that it wasn’t where they just were. Instead it was atop the clouds, next to a massive waterfall.

“Where in tarnation is this s’posed to be? I ain’t seen this place before.” Applejack was confused.

Rainbow Dash stood up from her stupor and walked toward her friends. “It’s about time you guys showed up! I’ve been waiting for almost ten minutes!” Everypony looked at each other, confused.

“You have?” Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow shrugged, “A giant blue gem popped up out of the clouds a few minutes ago, but it disappeared before I could get to it. Now it’s back again. I assumed it was you guys trying to save me from that shadow thing.” She pointed a hoof to the side, where a ball of smoke flew around in small circles.

Pinkie Pie pointed and laughed, “What did you do to the Shadow, Dash? It looks confused!”

“I dunno. Some big black ball of sludge popped up and captured me. When it let go, that thing possessed me. Next thing I know, it wants to go so fast flying around that it actually shot out of me. It’s been flying in circles the whole time I’ve been here…” Rainbow rolled her eyes, walking over to the gemstone.

Ha-ha-ha! You did well, Rainbow Dash! You managed to beat your Shadow before it really even possessed your heart. Though it had a hold on your body, your heart remained unscathed. I am proud of you for that. Touch the gemstone, and be returned to your world.

“Suddenly there’s a creepy voice from nowhere? Okay, whatever.” Rainbow touched the gem like the voice had said, and in an instant they were back in the orchards on Sweet Apple Acres.

Rainbow walked over to Fluttershy and asked, “So uh…who was that?”

All of her friends looked at her in amazement. They couldn’t believe that she had so easily beaten the Shadow in her own heart. She wouldn’t have needed their help if not for the gem. Fluttershy started to say something, when the sound of a loud explosion broke her concentration.

Looking up into the sky, they could see smoke rising high. Both Rainbow and Fluttershy flew upward to see where the source of the smoke was. To their horror, it was coming from Canterlot…

“Come on, everypony, we’ve got to go!” Fluttershy called to them.

Twilight responded, “What’s going on up there? Where’s the smoke coming from?”

“Canterlot. We have to hurry. I think something bad may be happening!” Rainbow Dash called down to them.

Pinkie Pie scoffed, “You mean worse than the ‘Shadows are possessing people’ thing?”

Applejack stamped her hoof, “And how do you expect us grounded ponies to get there? We can’t fly y’know!”

Twilight sighed, “Well, there has to be a way.”

Rarity looked at Big Macintosh, “Well, we could always hitch a ride in a carriage.”

Big Mac, with a large grin, stated simply, “Eeyup… ‘Cept I don’t think I can carry all of you. If we had another stallion, it could be done.”

Another stallion, you say? Perhaps I can help... The mysterious voice spoke to them. In an instant, a blue light shined brightly from inside of Fluttershy’s pouch. When the light faded, there was an extra member to their party of ponies.

A crimson-red-maned, dark grey coat stallion appeared beside Big Mac. The new stallion was almost exactly Big Mac’s size, albeit a little more muscular.

“Who are you?” Rarity’s eyes lit up at the sight of the stallion.

The stallion looked at her with gentle eyes. He smiled when he said, “I’m the father of the bastard that caused all of this.” The other ponies’ jaws dropped in shock. “If you need a stallion to help pull a carriage, I’m your pony! I used to work for the Equestrian military some ten millennia or so ago…

“Ten-thousand years?!” Twilight screamed in disbelief.

“Like I said, I’m the father of the bastard that caused all this…”

Next Chapter: Chapter 17: Parental Advisory Estimated time remaining: 39 Minutes