As the shoopuf made it safely to its destination, the group disembarked after the long and relaxing ride. They could have continued on their way to Guadosalam, but Fluttershy was immediately swarmed by fans of her father, all of them wanting to speak with her and pay their respects for Kindred Heart's feats. It looked like they were going to be stuck at the wharf for a while, so Rainbow decided to wander around for a bit.

She looked around some of the shops, finding not useful weapons or souvenirs that interested her. It still bugged her earlier back on the southern end of the Moonflow when nopony actually spoke up over her idea of coming back to see the pyreflies when night falls. Sin is important to defeat and all, but that didn't mean they were on some sort of time limit. It didn't hurt to take a bit of a break every once in a while.

As Rainbow walked along the shore, she spotted something laying face down up ahead. "Huh?" She got closer as she saw a pony wearing a familiar jumpsuit, though the pony's pink mane was straightened out and soaking wet. "...Uhh, you're not dead, are you?"

The pony began to wake up, standing up on her hooves, shaking herself dry. Her mane and tail instantly poofed out, Rainbow staring at the mare in shock at the familiar manestyle. The mare began to slowly take off the skin tight suit she wore, taking it off in the most suggestive method possible in front of the pegasus. Rainbow could only stare awkwardly as she finally got out of it, revealing her clothing she wore underneath. What she wore did not help the matter any easier with her pink tank top and blue short shorts.

"Gah!" she said, taking off her goggles. "I thought I was gonna die!"

"Pinkie Pie!?" Rainbow said in surprise, happy to see her alive, but also really confused. "I can't believe you're alive! How'd you get out here!?"

Pinkie swiped her hoof over Rainbow's face, leaving behind scratch marks with her claw weapon attached to her hoof, not leaving permanent scars, though it stunned the pegasus. The pink mare rubbed her head as she winced in pain.

"Why the hay did you wreck my machina like that?" she asked. "You ruined everything, Dashie!"

"...Wait, that was you in that thing!?" Rainbow asked. "You attacked us first!"

"It's not what you think, though!" the Al Bhed defended, though Rainbow didn't believe her for a second.

Before Rainbow could argue with her "attacker" any further, the others had come walking down the road searching for her, Fluttershy's followers finally ceasing their praises toward her. The pegasus began to panic since Pinkie was a full-blooded Al Bhed, and Applejack wasn't in the best of moods after the pink earth pony attacked them in the lake.

"Hey, Rainbow! We were lookin' all over for ya." They noticed Pinkie Pie standing nearby, the mare slowly dragging her hind leg back to the water, discarding her suit while they paid attention to her. "Who's this? Friend of yours?"

"I'm Pinkie Pie! Dashie and I are the bestest of best friends!" she shouted, nearly crushing Rainbow's neck as she gave the group a big toothy grin.

She wrestled out of the hyperactive mare's grip, rubbing her sore neck. "Yeah. Fluttershy, Twilight, I told you about Pinkie before back in Luca. She's the Al Bh-"

Suddenly, Rainbow had a cupcake stuffed in her mouth, silencing her in the nick of time before she slipped out Pinkie's lineage. "Here, Dashie! I promised you that cupcake before you 'left' that one day! And now is that day!"

"Oh. So ya'll have been holdin' out on ponies ya have known elsewhere aside from Lady Rarity, huh, 'Dashie'?" Applejack chuckled as she playfully mocked her friend, the young blitzball star leering at the orange earth pony.

Rainbow ate the cupcake, which was surprisingly more delicious than anything she ever had before, licking her lips clean of frosting and crumbs. She did wonder how she had a fresh cupcake on her after she was underwater and didn't have any way of carrying it with her without ruining it. She didn't question it further as she began to feel a headache. When she looked back at Fluttershy and Twilight, they were quick to figure out what the pegasus was going to say.

"Right. Pinkie, we need to have a little talk," Twilight said.

"Okie dokie loki!" Pinkie bounded her way to the summoner and black mage. Applejack was about to join them, but the Al Bhed stopped her. "Mares only!"

"Ah am a mare," Applejack said, confused with the pink earth pony's antics.

"No mares with funny hats allowed!" As Pinkie chatted with Twilight and Fluttershy in private, the orange mare scratched her head in confusion.

"The hay is up with that mare?" she asked.

"I don't know either, AJ. I'd just leave her randomness a mystery." Rainbow Dash rubbed her head, that headache slowly coming back. "Trust me."

After the three mares talked, Fluttershy approached Rarity, a little nervous compared to her little bit of excitement when talking with the pink mare. "Umm, Rarity? I want Pinkie to be my guardian...Is that ok?"

"Hmm..." The unicorn approached Pinkie, who shrank under her gaze. "...Let me see your eyes."

"Why?" Pinkie asked. "I have a coltfriend, just so you know."

"Just show me your eyes." Pinkie winced, keeping her eyes shut as she faced Rarity. She slowly opened one eye, showing her blue iris. What Rainbow didn't notice was that the mare's pupils had a strange swirl no other pony had in the group. The unicorn looked at Fluttershy, her blue eye matching the same swirled pupil as Pinkie's. It would be hard to tell if one didn't look closely enough. "...I see."

"I'm not allowed?" Pinkie asked, sounding disappointed.

"It's all up to Fluttershy, darling." Pinkie gasped with joy, looking to Fluttershy as she nodded her head.

"Yay! Pinkie Pie, Guardian Extraordinaire, at your service!" She stood on her hind legs and posed, joining the party and adding more protection for Fluttershy.

With the new addition to the group, they continued on their way down the road to Guadosalam. As they encountered fiends, the others were surprised to see how versatile she was for an earth pony. A lot faster than Rainbow Dash, and even a bigger nuisance to distract the fiends while the others dealt with the worst ones while their backs were turned.

"Oooooooh!" Pinkie spotted a treasure chest sitting in the middle of the road, her eyes sparkling at the shiny treasure. "MINE!" She ran up to it, used her claw weapon to unlock the chest, nabbing the goodies that were stored away inside. "Yay! Free stuff for me!"

"Pinkie, look out!" Rainbow warned too late as one of those shield arm fiends came out of nowhere, ramming into the unlucky mare.

Pinkie stumbled to the ground, falling on her back after getting back attacked. "Ow..." As she got up, her mane and tail had deflated, her coat and hair color turning darker. The surprising, and very distrubing, change in her appearance seemed to make everypony shiver in fright at the aura around her, even Spike, Rarity, and the fiend. "You...made me really...really mad..." She turned her back on her attacker, giggling maniacally as she began doing something with her hooves. The moment she turned her head around, the air immediately went cold as she sported a creepy smile like a crazed psychopath, her pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks. "Time to die."

She pulled out a glass vial she hid from everyone's view, glowing a bright red as she shook it up. She began to laugh louder, throwing it at the fiend, and the moment the glass shattered on it, several explosions engulfing the shield armed monster until there was nothing left but ashes and spirits. With the fiend taken out with an overkilling method, Pinkie's mane and tail inflated and her colors returned to normal, celebrating her victory as she turned to her comrades.

Everypony was astonished, jaws dropped to the ground, and were very scared of the newest member of their group. "...W-What...the hay...was that!?" Rainbow was the first to speak as everyone thought the same thing.

"What? My Overdrive?" They still stared at her in shock. Pinkie sighed as she pulled out a sphere. "You guys seriously don't know what an Overdrive is? Haven't you guys even used them when in a desperate situation?" More silence. "...I think this'll explain everything. Always with the tutorials, eh, RPGs?"

She rested the sphere down on the ground as it activated a pre-made recording, showing Pinkie inside of it with a holo-screen behind her. "Hello, and welcome to the tutorial on 'Overdrives', with me! Pinkie Pie!" The screen changed to a still-frame of Rainbow Dash facing off against an Ochu on her own, a bar above her that showed numbers in HP, MP, and a yellow bar underneath them. Recorded Pinkie pulled out a pointer from her mane and highlighted the yellow bar. "This little bar beneath our health and magic points, or HP and MP, is the Overdrive Gauge! This can be filled up in a variety of ways, but for simplicity's sake, it'll fill up when the pony takes damage!

"Let's watch what happens when Dashie gets hit by the evil plant lord, Sir Ochu the Demonic and Crazy! Who also likes chocolate chip cookies!" The image began to move as the Ochu slapped the pegasus with its vines. As Rainbow got hit, the yellow bar filled up a little. "As you can see, the bar filled up a teeny tiny bit, and it stays that way after every battle until it fills up and turns orange, or somepony uses their unique Overdrive moves and empties the bar!

Now, we see an example of an Overdrive used!" The screen faded to Rainbow having a full Overdrive Gauge. A cursor appeared above her, choosing a command called Spiral Cut. Once chosen, the pegasus powered herself up as a bar appeared with a few seconds running down, a cursor moving around the bar until it stopped on the center spot of the bar. The example pulled off the same move as Rainbow Dash had back on that tentacle fiend back in Zanarakand, slashing the Ochu with thousands of points of damage inflicted on it. "As you can see, it is very powerful, and should be used at critical moments! Or if you ever run into a boss that will get very very annoying later on your journey! Each pony has their own unique Overdrives to use, and some can be very helpful for the worst of foes!

"Spoiler alert: It's somepony you may know who you thought is a good guy when really he's not," the recorded Pinkie whispered, though her words weren't heard by the still shocked mares and dragon. "That does it for Overdrive Tutorials with Pinkie Pie! Back to you, Pinkie!"

"Thank you, Pinkie!" The recording ended as the real pink mare waved good-bye to herself, almost as if it was planned out from the beginning.

She picked up the sphere and put it away in her mane. As she awaited their responses, they were still staring at her, confused, overwhelmed, confused, surprised, and even more confused.

"...Uhh...what?" Rainbow asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Oh come on! Really!? I put a lot of time and effort editing that!" Pinkie groaned and sulked, looking past her friends and toward the screen. "At least you guys get what I'm saying, right?"

Rainbow turned her head, only to find nopony else behind them, not even fiends. "Pinkie, you are so weird."

"Urgh. Forget it. Nopony understands everything but me. Let's just get on down to Guadosalam so I can do something else useful." Pinkie trudged down the path in a sour mood, the rest of the group slowly following her while keeping their distance.

"Are ya sure we shouldn't question her still?" Applejack asked Rainbow Dash.

"I don't think we ever should." It wasn't long before they reached the entrance to Guadosalam.

Inside of the massive caverns, Rainbow looked around at the Guado city in awe. There were several Guado going about their business, but unlike Blueblood, all of them seemed to lack a horn and were more like earth ponies. Most of the environment and buildings were cavernous in nature, along with roots growing all around the place as if it was an underground swamp. The party was soon approached by an elder looking Guado stallion.

"Ah, Lady Fluttershy, we have been expecting you," the stallion said. "My name is Tromell, loyal servant Lord Blueblood. He has important business to discuss with you, m'lady."

"What about?" Fluttershy asked.

"You'll see. And your guardians are allowed to join us as well. I shall escort you all to the manor. This way, everypony." Tromell began to guide them to Blueblood's home, only for Pinkie to drag Rainbow Dash aside.

"Hold on, Dashie! I got a surprise for you!" Pinkie pulled out Rainbow's sword, somehow having swiped it away from the pegasus when she wasn't looking. Before she could yell at her for stealing her weapon, she noticed it looked a little different: the blade seemed to look sharper and stronger, and small bubbles began popping up from it like it was actually made of water. "Ta-da! I powered up your cool water sword! Now it really is a water sword!"

"Whoa..." She took her sword, watching the bubbles popping out from it. "What did you do to it?"

"Customization! Pretty easy to do with the right materials and avaliable slots in the weapon, or a shield! I would love to give you another tutorial, but you'll all shrug it off and go '...What?'" Pinkie said, going cross-eyed as she mimicked their expressions earlier.

"...Pinkie, you are so random," Rainbow said with a smile. "Thanks for this."

"No problem, Dashie!" Pinkie bounded on ahead as the two caught up with the others as they entered Blueblood's mansion, having no idea what the Guado Maester wants to meet with them about. Next Chapter: Chapter 24: The Farplane Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 18 Minutes