The sound of Zephyr’s neighing echoed about the mountain side as he flew about the air, his garnet orange aura coating his entire body as he ascended towards the Shinomōkin. The giant bird screeched as it descended towards him, its yellow eyes flashing as it stuck opened its massive beak, prepared to swallow the Solar Royal Guard whole. They repeatedly collided in midair, their wings, hooves and talons beating, swinging, and slashing at each other, as they fought for leverage over the other.

“Lightning Pegasus Head Spear!” The royal blue stallion shouted, the lighting coating his body chirping as he slammed head first into the giant raptor’s chest. This sent the larger flyer shooting back and spiraling across the air as lighting struck it all across its body. It rolled across the air as it slammed into the all of the mountain side, leaving a large whole in its wake.

“I’m not done yet big guy!” Zephyr shouted as a large orb of lightning coated his left hoof. “Now take this! Lightning Pegasus Hammer!”

Shooting his left hoof out, Zephyr shot a large drill of lightning down where the Shinomōkin was in the mountain side, still submerged in the smoke. Just as it began to clear, the attack struck, causing an explosion to appear as lighting tore through the side of the mountain, driving the raptor deeper inside. Zephyr remained in his position in the air, waiting for any sign of the bird to come out of the smoke as it cleared away, revealing a giant hole. Just as Zephyr thought that the bird was down for the count, it suddenly burst out of the debree, using its giant wings to clear away the remaining smoke.

“So, you’re still up after all that are you?” Zephyr asked, a small grin coming to his face. “I have to admit, you’re pretty tough, a lot tougher than I thought that you’d be.” He let out a slight chuckled. “Then again, you are an animal of the Everfree Forest, so I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised.”

The Shinomōkin said nothing, just letting out another screech as it spread its wings and took to the air, meeting Zephyr in the exact same hovering position. The raptor and Pegasus stayed in that position for a time, staring into each other’s eyes as they waited for one another to make a movie, thunder clapping across the sky all the while.

At some point, Zephyr broke the stare down and looked off into the direction of where Goku and the rest of her friends had galloped off. Despite their absence, their scent could still be smelt lingering around the area, thanks to the royal blue stallion’s hyper sensitive nose. ‘Goku, Twilight and the others must be already down the hill by now. Two of them are Pegasi, and two of them are half Pegasus by the looks of it. So, they should be able to use their Pegasus magic to get down the mountain faster, while carrying the others. Odds are they’re already reaching the end and are waiting for me to catch up. Looks like I’d better wrap this up before it drags on.’

The screeching of the Shinomōkin brought Zephyr out of his thoughts and he whipped his head in front of him to see the raptor flying towards him. He ducked just as the raptor swung its large talons at him, taking the stallion somewhat by surprise. Zephyr hadn’t expected it to use its talons in a manner other than trying to pluck him out of the air or stab him. It would appear that these Everfree animals were a lot more intelligent than he gave them credit for.

‘Looks like these big guys are as smart as they are tough.’ Zephyr thought, moving to the side to avoid a stab to his chest by the Shinomōkin’s talons. Reaching out with his hooves, he grabbed the Shinomōkin by its right leg and began swinging it around in the air. He let go after a few moments, and let the giant bird fly away as he flew after it. At the last moment, when he was within range, he spun around and kicked the giant bird square into its back. This caused the Shinomōkin to arch it, so much so that Zephyr was able to grab its beak and flipping it around in the air, sending it diving down to the ground.

“I’m not finished just yet!” Zephyr shouted, giving a hard flap of his powerful wings as he dove down under the giant raptor. “Lightning Pegasus Thundering Hoof!”

Faster than the Shinomōkin could even blink, it felt the wind get knocked out of it as Zephyr slammed his hoof into its stomach. The royal blue stallion hit it so hard that a large glob of blood left its mouth as it went rocketing up into the air. As it hovered high above the giant trees, Zephyr delivered the final deciding blow.

“Lightning Pegasus Neigh!” He shouted, shooting out a gigantic breath of garnet orange lightning at the giant raptor. He watched as it enveloped the giant raptor, who only had enough time to widen its eyes before its whole word was swept into orange. The Shinomōkin screeched in agony as the electricity ripped through its body, burning its feathers all over its body. With a final explosion of power, the giant raptor flew through the sky away from Zephyr, vanishing into the towering trees.

“Well, that went a little better than I expected it to be; I hope I didn’t hurt him too bad.” Zephyr sighed in relief, the garnet aura around his body vanishing. “I have to admit, that was kind of a fun fight. Nice good way to get some good experience in with these guys…can’t wait to see the other animals here.”

With a sigh, he turned around and looked over at the spot where his seven escorts were last seen, and he hovered down to where it was. Lowering his head, he inhaled the scent left behind by the mares after they had left him to fight the Shinomōkin. To his relief, the scent was still very fresh, making it really easy for him to be able to detect where they were going.

‘Alright, I got their scent.’ Zephyr thought, as he righted himself. ‘They’ve probably gotten much farther away from me by now, but their scent is still strong, so I’ll be able to easily track them form here. Hopefully nothing’s happened to them by the time I get there, Twilight especially; or else Queen Celestia’s going to fry my ass.’

Flicking his tail, Zephyr spread his massive wings and took off into the air and flew down the trail where Goku, Twilight, and her friends had taken to get down the mountain. Unbeknownst to the Solar Royal Guard, the Shinomōkin had already recovered from his last attack, and was tearing through the giant trees after him. Not too far away from the approaching Pegasus and raptor, Goku and her friends could be seen galloping down the mountain, unaware of Zephyr or the Shinomōkin hot on their tails.

“How are you holding up girls?” The tan Thestral asked, looking back at the mare running behind her. “Any of you getting slowed down back there?”

“We’re just find Goku.” Fluttershy replied. “We haven’t really been running for that long, and it’s only been a few minutes since we’ve separated form Zephyr.”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash nodded. “We have plenty of gas left in the tank for anything, even if it means facing off against any of the things in this forest!”

“I really wish that we didn’t have to run so much!” Rarity whined. “This is already messing up my hooficured even more than it already is. Can’t we just go with Goku’s original plan and fly down the mountain instead?”

“A good as an idea as that is Rarity, we’re going to have to hold off on it for right now.” Twilight said, looking sympathetically at her fellow Unicorn. “We don’t know whether or not Zephyr was able to defeat the Shinomōkin, or if it’s broken away from him and is coming after us. As much as I wanna go back and help him, we can’t risk turning back right now. So we’re just going to have to trust him to take care of that raptor himself.”

“Well said Twilight, glad that you’re seeing just how big the risks are if we go back, especially against something like that.” Goku smiled. “Now that I think about it, even if we did try to stay and fight with him, I’m pretty sure he would’ve forced us to leave anyway. Besides, we do have a mission that we need to do, and that is a lot more important than fighting a giant house sized raptor.”

“True, but I would’ve loved to see that fight if we were able to!” Pinkie Pie added. “It would’ve been awesome seeing Zephie smack that giant bird around!”

Applejack snorted, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, sure it would...fer y’all and Dash maybe.”

All of a sudden, Goku let out a scream, and she came to a dead stop in her galloping, her large feathered bat wings spreading out wide. As she slid, each of her friends that were running behind her ran into her wings, stopping them dead in their tracks as if they slammed right into a wall. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who were flying above the group, came to a stop and looked back at the five other mares below them.

“Goku what’s the matter?” The former asked, her tone laced with concern. “Why did you stop?”

“Girls, don’t look now…” Goku began, not moving an inch. “…but we’ve reached a dead end.”

Taken aback by this statement, the four mares looked down form over Goku’s powerful wings and looked down at where Goku had stopped. They all gasped when they saw they had indeed at the end of the path that they were running on. Not only that, from where they were standing and hovering, it was a very, very, verylong drop down below that would’ve been fatal, which was only made all the more apparent by the large jagged rocked down below.

“Whoa nelly.” Applejack breathed. “Now that is one have of a long drop-down t’ them rocks.”

“Indeed.” Rarity gulped, looking over at Goku. “I’m so glad that you stopped us when you did, that would’ve been quite the nasty fall.”

“I think ‘nasty’ is too nice of a way of putting it Rarity.” Rainbow Dash said, staring down at the rocks. “You guys would’ve been gutted like fish if G hadn’t stopped you, if we hadn’t been here to catch you.”

“Well, either way, we’re going to need to find some other way to get down this mountain.” Twilight said, putting a hoof on Goku’s shoulder. “And that means, going with Goku’s original plan.”

“Oh, oh! You mean that we’re actually going to be taking rides on you guys!” Pinkie Pie asked, her eyes wide excitement. “Yaaaaay, I call dibs on Dashie!”

“Of course you would pick me of all ponies, Pinkie Pie.” The cyan mare snorted as she gave a roll of her eyes and a flick of her tail. A fanged smirk soon spread across her face as she turned to face her, spreading her large and powerful prismatic feathered wings wide. “Still, I think it’s kinda sweet how you picked me of all ponies to show you what it’s like to fly like a Pegasus. Now you’re gonna see it first hoof, and I promise you that it will be totally awesome!”

“Heehee, I don’t doubt it!” Pinkie Pie chirped sweetly as she leaned in and nuzzling Rainbow Dash on her cheek. She then wrapped her forearms rather tightly around her neck, causing the Pegasus to gag a little. “Oh, and don’t worry about me falling off. I’m gonna hold on reeeeeal tightly to you, so feel free to go as fast as you want!”

“T-thanks!” Rainbow Dash wheezed, her voice strained as she fought against Pinkie’s powerful grip.

“Ahem, if ya’ll are done actin’ like a couple o’ cows goin’ at it in th’ fields, we’ve got a mission t’ return to.” Applejack said bluntly, grinning in amusement at the heated glare sent her way by Rainbow Dash. Shaking her head, she walked over to Goku, who had her legs lowered slightly, allowing her to climb onto her back and wrap her forelegs around her neck. “Alright Goku, Ah’m on. Ya sure ya can handle carryin’ me sugarcube? You know Ah can pretty heavy for most ponies t’ carry.

“Don’t worry about it Applejack, it’s fine. Goku’s always up for helping my friends in any way, even if it means carrying them.” Twilight said, giving the farm mare a reassuring smile. “Plus, Goku’s half Thestral, and they’re known for being inconceivably strong, so she should have no problem carrying both of us.”

“Yeah AJ, and besides, I’ve given Sheton rides on my back ever since he was a baby, and I’ve certainly carried things on my back that’re a lot heavier than even Midnight.” Goku added as she gave Applejack a sly grin. “Besides, compared to all the other things that I’ve had to carry, you and Twilight are as light as feathers.”

“Um…okay. If ya say so.” Applejack replied, blushing at the compliment she had received. Meanwhile, from behind the other five ponies, Fluttershy and Rarity were having a silent private discussion.

“Now Fluttershy, are you sure that you’re okay with carrying me?” Rarity asked, giving the buttermilk Pegasus a worried expression. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on you, dear, and I understand if you don’t want to. I can always wait here while you take Twilight if that’s what you’d like.”

“Oh Rarity, what kind of a question is that?” Fluttershy asked giving the alabaster Unicorn a slight frown. “I’d be more than happy to help you over the slope, and I don’t mind at all if you want to ride on me too. It’s not like I haven’t given ponies or animals rides on my back before.”

“I know but still! You said it yourself that you’re not very much of a flier, and how you’d rather be on the ground than in the air. That is unless it was for training purposes.” Rarity continued, still seeming unsure. “I don’t to put you through that fear of being so high up in the air.”

“Rarity, look at me.” Fluttershy said softly, yet firmly as she took the alabaster Unicorn’s face in her hooves. “I appreciate that your looking out for my personal feelings and not want me to get scared of being high in the air, but I can assure you, I’m going to be alright. I’ve spent these last four years training myself, not only in my abilities, but to get over my fear of being high in the air, and so far, it’s worked!”

She released Rarity’s face as her expression softened, a gentle reassuring smile coming onto her face. “Trust me, you don’t have to worry about me getting anxious or anything while I’m up in the air. I promise you; I’m going to be just fine, okay?”

Rarity stood in silence for a few moments as she stared into Fluttershy’s teal eyes, looking for any sign of doubt or uncertainty behind their gentle gaze. All she found behind them was the same kindness and motherliness that they were always known for, along with a determination that outmatched any flame. This let Rarity know that this decision was hers’ and she was going to stick by it. Eventually, the alabaster Unicorn gave a sigh of defeat and gave into the Pegasus’s request.

“Very well dear…if you truly feel that this is what you want to do, then I won’t stop you.” Rarity said softly, giving Fluttershy a small smile. “Besides, you seem very adamant about doing this anyway.”

“That I am Rarity.” Fluttershy said, giggling slightly as she turned around, letting her rump face Rarity. “Now, shall we proceed?”

With those words, Fluttershy slowly turn around in a circle, her backside facing Rarity as she slowly spread her angelic wings, something that Rarity couldn’t help but feel a bit, or rather, really, jealous of. She lowered her hindlegs, allowing the alabaster Unicorn to slowly walk up to her and climb onto her back and wrap her forelegs around her neck. As Rarity did so, she took a moment to feel the softness and warmth emitting from the buttermilk Pegasus’s fur and her aura, causing her to be overcome by a wave of comfort and safety, and settling whatever fears and worries that she had. Once she was sure he friend was comfortable, Fluttershy regained her footing, turned around, and trotted over to the others, looking as if she didn’t have any trouble carrying Rarity at all.

“Alright, is everypony ready?” Goku asked, looking on either side of her. “This is gonna be a pretty long flight down, and I don’t want anypony who scared of heights to get cold hooves.”

“Well, it’s not like we have anything to lose. Plus, we’re on a bit of a hurry here.” Twilight somewhat hastily. “Feel free to give the signal anytime you’d like Goku.”

Right at that moment, a loud explosion burst out from behind them, causing the seven mares to jump and spin around to see who it was. Their eyes widened when they saw a large pillar of smoke in front of them and large piles of rubble scattered about the ground. Before they could figure out what it meant, Zephyr suddenly burst form the smoke, stopping just a few feet away from the mares.

“Zephyr!” Twilight shouted, relief flowing over her at the sight of the royal blue stallion. “You made it back!”

“Girls we need to hurt and get away from here quick!” Zephyr shouted; slight panic etched onto his face. “The Shinomōkin’s right on my tail!”

“Wait what?!” Rainbow Dash reeled back, nearly making Pinkie fall off of her. “What you mean it’s coming after you?! I thought you took care of it!”

“That’s what I believed too! I had shot it all the way into the trees of the Everfree Forest with one of my most powerful attacks!” Zephyr explained, quickly. “I even saw him get blown away from me by my last attack in the process!”

“Well, it looks like it wasn’t enough.” Fluttershy asked. “If the Shinomōkin was able to withstand one of your strongest attacks, then it looks like it was stronger than you thought.”

“Understatement of the century.” Goku snorted, shaking her head. “Anyway, we don’t have time to worry about that! We’ve got to get off of this mountain before-!”

An enormous clap of thunder cut off whatever Goku was going to say, and a loud screeched prompted them to turn around and see the Shinomōkin soaring towards them. As it got closer however, the girls and stallion noticed that it was covered from head to talon in a large mass of golden yellow lightning, and that its beak was open. A bright yellow light grew from within its mouth, and the eight ponies immediately knew what was going to happen.

“JUMP!” Zephyr screamed, having already taken to the air just before finishing that order. The girl didn’t need to be told twice, having already jumped off the edge of the mountain just before the Shinomōkin unleashed its attack. With a loud screech, the giant raptor shot a huge bolt of lightning form its mouth, striking the very same spot the ponies were. It was completely obliterated, sending large chunks of the mountain side scattered about the air, some of them hitting the ponies that were currently flying away from it.

Undeterred, the Shinomōkin changed its course and flew after its prey, eager to devour each and every one of them. Opening its beak, it shot off a multitude of lightning bolts at the eight ponies, determined to shoot at least one of them down from the sky. Zephyr, however, was about to give it any leverage, and countered the incoming attacks with ones of his own.

“Not so fast! Lightning Pegasus Thunderbolt Flock!” Zephyr shouted, swinging his wings outward and shooting large spear-like bolts of lightning. They all countered and stopped the Shinomōkin’s own breath attacks in midair, causing multiple explosions to ring out in the air.

“Holy shit!” Rainbow Dash shouted, her eyes widening at the attack form the raptor. “Did you guys see that?! It just completely destroyed that spot we were just on!”

“Yeah Dash we sure did!” Applejack replied, clutching tightly to Goku. “An’ Ah’m so glad that we got away from that varmint! If we stayed there fer even a second longer, our gooses would’ve been cooked!”

“Applejack!” Pinkie Pie shouted, her eyes widening. “I said not to call him names like that! Do you want him to slice you apart like a birthday cake?!”

“Applejack’s right, that was a really close call back there.” Twilight said, hugging Applejack from behind. “Now all we have to do is try to figure out how to get away from that thing before it tries to electrocute us again.”

Rarity, who was riding Fluttershy, heard the roar of thunder from behind her, making her fur stand on end. Even though she knew that the Shinomōkin was right behind them, she was unable to help herself in looking behind her to see what was going on. A gasp of terror escaped her as her pupils shrank to pinpricks.

“Um, Twilight, darling…” She said shakily, her entire body trembling. “…I think you may want to hurry that up a bit.”

“Uh, whaddya mean Rarity?” Applejack asked, one of her eyebrows raised.

“She means THAT!” Zephyr replied, his leveled voice ending in a shout that made the mares turned to look at him. They saw him pointing upward, and when they all looked up, they felt their jaws drop upon seeing the Shinomōkin going through a stunning transformation. Its entire body was being enveloped into a large cloak of stormy grey clouds, flashes of white lighting appearing out of them. It covered every part of its body, from its beak, to its head, its wings, legs, all the way to its tail feathers, leaving no trace untouched. As a final touch, two orbs of pure yellow replaced its eyes, and grew almost twice as big as it was before.

“Oh no, what is it doing now?!” Goku groaned, her bat ears pinning back.

“I have no idea Goku!” Pinkie Pie replied. “It looks like it’s turning itself into a giant bird shaped storm cloud! I could be wrong though, but it looks like that’s what it’s doing!”

“No Pinkie Pie! That’s exactly what it’s doing!” Fluttershy clarified, her expression one of clear panic. “And it’s about to send a rain of lightning down on us!”

“It’s going to WHAT?!” Rarity yelled, her eyes widening in horror.

The roaring of thunder brought the eight ponies’ attention and they all looked up to see the cloud covered Shinomōkin hovering above them, lighting dancing all about its body. With a loud screech, it unleashed its shower of lightning upon its quarry, all of them giving loud ear-splitting cracks as they appeared. Goku and the other screamed as they frantically began to dodge and evade the bird’s attack, watching as the giant trees below them, destroying them in the process.

“What the buck is going on with this bird?!” Rainbow Dash shouted angrily. “I mean, I know that this is the Everfree forest and all, but come on! I wasn’t expecting any of this!”

“I have no idea Dashie, but this is just amazing!” Pinkie Pie squealed, seemingly oblivious to the danger she and her friends were currently in. “I mean, did you see the way how that bird struck the slope like that and how strong its attack was?! It’s even trying to strike us down without even trying to touch us itself! How cool is that?!”

“Pinkie Pie, I can hardly see anything ‘cool’ about any of this right now?!” Rarity snapped harshly as she glared at the bubblegum pink Earth Pony. “Can you not see the situation that we are currently in right now?! We are being chased by a bird of prey that could very well swallow us all whole if it wanted to, trying to strike us down as if it was the weather itself! Tell me, just what is ‘cool’, about something like that?!” The alabaster Unicorn used her magic to grab at her mane and tail and pull them closely to her. “Not only that, but there’s also the potential risk that my beautiful mane and tail skirt will get absolutely ruined! There is simply not a greater tragedy than that!”

“Seriously?! That’s what you’re more worried about?!” Rainbow Dash shouted incredulously, taking a moment to look over at Rarity in disbelief. “You just said that our asses are at risk of being this thing’s dinner, and you’re more worried about your damn hair getting dirty?! Are you bucking kidding me right now?!”

“Well of course I am!” Rarity replied sharply with a snort, giving the cyan mare a frown. “A lady must always make herself look presentable, even in the face of danger! Something that you wouldn’t know anything about, Rainbow Dash, humph!”

“That is a load of bull-”

“Girls, that’s enough!” Fluttershy shouted, her voice surprisingly loud in the rumbling thunder. “We don’t have time to argue about this right now! We need to find a way to get away from this Shinomōkin before it-!”

The sound of lightning cracking cut Fluttershy off, and she looked behind her to see a large pure yellow bolt of lightning zooming down towards her. Her friends all screamed her name, but they were just too far away from her to move her out of the way, and could only watched as the bolt soared right at her. Just before it struck, Zephyr appeared out of nowhere and knocked her out of the way just in the nick of time, taking the full brunt of the attack himself.

“ZEPHYR!!!” Twilight screamed, her expression one of utter horror as she watched the stallion get electrocuted. His agonized screams echoing about the sky as the Shinomōkin’s lightning ripped at his body from the inside out. The sound of an explosion rang through the air mere seconds later, and Zephyr fell out of the sky, a large mouthful of blood flowing from his mouth.

“Hold on sweetie, we’re coming!” Goku shouted, flapping her bat wings hard as she ascended towards the falling stallion. The others followed closely behind her, with the giant raptor diving down after them, still in its stormy cloak of lightning.

“Hold on Goku, I got him!” Fluttershy shouted, diving down ahead of the group. She tucked her angelic wings on either side of her after giving them a powerful flap, allowing her to dive down at a faster speed. When she got within range, she shot her hooves out and grabbed Zephyr around his barrel, wrapping her forelegs around him. Once he was secure, she spread her wings, allowing the air to carry her back up and join the others in flight once more.

“Alright, way to go Fluttershy!” Pinkie praised. “Good on you for saving Zephyr from getting skewered!”

“Yes, but we’re not out of danger yet dear!” Rarity said, pointing behind her. “We still have our adversary chasing after us! And it doesn’t look like he’s going to be letting up anytime soon!”

“Well, it looks like we’re going to have to make him go away!” Rainbow Dash shouted, her eyes glowing as a magenta body began to appear around her body. “Don’t worry you guys, I’m going to take care of this!”

“NoDash!” Twilight shouted, using her magic to stop the mare in midair. “Didn’t you just see what happened to Zephyr?! He just nearly got murdered by that Shinomōkin just a few seconds ago! I’m not going to let you do the same thing; this is not the time to go playing the hero!”

“Well then, whaddya suppose we do Twilight?” Applejack asked. “All we’ve been doin’ is flyin’ away from this varmint, an’ it’s not really workin’ fer us! All we’re doin’ is makin’ ourselves targets fer him an’ that fancy lightnin’ o’ his, an’ it doesn’t look like he’s goin’ t’ give up so easily!”

“Then we’re going to have to make him give up!” Goku declared, her eyes narrowing as they approached a large grove of trees. “Come on guys, follow me!”

With a strong flap, the tan Thestral shot right into the trees, the others flying close behind her with Fluttershy carrying their motionless guard as they all tore through the trees like a flock of arrows. Their ears picked up the sounds of screeching and lightning striking trees and branches cracking and falling, and the strong flapping of wings. None of them needed to look to know that the Shinomōkin was still behind them, and they knew they needed to lose it, or else they’d be fried and fed on for its lunch, or dinner.

“Goku, I hate to sound rude, just what are you thinking?!” Rarity asked. “What’re you trying to accomplish by entering the forest?!”

“What do you think I’m doing?!” Goku asked, looking over at the fashionista. “I’m trying to gain enough distance from this bird so we can hide somewhere in the trees and shrub without him seeing us do it!”

“Are you sure that’s going to work?” Rainbow Dash asked, obviously in doubt. “That bird’s flying through this forest pretty fast, and he’s literally destroying the trees just by flying into them. I don’t think hiding in the trees is going to help anything.”

“Not unless we hide in a tree grove that he’s not trying to destroy.” Fluttershy said, looking over at the cyan mare. “The Shinomōkin has the most excellent vision of any raptor, but it’s only able to detect things that are in a clear view. If things like rocks and trees are blocking its view, then it’ll be very hard for them to keep track of their quarry. So Goku made the right choice choosing the trees as a means of trying to escape, even if the Shinomōkin is, um, destroying them.”

“Exactly, which is why I had chosen to do this in the first place.” Goku nodded, smiling thankfully at Fluttershy. “Plus, at this point, I really don’t have any other options other than to fight this bird, which would more than likely be suicide for us. Especially with the incredibly big task that we have right now.”

“Goku’s right everypony.” Twilight nodded. “It’s best for us not to even try to contemplate fighting the Shinomōkin, no matter the chances that we have for winning. We should just continue to try to fly it until we find a chance to lose it, so we can continue on our mission to find Nightmare Moon.”

“Good idea Twilight!” Pinkie Pie nodded. “Let’s just keep our eyes on the pri-WATCH OUT!”

Everypony whipped their heads back just in time to see a huge bolt of lightning shoot down towards them, the size being big enough to electrocute all of them at once. They were just barely able to evade the attack as it slammed into the trees and the ground below them, sending branches and chunks of dirt everywhere.

“Okay,” Applejack said, a slight tinge of annoyance in her voice. “Ah am really startin’ t’ get annoyed by that now! How long do we have to keep goin’ ahead o’ this thing?!”

“Not for much longer!” Rainbow Dash shouted; her eyes squinted. “I think I can see a clearing from up ahead of here!”

“Yeah, me too!” Goku nodded, her cat-like eyes seeing farther ahead than the athlete. “And we’re almost there! Just hold on for a little a bit longer girls! We’ll be home free soon!”

No other words were said after that; the only thing that the seven mares were focused on were getting away from the giant lightning and cloud coated raptor chasing them. Goku, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash’s riders held on tightly to them as the three flyers flew as fast as they could, with the tan Thestral pulling ahead. The Shinomōkin’s chirping lighting and loud screeching still bounced about their ears as it kept up the chase, even as the ponies got father away. After what seemed like miles of flying, they broke out of the trees, finding themselves in a large clearing with a huge streaming river.

“Oh thank goodness, we finally made it!” Rarity exclaimed, breathing out a huge sigh. “We escaped that retched creature!”

“Not yet Pinkie, we’re not out of the woods yet.” Twilight cautioned. “We may be out of the sight of the Shinomōkin, but like Goku said, we still need to find someplace to hide before it comes out.”

“Alright then, so where you do suggest that we go?” Rainbow Dash asked. “There aren’t any places here in this clearing, and like Fluttershy said, because of that we’ll be spotted pretty easily. I think we should try to go for those trees on the other side of this river.”

“That was pretty much my idea from the start, but thanks for the reminder Dash.” Goku said, looking at the cyan mare with slight annoyance. “Plus, we’ll also need to find someplace to let Zephyr get some rest too. He took a real hit when he saved Fluttershy, and we’ll need to make sure nothing happens to him while he’s recovering, otherwise he won’t be able to continue on with us.”

Fluttershy looked like she was about to say something, but an explosion of lightning and trees prevented her from doing so. They only had time to see the Shinomōkin diving towards them at break neck speed, and scream at the sight, before the giant bird attacked. White hot pain tore through their bodies as the giant raptor swept them all in a world of grey as it electrocuted all of them on the spot, Zephyr included. Their screams rang through the air as they were carried through the air over the river, the Shinomōkin soaring over it as it continued to mercilessly strike the mares trapped within its transformation.

All of a sudden, a pain filled screech escaped its mouth as a huge bolt of golden lightning tore from out of its back and under its stomach. It halted its flight back into the forest as more bolts of lightning shot out of its body, emitting even more agonized cries. It flapped around wildly, trying to shake whatever had gotten in or onto it and get rid of the source of lightning that wasn’t its own, but to no avail. With one final burst of lightning, a massive whole opened up inside the transformed bird, and it went back to its original form, allowing the eight ponies to fall out.

The eight ponies had just enough time to see the giant bird that they were slowly getting father away from flying off into the night, looking clearly injured from the unexpected attack. Then, in an instant, there was a mighty splash as they all hit the river below them, unable to stop the harsh coldness that washed over them, before everything went dark.

Author's Notes:

Aaaaaand this is the part of the chapter that I said that I was going to be taking out of the last one and put into the next one, which is this, because I felt that I was going to be too long. In the last on, I had the girls getting electrocuted by a giant storm cloud which was obviously not the giant bird that was currently chasing them through the skies, which, to me, was something that was a very bad idea from the start. I don't know what I was thinking at that time, but that last idea was just wrong in my eyes when I was looking back on it, especially when writing this one. Oh well, that bits over now, I've learned from my mistake, and I'm certainly going to be more careful when doing this like that from now on, and not letting the scenes drag on for so long.

Oh, and I case you guys are all wondering about Zephyr's techniques, I decided to take a lead out of the book of the Dragon Slayers from Fairy Tail and give Zephyr and all other Pegasi, and Thestrals attacks similar to theirs. Don't worry, I'll be giving the Unicorns and Earth Ponies their own different attacks, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie included, though its going to take some time for me to do that...I'll have to make the bios like the one of Milky Way that I put one the 31st blog. So you may be getting updates a bit slower from here on out after the next couple of chapters, or maybe even before that...I don't know, we'll have to see.

Anyway, that's all for now; next time we're getting a look back into the citizens of Ponyville, with an invasion in a much different version than the last one I wrote.