A day has passed since Sapphire defeated Tirek, Sombra and the minions and saved United Equestria. Now she was beginning to awake in her bedroom.

Sapphire stretched and yawned when a blast of wind shot out of her mouth, blasting the wall creating a hole. Sapphire quickly covered her mouth in shock. “What the-?”

When she got out of bed as soon as her feet touched the ground, cracks began to form in the wood, surprising her. “Woah!” She leaped back onto the bed. Next, she felt something rubbing against her legs. Looking down she saw she somehow grown a blonde tail! “What the-?”

That’s when Mykan came into the room. “Sapphire, what wrong?”

Sapphire showed Mykan her new blonde tail, surprising him. “How’d you grow a tail?!”

“I don’t know, but that’s not all, look.” She carefully stepped on the ground again and cracks formed in the wood again. She retracted her foot again. “Woah, that’s weird.”

“I know, I don’t know-“ she was cut off when she suddenly sneezed and her horn launched a bolt of lightning at Mykan. “Wah!” Luckily, he ducked and avoided the bolt.

Sapphire sniffled while Mykan looked at her in shock and concern. “Did you just shoot lightning from your horn?!”

“I think, I just did.” She waved her hand and strong wind current came out of and made another hole in the wall. Sapphire was really freaked by this. “What’s happening to me?!” Sapphire asked as she shook in fear.

Mykan came up to comfort her. “Don’t worry, let’s go to their majesties. Maybe they’ll know what’s happening to you.”

“Okay.”

Soon, the two of them headed to the royal palace.

---

Meanwhile, the two teams were currently in the throne room with their majesties, looking at images of Sapphire’s latest battle against Tirek.

“I still can’t believe she’s a Valkyrie now.” Rainbow mumbled.

“Yeah. Wonder what other powers and magic she’ll get next.” Rarity said. That’s when Mykan and Sapphire came in.

“Mykan, What are you and Sapphire doing here? And why are you carrying her like that?” Lightning asked.

“I think we just found another power she gained. Look.” Mykan placed Sapphire on the ground, cracks appears in the floor, surprising everybody.

“What in the name of the galaxy?!” Artie cried.

“Galloping Galaxies?!” Starla added.

“Sorry.” Sapphire apologized as she softly flapped her wings to hover in the air, but they generated strong wind currents that blew the team into their majesties.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry... again.”

The teams and their majesties sat up. “Let’s get you to the sickbay.” Celestia suggested. Everybody immediately agreed.

Soon, Sapphire was scanned by the doctors and they determined she now has the magic to control fire, water, wind, earth and grass. They explained she could now shoot one of the five elements from her horn or even her hands. She could also create rock spires just by stomping or punching the ground.

Everybody was nothing short of astounded. “But how did she gained these powers, doctor?” Grand Ruler asked.

“The only thing I can think is that something triggered these powers deep within her.”

“But what’s the trigger?” Artie asked. The friends thought about what Sapphire might have done that would trigger her new abilities. “What about the battle with Tirek, she unlocked her Valkyrie magic. Maybe that was the trigger.” Mykan said.

“That was the only time she’s shown an extreme burst in magic.” Celestia agreed.

“Okay, so now she’s has these powers. What do we do now?” Rainbow asked. Sapphire sneezed and lightning as well as a ball of water energy shot out of her horn and mouth. “Right now, I would advise you all to help her control her new powers so she doesn’t cause anymore accidental damage.” Grand Ruler insisted with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

“I’m sorry.” Sapphire said. Celestia saw her sadness and came up to her. “It's not your fault Sapphire, you just need to learn how to control your powers.”

Rainbow and the girls came up, “And were here to help you.” Lightning and his team came up to her as well, “And so are we.”

Sapphire felt so grateful for having friends willing to help her through this new transition.

---

First, they decided to coach Sapphire in controlling her release of her new magic.

It was decided they would concentrate more on her lightning and fire magic, since they propose more threat of harm then water and wind. “Okay, Sapphire, aim at these targets and use either you lightning or fire magic.”

Sapphire nodded and concentrated. Her horn’s magic aura appeared and turned from pink to firey red. She blasted one of the targets with her fire magic.

KABOOM!

The target burst into a million pieces.

“Woah!” Rainbow cried. Next, her aura turned bright yellow and fired lightning at the second target cutting it down the middle. “Incredible!” Lightning praised.

The team put Sapphire through more magic training. For hours they had her performing various tricks; from changing normal clouds into thunder clouds; for water magic training, from setting fires on purpose and then using her nature magic to restore the trees; for her grass magic training.

Now, it was almost nine o’clock at night and Mykan was busy doing his research on United Equestria. He was reading a book on all the magical creatures that existed on the planet.

That’s when the front door opened, “Hey Sapphire How was tra-“ Mykan stopped talking when he noticed the condition Sapphire was in.

The poor girl looked absolutely beat. She was barely standing. Her hair had dirt in it and it was really messy. Her clothes also had holes in them but they were intact.

“Woah!” Mykan rushed over to her and helped her over to the couch. “Sapphire, what happened?”

“Lightning and the others... put me through a little... training.”

“A little?!”

“Okay... a lot of training with my magic.” Her head flopped on the pillow. “I’m so exhausted.”

“You sure do look like it.” Mykan placed a blanket over her. “Well, you just get comfy while I make you something to eat. You must be starving.” He wasn’t proved correct when her stomach growled. She placed her hand on her stomach and winced.

“I could use something to eat.” she groaned

Mykan smiled a little and went into the kitchen. That’s when Kyara, Skystorm. Smoke and Fire and Snowflake came into the house. When they saw Sapphire they were immediately concerned. Sapphire saw them, “Hey guys.”

Snowflake roared softly with concern and came to her side and nuzzled her. Sapphire could see the concern looks in her friends eyes. “I’m okay, you three. Just a little over training. That’s all.”

Skystorm roared softly. Mykan returned to the den with a nice hot bowl of soup for Sapphire. “Okay, you three, it’s dinnertime for Sapphire.”

The three dragons and alicorn made way for Mykan while Mykan places the bowl on Sapphire's lap. He fluffed up her pillow to help her sit up. “Thanks Mykan.”

“Your welcome. Now eat up and then you can go to sleep.” Sapphire complied and ate her soup until it was all gone. When it was she yawned and fell asleep.

Mykan and the creatures quietly went up stairs. Mykan put on his pajamas and climbed into bed as the dragons and Kyara curled up around the bed and began to fall asleep. ”Sleep well, Sapphire. You really need it.” Mykan thought.

---

Early the next morning, Mykan felt something shaking his shoulder softly calling, “Mykan, Mykan.” He opened his eyes and was with Sapphire.

She still had bags under her eyes and she still looked really tired. “Sapphire, you should still be sleep. What are you doing up?”

“Lightning and the others are waiting for me at the palace dojo for my training, so I have to go.” Mykan looked at the clock on his bedside, “At six in the morning?!”

Sapphire nodded, “Sapphire that’s too much for you. It not healthy. You need rest.”

“But Lightning and my friends said-“ Mykan raised his hand to cut her off, “Forget what they said. Your health is more important than training. You need to tell them that.”

“I tried but they wouldn't listen.” she replied shyly. Mykan sighed irritably. “I’ll talk with them while you go back to sleep, okay.”

Sapphire sighed but knowing how tried she was she complied, “Okay.” Mykan smiled as she went downstairs. Mykan got out of bed and decided to pay his friends a visit.

He arrived at the palace dojo where Lightning and his friends were waiting. “Hey Mykan, where’s Sapphire, she’s about to be late for training.” Lightning questioned.

“She’s at my house. Resting.” Lightning and the others were shocked, “Resting?! But she should be here training!”

“Have any of you noticed how fried Sapphire was?” Mykan asked. “The poor girl couldn’t even stand.”

“When we were training we were the same way but look at us now. So we treat Sapphire the same way.” Starla replied.

“But Sapphire isn’t like all of you. She a human and she can’t be put that kind of strain like you guys. It dangerous for her.” Mykan retorted. The ponies didn’t believe that. “Pfft. Please, we’ll believe that when we see it.” Rainbow said with smirk.

Mykan grunted irritably and just walked out of the dojo, unaware their majesties were nearby and heard everything.

Just then, the alarms went off! That’s when a loud roar came from outside. “What the?” Mykan faced to one of the windows and saw what was causing the ruckus. It was a dragon. It’s skin was a mixture of pink with yellow strip down its sides and its wings were the same way. Also, it was 61 feet long with a wingspan of 68 feet and it had two claws on the edge of its wings. Name: Monstrous Nightmare.

The dragon is seemed to be fixated on something. Mykan took a closer look and saw to his horror, Sapphire was fighting the Monstrous Nightmare Dragon! “Sapphire!” Mykan flew out of the window and towards the battle asking with Lightning and the others. They saw Sapphire taking a beating. The dragons kept batting her with its tail. Sapphire tired to stay in the air, but the strain from the training made every attack attempt painful.

She was barely able to keep her fighting stance or even stay in the air. Lightning and the others were confused by this. “What’s wrong with Sapphire?” Pinkie asked.

Mykan rolled his eyes in annoyance. That’s when the Monstrous Nightmare blasted Sapphire hard with it’s fire, consuming her in a big explosion. She crashed to the ground leaving a small crater. “Sapphire!”

The Monstrous Nightmare roared and flew away, while the gang rushed towards the crater. “Oh my stars!” Rarity cried.

Sapphire had severe burns on her body, due to her being too tired to realize she didn’t activate her super suit. “Quick Let’s get her to the sickbay!” Starla ordered.

“Right!”

Soon, Sapphire was laying in a hospital bed with an IV in her left arm with bandages around her burn marks. The doctors gave her burn cream so they could heal properly.

Outside, her room, Lightning and the gang were trying to figure out how she lost the battle. “I don’t get it. Sapphire’s powerful, how could she lose against that dragon?” Artie asked.

“It’s because you guys over trained her.” Mykan retorted.

“No way. Sapphire’s tough she can handle our training style.” Rainbow replied. Mykan sighed and shook his head. “Well, I disagree.” a voice came.

Everybody turned and saw their majesties at the doorway. “Your majesties?!” Lightning cried.

Their majesties walked over to the large gang. “You agree with Mykan?”

“Indeed. Sapphire may be strong, but even she has her limits. And from the sound of it, all of you ignored her limitations, causing too much strain on her body.” Celesto explained.

“But the training we do doesn’t have that effect on us anymore.” Buddy added.

“That’s because you’ve gotten used to the style. Sapphire, on the other hand, is not. She’s human not pony. True, she passed her first day of training with little issue, but everybody has their own style of training. Perhaps you need to change the way you train Sapphire.” Celestia said.

That’s when Sapphire began to wake up. “Uhhh... Mykan?” Mykan immediately came to her side and held her hand. “I’m here, Sapphire.”

“What happened?” she groaned.

“You got beaten by a large dragon. Luckily, you’ll be fine in a few days.” Mykan noticed the sad look on Sapphire’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“I.. I failed Lightning and his friends. I was supposed to use the training I had to defend ponies but I was beaten so easily. I’m pathetic.”

Lightning and his friends now felt bad. Lightning and Starla came up to her. “You’re not pathetic, Sapphire.”

“He’s right. You’re strong and resourceful. If anyone’s to blame its us.” Starla replied.

“How?”

“We didn’t notice your strain cause we thought you were just like us. We were wrong. We should have treated you like you are; a special human with limits. Now we need to train you with a different style.”

Mykan and Sapphire smiled at Lightning and the others. Happy they have learned their lesson.

Some friends are different and may need a different way to do things. Just because they have similarities to you doesn’t mean they’re exactly like you.

---

Hours later, Sapphire began to awake. She saw all her friends at her bedside "Hey sugarcube." Applejack greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"A little sore. But okay." Sapphire noticed the remorse expressions on their faces. "Whats wrong, guys?"

Lightning sighed and spoke, "Sapphire... we're sorry. We shouldn't have pushed you as hard as we did. We should have known you would't handle the training as well as us."

Starla then stepped up, "We should have changed our training style for you, but instead we didn't and we you got injured." Sapphire smiled at her friends. "It's okay, guys. Really."

Lightning and the others didn't think so. "No it's not. We caused you to end up here cause of what we wanted for you, instead of the doing things the way you wanted." Buddy retorted.

"So from now on well train the way you want to." Artie added. Sapphire smiled at her friends as well as Mykan.

---

A few days later, Sapphire was given a clean bill of health and released from the sickbay. Lightning and the team made a completely new training course for Sapphire. They used trees to help with her climbing and jumping skills and had the obstacle course filled with cones and other things, like hurdles for her agility training. As for her magic training, they decided to let her decided what she wanted to do with her magic.

Mykan and their majesties watched from afar and were proud of Lightning and his team.

Next Chapter: Episode 9: Sapphire’s Hearth’s Warming Eve Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 56 Minutes