While backstories and strategies were traded amongst those with experience and knowledge, Smolder and Yona struggled in the wilderness.

“Yaks best at forging new paths, but… we very lost.”

Frustrated from the lack of progress, Smolder kicked a rock out in front of them.

“More like best at getting us lost.”

“Hey!” Yona snapped. “Smolder not even helping.”

With tempers flaring, Smolder did her best to dial it down a notch, not wanting to deal with an angry yak.

"Look, dragons aren't good at this kinda stuff. The best we can do is find our way home, and even then, we suck at it. That's why dragons capture other creatures or chase them at a distance to find valuables. We either force others to show us the way or chase them and follow their trails. So, to be fair, I thought me not helping was helping."

What Smolder suggested was their trade of services in their own unique skills. So, perhaps it was time for Yona to have Smolder pull her weight equally.

"Ou! New idea! Smolder fly up and find place power is hidden, then Yona find best path.”

A dragon’s sense of tracking down sweet loot and a yak’s navigational skills? Smolder was sold on the proposal.

“That’s not such a bad idea. Good thinking, Yona. You really are a smart yak.”

Sadly, despite the brief moment of optimism, the clever plan appeared to be made more difficult by the weather changing the further they had ventured into the forest. In particular, the dark clouds Smolder saw could be a problem.

"Dang it. Looks like we got a storm brewing up there. I'll check out the area, but I might not be able to see that far. Just don't go anywhere until I get back."

Yona saluted with a great big smile.

"Yes. Yona stand guard. You find castle, then Yona forge path."

Thankfully, despite the weather, taking off was easy, but the closer to the clouds she flew, the stronger the headwinds picked up.

"Dang it. These really are no conditions to fly in."

A sudden uptake in a draft had her swirl even higher. Luckily, she only caught the edge of the draft, which spun her out as high as she could hold her position. Any higher and she would have been carried off.

"Yikes," she grunted as she tried to get a fix of the surroundings. "This storm is gonna be bad. No way I'm gonna be flying in these conditions."

Fog was forming up through the trees all around them, but off in the distance, one stone structure stuck out.

"Hey!" Smolder shouted down. "I think I-"

"Smolder, look out! "Yona hollered back up from below.

From behind Smolder, another voice screamed in a panic.

"Get out of the way!"

Smolder only had enough time to turn before a blue blur slammed into her.

Both her and the blur fell out of control back to the ground. In a stroke of luck, they collided into one of the few trees that grew in the otherwise rocky surroundings. Branches both big and small slowed their descent, saving them from massive injury no doubt.

Having witnessed the crash, Yona raced over to the scene, looking especially frantic.

"Is Smolder okay?!"

Up in the tree, the snap of a branch sent Smolder plummeting down, landing on Yona to deliver her answer.

"Oww! Dang it! No! Smolder is not okay!"

Another crack in the branches overhead had both look up, just in time for one final snap that let the blue blur tumble down on both of them.

Sandwiched in between, Smolder gave up and surrendered to the pain.

"Alright. Now I'm really not okay."

The blue blur, now clearly seen as a friend they thought long gone, raised up in shock of who he landed on.

"Smolder? Yona? What are you two doing here?"

The voice was unmistakable, and Smolder raised her head to see the griffon face to face.

"Gallus? What are you doing out here? I thought you flew back to Griffonstone?"

Even more surprised, Yona shot up, happy to see her griffon friend in the Everfree Forest, of all places, but ejected both friends from her back in the process.

"Gallus?! What griffon doing here?"

Shaken but not injured, Gallus sat up, holding his head.

"Oof… So, yeah. I didn't actually head back to Griffonstone, obviously. What are you two doing all the way out here? Are you runaways, too?"

As Smolder sat up, her fist clenched, ready to deck the first creature that got too close, when it finally dawned on her what great luck had befallen them.

"Wait a second? Yona? Don't you remember our quest?"

"You mean secret mission?"

Semantics aside, Smolder waived off the correction, now put at ease.

"Yeah, whatever. We were told we would find help out in the forest. And look who it is!"

Now calm and actually happy to see their friend, Smolder reached out to help Gallus up.

"Lemme guess. Lord What's His Feathers sent you on a secret quest to find the power in the Everfree Forest, 'em I right?"

Gallus answered rather flatly as he adjusted his wings and assessed the damages.

"Secret? Maybe. But no. I'm out looking for the treasure buried under the old Castle of the Two Sisters. I'm gonna- Wait? What are you doing out here?"

Introductions and the rehashing of recent events had been effectively delivered, but not without consequences.

Confusion of who was responsible, who could have done more, or the missteps taken by one party or another, had divulged into the blame game between nations.

"It's the hippogriff's fault," Gruff shouted, pointing a claw at Novo. "If she would have helped the griffons defeat the Storm King when we had the chance, he wouldn't have taken our kids!"

"Arrogant buzzard!" Novo charged back. "Whoever is behind this probably got his start with the hatchling you drove away from you!"

Just as fired up, Ember pointed a claw at Rutherford.

"And I trusted Smolder to be safe with Yona. How do I know she isn't working with whoever is behind this?!"

Enough was enough, and Spike couldn't take it anymore, shouting out flames to the ceiling.

"EVERYONE! SHUT! UP!"

The room went quiet finally, making Spike the center of attention.

"I spent the last few days with Smolder, Gallus, and Yona. None of them would do anything to help those that would try to hurt us. But they didn't have your problems. All you’re doing is digging up the past without doing anything to fix our new problems so we can find them."

While he managed to stop the feuding in the room, a soft pat on the back from Cerb helped him pull back.

Besides, he'd been waiting to let Cerb take back the floor anyway. Now Cerb could take all his facts he’d gathered and talk some sense into them.

"Alright, listen. We don't know what's going on anymore. Trixie's dreams, the Pony of Shadows, whoever this Storm King is… All that means is that we have to be careful searching for them. More than likely, we're walking into a trap. But even more likely, all of you fighting amongst yourselves? That's exactly what they want."

That was the simple point to get across, but something more needed to be corrected before moving on.

"However, I will address the elephant in the room." He zeroed in on Gruff. "Any minute now, we're going to mount up and head straight into the heart of danger to find these kids. You're the only one here that no one trusts, including me."

"What!" Gruff shouted, wholeheartedly insulted.

Cerb didn't back down in the slightest.

"You tried to strong-arm me into helping you the first night we met. You hold a grudge against every kingdom here. Every point you've made tonight is one that instigated another argument between the other leaders here. And even worse, the care you've given Gallus is borderline abuse and neglect. In fact, going to war would mean that you are the only one with something to gain from this."

Gruff's honor was challenged and his loyalty questioned, he drew his crossbow and took aim at Cerb. That was an accusation too far.

"You think I'm behind this!"

In an instant, all weapons were drawn on Gruff again.

Only Cerb holding his hands out, directing others not to act, kept any from acting towards the aggressor.

"If you want to place your bets that I want the throne to my kingdom, go ahead! Because I'd bet against ya, and then I'd win! I can't stand what Griffonstone has become! It sickens me! And I want nothing to do with it! I just want Gallus back!"

Something started to break inside Gruff. His anger couldn't keep up the cold front, allowing his weaker side to weep through. Tears, then a shaking hold on his weapon.

"I found Gallus on the streets before he could write his own name. Abandoned to a disaster home who let him wander the streets. Picking pockets, stealing what he could get his grubby little claws on. The little punk even tried to steal from me."

It was all or nothing at this point, and Gruff surrendered to giving Cerb what he was sure the human was after. Whatever it took to get what he wanted as well.

“I’m the king of nothing,” he cracked. “My birthright was to watch the bureaucrats that rob my country-griffons blind hold power over my head just let Griffonstone decay. Most don’t even remember that I should be king. I’m just the old historian they get to kick around and keep their political ties in check. So, yes! I’m bitter! What do you expect from a griffon over a thousand years old? Whose last memory of his father was watching him fly away to war? Saying that the future of Griffonstone was more important than even giving his only son a hug goodbye?”

Finally, all the anger and cold exterior made sense, and Gruff lowered his weapon.

“The war ended, and every kingdom left us to rot! I spent centuries trying to find a way to bring back the glory the griffons used to hold in hopes of avenging my family. Centuries passed, I was held back in the army, no matter how many missions they sent me on to make them rich. Stripped of rank and title. My own records removed, as if I had never served at all.”

He was defenseless, the bitter reality too obvious for his blustering pride to hide his centuries of damage.

“The other kingdoms looked down at us, and it was for all the right reasons. Eventually, I gave up, but that was until I took Gallus in. The Council of Lords allowed the society to fall apart so much that he was abandoned like I was.”

Completely exposed, he fell to his haunches, feeling like the abandoned chick he was the night his father left.

“I was always hard on Gallus because I wanted him to be better. Be stronger than I was. And it was never about me taking the throne, I wanted him to enter the Council of Lords.”

That put Cerb back on the offensive.

“If you hate the Lords so much, why would you want any part of them?’

Gruff raised his fist, all his anger rising back up as he recalled his plan.

“Because Gallus could have taken them all down with my help! I know all their dirty little secrets. How greedy they are. How they’ve starved and corrupted the griffons to be like them so they could stay in power. That’s why I tried to strong-arm you into training Gallus for me.”

Chris turned to Cerb, remembering that night Gruff had forced his way into the meeting with the other leaders.

“Wait? You said he just wanted your help to bring pride back to Griffonstone. I thought it was letting Guilda train with you?”

Gruff huffed angrily, now sitting cross from having to come clean.

“I wanted him to train Gallus. If he was going to manipulate the griffons into joining their coalition of nations, or at least that’s what I thought he was doing by scaring us into agreeing, I thought I’d use him to give Gallus the best advantage to rise in the ranks after I got him enlisted. Gilda was about to ruin everything by taking him away from me, so I planned on sending her off with Cerb instead. By the time her tour of duty was done, I would have already sent Gallus in to relieve her.”

It had been a trick all along, and Gilda flipped out.

“You dirty two-faced crooked old-”

“Shut yer face!” Gruff shouted back, his anger actually causing Gilda to back down. “You wanted Gallus away from me. You still would have got it. The only difference would have been that you could have helped him fix our broken kingdom. Just think. A griffon who grew up abandoned not only by his parents but was failed by the system the lords put in power. But then he would have been trained by every creature’s favorite humans. Not to mention, he'd be supported by Gilda, an ally to the ponies that saved the world. He’d ‘uh been strong enough not to be threatened by the other lords. Add in all of my knowledge to guide him, the favor with the other nations because of you, as well as your financial support, he'd be unstoppable. The only other exploits they would have had to attack would have been me! But you know what?! I didn’t count on him protecting me! So, if they finally got rid of me to try and control him, then at least I’d of finally rid myself of this wretched curse!”

So, if that was the plan, Cerb could sympathize with that. Hence why he started speaking in a calm and gentle tone.

"Alright. That's good enough for me." Before any of the others could react, he raised his voice and brought back all the intensity of his war days to the floor. "But for the rest of you! The infighting stops now! I don't care what your rank or title is! We all have our grievances, and you all have a long history of mistrust, but someone is trying to take all of us out and took your kids as bait! Are you gonna let them make you stand divided so they can tear us apart?!"

The question hit hard. Settle old scores or save their kids? To answer that question, Kühn stepped forward.

"Devil Dog understand yaks best. Kühn trust in humans. Kühn fight with Devil Dog to save Yona!"

Feeling similar, Rutherford stomped his hoof.

"Saving Yona and others most important! Save all creatures now! Yaks stand with others to save all kingdoms!"

Honor bound, as well as inspired, Ember raised her staff.

"The Dragon Lands have been isolated for too long! We’re not going to let any creature stop us from showing the world what we’re made of now!”

Novo stood up, still uneasy about coming out of the shadows but knew what was at risk.

“You speak wise words, Justin. If you swear to protect all that fight alongside you, the Hippogriff Empire stands ready. And if the Storm King is behind this, we’ll end this fight once and for all! We only wish to keep our existence secret for now. If there are other forces at play, we put all hippogriffs in danger.”

Having never doubted Cerb, Luna stepped up and laid a wing over Cerb’s shoulder.

“I couldn’t have said it better myself. We will give you all the support we can, and Queen Novo, we will honor your request.”

King Abysinnia stood up from his seat, a look of determination held in his stance.

“We fought with the other nations once before, and we’ll proudly do it again.”

That left Gruff to affirm his stance, as difficult as it was for him to overcome his shame.

“Caw! Griffonstone needs to change, and that can’t happen until we bring Gallus and the other creatures home! So if it’s a war they want, then it’s a war they’ll get!”

And just like that, the room had been united, save one princess who knew they weren’t done yet.

“I held my concerns towards the humans out of fear of the unknown and the disruption of a path I once thought would be forged for us. However, I was wrong to do so, but if we are to search the Everfree Forest, there is still one other we must call upon to complete our unity of nations.”

If Celestia wanted to bring yet another player into the mix, that would eat up more precious time. However, that would give Cerb more time to prepare in the meantime, and more numbers for the fight.

"Celestia, get whoever you need to join us. Everyone else, the Lunar Guard should be finishing up their search of the perimeter of the forest. If they find a point of entry, those spots are where our teams will split up. In the meantime, gather whatever supplies you need. I want to set up a base of operations at the Castle of the Two Sisters after a clean and sweep of the area. If the kids aren't there, that's where we'll rally our troops and resupply while we're out there."

If they had time, Sniff had an idea to help out the others in ways he couldn't.

"Hey, Cerb. Come here. Lumberman, Benny, you too."

Amongst the busybodies moving around the room, all Stranded Seven and their counterparts rallied around Sniff.

"Alright, obviously, not all of us are fit for combat. However, I got to thinking about what would happen if there were more Timberwolves out there, and then I remembered how you dealt with them last time."

Instinctually, Cerb's hand went back to the ax holstered on his hip.

"Yeah, it cut right through em. So did the bullets. What about it?"

That was precisely the point Sniff was about to make, but having it said aloud made him more confident.

"Exactly. I think you were right that it's not just our bodies that react differently to magic in this world. I got an idea to help us out if we got the time, and if Lumberman and Benny don't mind giving up some tools and extra junk."

For a little extra help, Sniff pulled Rarity and Cutter into the center, laying a hand on either of their shoulders.

"I’ve got a stallion in town that I'm sure would be happy to earn some extra business, but he's going to need both of your expertise to make it work. That is, so long as the rest of you guys have been thinking of how best to help our ponies."

"The forest is so much more exciting than the desert," Silverstream continued explaining. "It was nothing but sand, but it was dry sand. I know all about sand. The ocean is covered in it, plus lots of rocks. Not that you don't have rocks up here, but you have so much more we don't grow under water."

Overly excited, she dove forward and slid across the ground.

"You ponies have grass, and trees, and bushes, and all sorts of new things everywhere. I could never get bored living up here."

Catching up to Silverstream, Sandbar just shook his head, amused with the hippogriff's innocent nature.

"Yeah, we got lots more stuff back home. You'd probably love our food, much like Ocellus did."

Having sampled some of their dishes, Ocellus could still taste the many sweet flavors like they were still dancing on her tongue.

"No kidding. Everything tastes amazing. Good enough to give up feeding on emotions."

Sandbar raised her a look of alarm, which made her blush and hunker down shyly. It sure did make her sound cute when she tried to correct herself.

"Well, that and the ponies who are kind enough to share it."

Caught up in a daydream of what pony food must taste like, Silverstream's eyes drifted up and noticed a new sight for her to fawn over.

"Oh, wow! Look at the clouds now! I didn't know they could change color. Hey, Sandbar, can you change into anything?"

Sandbar hadn't paid much mind to the sky earlier, but one quick glance up and he could see what she was talking about.

"Awe, nuts. Those aren't normal clouds. Those are storm clouds. We might be walking into a thunderstorm."

Fearful for their lives, Silverstream, shifting into panic mode, scooped Sandbar and Ocellus in her forelegs and threw them back into a bush.

"It's the Storm King! He must know we're here!"

That might have been Sandbar's fault for how he phrased it, but that didn't stop him from marching out of the bush before explaining himself.

"Uh, no. Thunderstorms are normal up here on the surface. We have a weather patrol that schedules them every once in a while, but here in the Everfree Forest, they happen on their own, no magic involved. So it's got nothing to do with your Storm King."

Amazed yet again, Silverstream popped her head out the leaves, cradling Ocellus against her.

"Oh! So a thunderstorm is only clouds but darker?"

Sandbar stopped and smelled the air drifting in on the quickening breeze. He could tell what was on the way.

"Hmm... No, sadly. The wind is picking up, and it's gonna rain. If it starts to lightning out, we'll need to find shelter. So, if we don't make it to the castle, I know another place we can hide out at."

After Smolder, Yona, and Gallus exchanged stories of why they all made their way into the Everfree Forest, things seemed to all line-up. Not only for their shared goals but also for what directions to take.

... sort of.

"Yeah!" Smolder shouted at the drawing in the dirt. "I saw the stones stacked up like a tower over the second hillside. No, wait! The other side of the river. Yeah! Just like that!"

For these three young adventures to find the fastest path, Yona had used a stick in her mouth to draw out the landscape Smolder had seen before getting knocked out of the sky. It was some rather typical terrain, judging by what was detailed and her knowledge of basic geography. Her best guess was there were some spots to avoid on hoof.

"There. This best map. Yona use intersection to find us here, between scary high cliff by river, scary valley we almost fall down, and Canterlot that we leave for secret delegate mission."

"Dragon Quest."

"Treasure hunt."

"Those things, too," Yona replied as if ignoring their importance. "We start here, follow river till it fall, then castle not far, and we dig... or find basement."

It all sounded legit, though Smolder still wasn't sold on the story Gallus gave. Or was it how vague their instructions were.

"Hey, Gallus. You think the power we're supposed to find and the treasure you sent out to dig up are both the same thing?"

After a moment of thinking, Gallus shrugged.

"No idea, but if it is, you guys take it. If Gruff wants any treasure that gives him power, I'll just say I lost it. But come on. It's the Castle of the Two Sisters. There has to be loads of valuable loot left there."

That was music to Smolder's ears.

"Heck yeah! That's the spirit! Power to save the Dragon and Yak kingdoms, riches for your new life, and a fair cut to add to my horde."

Clearly getting left out, Yona protested.

"Hey! What about Yona?! Mapmakers get paid too, you know!"

Flashing a sly grin towards Gallus, Smolder took off in a sprint.

"Not if we get there first!"

Already running behind the dragoness, Gallus played along.

"You snooze, you lose, Yona!"

Yona was caught off guard by the mock betrayal, but not so shocked to give chase. Instead, she raced away from the two heading in the wrong direction.

"Yona sleep on treasure while jerks still lost in the forest!"

If the two could still fly for more than a few seconds, they could have cut off Yona easily. Now, due to the winds, they dug-in their heels. Turning back around, they had to run even harder just to keep Yona in their sights.

"Yona, wait! It was a joke!"

"Yeah! We're supposed to be family! We're sisters now, remember?! Yona!"

The three continued on to their destination with laughter filling the air, riches in their eyes, and the glory that would come from the power they would obtain in their hearts.

Above, the darkening clouds rumbled with thunder.

Standing in front of a smokey-filled stall, Sniff stood tall to make a formal introduction.

"Everyone, I want you to meet Iron Forge and his son, slash, assistant Silver Coating."

The aforementioned Iron Forge stepped out of his booth, unsure why he was sought out by so many influential individuals.

"Uh? Greetings, eh… I did my part searching fur the young lads. Is there something else I can do fur ya? I can't imagine you all came out this way for apology gifts at a time like this."

Twilight stepped up, levitating a bag of wrenches, nuts, bolts, and other assorted metal items.

"We apologize for the short notice, but this is an emergency, and we need your help to ensure every creature comes back safe and sound."

Up next, Rarity opened up a sketchbook with drawings and notes.

"We need as many of these items that can be made as fast as possible. Cutter and I will stay with you to help as much as we can."

Iron Forge looked at the first two open pages, and his jaw dropped.

"Princess?! These are-"

"I know," Twilight reluctantly answered. "You have to understand that these are dire times, and we need as much help as we can get."

With a slow, gentle push with his hoof, Iron Forge lowered the book away.

"Princess Twilight, I'm not exactly that kind of metalsmith. And even if I was, if you're in dire need, these items would take some time to properly craft."

He looked down at the bag, assuming the items were related and reached inside to examine the better.

"And these tools ya brought weath ya. They’re not exactly the… Hold on?"

Once he had a good grasp on a half-inch socket wrench, he changed his tune.

"Where did ya get these? They feel… Ah-Ah-I know there's iron and, no… this is fine steel. Strong steel."

Not one to mince words or waste time, Cerb pushed his way forward to confront the large stallion.

"Look, we know this is a tall order and may even question your morals, but there are at least five kids lost in the Everfree Forest. Even worse, we think they have been kidnapped or foalnapped. How ever you wanna say it, but the fact is that the kids you were looking for, all their lives are in grave danger… We're begging you, please-"

"Laddie, please," Iron Forge regretfully pleaded. "It's not that I don't want to help-"

Drastic times called for drastic measures, inspiring Cerb to pull out a small keepsake box and flash Iron Forge the golden contents.

"If this isn't enough, consider it a down payment."

At the sight of what Cerb offered came into view, every pony gasped. None were more shocked than Iron Forge, but his answer was disheartening to hear as it was for him to say.

"Aye, sonny. I don't doubt yer sincerity or urgency. The problem is time. It'll take hours just to get the fire hot enough tuh melt these beauties. But if it means that much to ya, I could maybe have one of 'em ready by sunrise."

"Shit," Sniff cursed to himself. "We didn't want to do this, but what if we offered you two more helpers to get the smelting done?"

A generous offer, but Iron Forge sighed as he turned to his forge.

"Peter, muh boy. I don't thenk ya understand just how long it takes tuh…” He found himself destractacted by Ovens moving past him into his stall. “Uh, excuse me, las?"

Already knowing what Sniff had in mind, Oven Fresh trotted over to the forge. She turned back with a wink, then took a deep breath and huffed out roaring flames of such intensity they rose out of the smokestack.

After their eyes adjusted, a smoldering hot fire was ready to be worked with. It was an act Iron Forge had never seen before.

"Great Forefathers Ghosts!"

Sniff reached in the bag and handed Spike a handful of wrenches.

"Hey. We know yer buddies out there mean a lot to ya, so the faster these get done, the faster you can bring'em back to somewhere safe."

"Okay!" Spike shouted as they ran into the work area.

He climbed up the bench and held one of the tools over the smelter while he visualized the hottest thoughts he could. After a moment of silence, he pursed his lips as if to whistle, but blew a steady stream of flames. First green, then blue, then only white fire that left the prized steel dripping into the bowl like butter over an open flame.

What could have taken hours, Spike could accomplish in seconds, and on his second breath, a second and a third were both being added to the pot at the same time.

"Aye!" Iron Forge shouted in rapture. "Keep yer coins! I heard what ya did tuh them wooden miscreants! If ya be needing muh help this badly, fur the wee kiddos, I wouldn't dare charge ya. And with their help, we can knock these out in a few hours."

Before they could celebrate, a commotion in town stole their attention.

Ponies everywhere were running into their homes and shops, carrying or rushing their foals along with them. They didn't appear to have looks of concern while searching for the missing five youths earlier. This looked more serious.

Just in time to explain, Cadance flew down to the group. Unexpectedly, she bypassed both Twilight and Cerb, choosing instead to approach Chris.

Upon closer inspection, she carried a look of remorse.The bad news was poorly hidden behind her eyes as she spoke. Another glance at Starlight only heightened the tension of what update she had to bring.

"Chris, Starlight...I'm so sorry. We don't know how it happened, but Dinky, Cotton Cloudy, Buttons, and Pina Colada, they're missing."

"What!" Chris shouted, completely outraged.

Just as fired up, Starlight needed answers.

"I thought they were with Sunburst! What the fuck happened?! How'd they get out of the castle?!"

Just in time to add more to the story, the CMCs ran up fast to the group.

"Princess Cadance!"

Having been called upon, even if it wasn't well-received, Cadance turned to meet the trouble makers.

"You three! I told you to stay in the castle with everypony else. What are you-"

"They weren't taken!" Apple Bloom shouted back.

"And we didn't let them sneak away either!" Scootaloo added just as angrily.

Frustration flared up on both sides, but Sweetie Belle dashed between the two opposing parties, her hooves up stop any poor choice of words about to be exchanged.

"Wait! We think we know what happened!"

All the vehicles emptied out, humans and all races departed, but not all were destined for the same location. At least for Chris, he had to keep some ponies separate from the on-coming conversation. Plus, they had their own plans on how to help, as made clear by Cheerilee.

"Chris, no matter what happens, do be careful. Sandbar is a good colt and a very well-behaved student while I had him a few years ago. Even the others, if only for one day, they were a part of my class, and I can't standby and wait to see if they'll be okay. I'm going to join the search party."

Cream Heart joined Cheerilee's side, sharing a hopeful smile of encouragement.

"She's not the only one concerned. We know Starlight will be involved in whatever you do, and that's okay. And Redheart, you should go along in case there are any injuries. The rest of us will help with the search where we can."

Showing up in a rush, Berry Punch was practically dragging Pina Colada behind her. Not that the filly was fighting her, she just couldn't keep up with her mother's equally excited pace.

"Girls! Wait for me!"

Berry Punch joined the group, with her eyes trying desperately not to stay locked on Onyx.

"Excuse me for intruding, but I've known Sandbar's parents for some time now. Very nice ponies, but I've got some ideas where he might be hanging out at. After all, there was that new filly seen in town." She turned a flirty look towards Onyx. "And we know how colts can be."

Onyx slowly walked closer to the group, seemingly everyone else distracted with sorting out gear or directing subordinates with new tasking. Even the other mares were busy prepping their foals to get ready to stay behind or giving a farewell to Chris. This stallion had all of Berry Punch's attention.

"That's a fine thing you're doing, Miss Punch. If I wasn't already tasked with Chris as my ward, I'd be honored to accompany you out on the search... Unfortunately, where I'm going, I wouldn't want you to follow."

Undeterred Berry Punch fluttered her eyes, caught up in a flutter of emotions.

"Well, I suppose when this is all over, we'll have to find another reason to wander off together."

A simple yes was all that was needed to seal the deal. Anything other than word vomiting a story of his triumphs in the ring would have made it a date.

Instead, the screeching of a pegasi-filly-powered scooter's tires ruined the mood.

"Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle grunted angrily. "What have we told you about interrupting romantic ponies when they're about to kiss?"

"We were not about to kiss!" Onyx shouted. "Just!.... Get to the point."

Sweetie Belle huffed with a sneer, having her lovely story cut short.

"I was about to get to that, but anyway. Since Scootaloo ruined the moment, they didn't kiss. Then we got rushed inside so you could do more secret stuff, but Dinky, Cotton Cloudy, Button, and Pina Colada never went in with us. Later, when Grandpa Gruff ran into the castle and everything got all crazy, Sunburst asked us if we knew where the others were. We didn't know because we knew they had never come inside with us. We thought you had other plans for them, but we didn’t ask because were told not to get involved with human and pony love relationships."

Scootaloo, finally seeing an opening, piped up to add the more important part.

"First off, it's not my fault they didn't kiss. More importantly, my scooter is gone."

Lastly, Apple Bloom added the final bit that needed to be addressed.

"Honest, we had nothing to do with them running off like that, but I don't get it. They don't live far from here, so why would they take a scooter in the first place? They could’ve just walked home."

That question hit Becky like a ton of bricks, and her blood ran cold.

"Dinky, Cotton, and Button were with us when we were talking about where the other kids probably went. They must have gone to go find Gallus, Smolder, and Yona."

"WHAT!" Nearly every pony shrieked.

The interactions from the days prior all came flooding back like a bad dream for Becky.

"They're copying us! They bonded and started adopting each other as family. Spike! Tell'em."

Spike froze like he was caught in a lie, but hearing it from Becky, he knew it was true.

"I... I mean we... We just wanted to be better friends. Most of us don't have a full family. I started telling them how you all became a family together and it sorta just happened. Oh, crap! This is all my fault! Wah!"

Being so caught off guard, Spike started to lose his balance on the workbench. Thankfully, Onyx was close enough to jump over and catch him.

"Fuck!" Becky shouted, nearly pulling out her hair. "I knew something was off with them."

That last statement caught a few stares, and Becky shot back with what she failed to mention earlier.

"Look. I noticed it during breakfast the other day. Spike, Smolder, Gallus, Yona, Button, Pina, Cotton. They're the new us."

Before everyone could connect the dots, Trixie saw what Becky missed.

"No... They're the new ten."

All eyes were on Trixie, and she realized she had finally mentioned a very important bit of information she previously thought irrelevant.

"Oh, shit... Discord must have been wrong. Or, the Echos were wrong."

Cerb pushed his way to Trixie and knelt down face-to-face with her.

"What do you mean, new ten? There's only seven of us. And what are the Echos?"

Instantly, Trixie realized that she was surrounded. Now it didn't matter what she thought of her dreams. She had to confess everything.

"This is my faults. I mean our faults. Eh- Okay, look. I don't understand it all, but I'm partially to blame for all of you being here."

No sooner did those words leave Trixie's mouth, all of the Mane Six went on edge, and everyone noticed.

"Twilight gave me some spell books to help me learn new magic for my act. I tried to make a portal that would take me to the next best place to do my next show. I thought it would save on time, but I fucked up the spell. Like... really bad."

She could already see the accusations coming her way and instinctively stuck her neck out to head them off.

"My spell didn't bring you here! It was a different Trixie! A different me! You gotta believe me. All of you ending up in Equestria? This has all happened before. Over and over again. And my nightmares? My vision, all of them. They're the memories of other Equestria's who had all ten humans show up to save them, but they failed. Everyone dies, and when there's one survivor, they become the Harmony of that world but then, they would up and leave it. I don't know where they go, but they call themselves Echoes."

"Trixie!" Twilight shouted. "Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

Quickly becoming overwhelmed, Trixie shook her head, trying to put it all in order, if it were even possible.

"Because none of it made any sense! We were supposed to have five years to defeat the Darkness, or whatever the Void is called. But then, as soon as I came back, I was told that you all already defeated the Pony of Shadows. That he was behind it! And besides, this time everything is different! Humans are supposed to be vulnerable to magic and make ponies stronger, but they make you all weaker while they're the stronger ones. So maybe we only needed seven instead of ten?"

The missing three humans sounded familiar to Applejack, and she looked up to Lumberman for confirmation.

"Woody? When we first met, you told me you lost some friends before y'all got here. How many?"

Lumberman didn't answer, nor did he need to. Kelly was already on top of it.

"There used to be ten of us. Benny, Cerb, Eric, Amber, and Tim all enlisted and went to fight in the war... Only Benny and Cerb made it back alive."

Backing up to a previous portion, Starlight noted an inaccurate claim Trixie had made.

"Trixie, can you back it up to the part about humans making us weaker? I remember you asking me at the Post War-Party about that. I told you I've never felt stronger since being with Chris."

Ponies becoming stronger or weaker because of humans? Such a concept bounced around in Twilight's head. The silent deliberation took all of a second before a timeline started to form, with signs of weakness and unbelievable strength all coming together.

"It's both," Twilight mindlessly stated, the words effortlessly falling out of her mouth. "It has to be. Trixie, what did you see that makes you think ponies are weaker because of humans?"

Back on the spot, Trixie struggled to keep it all together.

"Ack-Ah-I-I dunno. The Echoes said... you know... being with humans made them stronger. Or at least in their world, it did. But I spoke to Discord in your library, and he started going off about Order and magic and how it makes ponies weak."

Discord plus library equaled Twilight's last time speaking with him. That means he would have come from Fluttershy's before that. Of course, knowing how conversations that day led to, it was easy to see where that thought came from.

"Okay, we know that—" she suddenly remembered there were other ponies around and should probably censor herself. "Well... certain activities can leave us ponies exhausted, but after that, maybe it does make us stronger."

One of the first signs she witnessed but had overlooked had her turn to Starlight.

"The morning of the Timberwolf attack, Starlight, you were with Chris, but after you had time to rest, you were surprised by how strong your magic was."

Next, Twilight turned to Sniff's first mare.

"Ovens, it was the same with you at the Post War Party. You have amazing control over your flames, but you made the camp fire much larger than you intended on accident, didn’t you?"

Ovens walked out of the now empty stall, trying to remember that moment.

"I... Yeah? I only meant to put out a tiny puff of flames, but instead, it was huge."

Next up, Twilight turned to Rarity with growing amazement.

"Rarity, after all the time you spent with Justin, don't you realize how much more control over your telekinesis you have now? Remember when Yona knocked over your entire sales floor? No! Even more than that! You can actually move Justin with your magic. Not even Celestia could do that."

There might have been other examples, but even she could see the effects on her.

"Heck, I was even able to move the moon with ease at the delegation."

Trying to put it all together and gauge what kind of effects they were taking in, Twilight turned her eyes up to Sniff.

"I've been so distracted with everything going on around me, I never stop to question how much easier it's been for me using my magic. Telekinesis, teleportation, spell casting, even the pleasure. They've all been amplified since being intimate with you. For all of us, I've seen it. Applejack and Redheart's rapid healing is just another example of it! The exhaustion is a side effect of our bodies taking in... you know."

One other great show of dramatic power manifesting flashed back into memory, along with the heat from the forge behind her. It was just a thought, a simple theory, but if she was right, the humans she'd come to love and care for could be in more danger than originally thought.

"Spike! In the Everfree Forest, you suddenly had- Spike?"

Everyone looked around for the young drake, but it was Silver Coating who knew about Spike's whereabouts.

"Uh, Spike took off with that Earth pony stallion in the armor. Right about the moment the Crusaders showed up... Big fans of your works, by the way."

"SHIT!" Cerb shouted as a knee jerk reaction. "Loverboy and big brother just took off after the kids on their own... FUCK IT! Ovens, Rarity, Cutter, you three, stay here and help Iron Forge. Nothing pretty. Just make'em work. Luna, let the guard know there are four more kids on the loose and two dip-shits chasing after them. Everyone else, we're moving out now."

Not stopping on the way to the truck, Cerb pointed to Trixie.

"You're riding with us. We need to know what else you haven't told us, and it's not gonna be a long ride, so you better talk fast. Lumberman, you're driving. Cadance jump in the back seat. We'll grab Helix, Ember, and the yaks on the way out. "

If this was the breakout, Benny knew where he was needed and ran for his car.

"Pinkie, get in the car. We're loading up and heading out. Octavia, Vinyl-"

"We're going with you!" Octavia demanded. "If what Twilight says is true, then we're going to be stronger than any pony in armor."

Vinyl didn't even wait for Benny to answer and jumped in the front seat.

"You made us wait once, and I don't care if it's demon goo with spikes, another pony, or an ancient war tyrant that's out there. We're gonna be kicking ass right there with you."

Jumping into the back seat, Pinkie was... well... Pinkie.

"Alright! Another War Party! Can I play music this time? Do you even have any war party music?"

"No, Pinkie," Benny grumbled. "This isn't the movies. We need to hear what's going on around us."

Left behind, Twilight was left with Sniff, Ovens, and Cutter. What few others, besides Iron Forge and Silver Coating, had already made a mad rush back to the castle.

Now all she could think about was Spike and what his surge of power probably meant.

"Peter... I need to ask you something."

A bit surprised that Twilight had followed the herd, no pun intended, he stopped to make sure things were not worse than what they already appeared to be.

"Yeah, but we need to hurry. What's up?"

Carefully evaluating her words, Twilight did her best not to blurt out her newfound fear.

"I'm conflicted. Spike has been such an important part of my life for so long. I should be flying after him right now, but we have no idea what we're going up against, and nothing makes any sense... But if what Trixie said is true, and I believe it is..."

There was no way to dance around this like she tried to with the sex talk her first time with Sniff. What was worse was that losing him this way could be eternal if she let her insecurities force her into silence.

In her mind, the scales tipped in favor of trusting him.

"Promise me what I'm about to tell you, you won't tell anyone else. Not yet, at least."

Trust Twilight as he might, that was the wrong question to ask after the conversation that just went down.

"Twi, if you know-"

"Please," Twilight pleaded, taking his hands into her wings and gripping them tightly. "If anyone else were to find out, it could get you and every human else killed... So, for now, if you know it, you can tell the others when and if they need to, but I can't risk me being the only one to know this."

Sniff had trusted her with so much as it was, and it had taken him this far. However, if she was giving him discretion on using the information, he could work with that.

"Okay. I promise. What's got you so serious all of a sudden."

Their time was limited to discuss this, so Twilight risked how bad it might look and cast a bubble around them. Opaque white and soundproof, it gave them the privacy she needed to get straight to the point.

"I don't think having sex is the only way for us to get stronger. Spike ran off before I could verify with him, but you heard him tell the story of how Justin saved him, right?"

Sniff nodded, half expecting a mind-blowing revelation to come any second.

"Yeah?"

Twilight stifled her breath, almost unsure of herself for a moment.

"The truth is, Spike has never shown to be that capable with his dragon breath. I've seen plenty of other dragons with them not knowing I was there. They didn't have anything close to what he can do now. And the only difference he has between everypony else who has demonstrated increased capabilities is that he's never had sex with a human... He had something else, and it might be why you all were brought here."

In Sniff's mind, he was replaying the stories of the same event that had been shared with him. Bullets, blades, monsters, bravery... Whatever he was missing, Twilight wasn't saying it.

"Twi-"

"Justin bleed all over Spike when he saved him," Twilight finally blurted out. "That was it. Nothing else had changed. Maybe he was angry, but I took down all the notes for the report I had to send to Celestia. His flames were normal before that... Blood, Peter... The Pony of Shadows even tried to stab Benny when he couldn't control him. What if that's their real plan after all? Make you weak with fear and bleed you out to keep all your power to themselves?"

It sounded insane, and either Sniff wanted such a grim theory not to be accurate, or his own recollection couldn't accept it.

"What about Applejack and Big Mac? They were covered in Kelly's blood. Nurse Redheart and Doctor Horse, too."

That threw a wrench in Twilight's theory, or maybe she wasn't working with a complete data set as of yet. Either way, it didn't calm her down.

"I don't know. Maybe it works differently depending on the race, but you can't say it's worth taking the risk."

She had a point, and Sniff couldn't explain any of the other reactions he'd stimulated in those he'd engaged with. None of it added up.

"I'll run this by Cerb and Chris. Cerb needs to know if he's going to fight these fuckers head-on, and Chris might know something we don't. But come on. They're gonna freak out if we take any longer than we already have."

Standing at the steps to the castle, Cerb and Benny gave the rundown of new info to the nation's leaders. Novo and her three returned to hiding under their hoods behind Gruff, so at least they were all in the loop. That is to say, they were informed of everything except for what Twilight told Sniff, but that was unlikely to be shared anytime soon.

Regardless, they must have kept it brief as Cerb turned to address the new task force of pony volunteers and Luna Guards.

"Listen up! The number of missing children drawn into the Everfree Forest has risen to ten. Eleven, including Spike, who has taken off ahead of us to pursue the last four added. We believe those four went in searching for the first three. Our priority is search and rescue of the children, but from here on out, all civilian volunteers will be accompanied by Lunar Guards and team leaders consisting of either a princess, prince, king, queen, or Wonderbolt. A base of operations will be set up at the Castle of the Two Sisters."

That was the basics, but now for the real bad news to be shared.

"That being said, we believe hostile actors are involved. Extreme caution is to be exercised while searching. However, civilians are to evacuate the forest at the first sign of danger and return home to hunker down. Safety is still our number one priority, and non-combatants in a combat zone puts everyone at risk. That being said, weather indicates a storm may be starting in the search area. If the weather does turn for the worst, again, civilians will return home."

As soon as Cerb finished, Luna stepped up to take his place.

"Citizens of Ponyville! We will not lie about what we may be facing. We ask for you to lend us your courage and strength, but will not ask you to risk your lives. You may be noticing a lack of the Solar Guard joining us. That is because if the dangers in the Everfree Forest are greater than we anticipate, you will all be ordered to seek shelter in Canterlot."

To help calm the growing concerns of the locals, Celestia joined Luna at her side.

"My precious subjects. It is upon us to join together and show that in trusting others, Earth pony, unicorn, pegasi, alicorn, human, yak, griffon, Abyssinian, or any other creature that shares our values of friendship, family, and peace, we stand united. Little by little, our small communities overcame the harsh environments. We put aside petty differences of warring factions to form nations that protected our loved ones and tame the lands we own today. Not long after we established our Kingdoms, many of our nations joined forces to overcome obstacles we could not hope to defeat alone. Apart, all of us faltered. But now, together, we will find our missing young, protect one another, and show the world that no force of evil shall prevail when we act as one!"

Despite all the uncertainty and growing fears, Sniff was surprised to see how well Celestia was able to raise the spirits of the locals.

"Wow," he softly spoke in the back of the crowd. "Way to bounce back, Princess."

Celestia was nowhere near close enough to hear his compliment, but Twilight did and tried not to gag over it. Praising her former teacher was the last thing she needed to partake in right now.

"Peter? Do you think you could maybe stay behind with Sunburst and Flurry Heart for this?"

The escalating danger was really getting to Twilight, and Sniff could sympathize, but his approach was different than hers.

"I know what you're thinking, but at this point, I think I'd be safer with everyone else. Sticking me back here with Crusaders, a baby, and only a few guards isn't as comforting as standing a watch with alicorns and all the guys with guns."

As if to finalize Sniff's decision, Swifty swooped in next to Twilight with her own update.

"Princess, the Lunar Gaurd is sending out flyers with the newest information. We also sent out a squad of three bat ponies to search for Onyx and Spike, but Cerb wants to leave the scouting party for the castle. He also wants Peter to drive Becky and Chris, but to stay back until the coast is clear."

The call had already been made, to which Sniff dangled his car keys in front of Twilight.

"Come on. Let Cerb and them clear the way. We're their backup."

If the essence of how crucial time was hadn't been made clear, Lumberman revving up his truck and tearing up the dirt as he peeled did.

"First wave, move out!" Spitfire shouted!

In all directions, ponies and their team leads took off. Some by air, others on the ground, while many more waited in their staging areas.

Swooping in, Rainbow stopped only long enough to deliver a message.

"Peter, Cerb said to hurry and leave now. Our scouts reported that a storm has started, but it's not natural. Not even for the Everfree Forest. Celestia was able to get a reply from King Aspen, but she wants you there to talk to him... Because he's a real dick head... My words, not hers."

Dark clouds had gathered unnaturally fast, picking up the winds with a torrential downpour and thunderous lightning. Even stranger, the fog should have dissipated with the rain, but it only appeared to grow thicker the higher it rose.

These conditions left Smolder, Gallus, and Yona scrambling to reach their destination.

"Not much farther!" Yona yelled through the inclement weather.

Running on all fours, Gallus tried to yell back. Even only a few steps to Yona's left, the hard rain and winds made it difficult to hear anything.

"What?!"

"Huh?!" Smolder tried to yell back, only having heard that they were talking.

More lightning crashed around them, arching up trees lighting up the faint outline of the stone structure Yona was leading them to. Now was not the time to lose them, and she decided to make one final effort to get them there.

She veered hard left, then hard right, each time shouting.

"Grab Yona's hair!"

The tactic worked, both getting her message through and each taking hold of her braids so she could run full speed with them at her side.

Another bolt of lightning crashed, illuminating a large decrepit doorway within what tiny portion of the stone walls she could see. That was their destination, and she locked up her legs to stop. Instead, she sent both Gallus and Smolder swinging out in front of her, still holding onto her locks of hair. Of course, they collided chest to chest and pulled Yona forward to tumble inside against the first inner wall.

Dazed and probably gaining a new bump on his head, Gallus was the first to complain.

"Alright. I think I've had enough crashing for one day."

Further inside the dark entranceway, an excited voice called in joy.

"Oh, my gosh, you guys! I know that voice!"

Sure, whoever had spoken up said they knew that voice, but none of the three new arrivals did and sent Smolder on the defensive.

"Who said that?! Who's there?! Get away from our treasure!"

It was too dark to see anything beyond what the flickering lights of lighting showed in the mouth of the entrance. More stone blocks that appeared rather small for a castle and a few broken sticks strewn about the floor.

Some quick thinking had Smolder pick up one of the larger branches and spat a glob of fire upon it.

Now armed with her torch, she held it forward, ready to fight for her kingdom.

"We found the castle first, so it's ours! You hear me?!"

"Castle?" a bodiless female voice spoke out from the darkness.

Still further into the depths of the darkness, two glowing blue eyes shined through, examining the new guests. They belonged to another female, who sounded unsure of what she was looking at.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but you must be really lost. Who and... what are you?"

The first excited female voice raised her voice again, this time reaching even higher peaks.

"The voice of my dream is another hippogriff?! This is the best. Day! Ever!"

Almost as if experiencing a case of deja vu, Yona did a short shake of her drenched coat, then tilted her head, baffled by similarities she just heard.

"Yona know that not sound like Pinkie Pie, but that sound like Pinkie Pie."

Finally stepping out of the dark, Silverstream emerged to meet the voice of her dream and his company. Not that Gallus knew what he was looking at.

"What the? Another griffon? Did Grandpa Gruff send you here to rip me off because he was dumb enough to accept my offer?"

Not to leave the newcomers in the dark, figuratively, Sandbar stepped into the light.

"Silverstream, this is Gallus. He's not a hippogriff, he's actually a griffon. Which means, the orange one is Smolder from the Dragon Lands and the big one is Yona the yak from Yakyakastan."

Silverstream shouted, entertained beyond belief.

"A yak! What a fun word to say." She pointed at Gallus. "Are you sure he's not a hippogriff? He kinda looks like a hippogriff."

The look on Gallus's face twisted with a mix of confusion and insult.

"What's wrong with your griffon friend? And what's a hippogriff?... Is she calling me fat? I'm not fat. I mean, who are all of you?! How do you know who we are?"

"Oh!" Sandbar blurted out, realizing his mistake. "Sorry about that. I'm Sandbar, this is Silverstream, eh... She's got quite the fish out of water story to tell, then you'll understand the confusion. Behind me, is Ocellus."

He looked over his shoulder, seeing only two frightened eyes hunkering in the dark.

"She's... uh... Let's just say this pony is a runaway, who I'm taking care of, since she came from a troubled family."

Still hidden from the light, Ocellus grumbled her frustrations with the request.

"If they want to see this pony anytime soon, that's not gonna happen."

Another runaway? Gallus wasn't against meeting a kindred spirit of circumstance, and decided to extend an olive branch.

"Oh? I can relate to that. I just made the choice to ditch my guardian. Might have room for another runaway if you don't mind splitting the rent. And again, how do you know who we are?"

"I was getting to that," Sandbar answered while walking closer to the torch to warm himself. "I live in Ponyville. I saw you three walking around with Pinkie and the new humans. Plus, my little sister is friends with Pina Colada. I heard them talking about how she was going to be the first pony sister to a yak."

Mistakenly, he laughed as he sat to hold his hooves to the flame and warm up some.

"Heh. The crazy things foals can come up with. Ponies and yaks family?"

And just like that, the warm welcome was over, along with the sharing of Smolders flames.

"Hey!" Smolder shouted as she snatched the torch away. "She didn't make that up! Maybe not every pony gets us, but Pina Colada is one who does. So if you don't think ponies can live like a family with other creatures, you can find another castle to squat in."

Behind the growing argument, what sounded like dreams getting crushed, came out as Ocellus's voice.

"Does that mean we can't live together? Why you don't want them to see me when I'm not a pony?"

Intruders or not, Smolder wasn't taking kindly to the third member not showing herself, and she started to march over to confront the hidden creature.

"Alright, trespassers. If you're gonna start swapping sob stories, I at least wanna see who's talking-"

"No!" Sandbar shouted, jumping in front of Smolder, only to immediately question his own actions. "I mean..."

This whole trip had been one crazy event after the next, he might as well set them straight and try to work out a deal. It was either that or try and make a mad dash for it once they were chased back out into the storm.

"First off, I never said ponies and other creatures can't live together. If Pina Colada wasn't making it up, then I think that's great. Also, you keep saying this is your castle, but it's not. It's an old windmill."

"A windmill?!" Gallus barked. "Yona! You said you were taking us to the castle!"

Now put on the spot, Yona immediately pointed to Smolder.

"Yona take us to where Smolder say she saw castle."

Smolder, not wanting the blame, pointed to Gallus.

"This isn't my fault! Gallus knocked me out of the sky before I could get a good look around!"

Silverstream couldn't stay quite any longer and jumped in to join in the shouting, but cheerfully.

"Isn't flying amazing?!"

"Hey!" Sandbar shouted over the four, hoping to stop the growing blame game. "Believe it or not, I think we were supposed to meet you all here. Silverstream is on a mission to save her kingdom. Ocellus and I are helping her."

He turned back to the shadows, motioned for Ocellus to join them.

"Because while I do believe ponies and other creatures can live together, I'm afraid not all of them will be as accepting as I am."

Slowly, the blue eyes stepped close to the light of the flames. It wasn't until the next flash of lightning illuminated the entranceway did the others understand why Ocellus was so hard to see.

A furless body, covered in a hard glossy black shell, a jagged horn, and holes punched through her legs and tail. Her appearance defied logic in most regards, but there was no mistaking a changeling.

Gallus was the first to recognize what had emerged from hiding. All he could think of were the horror stories he'd been told as a frightened young hatchling. Thus his reaction was hardly surprising.

"Ocellus is a changeling?! Are you nuts?!"

Easily frightened, Ocellus tried to change into her pony form, but the same magical malfunction disrupted the transformation. It was only the protective embrace Sandbar pulled her into that kept her from fleeing.

"Yeah!" Sandbar yelled back with a sneer. "She's a changeling. What about it? If you don't like it, you can find your own windmill to ride out the storm in."

Taking that as a threat, Smolder, Yona, and Gallus took to a position to pounce. Thankfully, they were just as quickly met with an alternative from Sandbar.

"Or, if you're not too scared to give her a chance and help us with Silverstream's mission, I can take you to the castle. That's where we're going anyway."

That was the second time the three heard another mission being mentioned, which got Smolder thinking.

"Hold on a second. This mission you're talking about, you wouldn't happen to have been sent looking for-"

"The power of the Elements!" Silverstream loudly interjected. "How did you know?!"

Gallus shrugged, still thinking about the riches.

"Egh. Or gold and jewels. These two are after the power. Whatever."

That seemed to make it official, and Yona couldn't have been happier about it.

"Secret mission-quest-hunt now has name! This what Prince Rutherford and Dragon Lord Ember mean by finding help in forest! Maybe it not just two kingdoms who need power to be strong like humans."

Sandbar had been a little iffy on what exactly he was going to help Silverstream find, but these new mission-bound creatures gave him an idea.

"Hey, I'm not sure what kind of treasures are left at the castle, but if you're all here for the same reason, maybe we're all supposed to help Silverstream save the world. She needs the power of the Elements to stop the Storm King from icing over her kingdom. I'm sure there has to be some kind of reward for that."

"Come again?" Gallus asked, sounding like he had just walked into a trap. "Did you say, Storm King?"

Since they had time to kill, Smolder returned the torch to the ground and started to build a better fire.

"Well, since we're not going anywhere until the storm clears, how about you tell us your story, then we'll tell you ours."

More creatures meant more new things to learn about the surface world. This got Silverstream buzzing around the limited room she could fly in.

"You won't believe how crazy this is. My story starts with-"

In the midst of flying around the room, Silverstream not only stopped her tale, she held her position behind them. The five silhouettes of the others sitting by the fire had her speechless.

"Sandbar, you were right. I knew the voice sounded familiar, but you all have the same shapes of those I was within my dream. That must mean that we do find the creepy old castle and the power of the Elements."

This was perfect. All the silhouettes had been found! Even better, Silverstream had yet another opportunity to share her story, which she was just about to do.

"Okay, so, my dream started out when I was wide awake, making it a daydream."

Lumberman had parked in a clearing as the rain started to come down. The bulk of the forces were ordered to stay back.

The small group consisted of Cerb, Lumberman, Sniff, Applejack, Fluttershy, Twilight, Celestia, Rutherford, Novo, and Seaspray. Trixie was told to wait in the truck.

Outside, just as the rain went from a sprinkle to a downpour, a tall white dear emerged from the forest. His legs and back were adorned with golden fur that matched the tuffs under his eyes. His antlers were majestic, and everything about his stance emanated strength and confidence. Upon the base of his horns were gold bands with rubies impressed inside.

His stance and whole appearance were like that of a nomadic Norse king who emerged from the wilderness. Even his voice was deep and masculine as he spoke.

"Queen Novo... is that really you?"

Novo bowed, showing her most cordial respects.

"It is. My apologies for the lack of communication and my disappearance. When the war-"

"Why are you all here?" Aspen demanded, showing no patience. "Celestia was to contact me for emergencies only. So this better be important."

He focused his attention on Celestia for the moment, showing them all he held no interest in giving them an audience.

"Do not think that saving my forest after the fact that it never should have been harmed puts us on gracious terms with each other. I hold no interest in reminiscing on the past either."

This conversation had been done to death, and frankly... Celestia had no patience for his shit, and got straight to the point.

"Youngsters from every nation have been lured into the Everfree Forest by either the Storm King or a new evil that wants to kill all life on this planet. We wanted to know if you would lend your help or if you wish to wait around and get caught in the crossfire."

The sheer bluntness left Aspen stunned, so Celestia figured she'd wrap things up quickly.

"Also, these are our new friends, Peter, Cerberus, and Benny. They're humans, unwillingly brought to our world as tools of our destruction who have decided to save us instead. They've overpowered the strongest of foes we never could alone and are immune to magic. Now... are you in or out? Either way, war is coming."

The meeting could have gone better, but Sniff could see why Celestia wanted him involved. This deer king was confrontational, an isolationist, and came off as kind of a prick. That, or he was weaker than he appeared and was putting on a strong front to keep others at a distance.

Nothing Sniff couldn't handle.

"King Aspen, we know this is sudden, but Celestia is right. It's possible the Storm King is trying to divide our nations by taking children hostages. If not, someone worse who has already used murdered children to try and coerce others into submission is hiding outside your kingdom. You're the last of the powerful nations within reach he hasn't attacked. And maybe you're lucky, and we got to you first and saved you the trouble of losing any one of your innocent subjects... Or... Maybe... They think so little of you they never even bothered, and this is your chance to stomp your hoof down on their throat, so they know what a mistake it was to save you for last."

Surprisingly, the bad cop good cop approach left Aspen to contemplate his options. Celestia could take him or leave him, but Sniff made it apparent that the risks were real. However, this was his chance to strike first.

"So, you say that whoever is behind this will come after the weakest amongst my subjects. If not, then another will come to eradicate us simply for living. Either way, I will not leave my flock unprotected, but if you need my help, we will work together once more."

That was the yes they needed, and Cerb stepped up to extend his hand.

"We appreciate your assistance. We could really use your help completing a searching-"

BOOM!

Off in the distance, the worsening storm added lightning to the mix with a bolt landing not more than a mile away.

"Fuck," Cerb loudly grumbled as the weather made a turn for the worse. "Aster!"

Within a few seconds, Evening Aster appeared from the shadows, ready for orders.

"Yes, Justin. The lightning, I've already given the order."

"Yeah, good," Cerb reluctantly replied with a nod of his head before looking onward to their next stop. "Get the civilians out. Any creature not geared up or capable of taking lightning has to make their way to the castle, but no one goes in until we start clearing it."

Suddenly, Aspen felt that being ignored was another insult.

"Excuse me, Cer... why did she call you Justin? Who are you really?"

Cerb turned his attention back to the indignant buck.

"My real name is Justin Husk, but everyone calls me Cerberus or Cerb."

That was a stupid side question, and Aspen got back to the point.

"Nevermind that. You have my assistance. What is it that is needed of me?"

With the storm getting worse, Cerb was ready to leave, and so he kept his words short.

"Stand by for now. We needed help finishing a search of the forest, but the storm is too dangerous for that. Our flyers can’t stay up, and the lightning makes searching too dangerous-"

"Too dangerous for you," Aspen mocked, some prior arrogance returning. "Pull back your forces as much as you need. My kin shall add two for each of your departing. We can meet up again at the Castle of the Two Sisters when the search is completed in this area."

Rainbow was right. The buck was a dickhead... but at least this buck would get some work done, and Cerb could respect that.

"Sounds like a plan. Stay safe out there. And by the way, this is Prince Rutherford. He has two of his personal guards out in the forest, helping with the search. I understand you two have never met before, so I don't want any mixups or friendly fire out there."

Rutherford nodded, showing no disrespect towards the deer king.

"King Aspen, very nice to meet you. Look forward to working together. Humans great friends. Smash enemies good. Yaks now fight with all kingdoms. You not know half of danger humans fight. Be ready, and yak stand with you as well."

Straight and to the point, Aspen bowed to Rutherford.

"I trust you will. Safe travels, King Rutherford."

After swapping stories, they all came to the same conclusion.

"This is so exciting!" Silverstream squeaked. "Every hippogriff was wrong about the surface. Not that they were wrong about the scary monsters and the Storm King, but you creatures are awesome!"

Smolder threw a few more flames into the fire, pleased with her new crew.

"Yeah, you should see Gallus with his metal talons. Those things were really awesome."

Gallus rubbed his bare forelegs up and down, looking nostalgic about them.

"They are pretty cool. Grandpa Gruff really knew how to use them. Drilled me for hours on how to control them properly... Almost thought I made him proud for once."

Feeling sympathetic for her brotherly griffon, Smolder offered up her condolences.

"You know, Gallus. As a dragon that spent my early days getting picked on and bullied, and then my older days picking on others and bullying them, I've never seen the kind of nasty Gruff is. And I once made a dragon eat his favorite toy because I thought he was too happy."

As terrible as that was, the absurdity of the act was too much, and they all found themselves laughing hysterically.

When the laughter died down, Smolder started to remember that day a little more clearly.

"Or maybe he was playing with his food and I ate it. I dunno. It was a long time ago, but even dragons aren't that mean to their family unless the dragon did something wrong."

On that clarification, Yona could relate.

"One time Yona had to smash brush down for planting season, but wanted to play. So, field not smash good, and parents yell at Yona for long time. Parents say that Yona not understand or care about yaks if not do job right. Bad field mean we not have enough food for winter."

Not knowing the full back story for Gallus, Sandbar offered up his take.

"Well, at least your Grandpa Gruff taught you a valuable skill. My parents made me clean up a beach after throwing my litter on the ground. I didn't know how important is was to protect the environment back then. But doing what they said, and taking what taught me helped me to get my cutie mark. Now I can help others enjoy the beach like I do. It’s also how I know about this old windmill. I helped Fluttershy return some turtles to a pond not far from here. I found out later this place used to gather wheat and make flower for the old castle. It’s been abandoned for centuries. I always thought it’d make for a great clubhouse, if it wasn’t so dangerous out here."

There might have been some wisdom on those words, giving pause to Gallus before he responded.

"Look, Sandbar, I'm not saying what he taught me wasn't useful. Grandpa Gruff knew what he was teaching me, but he never gave a compliment. Nothing I did was good enough for him, and things I wanted weren't important to him. It's enough that I sometimes wish he didn't take me in."

As soon as he said that, he took a look around the campfire. Where he was now was a better place, and he couldn't deny that.

"Then again, if he hadn't taken me in and taught me what I know, I never would have met all of you. At least with what I know now, I could probably get a job working as a guard when I'm older... Beats being a cranky old historian."

Having a job wasn't a foreign concept to Ocellus, but she hadn't been granted the luxury. Still, it sounded interesting.

"Being a guard was a job I could have had back in the hive, but I don’t have any experience. What would you become if you weren't trained for anything?"

Gallus thought for a moment, but his mind was still stuck on his past.

"Well, if you were like me, I would have become a thief, probably."

That got a kick out of Smolder. A common trait they must have shared.

"Ha! You could’ve hung with me and my brother if that was the case."

While maybe a little funny, Gallus wasn't joking.

"I'm serious. When I was still at the orphanage, I used to sneak out all the time. I didn't have any money so I would pickpocket or buy something with the stolen bits and jack up the prices for tourists if they came through... Grandpa Gruff put a stop to that... Probably for the best, anyway."

If now they were trading stories of breaking the rules, Silverstream saw a chance to participate.

"Oh! I've been a bad girl before too. One of the biggest rules we have is not to go to the surface or talk to surface dwellers, but this one time, I totally did."

Her captive audience was floored.

"Like, wow, ya know? Who'd 'uh thunk a hippogriff like me could be such a rebel?"

As floored as they were, not even Yona could keep silent about Silverstream pointing out the obvious.

"Yona may not know hippogriff culture, but Yona pretty sure that not count if saving meant saving the world."

And instantly, all the pride turned to embarrassment for Silverstream.

"Oh yeah. Heh, but I'm probably not going to get into trouble for this if we do find the power of the Elements."

Again, they all burst into laughter. Together, their lives didn't seem so boring or flat any longer. They were trying new things, making friends, breaking down old stereotypes, and above all else, doing something positive with each other.

Their good times were broken by four young ponies crashing a scooter at the doorway. Four young ponies that only four of the New Six recognized.

Smolder nearly fell backward.

"Button?"

Yona was in disbelief.

"Pina?"

Gallus recognized one filly easily.

"Dinky?"

And Sandbar called out the last.

"Is that Cotton Cloudy?"

All in a daze, exhausted and practically scared out of their minds, they ran to their respective elders.

"Big sis! We gotta get out of here!"

"Yona! I wanna go home! Take me home!"

"Gallus! Keep him away!"

Held firmly in Sandbar's forelegs, Cotton Cloudy, the farthest back on the scooter, was a little more precise.

"It tried to eat us! Make it go away!"

Silverstream and Ocellus were confused. They hadn't seen ponies that small, with wings, a horn, or understand what they were screaming incoherently. Not until Cotton Cloudy cried in terror for their help.

“Was it an owl bear?!” Ocellus asked, accidentally scaring the foals.

Suddenly, the four foals had a whole new nightmare to scream about.

“Changeling!” They all screamed together, before running in circles, shrieking like banshees.

For one soul alone, gathering the four screaming foals would have been like herding cats. Thankfully, the combined instant reaction time of Gallus, Smolder, Yona, and Sandbar each had them holding the time muzzles closed.

"Stop screaming, ya little dork," Smolder hushed her demand to Button.

Not as coarse, Sandbar did his best to silence Cotton Cloudy.

"Don't worry. You're safe here with us."

Much calmer, Yona picked up Pina Colada and turned her face to face, doing her best to talk like a big sister.

"Little Pina not need to be scared of changeling. She new friend."

Completing the circle, Gallus held Dinky close, finally relaxing his hold over her mouth.

"Dinky, we need you all to stay calm. This is our new friend Ocellus. She's just like us. Okay?"

Dinky’s little heart was still racing, but she didn't comprehend the message.

"Wut?"

Were they really doing this all over again, Smolder thought. It all looked and felt the same... sorta, though likely with a bit more effort for the explanation portion.

Regardless, she wasn't going to ham it up or hug it out.

"Ocellus needs a family just like all of us do. And we can trust her. She already faced an owlbear to save Sandbar. Also, that's Silverstream next to her. She's cool."

With the changeling scare over, Button brought them back to their first call to alarm.

"Okay, then what about the owlbear?

“It was right behind us,” Cotton Cloudy added, glancing back in said direction.

Sandbar took another look outside. The rain was still falling hard, but the flickering of lights had grown distant along with the winds.

“Hey, everycreature, when it was just the six of us, I was fine with riding out the storm in here heading back to town tomorrow after we helped Silverstream. But with these four with us, now I’m not so sure.”

Concerned there would be a drastic change in plans, Silverstream fluttered over to Sandbar, taking in the same sights that lay outside the windmill.

“Sandbar… I only saw six of us in my vision. What are we going to do?”

The vision was all Sandbar had to go on, and maybe that was his best bet.

“Your vision didn’t show you the windmill either, so maybe they were hiding for that part of your vision. Either way, we need to leave now. If the owlbear was following them, then it can’t be far behind, which means it’s still not safe to go back the way we came. We have to go for the castle now and find whatever it is we’re supposed to find. If it can stop the Storm King, then it can keep us safe for the night. In the morning, Ocellus will be healed, every creature here will trust her, we can keep each other safe, and all of us get what we need.”

The younger foals all heard the plan, inspiring Button to speak up.

“We need to get home. Everypony is loo-”

“Shh,” Smolder hushed as she clamped her claws down on Button’s muzzle. “Did you all hear that?”

All were silent, listening intently for anything. In the midst of the rain falling and low crackling of the fire, heavy breathing and soggy footsteps were heard approaching.

Smolder carefully put Button down and pushed him out of the way as she stepped closer to the doorway.

“If that’s what I think it is, I’ll clear the way.”

With fears of improaching danger, the foals clung to their caretakers, and even Button ran between the legs of Ocellus.

At the doorway, Smolder peered out for a moment. Her stance was low, and focus keen on looking for danger. After a moment of tense waiting, she motioned with her claws for the others to come closer.

Sandbar, Yona, Gallus, and Ocellus quietly picked up their foals and placed them on their backs before creeping closer. The steps were slowly and well placed, so as not to make a sound.

Once close enough, Smolder asked a question that alerted them all of the danger.

“When I give the signal, which way are you running?”

Another flash of distant lightning provided just enough light to reveal a large hulking mass sniffing the ground. Sandbar recognized the shape of the owlbear, and his hair stood on end.

“There’s a large pond to our right when you step out. We have to run around it and there’s a dock on the far end that should point the way… I was told never to go that way, so the castle should only be about a mile or so in that direction. Let’s just sneak off now, together.”

Since Silverstream wasn’t carrying anyone, she stepped up behind Smolder, ready to lend her help.

“How big is the pond?”

Sandbar tried to remember. Was she asking for depth, width, length, something else? He wasn’t sure.

“It’s big. A whole lot wider across than the river was.”

That was perfect, and Silverstream had a plan, especially since the wind was picking up again.

“Smolder, meet me at pond, I’ll lead you back to the others.”

The wind increased to a whale with lightning crashing closer with the shifting winds and the beast stood high on his hindlegs.

They were spotted and Smolder ran out to challenge the creature.

“Get ready!”

The owlbear dropped down to all fours and began its charge towards the windmill.

Back inside, fearing his new sister’s brazen choice, shouted out for her.

“Smolder! Come back!”

Steadfast in her plan, Smolder knew it was time.

“Run for it!”

From the growing distance created between them, the others watched a torrent of flames erupt from Smolder, shrouding their view of the owlbear as it did the same for them. Smolder’s plan for a firewall to hide their escape was working, despite the growing winds.

As the final flame left her lungs, her eyes adjusted to the sparse flames that lingered on the ground. A quick look over her shoulder revealed her that the others had made their escape, but returning to her target was not as damaged as she had hoped.

Steam rolled billowed off of the creatures still saturated fur. The winds had dampened her flames while the rain protected his body. The attack, however, had only enraged the beast, which shrieked madly at her.

"I'm guessing your part of my quest!" Smolder shouted out at the beast as she flexed her fist, cracking her knuckles as she changed her stance to get ready to advance. "Because you're testing my patience!"

Lightning flashed overhead, and the full intimidation of its form came into view. On all fours, it stood nearly four and a half feet tall, over a foot taller than the average grizzly. But as it rose up to its hind legs, it had to be at least eleven feet tall, making Smolder feel even smaller than she was.

"Oh, crap. On second thought, I hear the ponies have this amazing way of solving problems by talking things out. Do you have anything you wanna talk about other than me trying to roast you?"

The enraged owlbird stomped forward and swiped his claws at Smolder, roaring with intensity that matched the thunder around them. For such a lumbering beast, he was fast, but she managed to jump out of his reach, blowing flames at her aggressor.

A small step to the side put him out of reach of the flames. The strong winds and rain limited their reach of her fire, as well as forcing her back to the ground. Her only offensive method to keep the beast at bay was cut down dramatically and evasion on foot was now her only option.

More lightning flashed around her, lighting her path to the pond, which might as well have been a small lake. At least a friendly face was there to greet her.

"Smolder! This way!" Silverstream shouted.

Racing over with the predator at her tail, she hoped there was a plan to get them both out alive.

"Run! We can't fly."

As soon as Smolder was close enough, Silverstream grasped Smolder's right wrist and leapt back towards the water.

"Hold your breath!"

They splashed through the surface where a flash of light briefly allowed Smolder to see Silverstream's beak change to ponies face. Even her mohawk of a mane was replaced with a transparent fin of the same color… then darkness.

They were still moving under water. Silverstream had taken to water like a dragon to lava, but her speed was incredible. The lightning above gave some concept of how fast they were moving from the ripples from the rain still falling, but despite the speed, Smolder could only hold her breath for so long.

Just when Smolder was about to exhale, her lungs demanding air, they breached the surface and went airborne.

Together they landed with a thud on a slick wooden surface, Smolder gasping for air.

There was no time to waste, and the light around Silverstream returned, bringing her back to her previous form. Again, she grabbed Smolder's wrist and pulled her away.

"I don't think it saw where we came up. Come on, we need to catch up with- Oh…"

At the end of the dock was Sandbar, catching his breath with the rest.

"How'd you get here so fast."

Smolder stood up and pulled her arm back, not happy with herself or the trip through the pond.

"I couldn't hold the stupid bear thing off. He's too big and too wet. I can't take him out alone in this storm."

The important thing was that everyone was safe, and Ocellus wanted to keep things that way.

"Well, come on. We don't have much of a head start on that thing. And if it could find these four in the storm, then it won't be long before it tracks us down again."

They had made it, but Sandbar didn't feel good about how they had done it.

"Smolder, I can't thank you enough, but let's avoid any more danger on our own. We need to stick together."

Not wanting to stick around, Gallus pushed up farther with Dinky holding tightly around his neck.

"Yeah-yeah. We know we're stronger together, but right now you know the way, so get to leading us away from here."

Without further complaints, the group ventured off into the dark of the woods. Their final destination was not far away, and danger was not lingering far behind.

Rutherford kicked down the double doors leading to the throne room, letting Cerb, Fluttershy, and then Helix jumping forward with his horn charged.

"Clear," Cerb announced.

Twilight trotted in close behind, evaluating the remains of the once proud castle of Equestria.

"We can set up here for coordinating the search and rescue. Let Becky in so we can start setting up an emergency medical care area response station. We'll clear out the dining hall for her to use."

Benny sped ahead of the rest, looking for the familiar paths he had patrolled before. Pinkie, stuck close behind, but Octavia and Vinyl had claimed his sides as their own.

Not that he minded.

"Cerb, hold down the COC for now. My team will take the east wing and make sure everything is clear that way.. Lumberman… and Kelly, please let Luna lead the sweep of the east wing with her team."

Riding on Big Mac's back, Kelly wiped her hair back, still dripping wet from head to toe.

"Fuck that. I'm mad as shit and I'm gonna stab the first motherfucker I find who took those kids."

Following in close behind, Luna took her place next to Big Mac, allowing a clear path for Celestia to lead in Becky, riding on Shining's back.

"Someone take the knife away from Kelly. You know how she gets about this kinda shit."

Luna looked back, thinking that they were all in the same state of anger over the missing youths.

"I'm sure Kelly is no more angered over this than the rest of us."

As more members entered the throne room, Becky dismounted Shining's back and started to remove her rain gear.

"No, and frankly, my other six hold a stronger hatred for those that mess with kids."

Applejack stepped away from Lumberman to shake herself a little more dry, but remembered one of the stories she was told earlier. Something that almost seemed fitting, given the current youthes situation.

"Woody, didn't y'all start being friends when y'all were youngsters on account of some big fight to save each other?"

Now that brought back some painful memories, if not funny in some twisted retrospect. At least for Benny, he found some humor in it.

"Jesus. You told her about the fight at the football game?"

The reminiscing could wait, and Cerb didn't wish to waste even more time. And now that Sniff came in, they could start taking over the castle.

"Another story we can tell you about later, I'm sure. Sniff, get settled in with Bon Bon. She worked the most with Twilight the last time we were here. I want you helping to coordinate communications. Celestia has tactical control. Luna, you're in charge of operations. Cadance, you're sharing admin with Twilight. King and Queen Abyssinia, take lead of logistics. I would put that on Rutherford, but he's leading all ground forces. Gruff, flight ops. Queen Novo, you and your three will work with Aspen on Intel when he gets back."

That left one small few out in the cold, and Cerb wanted an update from them now.

"Gruff, can any of our units fly yet?"

Frustrated as ever, Gruff tried to keep his anger to only moderately tiffed.

"In this weather? Emergency messengers only. Send a yak out to the overwatch team. They can bear the winds better than the rest of us."

Rutherford gave the nod to Kühn, who knew where to go, but Cerb wanted more than one if they were going on hoof.

"Roger. Helix, you and Spitfire go with him. Between Ember, Rainbow Dash, and Starlight, I'm sure Chris is fine, but I want to hear if they've seen anything. And once this castle is cleared, I want them up high with the rest of the over watch."

From deeper in the castle, a young drake needing an ass whooping called out.

"Cerb?! Is that you?!"

Galloping in on Onyx's back, Spike emerged high from behind the throne.

"We searched the whole- well, most of the upper levels of the castle. None of them are here. We tried calling for them."

Onyx could already hear the quill writing up his court-martial papers, which inspired him to make his way down. If anything, he needed to explain himself.

"Princess Twilight, I need to apologize for-"

"Shut up," Cerb blurted out, oddly not sounding enraged. "We know why you both left. You fucked up… But we get it. You're here, you started the search, all that much faster for us to complete the search and find the kids."

Following suit, Twilight conjures a construct of her hoof behind Spike's head to smack him.

"Oww!" Spike whined, but was denied another word edgewise.

Twilight, not satisfied, turned her attention back to her tasks.

"Be glad that's all you're getting right now, Spike. We'll settle up things here first, then we'll have a long discussion about why there won't be a third time that you run off into the Everfree Forest without me."

Again, another voice was needed to get things moving, and Novo had enough sass to make it happen.

"Get moving! All y'all! I need my Intel! Move! Move! Move!"

Aspen stood firmly in the wind and constant rain, not letting the present company or scorched Earth bother him.

"The fire used here was from one of the youths running amuck?"

Thunder stepped up, showing just as strong of a resolve as the king.

"There is a dragon among them, the tracks left behind in the old windmill can tell us that much. All of the missing children that we know must have been here. But there's one imprint I can't make sense of… Could you lend your expertise."

Looking smug, Aspen grinned.

"If you mean the owlbear, we told you before they were following the same path that led us here. And the runners we sent will tell Celestia and the others as much."

This King was really getting on Thunder's nerves. His elitist attitude was near unbearable.

"Just look at the damn imprint, will you."

They made their way into the mill where Thunder pointed out the anomaly. Right where Aspen was already staring.

"Thunder, to me you are young and inexperienced, but you noticed what most would not. Now seeing the tracks unmoved without the weather, I can see it. There is a changeling among the children."

The dim light of Harmony flickered even lower.

"Children… I have lost control… The beast… I cannot stop him… I am blind to the world around me… I am losing sight of you… All I see is darkness… clawing at my barrier… coming for us all. My test was to ardous… your distance too great for me too keep them at bay... You were supposed to beat the storm. The foals will only slow you down… Why did they leave? Why were they hidden from me until it was too late?"

As the light faded to a warm spark, the last vision she could see was Sandbar's hoof crushing a branch in the dead of night. And as the others carrying the foals trampled over the splinters, the remains fell over top of another, then flexed together, blinking to see its forest disturbed through its glowing green eyes.

Slowly, a Timberwolf began to pull itself together. Constructing itself, branch by branch. It rose from the fallen timbers, ready to howl into the night.

The harsh winds attempted to blow it away, but its hunger, the untamed rage it held, an insatiable desire for carnage held strong long enough to fight off the rains that loosened its hold upon itself.

Now complete, but its prey out of sight, it lowered its head, mouth agap to draw in a deep breath to call the others to rise-

CRASH!

An owlbear, fur singed from a recent burn, still in hot pursuit, collided with the timber. Tripping into the brush and squawking angrily, the sticks and branches scattered.

Just as quickly, the owlbear rolled back to its feet, saw nothing, then took off again on the path it was only briefly distracted from.

From where the defeated Timberwolf fell, another had risen, ready to avenge its fallen. It raised its wooden maw to the thundering clouds above, unleashing a howl to raise the dead.

"Thunder!" A voice shouted from behind the newly awakened Timberwolf. "We can take care of this mess ourselves. What we discovered is an emergency that only you can deliver now."

The wooden construct turned to see a majestic white deer, adorned with golden fur and golden bands impressed with rubies leading a small team of lesser deer, and a dark-colored pegasus.

The menu had changed, and so did Thunder's priorities, forcing her to plant her halberd in the tough soil at Aspen's hooves.

"Don't bother telling me you don't need it, your highness. I can't fly with it, but while you're at it, take my armor."

With a pull of a string, the breastplate fell from her body, which of course did insult the king.

"Pah! I'll carry your weapon of war if you insist, but if you-"

Like a swarm of fireflies waking to a warm summer night, the forest quickly dotted with many glowing green eyes blinking into form. A long undisturbed pack had been awoken from its slumber.

"-insist, I will happily oblige."

A light from Aspen's aura gripped the armor and strung it around his frame, barely fitting him, but provided protection he now was thankful for.

"Do fly quickly will you. And my apologies for my rudeness. War is an ugly thing, you know."

Free from her armor, Thunder flapped as hard as she could to leave the ground, eventually getting high enough to run along the branches to escape to above the greenery.

"Fight well, King!"

Now just Aspen and four of his best scouts, he raised the halberd from the ground, his magic glowing bright enough from his antlers to allow his kin to see the arena they had been led into.

"Bucks! Ready yourselves and render your antlers for battle!"

The bucks lowered their heads and scrapped their hooves into the grass, kicking up dirt and steadying their nerves.

"Yes, King!"

Aspen readied the halberd to strike, his arrogance leaving him for his mindstate during the battle he once fought over a thousand years ago with the other kingdoms. His first truly brave act as a king that saved his kin was to fight with others kingdoms. Instead, now he would have to hold his own until they sent help.

"FOR THE THICKET! CHARGE!"

Hushed under the silence from Harmony’s unseen presence, exhausted, she uttered the only words she wished could reach them.

“Children… Run...”

Welp, it took some time, but our New Six have finally made it together. It took the help of some oncoming storm winds, but Gallus got added to the bunch just in time. A little full-body collision never hurt anyone, after all.

Back with the growing collision of nations and humans, things got a bit heated after getting everyone caught up with all the new faces. And... well... every hard-ass has a back story. Here, Gruff was no exception. Between taking in a juvenile delinquent, his own poor parenting, on top of all the grief and suffering he went through... the old dude must have been burnt out.

Although, it seemed like even he had a plan the whole time. At least him coming clean about it allowed the rest of the nations to band together.

Back in the Everfree Forest, each half of the New Six seem to be bonding even closer.

Back in Ponyville, Iron Forge returns to lend a hoof, making.... something(s). Although, things have gone from bad to worse with another four foals disappearing into the forest. That news really seemed to set Onyx off, who apparently has been getting sweet on Berry Punch. Of course, Spike was just as concerned. So, as shit luck would have it, they both ran off together.

Too bad they ran off. Might have been able to answer Twilight's question. Now Sniff knows, but is human blood part of the problem, or part of the solution?

And now that all the kids are involved... this is getting serious. Especially since they're getting King Aspen involved.

And staying on him for the moment, that deer is not a joy to be around. Let's just hope he changes his tone before someone cleans his clock.

Back in the Everfree Forest, holy cow, it finally happened. The New Six have all finally met up with each other. They may have been a little confrontational at first, but they eventually got it all together and get along. Of course, the last four are there now there, along with the owlbear stalking them.

Smolder came out strong with some solid defense, and Silverstream came through in a pinch, but that only bought them so much more time. Now, even the help that was right behind them has been cut off.

And Harmony? It sounds like she messed up this plan of hers, and the children are in real danger and have been left all on their own.

Who is going to save who, and how? Find out next time in: