With most of the castle's upper levels cleared by Spike and Onyx, some time was freed up. That allowed the pair to report to Twilight and Novo what they found after leaving. Sniff also took the chance to speak with Cerb in private regarding some new blood-related issues. Becky was still trying to talk Kelly out of control of what turned out to be a butcher knife while Benny took some time to try and work with Bon Bon in Sniff's absence.

At the same time, since there were no flight ops in progress and Lumberman's first search area cleared, those two were mistakenly left unattended.

It didn't take long for Lumberman's long stare of discontent to break Gruff's silence.

"What? You carrying a grudge now?" He scoffed. "Don't worry. You'll get used to it. I did."

Allies or not, Lumberman couldn't let go of what had been digging at him since Gilda's history on the old bird's ways.

"Give Gallus up. Not even a king should be allowed to exploit a child like you have."

Despite the verbal jab, Gruff didn't budge from his seat on the floor, choosing to disengage from the insult.

"Pah. Gallus will be the change Griffonstone needs."

Angered even more by how blind Gruff was, Lumberman fired back.

"You're using him to fix your problems and didn't even tell him. You robbed him of his childhood to get back at those who did you dirty, like a living disposable dagger. Is that the kind of king your father raised?"

Before Gruff could fire back, Lumberman stepped up how hard he was laying into him.

"Did you ever care about Gallus? Because you made a pretty big deal about your father caring more about the kingdom than even bothering to give you a hug goodbye. Shit. Every decent halfway father I ever knew cared about his kids even a little bit. At least when it mattered. Even the one that took me in. Showed me what it meant to belong and what it took to make a better world that I wanted to be a part of. Even if he went back on it, I didn't forget the kind of positive encouragement I got, and I've done a lot more fucked up shit than what Gallus ever could have."

The words landed as a heavy blow to Gruff, who lost whatever biting rebuttal he had. It gave Lumberman another chance to point out more oversight.

"You can't beat a good behavior into a kid, or neglect them into obedience. In fact, I think you're lucky he chose to run away. Otherwise, you really would be the king your father raised… A father who cared more about his country than taking care of his kid."

For a moment, Lumberman didn't see the bitter old grouch. Maybe it was the nostalgia of reliving his own past, being used and misled for his mother's own selfish wishes. It could have been how it felt like he was punching down and went so far as to actually hurt the old griffon emotionally.

Then again, maybe it was a wish that one good father figure had managed to stick around. At the very least, survived long enough for him to hold onto.

In the end, Lumberman still sympathized with Gallus more than Gruff, but he was all the young griffon had.

"Jesus… Your plan was to leave him in the care of the Council of Lords once he was old enough to join… but still hate you? Why the fuck do you think he would have cared enough to do anything on your behalf?"

Suddenly, Cerb was in view, having caught the last bit of the exchange.

"Jesus Christ, leave him alone. We’ve got bigger problems. Follow me for a sec. Sniff just told me something you need to hear. Applejack, Fluttershy. We need you on top of this, too."

Just like that, Gruff was left to deal with his thoughts. His thoughts and Celestia's council, as she had overheard the entire exchange.

"Gruffo?" She softly spoke from his side. "Might I offer some insight that neither you nor Lumberman failed to bring into the conversation?"

Putting on his bitter face once again, Gruff sat cross and huffed.

"Why not? Just start a line and I'll let every creature get their kicks in."

Unfettered by the attitude, Celestia sat next to Gruff, thinking back about his past.

"You take after your grandfather more than your father. And it's a real shame because in private, your father adored you."

Gruff turned an eyebrow of insulted disbelief, but Celestia returned it with a sad smile.

"You were very young, but your grandfather demanded a stern upbringing for you, which your father taught you to demonstrate while around others… But don't think your father never hugged or cared about you and…

It was one thing to provide some comfort for clarity of mind before a conflict, in doing so, Celestia realized some fault of her own.

“I'm sorry I never came to visit with you after the war."

Gruff sighed and finally dropped his tough exterior. Everyone around him was busy with one task or another, completely obviously. Not that he warranted much company anyway.

"My father was busy with his royal duties, trying to save what he could of our empire. He tried to restore the pride we once held and fought with my grandfather constantly on how to do so. He even argued against heading into fighting the Storm King… but gave in… He said the King's word was absolute. Then he left… I don't remember much of anything else."

That was certainly sad to hear, especially to Celestia, who could sparingly remember much more than this.

"I never met your mother, but I do recall your father was a fine griffon. He expected great things from his only son… and I don't think it's too late for that. And just like your father, I don't think you have to do it alone… And if you truly are the last of your bloodline, then the Council Lords shouldn't hold as much sway over you as they say they do."

There was a curious look on Gruff's face, and Celestia believed she should give up the ghost on one more regret.

"King Gruto, sadly, was just as impatient and bullheaded as Queen Novo had argued. Your father, however, was much calmer and level-headed. His last letter was, or at least I believe it was his last, was sent to my sister and I, requesting our help. Unfortunately, we were unable to receive the letter before his battle… ended. His flyer sent from Griffonstone had been delayed, more than likely, attacked. Luna and I, we had been dealing with Discord at the time and-"

Small memories of the past came back to Celestia, making her feel sick to her stomach. It was hard to forget the stress and overwhelming conflicts that had fallen upon her from those days, as well as the decisions she made that she later came to regret. Decisions that she couldn’t help but wonder if that had not truly been her own.

"I apologize. I believe the strings of fate have woven an impossible scenario for us to overcome."

Almost rudely, Celestia stood up, ready to take her leave.

"You'll have to pardon my abrupt departure from this conversation."

She went to step away, but she felt an obligation to at least give him something of value before more could be discussed.

"Gruffo… I believe you have been cheated. Not only of your crown and youth, but so much more... Take that as you will for now, as I plan on revisiting this and may need your help. However, in the meantime, if not to sound as though I am parroting Lumberman… Don't rob Gallus of what you have lost. I believe that deep down inside, you are your father’s son. Perhaps with a little luck and some guidance, maybe you can even do better."

Having Sniff walk off and Becky starting to look over their supplies, Twilight thought some small conversation was needed to kill time.

"So, Spike. You must be really worried if you ran off with Onyx like you did."

Spike turned an eye to Twilight as if to respond to the question, but then turned away with a shrug.

"Yeah, but also because I felt responsible. Plus, I’m trying to be more manly, and a real man should take responsibility for his mistakes. Not that it was a mistake to tell them how to be a family, but that is the reason they're in this mess."

Before Becky could finish sorting the next few sections of gauze, a miscalculation suddenly came into realization.

"Hey, Spike? Why were only Yona and Gallus lured into the forest while in Canterlot but you were… No… You went with Onyx because you wanted to, right?"

Knowing that line of questioning, Twilight could hear the gears turning in Becky's head.

"What's on your mind, Becky?"

Becky looked lost for a moment, trying to sort out the misconceptions she might have made.

"I counted seven… Seven kids with Spike. Then Sandbar and another foal no one knows of get lost in the forest. Two that have absolutely no connection to us… Then the last four."

Still confused, she turned to Spike.

"Smolder and Yona said they had a mission. Why didn't they take you with them? Eight of the other ten we know of all claim to be a family by choice.” More confused, she turned back to Twilight. “Even when he went out to find them, why didn't whoever is behind this take Spike if it was only Onyx with him at the time? Spike is just as tough as the other kids, so why not take him with the others?"

Still confused, Twilight stepped closer to Spike, looking him over as if examining him for clues.

"Not only that, why Sandbar? And who is the other filly seen in town?"

Thinking there had to be another connection, Twilight stopped her inspection, looking at Spike with the utmost sincerity.

"Spike, who of those missing were you closest to?"

Put on the spot, Spike didn't want to speak on anything out loud if others were nearby. Maybe if Sniff was around, that would have helped, but after a quick look around, and a faint blush building up, he answered.

"I think I really like Smolder. Not that I don't think Gallus and Yona are really nice and all, but they all bonded with each other a lot more than they did me. Button and Smolder, Dinky and Gallus, Pina Colada and Yona. Cotton Cloudy and I hugged a little bit because she was sad when Smolder and Gallus started to argue, but…"

Twilight and Becky stared at Spike, waiting for the final bit to come out and explain things. Instead, Spike seemingly gave up with another shrug.

"I dunno. It's like they all heard what I told them and started to do it themselves, but it was like me and Rarity. They took whatever help I could give them and used it on some creature else, but I get it. They didn't understand what Sniff and Chris helped me to figure out. That I already have a family and I didn't need to keep looking, which might have come off as me trying to push them together… That, and I'm trying to work up the courage to ask Smolder out… I think she'd hurt me if I did."

"If she's anything like Ember," Twilight grumbled.

Regardless of Twilight’s take, Becky had to rethink her original theory.

"Okay, so forget the four foals for a second, and let's say that's our fault just like Spike and Onyx were. Smolder, Yona, and Silverstream all claim that they were told to go. Gallus… just dropped everything at the farm and left. Four kids from four nations… Why take two from Ponyville that have no relation to us or other high-value ponies? They could have taken Spike with Smolder and Yona? Or Flurry Heart or any of the Crusaders. We weren't watching any of them, so they would have been easy to kidnap."

Down below, Evening Aster returned with the first bit of news, and two deer to share the information.

"Queen Novo! Every creature! We come with good news! The tracks of the missing delegates and the stolen scooter! We found them! The other search parties are being recalled-"

From high above on the floor, Thunder crashed through one of the poorly replaced windows, sending glass in every direction. She barely regained control before hitting the floor, putting everyone on alarm. The fact she was out of her armor and without her weapon added more concern.

"Thunder!" Cerb shouted, already knowing something had to have gone wrong, seemingly falling back into his old days.

"Report!"

Despite the loud entrance, Thunder casually shook off the rain and fluttered over to the center of the throne room, confident, but still alarmed.

"We found all ten tracks of the missing children. One is a changeling! They're all being pursued by an owlbear! A large one! We gave chase, but we were cut off by Timberwolves! King Aspen is fighting them off! He needs support!"

Quickly, Becky tried to put it all together, but the obvious couldn't have been any less difficult for her blurt out at Twilight.

"The six kids! There from-"

Just as quick, her theory fell short before she could even spit it out.

"Wait… If the changelings have a kid there, why only one from six of the nations? Yaks, dragons, ponies, hippogriffs, changelings, and griffons? Why leave out the deer and Abyssinias?"

Close enough to hear, Cadance was trying to catch up with the developing theory.

"If changelings are involved, then Queen Chrysalis must be behind this. And if she's learned to manipulate Harmony's magic, then this does not bold well for us."

Still in earshot, Celestia pushed herself closer, a mix of panic and demanding authority strong in her voice.

"What of Harmony's magic? What have you found?"

Slightly taken back, Cadance answered promptly, but with a hint of skepticism.

"At the train station. The conductor showed traces of what appeared to be Harmony Magic around his mind. The same that had been used to defeat Chrysalis. This proves she's involved."

Amidst the hammering rain, wailing winds, and clamoring of creatures and armor scrambling around the room, one clear sound rang out.

BOOM!

It wasn't thunder, and Cerb knew that sound all too well.

"That's Chris! Everyone! Battle Ready! Now!"

Outside the stone walls, distant voices could be heard screaming out alarms.

"Movement along the cavern's edge!"

"Magic-based attacks in the southern treeline."

"We're under attack!"

"I think I saw fire!"

"What is that!"

Before anyone could get moving, Celestia reached out with both her wings, grabbing Twilight by her tail and Cerb by his wrist. She held them, unsure of what to say in the chaos swirling throughout the room.

BOOM!

Even as another shot rang out, Celestia had no idea of what to expect or how to apologize. Instead, fear of what lay below.

"We need Chris. He knows more than any of you. Hopefully more than me, but I've held so many secrets so close to my chest I know not of which ones I had a say in any longer… and If my fears are now correct, we are all in danger. I thought it was only me she was after."

Running through the forest, the six were running low on steam.

"The howls are getting closer!" Button cried from Smolder's back.

Silverstream, even without carrying someone, was starting to lose faith.

"This wasn't in my dream! Sandbar! Do something."

Running blind, Sandbar shouted back.

"It shouldn't be much farther!"

Holding tight onto Sandbar's back, Cotton Cloudy tried to yell out her best advice.

"Look for the pretty lights! They'll keep you safe if you follow them."

Having overheard the suggestion, Pina supported the request.

"The lights kept us away from the monster and led us to you!"

Dinky, still firmly attached to Gallus, held tight and called out what she saw.

"Right there! Go left!"

They all saw it. A rainbow flickering light in the darkness, nearly resembling a winged quadruped with wings. However, too scared to think fast enough, they all ran past it. Had it not been for another flash of lightning, they all would have missed how short the clearing out of the trees was that they entered.

Together they all tried to stop, slipping and sliding through the muddy grass before the long drop-off of the gorge's cliff. Thankfully, from this new point of view, the next bolt that lit up the sky showed them where they were.

"Ha!" Sandbar celebrated. "I knew we were close!"

Below them, the gorge had flooded, yet a series of steps led out from the waters to the Castle of the Two Sisters. That seemed like the perfect environment for a hippogriff. Another chance for Silverstream to play the heroine if the winds were still too high.

"All of you! Climb down! If it's too deep I can swim you across!”

“No!” Button protested. “Follow the lights! They pointed that way!”

With so much mystery surrounding what led them all to be together, Smolder was all but compelled to listen.

“Sandbar! Maybe the foals are right! Shouldn’t we go around instead of down?!”

No sooner had Smolder turned to assess the suggested back, the flickering of lights in the forest behind them highlighted an approaching silhouette, and Button saw it too.

“Owlbear!”

The outcry made Yona spin to face their foe, but a misstep in the loose soil made the ground under her back hooves give way.

With an airy yelp, Yona slipped rear first over the cliff’s edge.

“Gotcha!” Ocellus called out, holding onto Yona’s horns with her forehooves.

Pina held on for dear life to Yona’s back but made the mistake of looking down.

“We’re slipping!”

More of the loose soil crumbled to mud under Yona’s weight, pulling her further down, forcing Gallus to grab hold of Ocellus.

“Gah! Sandbar! Smolder! I can’t-”

“I got you!” Sandbar called out, hugging Gallus around his waist. “Smolder, hold off the owlbear while we-”

“Times up!” Smolder shouted, pulling Button off her back and shoving him into Silverstream, which set her into Sandbar, forcing all the others down the cliff to safety. “I got this!"

The slide down was not a smooth one. Large rocks and roots jutting out quickly separated the bunch, sending them tumbling in different directions as the wind sent Smolder's flames back around her high over them.

The youths all splashed into the flooded gorge, the deeper end had risen high enough that one couldn't reach the bottom. They all rose, spitting and coughing. Above them, the flames grew stronger, trying to match the winds.

Smolder again took the stance to hold off the beast while the others started for the far side of the forge.

A scream from the owlbear at first gave them hope her tactic was working, but by the time Silverstream had Button and Ocellus with their heads steady above water, Smolder’s plan failed.

CRACK!

Smolder came rocketing down, leaving a trail of thinning flames that died on her descent.

“-aaaaaaAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

SPLASH!

She emerged quickly, but held her eyes shut, flailing with only her right arm as she coughed and sputtered her breathing. So in shock, she nearly lashed out at Sandbar wrapping a foreleg around her, saved only by Cotton Cloudy's voice.

"Smolder! Keep swimming!"

The voice, thankfully, let Smolder know she was safe, and she abandoned her urge to struggle. Given the hit she took, she was willing to trust this new pony friend with her moment of weakness.

"Help me. I think it broke my arm, and my wing really hurts."

Together, they swam to the closest edge they could, helping one another out of the water. One by one they backed further away from the rising waters into the cavernous mouth of the far side of the gorge until Sandbar was the last one in. He gave a strong push on her backside as a short flash of lightning allowed him to see Yona's frightened face through the five new slashes through Smolder's left-wing.

"Smolder! What happened?"

Smolder spun and fell on her ass, holding her arm against her chest and doing one hell of a job of hiding the pain.

"The wind… Blew too hard. I could have nearly slapped him instead for as far as my flames would go."

She winced and hissed in pain from trying to move her wing.

"I tried to jump out of the way again, but I wasn't fast enough this time." She cracked a grin, still trying to look tough. "Heh… I got'em good, though."

Not done, Smolder took a look around at where they were. No steps in sight, the distance the cave went in was still unknown, but at least the wind and rain weren’t beating them into the ground. The perfect location to come too late for the miserable dragoness.

"Awe, great. Now I can fly around and torch the owlbear if he finds us again." She grunted sarcastically.

SPLASH!

All together everyone screamed at the massive splash of could only be the owlbear jumping in after them.

"He found us!"

"What do we do?"

"It's gonna eat us!"

"Just make it go away!"

Sandbar could see their situation deteriorating, and did want to chance another encounter.

“We can’t out-swim that thing and we’re running out of places to run to. Our only option is to go deeper into the cave. We stick together, find a way out-”

“Look!” Cloudy shouted. “Another light!”

Behind them, a dim glow began to pulse deeper in, to which they all ran towards. This light was different. It didn’t glimmer with the rainbow but was a dull white with only hints of a prism swimming in its aura.

“My br-v s...ix.”

Once close enough, the ten youngsters found themselves standing before a large crystal tree. Its massive diamond-like trunk leading up with thorny vines led up to branches full of pristine leaves and what looked to be spikey-covered fruits.

“You f-un…d me.”

Button, standing the closest, was the first to pick up on what they were hearing.

“Did that tree just talk?”

As if summoned by the question, a ghostly figure stepped out from the trunk. With every step, its legs and body grew more defined. It was a pony in form, eventually blinking with bright lavender-colored eyes, sprouting a horn and unfurling its wings before stopping to take in the sight of the new arrivals.

“I had feared the worst,” it finally spoke, its feminine voice now clear and unbroken. “But you all survived… with four additional companions. This only further proves that you were destined to be the next saviors of this world.”

Finally, it dawned on Gallus what this was.

"We made it all the way through the Everfree Forest to find out the treasure is an alicorn?"

Silverstream fluttered up, momentarily ecstatic at the announcement.

“My vision! It really did come true!”

The looks of fear and confusion among the others left one sad fact to deal with, one Harmony was reluctant to deal with.

“I know what you all seek, but I have grown weak from the approaching darkness. You have not yet discovered the key to unlock what is needed. My time with you is short, and the creature that hunts you is famished. You are not strong enough to defeat him as you are.”

Shocked, Sandbar yelped.

“Defeat it?!”

Equally concerned, Silverstream looked back to the entrance, seeing the owlbear climbing up, much of its chest burnt, but still drenched and looking less than happy.

“You want us to do what?! That thing is unstoppable.”

Harmony narrowed her vision on the approaching beast, desperation compelling her to do the unthinkable.

“Not unstoppable, I'll see to that."

Straining her magic, a wall of crystal rose up, barricading in the youngsters and warding off the owlbear. Shockingly, as the wall went up, the ghostly image of Harmony faded to one that was thinly transparent.

"Children… Listen closely… The owlbear was never to come this close. I have not the strength to vanquish it, let alone hold it at bay for long. It is up to you to stop it if you are to survive. I can provide you with the tools to defeat it but you must work together with what I have to offer and undo the damage of your predecessor’s follies."

Growing even dimmer, Harmony summoned three vines from the ground in front of Yona, Silverstream, and Gallus. The vines sprouted a helmet fit for a King in front of Yona and a pair of metal talons adorned with silver for Gallus and a trident for Silverstream.

"Yona… Your once great Prince Tormand waged a war against the invading dragons. He gave his all to end the war, but it did not end with unity under Prince Ulysses, as Dragon Lord Scintilla had lost a brother as well. Fight with Smolder, as she will need your strength to be her shield.”

Next in line was Gallus, and Harmony could already see how entranced he was with the gift she was giving him.

“Gallus… The once great king Guto fought a war he could not win alone… Fight with Sandbar. Strike with the precision he lacks, and guide him away from his fear."

Harmony turned to Silverstream as her ghostly image was all but the shimmering lights retreating back to her tree.

"Silverstream… The war against the Storm King took more than King Gruto and his only son. King Velho, your uncle, was the first to fall, attacked from behind and lost to the crushing depths before the hippogriffs gained their fins… Be the tide that raises all of you together… The loss of one just may lead to the loss of all."

With the last warning given, the final shimmering light from harmony faded back into the tree, fracturing its surface. All the youth stared in disbelief. Equally foreboding, the crystal vines crumbled, sending the gifts clattering to the dirt unceremoniously.

Silverstream was the first to pick her weapon up, never remembering anything of the trident she held.

"Was this what we were supposed to find? What about the Elements?"

Yona curiously placed the helmet on her head, a bit larger than it should have been for her, but two straps allowed a sturdy fit.

“Yona not like this. Prince Rutherford not normally let yaks fight like this.”

Gallus slid the metal talons on, still trying to process that he was holding the last griffon king’s weapon of preference.

“Do we even have a choice?”

Smolder, having insult added to her injury, huffed in defiance.

“Pah! Dragons never needed weapons to fight.” She flexed her fists but instantly regretted her posturing. “Ow! Not that a shield would be a bad idea.”

All eyes then went to Ocellus, cowering with the foals. Ocellus, just as frightened by the owlbear still clawing at the entrance.

“I… We… don’t normally fight. We’re supposed to hide in plain sight and only use violence when ponies discover who we are so we can escape… or so I’ve heard… Am I supposed to help keep the foals safe for now?”

Suddenly they realized Sandbar wasn’t among their inner circle. The rapid clamoring of hooves led their attention to discover him frantically searching around the crystal tree. His calm exterior barely holding together as he studied their enclosure.

“We need to find a way out. Maybe there is some kind of secret exit? Or maybe one of the walls is fake like the one keeping the owlbear out.”

The foals couldn’t see it, Gallus could see it more than the others. With each crack on the wall from the owlbear forcing his way in, a little more of what he was hiding became more self-evident.”

“Hey, Sandbar? We’re all scared, but we were chosen to save the world. We can’t just run away from this.”

Sandbar spun around, his eyes wide with the terror he kept hidden behind his facade.

“Are you crazy? Running away is what we need to do! I- ack… Look at all of you. Half of you can fly. You all have armor, weapons, can breathe fire, or use magic. I’m just an Earth pony. I’m not even as strong as a yak, heck I’m not strong period! Running away is the only thing I can do. It’s what kept me, Ocellus, all of us safe.”

There was a moment of silence, broken only by the creaks and cracks of crystal giving way, only for Gallus to flatly make his point.

“No, I mean we literally can’t run away from this. We’re kinda trapped, and once that owlbear breaks through, you’re the only one that knows how to get us out of here.”

Yona marched up next to Gallus, ready to face any danger.

“Sandbar very important pony. You know about castle, owlbears, and how best to keep others safe. Even now, still trying to keep others safe, but running not option.”

Joining the two, Silverstream stood with her trident held awkwardly in her claws.

“Sandbar… my vision stopped at finding the alicorn in the tree. I have no idea what I’m doing anymore and I’m probably more scared and lost than any of you here. We can’t fly away, and I have no clue what I’m supposed to do with this. If my uncle couldn’t defeat the Storm King with it, what am I supposed to do with it?”

As the doubts and inadequacies grew in stature, Ocellus spoke loud enough only to be heard over the failing crystal wall.

“Sandbar… Whatever you decide to do, I’ll follow you as best I can, but I’m exhausted and hungry. I can’t run for much longer, and I don’t think we can outrun the owlbear again… Not all of us at least.”

That was the truth. They were trapped, unprepared, unskilled, untested, and running wasn't an option. Smolder had done all the fighting on her own, and now couldn't fly and had a broken arm. Ocellus was injured, though her need for consuming love had left her without much strength or the ability to transform even if she had healed.

The foals were another issue altogether. He could carry one, Gallus, Yona, And Silverstream could carry the others, but Ocellus would end up falling behind. Of course, that would only be if they could get past the owlbear. That, sadly, would need for them to rely on Silverstream to pull all of them through the flooded gorge, but that would be too much for even her.

After reviewing all their options, Sandbar came to the dismal realization of what was needed and where he stood. And the weight of it all just crashed down on him.

"Guys, I can't do this. I'm not a leader. I just wanted to help Ocellus. I want to help all of you, but I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

Clearly, none of them wanted to get hurt either, but Yona spoke up with some brave words.

"But Sandbar not alone. All of us are here. If running together not option, then fighting together is. Sandbar stronger than he thinks. Teacher pony showed that Earth pony can be strong like yak. Pony not need armor or weapons. We all safe because of you.”

Another crash came from the crystal wall, chunks of the makeshift barricade fracturing off and shattering as they landed. From the growing cracks, the rising water from the gorge began pouring in. More water would make their movements slower, and an escape all but impossible.

The flowing waters rushing in picked up loose branches and a battered tree trunk, now all debris caught in its increasing torrent.

Their battleground was going to be cluttered, but maybe Sandbar could work that to their advantage.

“Silverstream? Do you have any control over the water?”

Not sure where the question was coming from, Silverstream lifted up her claws, examining the water droplets dripping off from the flooding that had already reached her.

“Uh, a little, but only in my other form. What are you thinking? Wait! Do you have a plan!?”

Drifting through the every shifting emptiness of existence, Luna Ring lay motionless as she was strung along by her only companion.

“Rose? We’ve been drifting through so many dimensions… I’m sorry that I can’t help.”

Trixie Rose stayed focused on unraveling the threads to yet another dimensional wall but never lost an ounce of attention on her friend.

“You’re fine, Ring. I know this isn’t your strong suit, but don’t think I couldn’t do this without you… How are you holding up?”

Luna Ring softly smiled, still curled up into herself.

“The harmony around here is thin. Pretty sure I’ll start cracking up soon. I’m not as strong as I was when I was with my Kelly. I imagine we both feel empty no longer having our humans inside of-”

“Don’t finish that joke, Ring,” Trixie jested, though with some agitation having long grown tired of the constant sex jokes. “Fusing and fucking are two different things, and we both had our fair share of one or the other. But let's not get into the debate of who had it better."

As the final strand parted, Trixie Rose gave a sigh of relief and led them through.

"It's a question of quality or quantity, and neither of us would give up either for the other. Not that- Oh, shit."

The call to alarm was enough to make Luna Ring look up to take in the threat. What she found was reason enough to curse.

"Holy fuck… Is this the path the humans took?"

Trixie stood fast, examining the unending streaks of damaged dimensions and strings. Portions of reality separated from their origins, moments of time relapsing over themselves, and magic of all types arching and violently discharging. The destruction was incredible in its size and scope, yet Trixie Rose quickly grew only more determined.

"Ring, forget about the doors and windows. This might have knocked down enough walls for us to get through."

While they both knew this could end up saving them a lot of time, Luna knew the dangers.

"Hey, Rose? I won't be any good to you as I am right now. Could you form a bond with me?"

Trixie Rose turned, clearly taken back by the request.

"You can't be serious. Kelly had enough problems bonding with you, and you're in no better shape when you’re away from a steady supply of harmony. Not to mention that kind of power will surely get us noticed."

No longer fit to being tugged around, Luna Ring stood up, exposing the large crack exposed upon her chest, running down her left foreleg."

"I'll act as your shell, protect as much power from escaping while drawing on the bio-life force you have that I lack. And look around us. The damage done was by the same Order that has left us blind to our new Trixie and the humans. We'll be safe… That is to say, safe while traveling… You know the other Echoes are not far behind us."

It couldn't be avoided. As careful as they were, there was a trail left behind. Thin… Weak… Easily masked within the environments they traveled… but not impossible for the likes of their pursuers.

The answer was only a breath away, if only they were not alone.

"Oh, my-my-my," Discord's voice chimed in. "Let me guess. Little miss magician mistook meters for miles this time?"

A diesel engine revved up along with the caution beeps of a basket crane raising.

As obnoxious as always, Discord rose up, a cocky grin glowing under his construction hat.

"You know, Trixie?" Discord gloated as he came into view. "If I wasn't so busy patching this mess you made I'd-"

Upon seeing the crack on Luna Ring's chest, Discord realized he may have misjudged who he was speaking with. Embarrassing, but a few quick blinks to take in their composition made it clear who he was dealing with, making him change his demeanor completely to completely uninviting.

"Oh, ho-ho-ohhh no. No-no-no-no-no. I'm sorry but only one Harmony per reality, and I already have ours under control."

Relieved that this Discord wasn’t hostile, Trixie Rose lowered her guard.

"Yeah. The old bait and switch. We saw you leave her with thirty percent of her power. That's a great way to slow her down. It’s a real shame you didn’t take more."

Discord’s reaction was to be expected, laughing himself to tears.

“Ha! You saw that?! Haa! And the look on her face! It was—”

And quickly changed to being near violently serious.

“What do you mean it’s a shame I didn’t take more? She may be a vile, detestable witch, but at least she keeps the other goons under cont…”

In the moments he thought to find some leverage in the interrogation, Harmony’s final words echoed back into memory.

“But do not think my influence to be insignificant. I have shaped this world far more than you know with less… Unlike your stone prison, I will be able to free myself back into this world. I will see you sooner than you think."

As embarrassing as it was to need to humble himself, Discord pulled back on the hostilities, dropped his construction uniform, and floated innocently in front of his two new best friends.

“How much should I have left her with?”

Each world was different, no matter how much was the same, and Luna Ring knew more than Trixie Rose about how much damage Harmony could do with only a fraction of her power.

“Discord, the numbers may vary from one version to the next, but I’ve never seen more than twenty percent of Harmony’s power needed to create the Elements of Harmony that defeated you. And that’s power possessed.” She narrowed her eyes on Discord, doing her best to showcase her seriousness. “Not power used.”

That wasn’t even half of it, and Trixie Rose wanted to make it clear where she stood.

“The Harmony of your world is one of the much more dangerous variants that we’ve come across. Others like her dealing with how this world created life, much like mine, are all flesh and blood. Magically infused, not constructs like you or Luna Ring behind me. Constructs are easy to control. Their whole worlds can be altered and reshaped at a whim, so long as Harmony has enough power available. Those variants can even project the words onto others… Yours… Much like mine… They can only influence, but with enough magic over time, or in a strong enough release, say as in, a filly’s first Sonic Rainboom?... She can change them permanently.”

Growing impatient, Luna Ring butted in.

“Or, as in this case, I am assuming, change primitive minds with feeble bodies into highly intelligent and nearly indestructible creatures with amazing powers. Powers so finely ingrained into their being that the flow of her magic, her whispers, are undetectable.”

That was a bit more than Discord was expecting to hear. Much of which he wasn’t even aware of, but that didn’t answer his question.

“So… with thirty percent, what could she do?”

Luna Ring sighed, not sure how to properly explain things in terms that one lacking the wealth of information she held could understand.

“Discord… Harmony typically would gain double her strength every three hundred years or so. While growing her tree, crafting the Elements of Harmony, and adding her strength to the defeat of Cosmos with your help and others that still blame you for nearly destroying this world, her whispers alone led to the fall of both the griffon and hippogriff empires… and it was all as she planned. She knows how to survive and will no doubt have the knowledge to leach her power back while leading any she deems unnecessary to their demise. And if things don’t go her way, she can alter the memories of all who fall under her influence so she can try again.”

Disturbed, if not utterly shaken by the claims these two made, Discord gulped.

“Just how far is Harmony’s reach of influence?”

Trixie Ring rolled her eyes, surprised Discord wasn’t getting it.

“You and Harmony are two sides of the same coin, dip-shit. Equally opposite with the same values and attributes. What you can change from the exterior, she can change from the interior. Your powers are executed openly unless you want to hide them and are regained from chaos in the realm you were created. Harmony’s are executed in secret and only seen when she wants to make a show of it, but unlike you, she needs ponies and other creatures harmonizing to regain her power. So, even if different, whatever you can do, so can she.”

She stepped closer, getting in Discord’s face to drive her point home.

“Wherever the magic exists that can be harmonized by ponies and other creatures, she grows stronger. Why do you think she put so much emphasis on bringing Twilight and her friends together?”

“Because the Words demanded it,” Shining Sword interrupted from behind.

The three jumped at Sword’s voice, much to the pleasure of his unchanging expression.

“Discord, we apologize for the interruption. If you would be so kind as to return these two into our custody, we can discuss the return of your Harmony’s power and the status of your humans.”

“There!” Prince Aspen shouted. “Just ahead! A clearing!”

The three bucks raced forward, Prince Aspen clearing the path with wide arching cleaves with the halberd. A few near misses from Timberwolves gaining ground led to the site of the castle ahead of them and a steep dropoff from the edge of the cliff having already been compromised, and fresh roots now exposed.

“Halt!” Aspen shouted, digging in his hooves to slide into a turn so as to face his enemies. “Stand your ground!”

The buck to his right collapsed, gasping and shaking. Bare, raw, bruised skin covered his legs and back.

“Your majesty… my legs… I can’t… I can’t go on.”

The buck to Aspen’s right walked behind the two, taking a new position on their right flank. He scraped the muddy grass with one hoof, lowering his head at the mass of Timberwolves taking their positions as they exited the tree line.

This buck was in rough shape, his left antler broken off at the base, along with a swollen shut left eye. Three of his largest tines on his remaining antler had been snapped, one dangling free, the other two missing, but he stood bravely next to his downed comrade.

The previously bright light from Aspen’s antlers still glowed, but it was losing its luster. Barely enough to keep the three’s tight formation illuminated in the pouring rain and skyless night.

“Fear not, Buckskin. The ponies will have received word of our situation. If they hold true to their word, they shall see our light. We need only to hold out for a little longer.”

Aspen held up his halberd high to his left, his years of isolation finally showing how ill-prepared he was for combat of this intensity.

“Blackthorne, guard our right flank with all you have left. I’ll manage the rest.”

In front of them, the empty darkness of the night danced with the glowing green of Timberwolf’s eyes advancing on them. There were too many to count, and the regathered remains of the fallen, even larger eyes loomed over the treeline like slow falling stars.

They had damaged enough in their pursuit that Timberwolf Kings were bearing down on them now.

However, the odds were about to shift with Ember landing hard in the dirt next to them.

"Prince Aspen! What are you doing?!"

Obviously, the question was why he was just standing there, and with how dark it was. He gathered the oversight instantly.

"One of my bucks is down! We could use some assistance!"

The shouting and new arrival were enough to instigate the Timberwolves, who readily advanced.

From higher on the northern front of the castle, flashed a brief, yellow flame.

BOOM!

The first line of Timberwolves shattered from an unseen attack, which even caused Ember to jump.

"Wow, Chris's weapon is loud. He's giving us cover. Now pick up your wounded! I’ve got the Timberwolves downwind!"

Another line of Timberwolves advanced, only their eyes giving them away, and Aspen drew a revitalized surge of energy into his antlers. A yellow aura pooled together before launching out into the fray.

"Blackthorne! Carry Buckskin! Quickly!"

Wasting no time, Ember jumped ahead of the deer, letting the bold winds carry her. She stopped on the ground and blew a torrent of flames to cover their retreat.

Beyond the gorge, sentries began calling out their alarms as lightning lit up the battlefield.

"Movement along the caverns!"

"Magic-based attacks in the southern treeline."

"We're under attack!"

"I think I saw fire!"

"What is that!"

"That was amazing!" Starlight praised. "You got a bunch of them."

Camped out in the bed of the truck under a half dome-shield, Chris sat with his rifle ready to fire. With Ember gone, he was relying on Rainbow and Starlight for support, but was limited on time.

"That one looked to go a little high and to the right. Dash, what kind of wind change am I dealing with? There’s at least three King's out there, and I don't want to fuck this up."

Frustrated, and now with a ringing in her ear, Rainbow did her best to give him the information he needed.

"Gah, dammit! That thing is fucking loud. And I don't know. I can't sense the weather patterns properly out here. But if you shot high and to the right, then there's probably an updraft running up the wall of the gorge."

Chris looked through his scope again, thanks to a mix of fire and Aspen’s magic, he could see the rain and flames move differently at the cliff’s edge.

"Right. Got it. Cover yer ears."

BOOM!

As another shot rang out, an update was shouted down from one of the sentries.

"Prince Aspen is on the far south side of the gorge! Princess Ember has joined him with what appears to be at least one injured buck! Chris has deployed his weapon and is engaging a hoard of Timberwolves and Kings! No sign of the missing children!"

This was bad, and Cerb had to choose between getting the new information or rushing out to deal with the threats outside.

"Shit!... Alright, Becky, you stay here and get the information from Celestia. Kelly, you're staying too, but I need to borrow Big Mac. Applejack, you stay with Kelly til-"

"What the fuck, Jay?!" Kelly loudly whined.

Cerb had to fight with himself for a moment to hold back the urge to scream his response.

"I might need to ride Mac like Benny did, and AJ isn't ready yet. Plus, you still have the butcher knife."

A little calmer now, Cerb went back to business, already making his way towards the exit with Fluttershy close to his side.

"Sniff, stay with Twilight. Twilight, back us up as soon as you can. Benny, Lumberman, grab yer shit. Luna, yaks, griffons, Twilight Guard, yer with us. Everyone, keep at your stations and stand by in case we need more support."

Benny didn't have much to grab but knew of two others who would need to stay back.

"Tavi, Vinyl, I know you wanna go, but hold off for now. We're just gonna be outside. In and out and back before you know it… and someone needs to babysit Sniff."

Sniff knew he wasn't fit for going out to the fight, and instead flipped Benny off while smiling.

Octavia and Vinyl at least were understanding, with Vinyl acting as the optimistic mouthpiece for the couple.

"Yeah, yeah. Go do your hero thing, hot stuff. We’ll hold the fort down."

Not exactly done, Benny reached for his hip holster, pulling out his pistol, and placed it in Becky's hands.

"Just like at the range, Becks. If anything sneaks in while we're out there, aim and squeeze."

As Benny gave some quick firearms advice, Lumberman was dealing with his mare.

"Don't worry about me, Apples. Once we get you your new kicks, we can kick some dogwood ass together."

Truth be told, Applejack was just as afraid of fighting again as she was for Lumberman.

"You best be coming back in one piece, ya hear."

To calm both their nerves, Lumberman leaned down and kissed Applejack. Slow but short, yet leaving more for them both to look forward to.

"Ain't no dogwood gonna take me down tonight."

Near the door, Cerb shouted for their straggler.

"Lumberman, let's go! You got the keys!"

The winds continued to shift in both intensity as well as direction, but Ember was able to keep the oncoming waves in check with Aspen at her side.

BOOM!

Another well-placed shot from Chris split a King's head open, rendering its timber to fall upon the underlings that packed together.

"This is madness!" Aspen shouted, pulling his blade back from another downed Timberwolf. "I've never seen them run so unchecked before!"

He gave another wide sweep with the halberd, breaking two more down to a heap of sticks.

"It's as if the forest has abandoned the balance to keep them in check!"

A light crept up behind them, along with the heavy rumbles of Lumberman's truck. It sped close and turned with the brakes locked up, making it spin with the tailgate facing them, then everyone poured out and the rest ran up to join the fight.

Cerb was the first out the passenger side and opened the back door for Helix.

"We need light! Helix, do your thing!"

Helix jumped out and went right into casting a spell. Two spheres of white lit up over his head, before splitting into four and darted up towards the heavens. Reaching their optimal height, they chimed and burst forth with blazing lights that revealed the battlegrounds.

Rutherford lowered his head and sized up the competition.

"Ha! Puny sticks with teeth no match for us!"

Grateful for the backup, but in no mood for exchanging bold words, Ember pointed to the injured bucks with her staff.

"Get the bucks to the castle! We'll take on the rest!"

Luna galloped behind, but made a sharp turn to their right, away from the gorge.

“They did not learn their lesson from the last time! I’ll cover the right flank! Don’t let them overtake you with the injured!”

They weren't expecting the wounded to be this bad, so Cerb made a snap decision.

"Benny, get the wounded out then come back for us. Bring the heavy hitters to wipe 'em out!” He tapped Benny’s shotgun before moving up to the fight. “Conserve yer ammo!"

That was right. Ammo would demolish any of the Timberwolves, but they were running low and didn’t have the means to reproduce more. Thankfully, Lumberman had the perfect complement to the wooden constructs to match Cerb’s ax, though it did little to bolster his courage.

"God, fuck," he snarled. “I don’t know why I agreed to this! The first night we got here we talked about this BULL SHIT! I don’t like the kinda dogs they got out here!”

In his hands, he steadied his chainsaw and pulled the cord. It started on the first pull and hummed with anticipation for sinking its teeth into anything wood.

At the same time, where others like Cerb, Big Mac, and Helix rushed into action, Lumberman intentionally lagged behind.

Billowing walls of fire from Ember forced the Timberwolves to funnel into concentrated kill zones. Fluttershy tossed bodies left and right while Cerb’s ax cut through each foe as effortlessly as each blast Helix unleashed. Big Mac smashed through one Timberwolf after another next to Onyx, injuring some with his spear before putting his armored hooves to work. Just the same, Rutherford and his guards took turns charging in, thrusting their horns to lift one Timberwolf into the flames, overhead to be smashed by those behind them as they landed, if not breaking them apart on impact.

The rest of the guards masterfully worked their enemies down by halberd or sword, changing places with Aspen and Ember, dancing a war dance of covering each other’s blindsides from the shifting walls of fire and channels of Timberwolves driving them back.

Then, the fight made it to him, wind and rain drowning out the flames that once held the constructs back.

Even with the elements crashing down around them, when he held down the throttle of the compact motor, the heat of the exhaust and the rain it collected, spinning of the blades stood out against the harsh weather.

VRRRRRRRM!

He lifted the guide bar, feeling little resistance as the circulating chain ripped up the neck of his first target, snuffing the glowing green of its eyes.

Another came to his right, only to be caught in an arching downward strike the creature failed to avoid, ripping through its torso. A helping spear from Swifty caught the next one in the throat, allowing Lumberman the time to drive the nose of spinning blades down its head.

Three kills before he had the time to blink, and four more charged towards him, each quickly dropped by some well placed bolts.

Lumberman turned to see Gilda reloading another bolt at a safe distance, then running up to take the lead but was more preoccupied with lecturing her mentor.

“Hurry up, Gramps! The fight’s not gonna-”

SHINK!

Flying past Guilda at speeds unexpected from her elder, Gruff swooped in front, taking off the head of a Timberwolf she had mistakenly thought defeated.

“Never take yer eye off a target unless you know it’s down!”

He flexed his wrist, retracting the blade, then groaned and held his hip.

“Gah! I'm getting too old for this. Still… Three outta four ain’t bad for yer first time.”

Gilda nearly dropped her crossbow at what she heard.

“Was that a… compliment?”

Not getting into the action behind them, Benny helped Buckskin into the bed of the truck, then turned his attention to the other mangled deer.”

"Get in and hold him down. This ride gets bumpy as fuck.”

The last thing Benny heard before starting the truck was Cerb’s voice calling out to Helix, then an explosion, and Cerb celebrating.

"Fuck yeah! Cut 'em down!"

Having been pulled from the truck, as per Celestia's wishes, Chris was trying to process what Celestia was explaining.

However, Trixie was complicating things with her own interjections.

“Why would the Tree of Harmony want to look like Twilight? Do you have any idea how much confusion that caused me? And why does our Harmony get a pony form? None of the others did until there was only one survivor?”

Even Chris was grasping at straws trying to figure everything out.

“Why would the tree both want us here but also want to keep us apart? And why only tell you to stay away from us?”

No time for answers, Benny had just arrived with great urgency.

“Make a hole! Move-Move-Move! Wounded inbound! Becky! Redheart! Clear a space!”

The first thought everyone had was that Cerb or Lumberman had been injured, but when the Lunar Guard ponies were seen with two bucks, both of them looking as if they were run through the wringer with rocks, all new fears were drawn out.

Given the urgency of these matters, Benny had no time for playing catch up as he joined the group.

“Becky, patch these two up. I don’t see any blood but the Timberwolves really fucked ‘em up. Tia, Luna, Starlight, we got too many Timberwolves and Kings out there and we didn’t find the kids yet. We need to put them down before they figure out we’re here, and we sure as fuck can’t continue searching with them hunting us down.”

So much was happening, and all of it too fast for Chris’s expertise to make any sense of it all. None of the pieces were fitting together: The kids, Harmony somehow was a living being controlling Celestia, other versions of this scenario already happened in the past? On top of that, in one day another thousand-year-old enemy, as well as Queen Chrysalis, may have been involved with The Pony of Shadows?

It was all too complicated for how the show’s format worked. Too dangerous for the cast. Too… real.

“Ben, we got a lot more trouble on our hands. I can’t even begin to make sense of it. Timberwolves first, find the kids, and—”

Chris took a pause to find the words to explain the newest details but ended up moving towards the door. All of his theories about what was happening and how this world worked were crumbling into a burning dumpster fire. Everyone could tell how out of his league he was, but Celestia knew they couldn’t address the big issue until the Timberwolves were removed.

“We’ll remove the Timberwolves first. We’ll need as many of us together for what comes next.”

So many were rushing towards the exit, Buckskin reached out and took hold of the first pony he could. Given the proximity, his lucky hooves managed to stop Midnight from joining the rest.

“We followed the trail out of the forest as best we could. The scent was faint in the storm, but when I collapsed, I caught it again. Burnt fur. No mistaking it. But the edge of the cliff, it was torn away. Fresh roots exposed… The children you seek must have gone over like we nearly did.”

Becky now had to take over, but wanted to keep him talking.

“Holy fuck this is so much worse than Zecora. Midnight, what the fuck is an owlbear.”

Midnight momentarily held off from joining the rest, knowing that protecting Becky was just as high of an order for him to follow.

“It is a large and fiercely territorial hunter. With the head of an owl and body of a bear, it’s far more dangerous than any Timberwolf. They made survival for my kind very difficult before Luna rescued us.”

Buckskin hissed and tensed up from Becky cleaning his wounds, but the tracks still fresh in his memory.

“This one is big. It’s paws are massive. Warn your friends. The ones immune to magic. The large creatures like you who we met in the clearing. One of them is tall and stout, but this beast could-Ah!” He groaned miserably in pain from Becky cleaning off a particularly raw section of skin, but recovered quickly. “It could easily scale his height three times over. Many times larger than the yaks that joined him.”

Everything about that description sounded terrifying to Becky, but nothing more than the reminder that her friends were only magic proof, making her stop her duties.

“Oh, shit. Midnight, please, you gotta do something. You have to warn them out there. Cerb is barely stronger than a yak at his best, he can’t be expected to fight that thing. And… oh fuck… Those kids. Aster!”

Midnight darted off, with Aster taking his place, quickly getting the rundown of the creature still unaccounted for that was hunting the missing children.

Makeshift torches lined the walls. Scrap pieces of forest, sticks and dried vines crudely put together scarcely lit what little room they had been trapped in with Smolder’s help. Their warm amber lights reflecting off of the flooding waters gave a haunting glow to their surroundings while the Owlbear’s grunts and screeches grew louder with every larger chunk of crystal wall knocked down.

Piece by piece, cracking and snapping off, splashing into the rising depths, the wall opened enough for the owlbear to slip inside. Every bit of light from the torches caught in its avian eyes, reflecting back a much brighter glowing yellow, sighted on Smolder standing alone behind the dangling vines.

It crossed the threshold, the wall lighting up around him, pulling off an aura that made the beast hiss and scurry away, flopping to the ground, as if in pain. More pain than before in fact.

The aura drifted back to the tree, and the owlbear quickly rose to its feet, ready to kill.

Unlike the last two times she faced him down, her left arm was slung in a makeshift cast. Even worse, standing in the knee high water, her tattered wing left her mobility drastically limited. Her spirits, however, we're burning as bright as the fire she wielded.

"One last time, big and ugly. We can do this the hard way or you can face whatever is making all that noise out there… No shame in running either."

The noise outside was a mix of explosions, howling Timberwolves, and shouting that was too far away to make out over the roar winds and rain. Inside, it was secluded, and the owlbear shrieked with ravenous intent as it charged forward, none of the water slowing it down.

Counter to the owlbear, Smolder grinned.

"Thought so."

The grin was momentary, lasting only long enough for the owlbear to get close enough before Smolder launched her attack. Another breath of fire, aimed at the charging beast's lower front right.

The beast felt the flames dance upon its fur, forcing it to steer away from the fire, and Sandbar shouted out the order for his plan.

"Yona, Now!"

A vine snapped from the waters, held tight in Yona's teeth. The vines were a trap that caught the owlbear's front right paw, jerking him forward, landing on his chest to be drug through the water before regaining its stability and digging in to stop sliding. For a beast this size, Sandbar figured Yona could only do so much, but he had others to rely on.

“Silverstream, go!”

Jumping out of her hiding rock, Silverstream dove into the water. Under the surface, she seamlessly raced under the struggling beast, swimming circles around it’s back left foot before the owlbear knew what was happening. One last loop before springing out and flashing back to her hippogriff form, she landed behind a crystal shard protruding from the ground.

“I got it! Tie him up!”

Silverstream and Sandbar ran a loop around the crystal with the vine while Gallus helped Yona with hers.

Sandbar could see his plan was working, now he needed Smolder to finish the job.

“Smolder!” He yelled as best he could with the vine clamped firmly in his teeth. “Do it!”

Smolder inhaled deeply and blew her best flames out in a violent stream.

The flames engulfed the owlbear. Steam and smoke billowed off the beast, screeching and howling in pain as the musky fur succumbed to the unrelenting heat. The four held tight, straining themselves against the desperate creature roasting alive.

All were equally matched against each other, however, the weakest point was the vines finally snapping under the strain of resistance and compromised under fire.

SNAP!

Gallus and Yona fell on their backs, leaving Silverstream and Sandbar to take on too much slack, pulling the flaming owlbear towards them and out of the flames.

From high on the ceiling of their confines, Ocellus shouted down.

"It's out of the flames! Get away!”

Smolder unleashed another wall of flames to ward the beast off, but its violent thrashing through the waters muted the fires and soaked its unscorched side. Its hunger and rage overriding any desire other than to feast upon its closest prey.

Yona was going to have none of that.

“Get away from them!”

Charging through the beast’s wake and diving into conflict, Yona rammed her helmet into the beast’s backside, making him spin and tumble clear of her friends.

The owlbear quickly recovered, slashing its claws at Yona and snapping its beak closer and closer with every attack.

“My turn!” Gallus shouted, swooping in overhead, slashing his metal talon at the beast’s head, releasing a puff of fur and chard feathers from its scalp.

Still airborne, Gallus continued his assault, dodging each swipe of the long black claws in a stalemate of who could get closer. A dart to the right and Gallus returned with a jab of his blade. A small retreat to the rear and the owlbear swung down with his paws to knock the griffon out of the air.

Back and forth the two traded near misses with each other, neither noticing the water retreating to only ankle deep levels and an aqua-colored light slowly growing brighter. With the water level lower and more visible light, the owlbear gained speed and agility that left Gallus on the defense, flying higher out of reach, occupying the creature for the next assault.

“Surf’s up!” Shouted Sandbar, riding in on one of the floating logs like a surfboard on a rising wave that came from nowhere.

Gallus shot up, away from the wave, but the owlbear was grounded, blinded enough by the light that he was unable to avoid Sandbar spinning the log with all the torrential force of an angry ocean behind it.

CRACK!

The log smashed against the owlbear’s skull, slamming it onto the stoney floor below, lost under the wave.

With a moment of calm, the waters sloshed against the high rising walls before slowly settling with the owlbear rising in a daze.

Smolder was stupefied by the beast’s resistance.

"How is he still moving?"

In truth, the beast was only momentarily stunned, now fixing his eyes on Sandbar, separated from the group, knowing he was in trouble.

"Uh, guys? A little help? Silverstream?"

The owlbear screeched loud and took off, splashing in a charge at Sandbar trying to paddle away, only to be quickly swallowed up in another swell of rising water. His prey abruptly carried away in another torrent, stealing away the beast’s target.

Wading in the shallows with her trident, Silverstream was struggling.

"Gallus! Smolder! Yona! What are we doing?! This thing didn't come with any instructions. I can't do much more than this."

Smolder dashed from one side to the other trying to get lined up for another opening.

"I can't torch him. There's too much water."

Gallus fluttered lower to the water, but darted away as the owlbear lurched up, its black claws nearly catching his wing.

"He's too fast for me. I never was trained to fight with these. Only how to hit stationary and slow moving targets. I'm making this up as I go!"

Yona helped pull Sandbar to the shallow end with little help to offer.

"Yona not old enough to fight big scary creatures. Only smash plants and snow!"

Again it fell upon Sandbar to come up with a plan. Much like Gallus, he was making it up as he went, but every failed attack taught him something new.

"Silverstream, keep as much water around the owlbear to slow him down and as clear an area for the rest of us to maneuver around in. Gallus, you go high and circle around if you can. Yona, go low."

Knowing how outclassed they were, Sandbar turned his eyes up to the ceiling.

Latched to the rocks, hidden in the darkness, he found Ocellus again with the foals clinging to her.

"Ocellus, first chance you get. Make for the exit and take the foals and Smolder with you. Hide in the highest tower of the castle until daylight. If we don't make it out and find you, take them back to Ponyville."

"What?!" Ocellus shrieked in fear and concern. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

Before any other defiant voices could be raised, Sandbar snapped with his retort.

"The rest of us can still run, swim, or fly away if we have to. Smolder's hurt and keeping the foals safe is something we can't do with an owlbear chasing us. Please, trust me on this. I think what's going on outside is Princess Twilight and the humans. Find them. We can hold the owlbear off until then… I think."

As Sandbar was trying to coax Ocellus to flee,Silverstream was using all her strength to hold the water in place as instructed. The rain hadn't stopped, which was increasing the volume she had to control, as seen by the flooding mucky water rushing in from their only exit.

"Make it quick! I can't do this forever! I can probably carry three of you on the log once they escape."

Gallus flew in, his blades drawn for a slower target to attack while Yona ran in to wait for an opening.

Smolder however, didn't move, mad enough to curse, if she knew the words to use.

"What happened to sticking together?! I'm not running from this fight!"

There was no little time to debate this, prompting Sandbar to stop at Smolder's side long enough to make his final request.

"Smolder, Ocellus can't change or fly. The Everfree Forest is too dangerous for her to take the foals back alone. We found the treasures and got the power to fight this thing, but working together doesn't always mean side by side. Even with a broken arm and tattered wing, you're the only one that can keep them safe."

Smolder grit her teeth, ready to punch Sandbar for making her choose, but of all things, her mind went back to Spike.

Why Spike? It could have been that he already had his fight in this terrible forest, but it wasn't his only battle. Whatever the reason, she remembered the show of him and Twilight in a near similar situation.

Twilight had been given her own mission, a test to defeat King Sombra with the Crystal Heart. However, when she was trapped and lives were on the line, she was forced to stay back and let Spike go off on his own to save the Crystal Empire. The lesson learned was that trusting others and doing what was needed to protect the vulnerable was more important than passing a test, or in this case, a Dragon Quest.

"Fine!" She barked, feeling disgusted to utter the word. "But you better keep my friends safe! You hear me?!"

The Dragon Quest was over. Ocellus and the foals were her Crystal Heart, and she would keep them safe just as Spike had done against insurmountable odds.

"Ocellus! Get down here! We're leaving!"

The foals, of course, heard everything and in their frightened state began crying and screaming not to be separated.

It was heartbreaking white noise for Ocellus to listen to as she did her best to creep along the ceiling towards the wall. Just the same, Sandbar knew the foals well enough that their cries wore at his determination, now relying on these strange friends he didn't even know until hours ago.

Standing in front of the giant beast again, he froze at how to help. Even with the water wrapped around it, it was only waist deep to the beast. It swirled around him, Silverstream's faintest grasp of the trident’s magic walling him off as best it could. Gallus flew around keeping it occupied, but landing no more blows, much like Yona, unable to advance through the wall of water without getting struck down herself.

"Hey, ugly!" Sandbar shouted, getting ready to help the only way he could. "Fetch!"

Picking up any stick or stone he could, he began pelting the owlbear as hard as he could with the debris left behind. Sadly, this was like fighting an armored guard with cotton balls and feathers. His best efforts, nothing more than an annoyance until one struck the beast's eye, truly enraging him.

Ocellus finally made it to the ground, her legs weak and wobbly from holding the foals on the ceiling.

"Smolder! Come on! Let's go!"

The two ran as fast as they could to the exit where Smolder found another problem. They were still trapped.

"Oh, come on!" She growled. "The water brought all these sticks in our way! Help me pull them out!"

It wasn't just sticks. Massive tree trunks and logs had also been collected and blocked their path. Ocellus could see a few small ones that Smolder and the foals could remove on their own, but the logs would take some time to move. Sadly, as exhausted as she was, she would be no use to them in her current state.

Looking at the four foals and Smolder working together to remove the debris, she had only one trick left up her sleeve. It was a long shot, but she couldn't risk going to Ponyville without Sandbar, and pulled Button away from a log too big for him to move with any of their help.

“Button! I need you to look at Smolder.”

Smolder pulled as hard as she could on a branch connected to one of the logs with her good arm, snapping it off and falling on her ass, bringing more uncertainty to the young stallion.

“Smolder is doing everything she can to help you. She’s your big sister, right?”

Undeterred, Smolder forced herself up and pushed the other foals back, trying her best to burn away the now waterlogged debris. There wasn’t a better visual she could hope for at this moment.

“I need you to think about all the things you love about your big sis. She’s big and strong. She cares about you. Even if you’re not a dragon, she is fighting for you. She doesn’t care that her arm is broken. I need you to be as brave as you can and share all the love you can for her, right now!”

Smolder finished her last breath of fire, digging her only working claws into the steaming trunk trying to rip away any portion she could.

“Just a little more and I think we can squeeze through!”

Button watched his big sis struggle. Wincing in pain, trying to hide how scared and angry she was, solely focused on trying to get him and the others to safety.

It was moving, stirring up all the emotions of abandonment he usually kept bottled up and blocked out with video games. He was so close to having a family again with Chris in the picture, and Smolder was just as important to him now.

He was going to show his big sis how much he cared and help her complete her Dragon Quest and overcome whatever else got in their way.

“Put me down! I’m gonna help my big sis!”

Ocellus let the young stallion go, watching him race up to the logs and force his way between two of them. His heart was swelling, digging his hooves into one log above him and the other two on the log, and gathering all his strength he pushed with all his might.

“I got your back, sis!” He grunted, feeling the trunk begin to give. “I”m gonna be the best little brother you ever had!”

Snap.

It gave a little more.

“You’re gonna meet our mom!”

Snap.

“And my big brother!”

Crack!

“And our new dad!”

CRACK!

“We’re gonna be a family again!”

SNAP!

The trunk cracked in half, giving way under his hooves and spilling an even larger flow of water flooding in, carrying him away, quickly getting picked up in Smolder’s good arm.

“Gottcha, little bro! Good job.”

Suddenly, Button felt as if he was getting tired. His bravado and passion leaving him with the urge to relax and sleep filling in. But he was with Smolder, and felt safe letting her take over again.

“Don’t worry,” Button wearily replied. “You’ll like our new family… Chris is gonna be a great dad.”

This was no time to relax and Smolder wasn’t going to be able to keep digging them out while holding onto any of the foals.

“Ocellus! Hold onto Button for… What are you doing?!”

A trail of aura was instantly spotted as she turned to trade off Button to Ocellus, but her new changeling friend was already preoccupied.

Her mouth opened wide, inhaling the aura off of the foal, devouring his love, only to snap her jaws shut before issuing a new change of plans.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not going back without Sandbar. You all have your friends and family, I ran away to find something better. Now I’m going to fight for it, even if it means giving it all up!”

The steadily rising waters may have come with a better chance of escaping, but for Silverstream, it became too much to control.

“Yona! Sandbar! Get back! I can’t hold it any longer!”

The swirling waters entrapping the owlbear ceased their torrents and gave into gravity, crashing back to the floor and flooding the enclosure neck deep for Yona and Sandbar. For the owlbear, still on his hind legs, he towered over them.

However, this time, after a flickering blue and white light began shining, a more worthy opponent stood before him. A sight that frightened Sandbar more than the others.

"OCELLUS?!"

Standing only a foot shorter than the owlbear, a gargantuan beetle insectoid now occupied the arena. Propped up on her two rear legs, four others felt around for balance under a pair of serrated pinchers and long sectioned antenna whipping back and forth. Her form was covered in polished black plates of armor and two large carapace on her back, glossed in a mesmerizing mixture of turquoise and a rich cream colored violet.

Ocellus was as deadly as her appearance was beautiful, and she spoke equally with passion and regret.

"I didn't want to feed on ponies anymore, but I'm a changeling. This is what we do. It's how we survive. We're liars and deceivers, but you welcomed me into your home. You shared your food and accepted me even knowing what I was… but I’ll never belong with any of you. Not when this is the only other form I know. The first one we're taught for when we can no longer hide what we are."

She had made her peace. A day with Sandbar and her new friends was worth giving up everything else, and as the flickering lights around her monstrous form struggled to hold together, she was ready to say goodbye.

"I can change what I look like… but I can't change what I am… Thank you for trying to help me be something else."

The standoff had lasted long enough and the owlbear, both angry and unimpressed, let out a fierce screech, matched by an equally grotesque gutty howl from Ocellus.

Ready for battle, they charged one another, grappling around each other's massive frames, clawing and biting and an uncertain duel to the death.

At the exit, Yona met up with the foals and Smolder, still trying to dig her way out with Button holding on around her back, looking as if he had just caught himself nodding off. Everything had gone sideways again, leaving her shaken to the core.

"Why Ocellus so big and scary now?"

The exit was slowly being lost under the rising water, and Smolder grunted as she tried to pry loose another branch.

"Changelings feed off of other creature's love for food and grow stronger and change into whatever they want! You can't trust 'em!"

In the fight, the owlbear lurched in, mashing its beak around Ocellus's arm, pulling the serrated protibia away from the burned section of its back.

Ocellus howled in pain, then countered by clamping around the beast's neck, locking him in place so her mandibles chewed at his throat.

With the two mammoth fighters still wrestling violently, Silverstream had to jump out of the way and seeing no way to tribute rushed underwater, popping up to drag Sandbar away.

The owlbear managed to free himself from Oculus's pinchers but found him slammed against a wall. Ocellus was fighting on instinct and rushed at him, only to catch his claws against her jaw, lending him the new advantage.

"We can’t help her now," Silverstream pleaded with Sandbar struggling against her. "She'll be fine!"

After all his hard work, Sandbar was getting separated from Ocellus, and that was not something he was going to stand for.

"You don't know that! She needs my help!"

Beyond the crystal barrier, the explosions and shouting grew louder, clearer, which meant closer, but not even Silverstream could harness enough control over the flooding waters to move the growing jam pile. It took all her remaining focus to part the waters enough to give them room to stand and pry it apart. Not an easy feat while in her seapony form.

Gallus had taken the opportunity to rest his wings, but was still coming up short after his umpteenth swing of his metal talons.

"Yona! The log is too thick for me to cut through! Smash it!"

If ever there was a favor to ask of a yak, Gallus called it, and Yona darted back to get a running start.

"Yona smash log good!"

CRACK!

Yona bashed her head into the log, splitting it partially, but left more of a dent than anything else. Despite it being a solid hit, as she picked herself up she could see the problem beyond the state in her vision.

"No good! Smash wood best when on ground and separated by size. Too many and sticks only bend. Strong together. Logs move too much! Bad for smashing!"

A loud thud turned all their attention to the fight. The owlbear was driving Ocellus against the wall, her pinchers snapping at his face. When her pinchers got to close, he pulled back, ripping away shavings from her armor.

"Gah!" She yelped in pain, struggling to keep her transformation up. "Why are you still here! Go!"

She lashed out with claw-like limbs, ripping two of them across his burnt chest, taking tufts of fur and chard skin with them.

Sadly, this only seemed to further enrage the beast. The owlbear countered, with another strong paw to her face, hurling her into the wall. The hard stone cracked from the force of the throw as Ocellus slide down and back to her changeling form, the lights of her transformation flickering out of control.

She dropped into the water like a stone, out of sight, leaving the others awe struck in terror as the Owlbear roared in victory.

All were silent but Silverstream. She was terrified, but her mission had brought her this far. And the words from the alicorn made her regret their choice to split up.

"This isn't right. We were supposed to do this together."

That should have been the goal, but Smolder had a change of heart given what happened to her little adoptive bro. Luckly, she held her anger back enough to keep her voice down.

"She attacked Button, and you still think we should help her?"

On her back, Button looked to be fine. Slightly confused, but otherwise unphased, having recovered much like Sandbar had earlier.

“I’m fine. What happened to Ocellus?!”

Button's outburst gained them the owlbear’s attention again. It turned and it’s glare turned wrathful, roaring with more power than ever, it bore down upon them.

They stood ready, unsure of what to do, but another flash of light burst forth from waters behind the owlbear.

Ocellus returned to her monstrous form, leaping out onto the creature's back. She latched on tight with her top and bottom legs.

The owlbear roared and tumbled down, rolling in the water with the giant beetle on its back.

Ocellus delivered hammer blows to the beast’s side with the only working arm of her midsection. The strain to hold her form was visibly distressing as the lights of her transformation grew violent, revealing how intently her true form underneath was suffering.

Watching her struggle, Sandbar realized what she had done, turning his regret into words.

"She did what she had to so she could transform! There’s not much she can do when she’s hungry!”

At the exit, another branch snapped. A larger one, letting in more water for a moment. Then, of all things, a dark pony muzzle poked through the gushing waters. It shifted slightly, trying to pushing in further, then finally gasped for air.

“Guh! Hello! Anypony in here?!”

That voice. Gallus could never forget it.

“Evening Aster! Is that you!?”

Every creature rushed over, expecting a rescue, but the muzzle pulled away instead, quickly replaced with a new muzzle and a stallion's voice.

“Gallus! That was Aster! She’s listening while I speak! We’re going to get you out of there! Are the other children with you?!”

On the opposite side of the crystal barrier, Aster held her ear to the newly raised wall. Every sound was muffled. The swirling whirlpool feeding into the cave added a distracting amount of noise, and the tiny war raging beyond the gorge fought to drown out any other sound more than the thunderstorm. However, her keen hearing could still pick up Gallus answering Midnight’s question.

“We’re all trapped in here with an owlbear! Some of us are hurt! We can't stop it!”

Midnight rose from the water, shook his head clear, and looked to Aster for what he missed. Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Soarin stood by to lend their experience in rescue ops since flight ops were grounded, but were just as out of the loop.

Still listening in, Aster's left ear was still pressed to the wall, taking in the muffled sounds with a new sense of terror.

"Gallus said they're all in there, but so is the owlbear. It's... injured, but so is something else. T... Talons, claws... It's fighting something!"

They were beyond late to the rescue. There wasn't even a point in warning them of the changeling they heard about. Being stuck in a cave that was rapidly flooding with an owlbear was issue enough. Not just issues for them, Aster knew that alone they couldn't offer much help as readily as the children needed it. Even worse, with rain still hammering down, their own rescue attempts would be futile.

"Keep trying to dig them out! I'll get help!"

Midnight went straight to work, plunging his spear down into the debris, blindly trying to cut away as many sticks as possible. Just as febbly, the Wonderbolts did their best to remove as much debris as they could.

They all had their work cut out of them.

Back in the cave, Ocellus was losing her fight, badly. The beautiful shell covering her back had taken heavy abuse, now cracked and as rough and walls it was beaten against. Her once polished carapace was scratched and nicked. Damages had reached deep enough they were marring her body underneath, making it even more painful to hold her form while so low on love.

The owlbear had taken his fair share of damage as well. Its fur and feathers were matted or missing if not charred. Exposed skin had been torn and burnt, left darkened, red, miscolored. Trickles of blood could even be seen bleeding into what little fur remained.

It had been hit harder than Ocellus could understand. Another creature being able to take so much abuse and still show so little sign of pain?

And yet, there it was. Standing there, posturing, thinking… Waiting for another opening to attack. It almost looked like it was enjoying itself for a moment, anticipating that carnage it could wreak.

Ocelus took a step back, and the owlbear lunged forward. It was only a second of poorly placed balance, giving little leverage to her swipe of serrated limb, catching the owlbear on the shoulder. The jagged exoskeleton hit, but the owlbear found his opening, snapping its beak down. The lower jaw on her chest, the upper behind her neck, they wrenched down to meet each other as the transformation failed her.

In a flash of light, Ocelus was a changeling again, held tight in the maw of a predator, taken down under the water, and Sandbar saw it all.

“OCELLUS!”

The owlbear splashed up, Ocellus wrapped up in a bear hug and the beast biting down with incredible force until-

CRUNCH!

Weakened by starvation and punishing her body through combat, her hardened exterior split, letting the beast’s beak stab through.

Her screams filled the chamber while she was shaken in his maw. She was helpless, her already damaged shell on fire with pain as his claws continued to dig at her, trying to crack her open even further.

That was it. She had nothing left but what little air she could cry out with and the hopes her sacrifice would buy the others the precious time they needed.

Suffering the consequences of her choice, a wave of water splashed down over her and her capture. For a moment, she hoped the water would drown her. End the pain. Take her away from all of this and possibly the beast along with her.

She closed her eyes. No air to breathe. No strength to fight. Even the water had left her exposed to suffer the agony of breathing long enough to endure more.

“LET HER GO!”

Sandbar’s voice screamed frighteningly close before the owlbear screeched, and she was released, caught in the embrace of cold, smooth scales, and a perky voice.

“Got ya!”

She opened her eyes, wrapped up in Silverstream’s tail, four fillies throwing themselves over her for cover, and a sight she had fought to avoid seeing. Sandbar had ridden another wave to mount the owlbear and took the wretched creature's burnt ear between his teeth, pulling back on all fours.

Silverstream gripped her fins around her trident and pointed it towards the beast, parting the waters. She was serious this time, clearing the path for Yona and Smolder to charge in.

“I never thought the surface world would be this violent and scary, but now I know why I was told never to come here.”

She flexed her grip around the trident, throwing a wave at the owlbear from his side, leaving enough clearing for Yona to charge in, barreling full speed into the beast’s leg without stopping.

CRACK!

Aided by a kick off from Sandbar, the owlbear fell off balance into a torrent of flames, howling and rolling for the waters Silverstream would bend and pull away from its reach.

“But they never told me about all the brave and amazing creatures like you.”

Smolder ended her flames, needing to catch her breath, coughing out smoke. In the opening, Sandbar jumped in with a rock in his hooves.

He slammed it down with all his might, narrowly missing the beast, who swung back with his claws.

“Duck!” Gallus shouted, diving in from above with his talons stretched out.

Claws meet hardened steel, and with a clang, Gallus struck the beast’s paw.

The owlbear roared, knocked off balance again with Gallus tumbling into the mud. Madly enraged, it swung out the griffon, swiftly carried off in a rogue wave, but leaving four bloody detached claws behind.

Another blanket of flames landed upon the beast from behind, drawing its attention away from Gallus, pulled from the water by Sandbar paddling on his log again.

Ocelus gasped, pain and shock wrestling with the fear for her friends as Silverstream relaxed her hold.

“You don’t have to be something different. We’re all different, and we’re all leaving here together.”

Leaving Ocellus in the care of the four foals, Silverstream rolled back into the waters, swept up to join the fight in her own turf. They huddled and hugged around her, Button protectively holding his hooves at the fractured shell at the back of Ocellus’s neck.

Crippled and defeated, she was ashamed, suffering with the guilt of what she had done.

“Button… I’m sorry,” she weeped, barely able to get the words out due to the pain.

Bravely inspired, Button never took his eyes off of Smolder, spitting fire where she could and taking swipes of her own at the owlbear.

“It didn’t hurt, so I won’t tell anypony if you won’t… You were awesome out there, by the way.”

Surrounded by furious fighters and walls of water that blocked his every advance and retreat, the owlbear hobbled and jumped in vain. The tides had turned, the prey had surrounded him, picking him apart at every turn.

"Going low!" Sandbar announced, riding a wave in to slap the owlbear in the beak with log.

The owlbear jumped back on its hind legs, a creak under its knee slipping out, weakened where Yona had struck.

"Coming up high!" Gallus called out, swooping up to run his blade up the owlbear’s chest, departing only to catch its beak with his withdrawal.

The owlbear stumbled back painfully, right in line with Yona.

"On the side!"

Yona dove head first into the same leg with a crash.

Like a sapling that had grown in the wrong field, the leg snapped and folded under the full weight of the beast.

Despite the devastating blow, the owlbear only fought harder, rolling over its broken leg and swiping down on Yona.

It’s claws slammed down on Yona’s helmet, driving her chin down into the mud and stones. He had her trapped, crushing her head deeper into the mud. No matter how hard she squirmed or pulled away, she only sunk deeper, her teeth and jaw creaking under the pressure.

The owlbear pulled itself closer, ready to feast on yak. The blood in its mouth only making the alluring creature trapped under its paw all the more tempting. Yet if one looked in its eyes it was clear the beast had long stopped caring about food and now simply desired revenge for the injuries it suffered.

At that moment Sandbar was the closest, but had no wave to deliver another blow. In the split second he had to act, he jumped from his log for the owlbear’s vulnerable back.

“Raah-!”

SWOP!

Not fast enough, Sandbar caught the backpaw of the owlbear instead with his hip, slapping him away into the open waters.

“From up high!” Gallus announced himself.

There was one cut too many over the owlbear, and each came after a call like that, to which he released Yona, diverting his claws behind him.

Gallus banked hard, but with his wings so large, he felt the claws rip in, exploding in a puff of feathers. He grunted hard, the feeling of each vital layer of feathers ripped away, he lost control and slammed to the ground, sliding to a gravelly halt.

In the heat of the moment, lost to hunger and pain, the owlbear lurched towards Gallus, overlooking the last fighter to call out her attacks.

“You forget about me, ugly!”

The owlbear snapped its attention to Smolder, drawing in another breath, then coiled in on itself, ready for what was coming.

“HAA!”

Smolder unleashed her fiery breath. Large plumes of flames blew forth, engulfing the beast, but quickly, the flames died down to smoke.

Smolder coughed, holding her broken arm against her chest, wheezed a few breaths, then stood panting in front of the owlbear rolling in the mud, desperately trying to smother the flames.

“Dang it… That’s all I got.”

All too quickly, the owlbear was up again, glaring with unchecked ferocity and letting off a roar so strong it shook the entire cave.

Bloody, battered, smoke still rising off from the mud, yet eyes burning hotter than even the dragon’s flames, it forcefully limped itself closer to Smolder, unknowingly leading it towards the foals and Ocellus.

Behind her, Yona was dizzy, her eyes unable to stop tearing up. She hunkered down, ready to charge blindly if she had to. Even further back, Sandbar drifted out from the raised water’s edge, limping with his back right leg unable to move, he picked up the first rock he could, having no further options to fight back.

In just as pitiful of shape, Gallus hopped and flopped into formation. One wing folded back, the other laying off to the side. No longer having flight to his advantage, he stood on his back legs, flicked his wrist, and stood ready to use his blades.

Together they would stand, or together they would fall. No matter how it would end, each had given their all…

… save one.

A splash in the water and flash of light quickly had the owlbear look to his left. Next to him, the wall of water still stood. Empty, but ripples gave away that something had been there.

“Hey, ugly!” Pina shouted.

The owlbear turned back to suddenly be pelted in the face with tiny stones. The foals had moved to the front. Hooves, wings, and a weak aura of the tiny ponies launched as many stones as they could. Poorly placed shots half-hazzardly bounced off his beak, chest and paws. If not for the pre-existing wounds, or occasional stone hitting an eye, it would have been brushed off as nothing, perhaps even laughed at the pitiful attempt.

“You’re smelly butt! And we hate you!” Dinky yelled.

“Dummy! Just go away! You’re just gonna get hurt more if you stay!” Cotton lectured.

“Yeah!” Button screamed, tossing a stone too big to reach the owl bear. “If you think this hurts, wait until my new dad gets ahold of you! Then you’ll be really sorry!”

Every loud voice and stone pulled more focus on them and away from the owlbear’s surroundings, giving Silverstream the cover she needed to ready her aim.

No call was given. That mistake had been made, so Silverstream let gravity deliver her to her target, slamming down from the ceiling heights and driving the trident deep into the owlbears' back.

“YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!”

Ready to end this once and for all, Silverstream flashed with her seapony magic, still holding the trident, she summoned the water around her. She would take as much as she could, putting all of her effort into keeping him away, drowning out the shrieks of the owlbear.

Outside her growing death trap, the walls of water fell, welling up into the sphere she raised higher. She made the torrents strong, swirling in and around her, but it wasn’t enough.

The creature thrashed and bucked, swirling and turning, her tiny fins were slipping. How long could the creature hold its breath? How long could she hold on?

An unexpected strong twist nearly had her thrown off, twirling her tail away from her and around the beast’s bell. It was a dangerous position to be in, and she pulled her tail back, ripping it out of the claws of the beast, losing scales and shredding her fin.

The pain was deep, but she held tight, biting down on the rod protruding from the owlbears back, filling her mouth with the taste of steel, dirt, and blood mixing in the water. It was horrible, terrifying, but slowly, the thrashing calmed.

The fight was no longer with her, but for freedom. Every kick and swipe of the creatures’ paws was to find air, that’s all it wanted.

Every moment, all Silverstream wanted was for it to end. Now that the beast wasn’t focused on her, she corrected her grip around the trident and flexed her will to bring the water in tighter.

The nine onlookers stared in awe. The giant sphere of water swirled violently on a geyser that defied any form of magic they had seen before. Then, without warning, the sphere imploded, collapsing into itself so small and dense the torrents ceased. It’s surface was smooth like glass clearly seen inside, the owlbear stopped moving, save for its chest collapsing, releasing its final breath.

Relieved that it was finally over, Silverstream relaxed her control and her hold of the trident. She had focused so hard that when her fins were removed, the sphere remained.

The water was now unbearable, no pun intended, and she wiggled her way out. The density made it difficult, along with her flayed tail, but once she was out, she took a deep breath of fresh air, flopped to the ground and returned to her hippogriff form.

“I… I killed it… My aunty is going to murder me.”

The owlbear’s body drifted down, gravity pulling it out until it fell from the sphere, landing with a thud. It flopped flatley, the lower air pressure allowing the bloody water to drain from it’s expanding lungs with grotesque gurgles.

Back with the others, Sandbar had spat out his stone and was holding Ocellus in his forelegs, tearing up more than she was.

“This is all my fault. I should have listened. We were all supposed to do this together. I was too scared. I’m sorry, Ocellus. I’m sorry.”

Ocellus wasn’t moving, only sobbing through her shallow breaths and gasps.

“I… I…” Another gasp nearly stole her breath. “It’s okay… I… I wuh… was scared, tuh… too… Juh- aah… jus leave me… Ah… ah-I’m broken… I kah… I can’t hide wuh-wha… what I am.”

Every creature gathered closer. She sadly was broken, pieces of her shells missing, more of it scratched and missing gouges. Even portions of her tattered wings were exposed, but they all saw something more, and Pina lowered herself to hug gently around the once frightening creature’s neck.

“You can still be a pony if you want to. It doesn’t matter how you look. I’m gonna be a yak someday, so you can take my place.”

Dinky nuzzled in with Ocellus’s foreleg, carefully letting it rest on hers.

“My mommy looks different, but she’s still beautiful. I’m sure my new daddy will love you, too.”

Pina laid a hoof gently on Ocellus’s side, remembering how she had tried to push others away because of Chris and the fear of not being accepted.

“My mom is friends with a really important guard for the princesses. He won’t hurt you since you’re a good changeling. I promise.”

Button looked up to Smolder and tugged on her good wing.

“Hey, sis… Can Ocellus big our other big sis? She’s just like you… A little scary when she wants to be, and really tough. That’s big sis material… Right?”

Smolder knelt down, offering a bro-fist as well as a sad smile to the battered changeling.

“Oh, yeah. The best kind.”

Ocellus’s hoof started to move to match the gesture, but was unable to. Depleted of energy, and her body likely going into shock, her body had lost the ability to move on its own. Smolder had to finish the move for her, prompting Gallus to offer what little he could.

“Hey, I know we only just met, but my offer for sharing my place still stands… Rent free, if you want it.”

Not to be left out, Yona fought through the pain in her jaw to speak her piece.

“Yona not care what Ocellus look like. Ocellus smash bird-bear good… and make for very good friend.”

Now limping herself, Silverstream joined the group, clearly seeing the value Ocellus brought to making this all happen.

“Ocellus, when things got dangerous, you didn’t run away or try to hide. The surface world needs creatures like you… I certainly did.” She cracked a sheepish grin. “And if worse comes to worst, I’m sure I can talk my aunty into giving you a place to stay while I spend the rest of my days in seapony jail for murder… You’ll visit me, won’t you?”

The room illuminated from a crystal tree glowing brilliantly with all the shimmering colors of the rainbow.

Harmony’s voice echoed loud and clear as she stepped out from the crystal tree.

“My precious children. You need not fear any hardship, for together, all of you, more than I could have ever dreamed of, have discovered the key to the power you seek.”

The ten turned their attention to the approaching alicorn. Not just any alicorn.

“Princess Twilight!?” Gallus gasped. “That was you in the tree?!”

Harmony stood before them. Her crystal form solid and secure, brimming with light, power, and a smile that was still as hollow and fake as her perception required.

“Through the Power of Friendship, you have discovered the power needed to save this world.”

Together, all ten started to shine. An unknown power coursed through one another as they were levitated into the air, slowly being brought into a circle around Harmony.

“I can save Ocellus. Just close your eyes and lend me your strength for all your wishes to come true. To finally find where you belong. To save our world.”

Their moment had come. After risking so much, fighting all odds, they found themselves in position, and one by one closed their eyes around Harmony. All they could feel was the connection between them, pulling them into a dream-like state, held in Harmony’s embrace.

“Just as I had planned.”

My apologies for the delay in releasing this chapter, but I needed my vacation... much like I'm sure these kids are going to need after this adventure.

Starting things off from the last chapter, Lumberman's family issues have really left no room for pity when it comes to Gruff. However, that interaction allowed Gruff to hear what needed to be said, and provided an even better opening for Celestia. Some kind words of encouragement also might have opened up Celestia's insight to how much influence Harmony had over her all those centuries.

Other insight from Becky might be getting them closer to realizing they've been looking at the missing children all wrong. Harmony might have made a mistake by not removing Spike... or was there another reason she never reached out to him in the first place?

At least Celestia is ready to start talking about Harmony.

Then we get to the real meat and potatoes of this chapter with the kids. Given that, I should also explain some of the history brought up:
1. Novo is Portuguese for "new," so it made sense to have the late King named Velho, or "old."
2. In the comics, a conflict arose and it's explained that "many moons ago," the Dragon Lord Scintilla and the yak Prince Ulysses formed a truce that ended a war over land. It's never stated what all happened, but the dragons gave up the land the yaks claimed in the end and Prince Ulysses even helping the Dragon Lord find a new area to call home.
3. This owlbear is larger than grizzly, given the dimension provided, which was 4 and a half feet taller than the average (10 foot tall) grizzly. A grizzly also has a skull that's up to or near .7 inches thick, compared to a human's .25.

Grizzlies have been known to take buckshot rounds, multiple high caliber handgun rounds, or even 5.56, and not stop, shrug it off, or simply run off and come back shortly later. Come to think of it, if you've ever seen a video of a bear eating hunny while the bees are swarming around it?... The bears do get stung, but they don't let the pain stop them from eating. Just like having an abcessed/broken teeth, and a host of other injuries.

Also, the world record for stabbing a live grizzly is 12 times... the bear didn't die either. The world record holder did.

Pain is also something grizzlies seem to just ignore when they want to, and keep doing what they do no matter what hurts them. And yet, this creature was bigger and meaner.

I say all that to help make sense of why the fight went on like it did and how the owlbear was able to keep on going. That and... what was up with that crystal wall flashing?

Special note* A protibia, is what a section of an insect's legs is called.

Anyway, now that Harmony doesn't seem to appear so week anymore, it looks like well of find what happens next in: