The Crystalling PT1

Author's Notes:

Well, it's been a while but we're back to the main series of Flash Sentry Chronicles. Now it's time for season 6. I hope you all enjoy.

The story begins in Ponyville, three weeks after the return of Flash and his friends from the Lost City of Faust. In that time, news of what transpired during their adventure had spread out all across Equestria. There wasn't a pony alive who didn't know about the heroic deeds of the group that defeated a cult of power mad ponies before they could try to conquer Equestria, or that there was a new alicorn in Equestria.

As for that alicorn, Shining Soul and her brother had really grown to like living in Ponyville, though they had been mainly interacting with their teacher's immediate friendship circle. This was to be expected, as the two had a lot to learn about the world before they could become proper members of society.

During the days the medical tests were being done, Flash and Twilight had talked with the princesses about what Heart and Soul needed to know before they were ready to begin their true lessons. It was agreed that the two should go to school, mainly so they could interact with ponies their own age, and knew they needed a basic education.

Despite being able to read perfectly, neither of them had ever really written a word. Their hoof-writing wasn't the best, though Soul had quickly learned how to make words readable since she enjoyed drawing and painting. However, Heart wasn't as good, though he found he could do math better than Soul.

This was followed by a crash course was Equestrian history. Both ponies found it quite interesting that they knew about the birth of the universe along with the rise and fall of the alicorns before Celestia and Luna's reign, only to now learn about the founding of Equestria. The forming of the Royal Knights and the Wonderbolts came next, soon seeing the amazing adventures that their teachers had done before meeting them. Both absorbed this information like a sponge, Flash and Twilight deciding they were ready to be their teachers after gaining this starting point.

As such, Twilight and Soul were now in the library. The two stood on either side of a table, which had a plastic cup in the middle. "Alright Soul, let's begin." Twilight said in a calming tone, "Just remember to be firm, but gentle."

Soul nodded, though she didn't really know how you could be both firm and gentle. Her horn began to glow gold, squinting her eyes as she stared at the cup. A magic aura began to form under the cup, making it slowly lift off the table. Twilight smiled at the sight, only to hear a crackling sound. "Careful." Twilight whispered as she saw part of the cup bend, Soul nodding back.

Her horn's aura began to spark, Twilight seeing a small sputter from the horn before the cup was suddenly crushed under the filly's magical grip.

"Ow!" she yelped as her horn quickly cut, the cup falling back onto the table. Her ears flopped down, whimpering, "No..."

"Don't worry, it'll be okay." Twilight responded while floating the crushed cup over to a bin. "You'll get it." She summoned another cup from a stack Pinkie had loaned them. "There's a reason we start this small. Just keep trying and you'll figure it out." Soul nodded and tried again, Twilight smiling as she saw her horn glow again before taking out a stack of papers. "Now for Starlight's first lesson."

Meanwhile...

The ex-villain was currently making her way through the many corridors of the large castle, looking for the library. "Is it in here?" She as she opened a door, "Nope." She closed it and tried another, a mop now falling on her head. "Nope." She then tried a third door, only to find a certain jakhowl.

"Oh," she said as he turned to her, "Sorry."

"It's cool," Springer replied before turning back to the eggs that were currently sitting on a table in their incubators. "Just looking after the eggs."

"Any uh...any idea when they'll hatch?"

"No idea," he took the glass off the blue one so he could rub it with a cloth. "Luna said every egg is different. Could happen today, could happen in a year."

"Well I hope I get to see it," she added before retreating out the room, letting out a sigh as she continued through the hallways. "Okay...I gotta find the library. Library...Library...where did they put the library?" She poked her head through another door, only to find it lead to another hallway. "You know, this castle looked a lot smaller from the outside." She sighed as she opened another door, only to find one Spike T Dragon currently brushing his teeth.

Spike noticed the door open and turned to smile at her. "Morning, Starlight!" He said in a muffled manner.

"Whoops!" She yelped as she shut the door, "Sorry, Spike! I guess I'm still trying to find my way around. You don't happen to know where the library is, do you?"

The door opened up, Spike's head poking out as he pointed, "Next door on the left!"

He then shut the door as Starlight replied, "Thanks!" She quickly trotted to the door and opened it, only to hear a moan of annoyance before needing to duck under a flying crushed plastic cup that soon hit a nearby trash can. She then saw Soul at a table, placing another cup on the table before turning to see her teacher at another table, looking over a scroll.

"Acceptance," Twilight hummed. "Altruism definitely...that's a good start." She then turned to the door, smiling as she put the scroll down. "Starlight! Good morning, please come in!"

"Sorry I'm late," Starlight responded while she trotted in, "I um...I got a little turned around." She started to blush as she continued, "I still can't believe you're letting me stay here...as your pupil...after everything I did."

"Well, I'm not one to dwell on the past, and neither should you. This castle is your home now, and as far as being my pupil goes, I was just trying to figure out what your first friendship lesson should be!"

She then showed Starlight the scroll. "Oh..." Starlight whispered as she looked it over, "Well, it um...looks like you're really narrowing it down!"

"Not quite. These are just the A's. After this, I move on to the B's!" Twilight giggled before pointing at another table, which had several stacks of paper covering it.

Starlight's face shined nothing but pure terror as she stared at them. She quickly shook her head next before going over and looking at one of the papers, "I know I'm just learning about friendship, but I didn't think there were this many lessons for anything." She turned back to Twilight, "How do we choose?"

Twilight took some of the papers, letting out another hum, "I know it looks like a bit much, but I know I can find something for you to start with." She turned back to Starlight, seeing the fear on her face. The alicorn quickly rushed to her side, placing a hoof around her shoulder. "Say, why don't you join the others in the throne room for now? They're planning our trip to the Crystal Empire when Shining Armor and Princess Cadance have their foal!"

"Throne room! Got it!" She spun around and ran to the door, only to see the trash can that was now currently buried in crushed cups.

"Aaaah!" Soul yelled as she destroyed the final cup, slamming her head down on the table.

Twilight trotted over and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll learn. It's all about persistence and patience."

Soul sighed as she mumbled into the table, "I wonder it Heart's having this much trouble?"

In the training room, Flash was now circling around his new student. The pegasus was bouncing a rubber ball on his wing while slowly trotting around the colt, Iron Core, Grand Hoof and Lightning Blitz sitting in the corner behind Heart.

"Alright Heart," he started, "As a Royal Knight, there are three rules you must always remember in any situation. If I manage to teach you anything, it'll be these three rules."

"Okay," Heart nodded while continuing to stand in battle ready position.

"Rule number one: Always be afraid."

The young pegasi raised an eyebrow at this, "What? Why would I wanna be afraid? Isn't that a bad thing?"

Flash shook his head, "No. Letting your fear control you is a bad thing...but not having any fear at all is even worse."

"But aren't you the Element of Courage?" Heart asked back, "How can you be scared?"

Flash chuckled at this, continuing to bounce the ball while circling him. "Courage is not the absence of fear, but acting despite being afraid. And as long as you have that fear, you'll remain alert, focused, and alive." As he said that, he bounced the ball high before spinning around and hitting it with his tail. Doing so sent it flying at Heart, the colt barely managing to duck under it before Grand caught it. "See?" Flash smiled as Grand tossed the ball back to him. "A true hero is one that listens to their fear and lets it keep them on guard, but doesn't let it decide everything for them."

"Always be afraid," Heart repeated as he stood back up. "Got it."

"Good." Flash started circling him again. "Rule number two," he once again batted the ball at Heart, the colt sidestepping it before Grand caught it again. "Never put all your focus on the enemy in front of you." As he said this, Grand batted the ball at Heart, hitting the colt in the back of his head.

"Ow!" He cried, rubbing it before glaring at Grand.

"You never know when another enemy might show up and try to take you be surprise."

"Got it..." Heart grumbled as Flash placed a wing on his back.

"And the third, which is the most important rule, is to always try your best, but also understand when that best isn't good enough."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Grand was the one to speak up, "Our goal as Royal Knights is to protect those who can't protect themselves. This means we end up facing many dangerous challenges."

Heart nodded as Iron continued, "And sometimes, the challenges we face are just too much for us to handle. The final rule is to understand that." Heart tilted his head at this, making him shake his head before pointing at the colt. "Let me give you an example. Do you think you could win in a fight against Sentry?"

Heart turned to Flash, the sight of the stallion standing over him making the colt slightly shiver. He glanced back at Iron, "Are you kidding?! With how strong he is, I wouldn't last five seconds in a fight with him!"

"Exactly. And let's say that in some crazy alternative world, Sentry was a criminal and you found yourself facing off against him."

"What would be the smarter option?" Lightning added, "Trying to fight him or trying to escape and get reinforcements?"

"I guess trying to escape?"

Flash nodded. "Exactly. Sometimes, you won't have a choice. You might find yourself trapped in a situation against an opponent you can't beat. That's when you need to be smart, but you also need to first realize your limits. Limits you can break, but require time to do so. An opponent you don't stand a chance against today won't stand a chance against you in ten years. It's just a matter of surviving those ten years."

"Huh. Okay...I think I get it."

"Good," Flash replied before walking over to the training room's control crystal. "Remember these rules you'll be fine."

"I will."

"Now, let's get started with your physical training." With that, he tapped the control crystal, causing a treadmill to appear. "First, we need to understand your limits. Get running." Heart nodded and jumped onto the treadmill as Flash switched it on, the belt beginning to move as he walked in place.

The others watched as Flash turned up the speed, Heart's pace increasing until he was running. After a minute, it was clear Heart wasn't having an issue. "Come on, I can do this in my sleep." Heart chuckled with a smirk, making Flash smile as he cranked the speed up, Heart matching the speed without issue. "Faster." Flash increased the speed again, "Faster!" Flash did it again. "FASTER!" Flash put it up to max, Heart managing to keep up...for about five seconds. "WHOA!" He yelped as his hooves were pulled out from under him, body-checking the treadmill before getting shot off the machine, "OW!"

The others flinched as they watched him hit the wall, the force causing him to be plastered while leaving a colt shaped indent. His eyes showed spirals before shaking his head and giving the group the pony equivalent of a thumbs up. "Nailed it!"

"Well, the colt can take a hit," Grand laughed as walked over to help pull him off the wall.

Back at the library...

Soul's eyes were squinting as her horn continued to glow. Before her was a floating cup, this one shaking in place despite not shifting in shape. "I'm...I'm doing it!" She turned to Twilight, "I did it!"

Twilight nodded back, "Good job. Now, the next part of the lesson is to have you hold the cup like that for ten minutes or more."

"What?! But that was hard enough!"

The princess patted the alicorn's shoulder, "I know, but this is how all unicorns start. Don't worry, after a little bit of practice, you'll have it down pat."

Soul grumbled at this, turning back to the cup as she made it float again. As she did this, Starlight trotted back into the room, "Hey Twilight, can I ask you something about the Crystal Empire?"

"Oh?" Twilight spun around with a smile, "Funny you should mention the empire." She took three sheets of paper in her magic as she continued, "Because I just narrowed your first friendship lesson down to three options, and one of them is in the Crystal Empire!"

"Really?" Starlight asked, a big smile adorning her lips.

Twilight nodded back. "Yes. You see, I found out that that's where the first pony you ever cared about lives!"

The smile quickly vanished, her eyes now going wide with a growing frown, "Sunburst?!"

"Yes. He lives there now, and that was one of my ideas of your starting point for friendship. Of course, we could also-" The rest of Twilight's speech was tuned out as Starlight's brain began to replay the day she lost Sunburst, leading to her backstory and shameful past. The very thought of seeing him against continued to send painful shivers down her spine, causing a single remorseful tear to appear in the corner of her eye. "Starlight?" She came back to reality as Twilight asked, "Is something wrong?"

"What?!" Starlight yelped before darting her eyes around, "O-oh, no, heh, those uh...all sound great!"

"I know!" Twilight cheered before looking down at the scrolls, "I guess you were right. It is gonna be hard to choose one!"

Starlight let out a nervous laugh as Twilight trotted off. "Yeah...real hard."

A little later...

Soul was now walking through the castle with the cup hovering in front of her without issue. She could now pick it up and put it down without damaging it, which was a marked improvement given this was her first real lesson. And as she turned a corner, she smiled as she saw her brother, "Heart!" She ran over to hug him, only to go wide-eyed before putting a hoof to her nose, "Whoa! You stink!"

Heart laughed and rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah...sorry. Knight training really helps you build up a sweat. How was your lesson?"

"Great!" Soul showed him the cup, "See?"

Heart raised an eyebrow, "It's...a cup?" Soul glared at him before purposely crushing the cup in her magic and throwing it behind her. The filly was about to explain, only to hear a loud crashing noise. Quickly walking over to it, they saw Starlight buried in brooms, mops, buckets and ladders. "You okay?"

"I'm fine..." Starlight grumbled as she shoved the stuff back into the closet before pushing it shut. She then opened another door, only to quickly close it and let out an annoyed cry. "Augh! I'm never gonna find my way around this place!" She walked away as Spike's head popped out the room she had just looked into, the dragon running after her.

"Gee Starlight, what's wrong?"

"You look like somepony let all the air out your favorite balloon," Heart added as he and Soul flew beside the two.

Starlight let out a defeated sigh. "I don't know. Twilight's figuring out what my first friendship lesson is, and I guess I'm not exactly thrilled with the options. Well...with one of them."

"Which one?" Soul asked.

"Reuniting me with my first friend."

This statement caused Spike and Heart to glance at each other while Soul spoke up, "That's Sunburst, right?" Starlight nodded back.

"What's so terrible about meeting him?" Heart asked next.

"Yeah!" Spike added with a nod, "Considering how close you used to be, I figure you'd want to see him really bad." Soul rolled her eyes, muttering the word 'boys' under her breath.

Starlight let out a sigh as she came to a stop, staring at the ceiling as the memories of a life long past flowed through her mind. "When we were foals, Sunburst knew everything there was to know about magic. He always knew just what to do, and he was always there to help me. I guess it's not surprising that Sunburst got his cutie mark in magic and...went off to Princess Celestia's school. But when he left..."

"You blamed cutie marks and stripped a whole village of theirs, and when Twilight and the others stopped you, you went back in time and almost destroyed Equestria." Spike finished, Heart and Soul both going wide-eyed as this piece of information had not been made privy to them.

"Not really stuff I'm super eager to tell Sunburst about," Starlight moaned before the two could ask anything. "I mean, he's probably some big important wizard now, and...I can't even find my way around Twilight's castle."

"Well, if Sunburst is that good at magic, maybe he'd appreciate your, uh..." Spike cleared his throat, "Exploits."

"But maybe you should wait a little bit," Soul suggested while landing. "At least until you feel you're ready. Maybe after you've got some simpler friendship lesson under your belt, you'll be more confident about reuniting."

Starlight sighed and shook her head, "I don't think I'll ever feel ready."

Spike patted her on the shoulder, "You should talk to Twilight about it. I'm sure she would want to hear what you have to say."

"I know..." Starlight replied while looking away, "But I don't want her to think I'm not ready to learn or that I'm not grateful for everything she's doing." The others were about to respond, only for-

"Spike!" Twilight's voice rang out, "Come quick!" They all turned to the voice, quickly running toward it before getting to the castle's grand balcony. There they found Twilight, Flash and even his sister Scootaloo staring into the sky. But it was soon revealed they were staring at something flying on the wind, a piece of paper shaped like a snowflake. Twilight shined a big grin as she held out her wing and caught the snowflake, which then opened up to reveal writing in the center.

"It's a Crystalling invitation!" Spike cheered, the twins gasping as Heart asked.

"Does that mean-"

"Shining Armor's a father!" Twilight turned to Flash, hugging him. "I'm an aunt!"

Flash laughed. "I guess that makes me an uncle."

"Yeah!" Scootaloo jumped up and down, "And I'm a..." She stopped and showed a semi-frown, "Wait...what does this make me?"

The others laughed as Twilight turned to Starlight. "Well this settles it! We're going to the Crystal Empire!" The group cheered, all but Twilight and Starlight walking away as the princess put her hoof on Starlight's shoulder, "And because we're going to the empire, your first friendship lesson is going to be...reuniting with Sunburst! Isn't that great?!"

Starlight looked away at these words, Twilight quickly spinning around to go tell her friends. And as she left, Starlight stood there while looking like somepony had asked her to do six hundred impossible things at once. "Great..." She whispered, her whole body now shaking like a leaf.

An hour or so later...

The Mane Seven, Spike and the CMC were now on a train to the Crystal Empire. The rest of the defenders had been invited, but Springer polity refused since he had to look after the eggs while Iron and Lightning chose to stay so the town wasn't left undefended. (Flash had a feeling it was more like they were worried about being put on foalsitter duty) As for Grand, he had to head to Canterlot in order to get a proper gift for the newborn royal.

And so, Flash, Twilight, Heart, Soul, Spike, Starlight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and the CMC were the only members of the group who were currently on their way to the crystal empire. And as the surrounding area changed from grass to snow, Rainbow woke up and stretched on her seat. She then turned to Applejack and Apple Bloom, now spotting something nestled under a sheet between them. "Um, Applejack? What is that?"

The Apple sisters giggled as the older one replied. "Oh, just a little somethin' for the young'un." Apple Bloom pulled the sheet off, revealing a wooden crib with apple designs on it. "Made from genuine Sweet Apple Acres apple trees. We make 'em for all the Apples, and anypony related to Twilight is practically family."

Applejack smiled at Twilight, who had a touched expression as Soul got a closer look.

"Aww..." she responded with stars in her eyes, "It's so cute."

Apple Bloom nodded back, "Ah know, right?" She patted it. "Ah helped make this one myself."

"You sure you got the right cutie mark?" Heart asked her with a chuckle as Rainbow got up and flew around her seat.

"Yeah, it's okay. But it's no Cloudsdale mobile!" She suddenly pulled the item out of thin air, "Bam!" The girls all went 'ooh' at the sight of it, Pinkie even calling it pretty before accidently knocking one of the pieces off.

Applejack simply smirked, "Well, a mobile is real nice...as long as you have somethin' to lay in so you can look at it."

"And a fetching blanket to keep you warm." Rarity added as she replaced the one in the crib with one she had just finished.

Twilight shined the biggest grin at all of them. "I'm sure Shining Armor and Princess Cadance will love all our gifts."

Heart then turned to Flash, who was sat back with his hooves behind his head and his eyes closed. "What did you get them?" Flash's eyes shot open, a long frown on his face as his student stared at him, "You did get them something...right?"

"Uh..." Flash's face turned red while the others rolled their eyes.

"Don't worry about it," Twilight added, "Shining and Cadance won't care about gifts. They're more happy we'll be attending the baby's Crystalling."

"Ooh!" Pinkie cheered as she jumped up and down on the spot, "I can't wait to see all that light and love make the Crystal Heart even more sparkly and shiny!"

"Sparkly and shiny?" Heart asked, "I'm clearly missing something."

Scootaloo turned to him, "Weren't you listening when Twilight explained what the Crystalling is for?"

Heart opened his mouth to respond, only to close it as Soul laughed, "There's your answer."

Twilight giggled before turning back to her pink friend. "Actually Pinkie, the Crystal Heart is an ancient and powerful relic. Without its magic, the Crystal Empire would be lost to the Frozen North."

"Wow..." Starlight said in an overt way, "This Crystalling sounds pretty important, so I'd understand if you wanted to..." She rolled her hoof, "You know, wait to do a different friendship lesson when we get back."

"Are you kidding?" Twilight replied, "This trip is perfect! Not only do I get to see the baby and take part in the ceremony that helps maintain the magic of the Crystal Empire." She then placed a hoof around Starlight's shoulder, "But I'm starting my new pupil off with the most amazing friendship lesson ever!" She pulled Starlight in close, "I can't wait!"

Starlight huffed before pulling herself free, a fake smile adorning her face. "Right...me neither..." As Twilight took out a foal book and started reading, Starlight turned to Spike. Both he and Soul sat side by side, Soul crossing her hooves while Spike gestured to Twilight. After a few seconds, she sighed before turning back to her teacher. "Actually uh...Twilight? I'm um...I'm a little worried about meeting Sunburst."

Twilight blinked at her words before putting her book down. "Oh trust me, I know what it's like to see old friends. But I'll be right there to help things along." She then pulled a scroll out of her saddlebag, "I've broken the whole lesson down into a few easy steps to ensure this reunion goes off without a hitch!" The scroll unrolled and began to unfurl...only to reach the door of the train cabin. This made Starlight give out a nervous chuckle as the conductor walked in and said they were coming up on the city.

Everypony grabbed their things as the train pulled up to the station, coming to a stop as Twilight talked to Starlight about her reunion schedule. "Step one, head to Sunburst's house and get you two started on the right hoof. Step two, get to the castle with enough time to visit the baby."

"You might wanna swap those steps." said a sudden voice, making them turn to see three ponies standing on the platform.

"Ruby!" Heart and Soul cheered as they ran over to the Crystal Knight and gave her a hug, the others turning to the two changelings standing besides her.

"Thorax!" Flash offered him a hoof, "Long time no see."

"Yes," Thorax nodded as he shook the hoof, "It's great to see you again."

"Hiveena," Twilight added as she shook the changeling's hoof, "How have things been here in the empire?"

"Good," Hiveena replied. "The ponies here haven't had any issue with us, so life's been pretty calm."

It was here that both Flash and Twilight saw something different about Thorax and Hiveena, Flash pointing to their backs, "Hey, what happened to your wings?"

Their wings were now a bright blue, both having sparkles running along them as Thorax responded, "We're not really sure. They started changing about a week before Ruby came back."

"It's happened to me before," Hiveena added, "I don't remember when it started back then, or when it went away. But I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about."

"Well it's very pretty," Rarity complimented. "I'll have to remember how it looks for my next dress."

Twilight then turned to Ruby, "We weren't expecting a welcoming comity."

"Well, Shining Armor wanted to come, but with everything going on, I felt it was best somepony else come and get you."

Hiveena nodded in agreement. "Things have been pretty...hectic since the tyke was born. Your brother and the princess have been run ragged looking after the little hell-raiser."

Thorax did a small gulp, "The two looked so exhausted we were worried Shining might fall asleep on the way here, so we decided to come instead."

Hiveena grimaced at her own next words, "Plus, I'm not really a foal mare. If I stayed I might have gotten roped into foalsitting."

"I didn't even realize Shining and Cadance would be so overwhelmed. They probably need all kinds of help!" Twilight responded before turning to her pupil with an apologetic expression, "I'm sorry Starlight, but I guess combining your first lesson with this visit wasn't such a good idea."

Starlight shined a big smile, only to quickly try to hide it as she replied, "Oh uh...don't be ridiculous! You're an aunt now! That's way more important than some friendship lesson."

"Subtle..." Heart whispered to Soul as Spike finished rolling up the scroll.

"I just wish there was a way to do both," they then heard Twilight say, only for Spike to hold up the scroll.

"Maybe there is!" He turned to Twilight, "You've already done the work for Starlight's lesson with this list. All we have to do is follow it!"

Starlight face-hoofed while Twilight smiled down at her dragon assistant. "Spike, you're a genius!"

"Yeah..." Starlight grumbled while shooting Spike a death glare, "Genius."

"Then it's settled! The rest of us will head straight to the castle, and you two can head straight to Sunburst!"

"Aye-aye, Princess!" Spike saluted while Starlight let out a nervous laugh and nod.

"Wait..." they turned to the changelings, "Sunburst?"

"You know him?" Flash asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hiveena huffed. "Yeah. Thorax and I have been getting invites from him since he first moved here. He keeps questioning us about changelings. How we're born. How we extract love. All that stuff."

"I've been over to his house a few times," Thorax added, "He's pretty nice, though a little awkward."

"So you know where he lives?" Twilight asked, the changelings nodding back, "Great! Then maybe the two of you can show Spike and Starlight the way."

"Um...I guess that's okay," Thorax responded.

"Beats babysitting," Hiveena huffed before gesturing to the other two. "Follow me and try not to get lost." The two nodded as the four headed off while Ruby turned to the others.

"Come along. I'm sure you're all excited to see the newborn." They nodded back before following Ruby to the castle, Heart and Soul in awe at the sight of the Crystal Empire. "Beautiful, isn't it?" They both nodded again, "Perhaps you'd like to have a tour? I should be free later, and can show you around before the Crystalling."

"Awesome!" Heart cheered.

Flash chuckled at this, "And since we're here, I should probably show you the Hall of Knights."

Heart turned to him with a raised eyebrow, only for Twilight to suddenly exclaim at the sight of a certain unicorn stallion that appeared to be asleep standing up. "SHINING ARMOR!" Her brother shook, his eyes going wide before turning to Twilight with a tiny smile.

"Twilight!" He replied, his eyes going off in two different directions. The group now saw that he was super frazzled, his mane a mess and his eyes half closed. The siblings quickly embraced one another into a hug, Shining looking behind her and seeing Flash. "Hey bro. How's....how's....what was I about to say?"

Twilight pulled away and looked him over. "Are you sure you're okay? Ruby and the others told us you were having...issues."

"That's an understatement," Ruby whispered as Shining did a weak nod back.

"Never better!" He cried out, his eyes now spiraling, "Being a father is amazing! And wonderful, and amazing, and confusing, and amazing, but surprising too, you know?"

Everypony just stared at him like he had grown a second head. "Did anypony get any of that?" Heart asked.

"About every third word or so," Flash replied as Shining scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry. I haven't really slept since Cadance had the baby. Come to think of it, she hasn't either. It sure would be great to get a break."

"That's why we're here," Twilight responded, "Don't worry. We're happy to help while you and Cadance get some shut-eye."

"Though I might suggest hiring a nanny for when we leave," Flash added as Shining lead them into a castle.

"We already had a nanny lined up," Shining replied, "But she quit after her first shift. Something about being too stressful." This statement caused everypony to share a glance, frowns on every face.

"I constantly babysit two foals," Pinkie pointed out. "Sure it's hard, but its not worth quitting over."

The others nodded as they arrived at the room, Shining turning to his sister. "Before we go in, I should probably tell you this: Seeing the baby might be a bit of a shock."

Twilight simply smiled back, "Come on, big brother. I've met babies before." She pushed the doors open, "I expect meeting this one won't be any different." As they headed inside, they spotted not only Cadance, but Celestia and Luna as well. Blinking at the sight, she walked over to get a look at her newborn...she had no idea what it was. Upon closer inspection, she realized the baby was a unicorn filly with pinkish-white fur, her mane being a combo of purple and blue. She was wrapped up in a blue blanket and her horn seemed longer than most other unicorn babies.

Twilight's heart melted at the sight, Flash stepping up and mirroring his girlfriend's look. But that look turned to confusion when he saw something move under the blanket, only for the cloth to pull apart to reveal a pair of wings. Twilight gasped while Flash blinked, the knight being the first one to say it. "Alright, wasn't expecting that."

Everypony else continued to stare at the baby, who was cooing and flailing her legs around like a newborn usually did before Twilight broke the silence, "The baby is an Alicorn?!"

"It looks that way," Cadance nodded back.

Flash's gaze moved between the baby, Twilight and then Soul. "Geez. First you, then Soul, and now this. You alicorns are suddenly coming out of the woodwork. It's a good thing I turned down becoming one. Ponies would think anypony can jump onto the alicorn bandwagon."

"What's the big deal?" Heart asked with a raised eyebrow.

Rarity turned to Heart. "The deal is that alicorn wings have to be earned by accomplishing some great, princess-worthy deed!"

"Yeah!" Applejack added, "You're not just supposed to be born with 'em!"

"But aren't Celestia and Luna natural born alicorns?" The others turned to the princesses, remembering the day Flash and his friends returned from their mission and the movie they all watched.

"That's right," Soul chimed in, "Alicorns can be born from other alicorns. It just stopped happening for some reason."

"Well, Cadance is the first alicorn to give birth in like...two thousand years," Flash continued, "I guess it would make sense she'd have an alicorn."

Ruby nodded in agreement, "Cadance was a pegasus before she ascended, and Shining's a powerful unicorn."

"If the two of you have some earth pony heritage, it's possible your DNA could mix to form an alicorn." Celestia added as she stared at the foal, "Even so, the birth of an alicorn is something Equestria has never seen!"

"It is beyond even our understanding," Luna finished.

"That's not very reassuring," Fluttershy whispered to Rarity before Pinkie popped up infront of them.

"Wow!" She cheered, "So she could be a super-strong flyer and have crazy baby magic?!"

"Not to mention earth pony strength," Flash added, "I wouldn't be surprised if she could lift a fully grown pony."

Scootaloo let out a huff, "Is it bad that I'm starting to get jealous of somepony that isn't even potty trained?" She took this moment to spread her own tiny wings, comparing them to the baby's, which were at least three times the size of her's.

"I bet she'll get her cutie mark way sooner then we did," Apple Bloom sighed while Sweetie nodded, the others rolling their eyes at the fillies.

"Eh, it'll be fine. I know all about super-strong flying!" Rainbow did a loopy-loop. "I'm sure I can keep her under-wraps if she tries to make a break for it."

"And I can help keep tabs on her magic!" Twilight assured Cadance, only to hear the baby begin to breath weirdly. The less baby-conscious ponies in the room feared she may be choking, only to see she was about to sneeze. And sneeze she did. When the reaction occurred, a blast of pink magic exploded out of her horn, striking the ceiling.

The force of the blast made everypony brace themselves from her shockwave as the floor shook. And when the magic subsided, everypony looked up to see that the beam had cut a hole not just through the ceiling, but through several more ceilings above it. "Wow..." Soul whispered, "And I thought I had trouble controlling my magic." It was in that moment a crystal pony looked down from the next floor up, her mane having a large hole blown through it that was smoking.

Celestia began to stroke the filly's head. "It appears her magic is more powerful than that of a newborn unicorn!"

"You think?!" Flash yelped, "We're lucky a smoking skeleton hasn't dropped down!"

"The crowds have already started to gather," Luna added while looking out the window, only to turn back and see Pinkie inflating a balloon.

"This Crystalling is gonna be some party!" She smiled while letting the balloon carry her into the air, only to pop and make her fall down.

"Do you think we should call it off?" Cadance asked her husband while her daughter began sucking on her hoof.

Shining opened his mouth to reply, only for Rainbow to speak up, "Um, we've all faced a lot worse than baby magic."

Rarity nodded in agreement, "I can't imagine cancelling such a beautiful and important ceremony over something so potentially adorable!"

She leaned down to the foal with a smile as the others gave their general agreement. Celestia then turned to Cadance, the alicorn of the sun offering her sage wisdom. "In light of the little one's abilities, this Crystalling might be more important than ever. Perhaps you should address your subjects and remind them of that."

Cadance nodded and gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead, the baby gargling happily as she watched her mother leave the room with Celestia, Luna and Ruby. Once they were gone, Twilight turned to her brother and found he was leaning against the wall...asleep.

"Shining Armor?" She patted his shoulder, making him stir, "Do you have everything you need for the ceremony?"

"Huh?" The former captain let the question sit for a moment, only for a look of panic to appear on his face. "Oh no!" He jumped off the wall and began pacing back and forth. "I still have to interview the honor guards, choose the purity crystal, and pick a crystaller!"

He fell to his flank, looking like he was about to cry. "Geez," Flash whispered, "I haven't seen him this worked up since his first date with Cadance."

"Alright, take it easy." Twilight patted his shoulder, "Pinkie can stay here with me and keep an eye on the baby." Everypony turned to Pinkie, now seeing the baby clinging to her face and laughing every moment.

"And we'll help you with everythin' else." Applejack assured as they turned back to him, only to see the unicorn flat on the floor asleep.

"That is, if you can stay awake long enough to tell us how," Rarity pointed out.

Flash turned to his apprentice, "Heart, go find somepony that works in the kitchen and tell them the prince needs the strongest coffee they have." Heart saluted and flew out the room, Soul following after him as Flash moved over to Pinkie and reached into her mane. "Where do you keep your funnels?"

"They're in there deep. Third drawer." Flash nodded and reached into the mane until his shoulder was in there. "No, no, no, that's a bicycle, no, HA!" He pulled his hoof out, which was now holding a plastic drinking funnel with a long tube. "Perfect." He turned back to Shining. "By my oath, this crystalling will go off without a hitch." The others nodded as Twilight quickly smacked Shining awake before Rainbow and Applejack dragged him out of the room, Flash, Fluttershy and Rarity following him.

Twilight then switched her focus on her niece, "Let's have some fun and find out what else you can do so we don't have any more surprises." The baby laughed and giggled, clearly thinking this was some kind of game.

In another part of the city...

Starlight was now laid out on a beach chair with a bucket of popcorn, Thorax and Hiveena besides her. Thorax had a look of interest on his face while Hiveena looked bored. A crowd of crystal ponies were also there, everypony listening to Spike as he retold the tale of how he saved the Crystal Empire from the former tyrant known as Sombra.

"And that's how we found the Crystal Heart, defeated King Sombra, and saved the Empire." He finished as the crystal ponies cheered, screaming their love and admiration for Spike.

"Wow," Thorax added, "I had no idea Spike was so brave."

"He's missing out a ton of details," Hiveena deadpanned, "Like how Sentry and Scarlet were the ones that held the guy back so they could find the Crystal Heart."

"Tell the one about the Equestria Games!" A young crystal pony yelled while Spike pulled out the scroll he had been previously sitting on.

"Well, as much as I love reliving my heroic deeds, Starlight and I have an important lesson to do, by order of the Princess of Friendship!" The crystal ponies all moaned, Starlight's face now morphing into a look of pure terror.

"Aw, come on, Spike! I want to hear about the Games too!" Spike shot her a knowing look as he signed an autograph, then unraveled the scroll.

"I know you're nervous about seeing Sunburst, but it says right here in step three, to, uh, 'deal with your fears by facing them, not by putting them off.'" He smiled at her while Starlight moaned and threw her popcorn away.

"Let's go get this over with." She mumbled as she jumped off her chair, Thorax leading them through the streets.

"So what's the big deal about meeting this one guy?" Hiveena asked. "You almost look scared about meeting him."

"I'm not scared," Starlight replied, "Just...nervous."

"Why?"

Starlight sighed and looked away, "It's a...long story." The four then turned to head down an alley-like street, Thorax now pointing at a house at the very end.

"That's Sunburst's house."

"Alright..." Starlight took a deep breath, "Wish me luck."

She stepped up to the door, raising a hoof to knock-

"Wait!" She pulled her hoof back, turning to Spike.

"Huh?! What?!"

Spike looked down at the scroll, "Knocking on the door isn't the next thing on the list!"

"Seriously?!" Starlight asked while the changelings blinked at the dragon.

Spike shrugged back, "I know Twilight can be a little nitpicky, but this is your first lesson as her pupil, and it's important that we do it right!"

"Fine," Starlight sighed in defeat, "What's the next thing on the list?"

Spike cleared his throat, "Before they see each other, be sure to highlight the importance of the meeting."

"I'm pretty sure we can skip that."

"I don't know," Spike replied, "I mean if we skip it, the whole lesson could go south! And then you might end up taking a giant step backward instead of forward! Maybe you'll never be able to learn anything about friendship at all!" Starlight did a small gulp at this, only for Spike to grab her by the cheeks and pull her down so they were nose to nose. "It's almost like your whole future depends on this moment." Spike let her go as her eyes went wide, the dragon smiling as he ticked the scroll. "Highlight the importance of the meeting, check!" He turned back to her, "I can't believe you wanted to skip that!"

"Ponies are weird," Thorax told Hiveena.

"You're only just figuring that out now?!" She barked back as Starlight finally knocked on the door.

She waited for a few seconds, only for no response. The unicorn turned to Spike, getting a shrug from him while Thorax looked like he was expecting this. Then, the door opened a tiny amount, Starlight looking into the crack and seing a pony-shaped figure hidden in the shadows. "Sunburst?"

"Yes?" The pony responded before stepping into the light, revealing an orange unicorn with a red mane, beard and glasses. "What can I...do for you?"

"It's...It's me, Starlight. We used to be friends?" The unicorn blinked at those words, slowly opening his door as his brain put the pieces together. And as the door fully opened, he was revealed to be wearing a Starswirl styled cape.

"Oh, of course! S-Starlight! My goodness, it-it's been a long time!" He then noticed the others, "Thorax?"

"Hello Sunburst," the changeling waved.

"And Hiveena. Did you finally accept my invite?"

"No," Hiveena flatly replied, "We were just showing your friends where you lived."

"I see..." Sunburst frowned before turning to Starlight. "So what uh, what have you been up to Starlight?"

"Me?" Starlight responded while doing a small gulp, her eyes darting around, "Oh! You know, some of this, some of that, different...stuff." Sunburst raised an eyebrow at this, "Right now, I'm sort of Twilight Sparkle's new pupil." Sunburst's eyes went wide at hearing this, both shock and awe on his face.

"Really? The Princess of Friendship?"

"Heh...yeah." Starlight slightly nodded, "Yeah...that's actually kind of why I'm here. I mean, I know you're probably very busy."

"What do you mean?"

"Well..." Starlight looked away, rubbing her hoof, "I figured after magic school, you'd go on to do important wizard work, but..."

"Oh," Sunburst said without thinking, "No." He then went wide-eyed before gulping, "I mean yes! Uh, y-yes, that's me, yup." He let out a nervous chuckle, "Important wizard! Really busy with lots of, uh, wi-wizarding...stuff." He adjusted his glasses as they all just stood there, the changelings feeling the cringe fill the air. "Right..." Sunburst started to backpedal, "Uh, well...it was good to see you again." He then jumped back inside and pushed the door close, Starlight turning back to the others.

"Huh," Spike looked down at the list. "Maybe we should have skipped highlighting the importance of the meeting after all."

"Well, I guess that's that!" Starlight yelped before moving away from the door. She shined a half smile, only to see Spike glare at her.

"Starlight," he pushed her back, "Come on! We have to at least explain what Twilight wants!" Starlight let out a groan before turning back to the door, knocking again before Sunburst came back to the door.

And after a minute of small talk, Sunburst let them in and Starlight headed inside. At the same time, Spike turned to the changelings. "You all don't have to stay anymore. I'm sure you've got plenty of other things you'd rather be doing."

The door then closed as Thorax turned to Hiveena, a smile on the changeling princess's face.

"What are you thinking?"

"There's no way I'm missing this train-wreck." She suddenly morphed into a fly, "Come on." With that, she flew toward the door's keyhole, Thorax sighed as he morphed into a fly to follow her inside.

"This isn't gonna end well," he buzzed.

Back at the castle, Cadance was addressing her subjects out on the main stage. Behind the curtain that had been put up to block the castle entry way from view, Shining, Flash, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Heart were watching as Cadance spoke. When the crystal ponies began to cheer, Shining stepped back from the curtain.

"Shining?" He yelled out in surprise, turning to Flash as the pegasus stood in front of several crystal pegasus guards. "You okay?"

"I'm not ready!" He cried, once again pacing in a mad panic.

"Maybe we overdid it with the third pot," Flash commented as Rainbow flew up to Shining carrying a pair of helmets.

"Take it easy!" She told him before offering the helmets, "Just pick whoever looks the most like honor guard material."

"Right...right." he nodded before taking the helmets in his magic and turning to the pegasi in line, "Here." He threw the helmets forward, accidently hitting the chosen guards in the face and blocking their vision. The others looked terrified as they watched their squad-mates struggle to remove them, all retreating back with scared whimpers.

"Get back here!" Flash yelled as he chased after the guards while Shining let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry," he turned back to the girls. "Fatherhood is way more stressful than I could ever believe."

"I can only imagine," Fluttershy nodded as Rarity walked up to the prince and showed him a box.

"Now, I know choosing the crystal of purity is a very important decision." she opened the box, "So, I have gone through the trouble of arranging them in order from incredibly pure to outrageously pure." The others glanced into the box, seeing each crystal. While they were all beautiful, each looked identical.

"Um, Rarity," Fluttershy spoke up. "Don't they all sort of...look the same?"

"Oh well, to the untrained eye perhaps." Rarity held the box out to her fellow unicorn. "What do you think, Shining Armor?" Shining stared at the box, trying to pick one, only to shake in place at the choice.

He let out several incoherent stammers before yelling, "I DON'T KNOW!" He fell to the floor and appeared to get close to the fetal position, covering his face with his front legs while constantly shaking.

"I hope Twilight and Pinkie are having better luck with the baby!" Rarity whispered to Fluttershy, Flash and Heart nodding in agreement.

"Relax," the knight replied, "This is Twilight we're talking about. Looking after a baby alicorn can't be any harder then looking after a baby dragon."

"And they've got my sister there with them," Heart added. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

Meanwhile...

"Take cover!" Soul screamed as she leapt under a table to dodge a blast of baby magic.

She peaked out from the table, her eyes shrinking as she saw the foal flying around the room in a mad frenzy. Flash's theory about her possibly being able to carry a grown pony had been proved correct, since Pinkie had grabbed hold of her and was getting pulled along for the ride.

"Well at least she's having fun!" Pinkie screamed as the baby took a sharp turn, firing a blast of yellow light at the same time.

"Pinkie!" the princess cried, "Hold her still!"

"I'm tryiiiiiiing!" Pinkie yelled as she grabbed the baby's back legs and pushed hers into the floor, only to get dragged along.

"Soul, a little help!"

"What do you want me to do?!" Soul yelped as she dodged another beam from the filly.

"ANYTHING!"

As the two flew past her, Soul leapt out and grabbed Pinkie around the waist. She then used her own wings to fly in the opposite direction to the baby, causing the three to stop in one spot. "Hurry!" Twilight took this chance to engulf Pinkie and the baby in the bubble of pink magic, Soul letting them go and falling over. "How did my old home not get destroyed everyday?! Baby alicorns are walking...flying disasters."

Twilight did an agreeing nod, "No kidding. I just hope Starlight's having better luck."

At the other side of the empire....

Starlight, Spike and the two transformed changelings were still in Sunburst's house, which was basically one giant book fort. Every wall either had a bookshelf or was covered in piles of books, the four knowing they wouldn't be surprised if the walls were made of books. Spike was watching the two unicorns from behind a book tower, seeing them sitting at opposite sides of a table with awkward stares on their faces.

The dragon's eyes darted between the two as Sunburst broke the silence, "So...the Princess of Friendship wants you and I to be friends again?"

"Heh, yeah." Starlight let out a nervous laugh, "I know. Weird, right?"

"Uh...I don't understand. Did something happen to you after I left for magic school?"

"What?" Starlight yelped, knocking the table and almost causing a tea pot to fall over. "No!" She quickly grabbed the tea pot and started pouring the liquid into a cup, "I-I-I don't see what that has to do with anything. W-w-why would you even ask that?" Sunburst's reply was to look down at her cup, Starlight now glancing down to see the liquid overflowing, "Sorry! I mean, did something happen to you after you left for magic school?"

"What?!" Sunburst yelled before looking away, "Um...no. L-l-like you said, I'm a..." he cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses, "I-I-important wizard."

The two once again fell into an uncomfortable silence, Spike gulping as he grabbed the scroll. "I'm sure there's something on Twilight's list that can help here."

He then saw a fly land on top one of the smaller book piles. "The tension between those two's so thick you could cut it with a spoon."

"Hiveena?" Spike asked as he inspected the fly, only to see another one land beside her.

"Sorry Spike," Thorax's voice came from it. "I couldn't stop her."

"Shush! I wanna hear the next part." The males rolled their eyes as they turned to the unicorns, Spike letting out a gulp.

"I hope Twilight's having's better luck with the baby."

Back at the castle, the group had finally gotten Shining Armor to calm down. Rarity was currently brushing his mane as he took deep breaths, doing whatever it took to keep himself from going nuts with worry. And as Rarity finished, Cadance, Celestia, Luna and Ruby walked off and moved behind the stage.

"Alright, it's getting about that time." Ruby spoke up, "Is everything ready?"

"We think so," Flash nodded as Shining was talking to Cadance.

"I chose the honor guard, picked the purity crystal, and I know exactly who I want to be our crystaller. So, all we need is..." He came to a stop, unable to say any words as Cadance gave him an 'are you serious' look.

"The baby?" Shining's eyes went wide before they heard Twilight's voice.

"We're here!" They turned to see Twilight and Soul trotting out of the castle, Twilight pulling a magic bubble behind her that contained the baby flying in circles while pulling Pinkie around.

"She's a really strong flyer!" The party pony told the loving parents as Cadance sparked her horn, causing the bubble to split in two with Pinkie in one and the baby in the other. However, the foal didn't appear to like being separated from its playmate, now sniffing with tears filling her eyes.

"Oh no..." Flash gulped as he the baby began to whine, the defender covering his ears. "SHE'S GONNA BLOW!"

And true to form, the baby started crying at the top of her lungs. In the worst possible scenario, she had also inherited the Canterlot Royal Voice as her cries were so loud that it could give Banshee a run for her money. Everypony else covered their ears to keep their drums from blowing, the force of her cries so strong that it caused Cadance's bubble to burst. The scream flew across the courtyard, hitting the Crystal Heart. Vibrations from the sound hit the artifact, making it stop from spinning. While this happened, the baby came to a stop as a new sound filled the air. The noise of cracking.

Everypony turned to the source as they saw millions of cracks appear across the ancient relic before finally shattering, the pieces falling to the floor. They all gasped as the foal's tantrum had tired her out, causing her to slowly float down and land in her mother's outstretched hooves. The group then gathered around the shattered remains of the crystal, Applejack being the one to break the silence. "Ah'm guessin' that's gonna make it harder to do the Crystalling."

"It's worse than that." Twilight yelled as she ran over to the curtain and pulled it open. "Without the Heart, the Crystal Empire's about to be buried under a mountain of ice and snow!"

Flash's eyes went wide at her words before taking to the air, staring at the edge of the city as they saw a bunch of dark storm clouds beginning to gather in the distance. A long sigh followed this, "Just once, can we go to a big event and not have our lives put in jeopardy?!"

The group knew that they were in serious trouble, now seeing that the entire Crystal Empire was in danger. Only time would tell if they could fix the Crystal Heart and save the day.

The Crystalling PT2

Flash Sentry had faced many challenges in his life. Most had tested his physical and mental will, while others trialed his character, defining everything he was. By now he had grown to a point where nothing would be an issue for him to face. But on the day of the newest princesses Crystalling, he learned just how wrong he was.

Currently, Flash and his friends were staring down at the shattered pieces of the Crystal Heart, all now sensing the oncoming doom brought by the frozen north. "So..." he turned to Rarity as she spoke up, "Not only can we not take part in a fabulous ancient ceremony, but we're also about to be frozen solid!"

Twilight nodded as a frown graced her face, "Without the Crystal Heart's magical protection, the entire city's about to become a winter wasteland!"

Heart turned to his mentor, "I don't suppose gluing it back together is an option?"

"Oh, it's an option," Flash replied, "Just not a very good one."

Sweetie Belle kicked one of the Crystal Heart shards, "I can't believe a foal was able to do something like this."

"And ponies wonder why I'm terrified of my magic," Soul whimpered as she tried to levitate two pieces of the heart, unable to push them back together. "How can one pony's power bring about this much trouble?"

"I'm just as shocked as you," Ruby sighed as she picked up one of the pieces, "I always believed the Crystal Heart was unbreakable. It was able to protect against the Umbrum, Sombra and the weather itself. But to be shattered by a mere scream..."

"There's gotta be something we can do to fix it." Apple Bloom chimed in.

"The Crystalling was in part designed to strengthen the Heart, and keep it from needing to be fixed," Ruby instantly replied.

"Well, it has been a thousand years since the last Crystalling," Flash added. "That's plenty of time for the power to fade." He then turned to Twilight, "There has to be some other way to keep the weather at bay."

"Yeah!" Applejack continued, "What about when King Sombra ruled the Crystal Empire and the Crystal Heart was missin'? The city wasn't covered in snow then!"

"The Heart wasn't missing," Twilight responded as Cadance, Shining and the baby trotted over to her. "It was still in the castle. Sombra had just hidden it."

"I'm afraid Twilight is correct," Celestia sighed, "And the storm clouds are already forming."

She opened the curtains so everypony could now see the black clouds, along with lightning crackling within them. Rainbow flew up to the window, a smirk of her face. "Aw, that's nothing! I can totally fly up there and bust those puppies, no problem!" She turned to fly out, but Celestia shut the curtains before she could.

"I wouldn't advise that, Rainbow Dash. Those storm clouds are not like the ones you know."

Luna nodded in agreement, "This is the far north, where the weather has a will of its own, and now it will only grow stronger, enveloping everything in its path."

"Including the Crystal Empire!" Cadance reminded them.

"And us along with it." Twilight finished as Pinkie ran over and threw her arms around the alicorn, shaking in terror. The same fear could be seen on everypony's face, Flash being the only one not terrified.

"Well then," they turned to the Knight of Friendship. "We're just gonna have to find a way to fix the Crystal Heart and save the empire...even if we have no idea what to do."

Meanwhile...

Sunburst and Starlight were still awkwardly staring at each other, pure silence filling the area as Spike was staring at Twilight's list.

"There's gotta be somethin'..." the drake mumbled as his eyes stared at the paper, the transformed Hiveena and Thorax sitting just beside him.

The unicorns had moved from the table, Sunburst now sitting on what they assumed was his work stool, the wizard now speaking up, "Listen, I know Princess Twilight is keen on the two of us rekindling our friendship, but...it's been so long. I don't see how anything on that list is going to help."

"I know, right?" Starlight chuckled, showing the first genuine smile she had worn since arriving in the empire. "It's not like there's some spell that would just...magically compel us to pick up where we left off."

"Well...actually, there's several." Sunburst replied as he got off his stool and moved over to one of the bookshelves, pulling several books, "Mistmane's Material Amity, Rockhoof's Rapport, Flash Prance's Fellow-" He stopped when he saw the look on Starlight's face, "Ship." He shut the books and let out a cough. "But I...I get the feeling the princess isn't looking for a spell."

Starlight giggled as she shook her head, "Definitely not."

"Got it!" They heard Spike yelled before he started reading. "And if all else fails, ask them to share an embarrassing moment from their past, maybe even something they regret!"

The unicorns glanced back at one another with wide-eyes, the two changelings feeling a pulse of panic explode off the two. "Uh...I don't see how that would help," Sunburst said first.

"Um, yeah!" Starlight added, her genuine smile fading into a fake one. "We should just...get out of your mane." She spun around and went to the door, grabbing Spike as she did this, "It's pretty obvious this isn't going how Twilight hoped, and I'm sure you have plenty of important work to do..."

"What?!" Sunburst yelped as his eyes darted around, "Oh!" He nodded and floated a book over. "Uh...yes! Heh...um, no rest for the...wizardly."

Starlight's ears folded as she ran out the door, "Come on, Spike." The dragon groaned as he was pulled outside, Starlight shutting the door and running down the street until she was firmly out of sight of the house. And as she got there, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Dude-"

"AUGH!" Starlight screamed as she fell over in surprise.

"That was painful." Hiveena added as her and Thorax appeared in a wisp of green flames.

"Sorry Starlight," Thorax said as he helped her up.

"Seriously, that was hard to watch." Hiveena grumbled as she crossed her front hooves, "I have never seen a more awkward conversation. And I once had an affair with a stallion whose wife walked in on us."

"Lady Hiveena!" Thorax barked back, making Hiveena shrug.

"What?! I was just being honest."

Thorax rubbed a hoof down his face, Spike patting his side before turning to Starlight. The unicorn showed the biggest frown, slowly looking away. Her hooves began to move on instinct, trotting away from the scene as Spike began to follow her.

And as they left, Thorax felt himself shiver, "Geez, it's gotten cold."

"Yeah...it has." Hiveena added as she felt herself shake as well before looking up and seeing a barrage of dark clouds, "That's not normal."

Back at the castle...

The harsh freezing winds of the far north blew into the building, sending a chill up everypony's spine. And as they shook, Twilight turned to her mentor, "There must be a spell that can restore the Crystal Heart!"

"Perhaps..." Celestia replied while glancing over at her sister.

"But it isn't something that either of us know."

Cadance handed her child to Shining. "The library here at the castle is nearly as extensive as the one in Canterlot. There's a good chance we can find something there!"

Twilight nodded in agreement before looking back at the Royal Sisters. "Can you hold off the storm?"

"Yes...for a time." Luna responded, "But even our magic will eventually succumb to the power of the Frozen North."

Celestia took to the air. "We will do what we can, but you must hurry!"

"Then I'm coming with you!" Flash suddenly yelled, making everypony turn to him.

"Are you nuts?!" Shining yelped, "Didn't you not hear what Celestia just said? That storm is way more than any normal pegasus can deal with." In that moment, he was blinded by a light that exploded off of Flash. When the light faded, the pegasus was revealed to be wearing his new Shining Guardian form.

"I'm not your average pegasus," he replied while taking out Lightbringer. In a flash, it morphed into it's evolved form. "In this form, I've got just as much power as any alicorn."

"But your new powers are still untested," Twilight reminded him, only to see a certain determined stare on the pegasi's face. The sight made her sigh as she added, "Be careful and don't overdo it."

Flash nodded back, only to feel a suddenly spike of warmth. "Yeah! Let's do this!" Heart roared as he morphed into his fire form.

"Heart, you're staying here."

Heart's face fell as he turned to his new teacher, "What?! Why?! I can shoot fire out of every part of my body. Name one other pony here that could do a better job of keeping that storm away from the city!"

"Heart..." Flash tried to make sure to not raise his voice, kneeling down as he put a hoof on the colt's shoulder, "This isn't a game, and you're far from being ready to take on something like this."

"Oh please! Compared to what I faced in the war, how is this any worse?"

"Because back then, I didn't have to worry about you getting killed," he instantly replied, "But now, there's no super healing in place. If you get hurt, badly hurt, it's not going to magically heal overnight."

"I'm willing to take that chance," Heart responded.

"But I'm not." Flash turned away from him. "Besides, your power has more important uses."

Heart blinked at this, "It does?"

"Absolutely. We need a safety net. If the weather gets too strong for us, your fire abilities could mean life or death for the ponies here." He turned back to Heart, "I can't have you exhausting yourself until it's absolutely necessary for you to use your powers." He winked at his student, "Remember the third rule?"

Heart let out a long sigh, nodding as he changed back to normal. "Alright."

Flash nodded back before flying up to the princesses. "Flash Sentry, reporting for duty." The two nodded as they took to the sky, Twilight watching them head into the storm. Celestia and Luna were firing magic from their horns while Flash used Lightbringer to slash the clouds back, pushing the storm away as Twilight turned to the others.

"I don't know how long it will take to find the right spell, but we should probably tell the crowd outside to get somewhere warm!"

They all nodded as Cadance told them spoke up next, "And try not to mention the Crystal Heart. We don't want to start a panic."

Applejack did a small salute. "Yes, ma'am! Come on girls!" With that, she headed out with Fluttershy, Rainbow and the CMC.

Once they were gone, Twilight did a long gulp. "I'm gonna need all of your help. The crystal library is enormous!"

"You can count on us, Twily!" Shining added as his daughter giggled, her horn sparking before she vanished in a bright flash. Seconds later, she reappeared clutching onto Pinkie's face.

"AAAHHH!" She screamed in surprise, her reflexes causing her to pull the baby off before she realized what she was doing. But before she could stop herself, the foal was thrown off her face and flew through the air. Shining gasped and dived to catch her, but before she could hit the ground, she puffed away.

"What the-where'd she go?!" the stallion yelped as he and Cadance then heard a giggling noise coming from inside the castle.

"This way!" The Princess of Love cried out as she ran into the building, everypony else following after her.

Heart let out a groan as he helped chase down the foal, "I'm really starting to not like babies."

"How do you think I feel?" Soul barked back, "I might end up giving birth to one of those in a decade or two."

They then saw the foal flying through one of the corridors, her magic flaring as she lifted several vases off their pedestals. She giggled when she saw them float around, clearly thinking this was some kind of game. A spark of magic came next, dropping the furniture as Rarity and Ruby dove to catch them. And as the rest continued to chase the foal, she found herself cornered in a dead-end hallway.

"Gotcha!" Heart cheered before he and Soul leapt at her, only for the baby to suddenly vanish, making them both faceplant the wall. Another light made them turn around, now seeing the foal laugh at them before flying away again.

"Darn it." Soul added, "I wonder if Starlight and Spike are doing better."

"Well Spike, looks like my biggest fears came true." Starlight whimpered as she and Spike trotted through the streets, "I wouldn't be surprised if Twilight decides to give up on me entirely."

"Aw, its not your fault." Spike patted her on the shoulder before holding up the scroll, "I'm the one who said all we needed was this list."

He quickly destroyed it with a burst of fire while Starlight shook her head and replied, "It's not the list, Spike. Or you. Or Twilight. I'm the one Sunburst doesn't want to be friends with."

"I don't remember him saying he didn't want to be friends."

Starlight came to a halt and sighed, "He didn't have to say it." She stared down at the ground, shame on her face as she let the cold chill of failure wash over her.

Spike's face shined a small frown before it morphed back into a smile, "Well, Twilight obviously thinks you're worth being friends with, and I do too!" He hugged her, "And don't forget about Heart, Soul, Flash and all the others."

Starlight barely moved at his gesture, a smile slowly forming on her face as she responded, "Um...thanks Spike." The dragon pulled away. "At least I have a few friends, even if one of them has dragon breath." She winked, causing Spike to raise an eyebrow before he exhaled.

Seeing the air in front of him, Spike's eyes went wide, "Uh...that's not dragon breath! It's freezing!"

Starlight blinked at the breath, making her shiver before a voice called out, "Took you long enough," They turned to see Hiveena and Thorax walking up, both also shaking from the cold, "It's been getting colder and colder by the second since we left Sunburst's house."

"But I thought the Crystal Heart was supposed to keep the cold weather out," Starlight replied.

"It is..." Spike said with a long gulp, "Unless something's happened!" He quickly cut into a sprint for the castle, "Come on!"

The others began to follow him, only for Hiveena to look up and point at a bunch of bright lights flashing from within the clouds. "What's that?"

"Flash Cutter!" Flash swung his sword, unleashing an extra powerful blade of light that cut through a dark cloud, only for it to almost instantly reform. "Augh! They just keep coming!"

"Stay strong Flash!" Celestia responded she blasted a cloud away. "We must try and buy as much time as we can!"

"Easier said than done," Flash replied as he pointed his sword's crossguard at the clouds. "Flash Force!" The laser struck the cloud, carving through it and destroying half a mile of the oncoming clouds. With that done, he lowered his weapon and looked back, noting the metal currently covering his wings. "Let's see what these can do." As he said that, the lights on the wings began to glow before the tips suddenly opened up. Before Flash could say anything, light exploded out of the opening, propelling Flash forward at high velocity. "WHOA!" Flash yelped as he was sent flying into the clouds.

Celestia and Luna went wide-eyed as they saw Flash zip into the clouds. The light was so bright that it illuminated them, allowing the two to watch as he shot through the dark clouds. And as he flew through them, the clouds vanished due to the heat given off by his wings.

Flash then popped out of the clouds, swerving everywhere as he yelled, "Augh! Somepony stop this crazy thing!" The alicorns nodded to each other before flying up to him, both managing to grab him in their magic. Feeling his body being yanked by their magic, Flash tried to cut the power to his wings, the light vanishing before the tips closed and he turned to the rulers. "Thanks." He said before seeing the clouds behind them start to get close again. "Look out!" As he yelled this, his horn started glowing, unleashing a beam of magic that appeared similar to his Flash Force, the laser cutting the cloud in half.

And as the beam ended, Flash suddenly felt a pulsing feeling in his head, making him clutch it with his hooves, "Ooooow," he moaned.

"Are you okay?" Celestia asked, Flash shaking his head in response.

"A little woozy...but I'm fine." He looked up at his horn, "Looks like Twilight might have been right about this thing."

"And it looks like it takes a toll on you," Luna noted as she blasted away another cloud. "Best not to test the limits of your new powers right now. Stick to using your Celestic Gear."

"Yes ma'am," Flash's saluted as he pulled out Lightbringer, "But the three of us might not be enough."

"Then how about four?" The three turned to the sudden voice, now seeing a blast of green magic shoot past them and hit down another cloud.

"Hiveena?" Flash yelped as they saw the changeling princess fly up.

She gave them all a flat stare, "So...mind explaining what the heck's going on?"

"No time to explain," Celestia retorted. "For now, just know that if we don't hold these clouds back, the whole empire could be buried."

Hiveena shined a big grin at this, "Finally, something exciting to do here." With that, she started blasting away the clouds, laughing every second as she did this. The others shared a glance, only to quickly shrug as they got back to work.

"I hope Twilight finds a way to fix the heart soon," Flash commented as he slashed away at the clouds.

Back at the castle again...

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and the CMC were now trying to convince the ponies gathered to leave to non-successful results. "We're just saying that it might not be the best idea to stay outside!" Rainbow Dash yelled out at them.

"Yeah!" Scootaloo added, "I mean, it's freezing out here. Just go home so I can go inside and warm up!"

"I camped out all night for this spot!" An older crystal pony told her while sitting in a deck chair. "I'm not about to just give it up!"

"Still, when you think about it, the view is just as good a little further back." Fluttershy chimed in.

"Like inside your house," Sweetie finished for her. "With a nice open fire, a cup of hot chocolate and a good book to read."

The crystal ponies blinked at her, one of them wearing a jacket covered in badges now speaking up, "The Crystalling ceremony is one of our most sacred traditions!" He yelled, "And when that foal is held before the Crystal Heart, I plan to be as close to the action as possible!"

"Honestly, ah don't know if there's gonna be a Crystallin'." Applejack responded, the crowd glaring at her as she let out a sigh, "The truth is, the baby's an Alicorn, and her magic's plum crazy. So ya'll might not wanna be that close after all."

"A baby Alicorn?" Deck chair mare suddenly screamed with stars in her eyes. "Wow! I can't wait to see that!"

"Oh, those little wings are probably so cute!" the jacket pony exclaimed.

A tall crystal pony with a large moustache was standing beside him, his eyes showing a smile that was hidden by his moustache. "I know, right?"

"Well that didn't work," Apple Bloom sighed, "Any other ideas?"

"Look, I am a hundred percent sure the Crystalling isn't happening." Rainbow yelled out, only for a golden beam of light to shoot through one of the castle walls. This was followed by another, filling the darkening skies with light.

The crystal ponies watched in amazement as moustache stallion turned to Rainbow. "No Crystalling, huh? Then why are they starting the fireworks show?" The crystal ponies began to cheer while the girls watched in continued horror, Rainbow face-hoofing before covering her face, Fluttershy patting her on the head.

"Come on Twilight," Applejack whispered. "Find that spell."

Twilight had barely started looking, having been too preoccupied by her niece's constant games. She and Ruby were currently speed reading through several books while Cadance searched the shelves. At the same time, Shining, Pinkie, Rarity, Heart and Soul were chasing after the foal as she flew around. "Young filly," Shining cried as he chased her into another row of shelves. "Come back here!"

The baby flew over another shelf as Pinkie appeared in front of her, "Come to your Auntie Pinkie Pie!" The earth pony cooed as she bounced after her, but the baby quickly zipped past her.

Heart was huffing in exhaustion as he and Soul kept running, "I thought...newborns....weren't supposed...to do anything...but cry!" The foal stopped in front of a bookshelf as Heart accelerated, only for the baby to pull another disappearing trick, causing him to smash into the shelf. "Wow wit WHOA!" He cried as he slammed the book wall, though luckily they were fused to the ground, not knocking it over but instead burying him in books. "Awww..." he pushed his head out, spitting out a book, "I think I'd rather face Shadow again then this thing."

Soul watched as the baby continued to fly around, giving the older ponies a run for their bits before glancing at Twilight and Ruby. "Please tell me you found something."

"I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to be looking for," Ruby replied as she slammed another book closed. "I know Princess Amore must have anticipated something like this happening, so I'm sure she looked up ways to fix the Crystal Heart if it ever got damaged." She let out a long moan, "If only she'd told somepony where she kept it." She turned to Twilight as the mare slammed another book shut.

"Bridle Buck's Boat Chants," She put it down before grabbing some more and reading their covers. "Hayhoof's Intonements, Mystic Maps and Mazes." She goaned as she looked up at Cadance. "Anything up there?"

"Not yet!" Cadance replied as her daughter popped up beside her, "I'm not even sure how these are organized!" She started skimming the shelves until she reached a spot that didn't have any books, only for the empty space to be filled with the teleporting foal. The princess smiled at her, slowly reaching out to grab her-

"BABAA!" She sneezed, causing her to shoot out a blast of magic that Cadance ducked under while the foal was thrown through the bookshelf before teleporting away.

She reappeared behind Twilight and circled her three times before flying off as her father chased her. "Shining Armor," Cadance called out. "I thought you were taking care of the baby!"

"I'M TRYING!" Shining screamed as he chased her around a corner, only to see she had completely vanished. "Huh?" A popping sound signaled the baby appearing behind him before flying off, right as Rarity jumped out from behind the bookshelf.

"Gotcha!" She yelled while magically holding a net, only for the foal to teleport again. "Oof!" She slumped down and sighed, "Or not..."

It was at this moment that Spike, Starlight and Thorax arrived at the library, now seeing the chaos. "Whoa!" They heard Pinkie cry as the mare slid into a pile of books, then ducking down to avoid one of the baby's blasts.

"What's going on?!" Starlight asked before Pinkie was suddenly dragged passed them by the baby.

"You want the long or the short version?"

"Short?" Starlight replied as she watched Pinkie now flying while holding the foal.

"The baby's an Alicorn and she accidentally destroyed the Crystal Heart, so Twilight and Cadance are looking for a spell to put it back together and save the Crystal Empire from turning into a giant wasteland of ice and snow."

"Oh....okay." Starlight responded as Shining leapt at the baby, but the alicorn flew up, the stallion now slamming into Pinkie.

Cadance flinched at the sight before looking back at the shelf, her eyes now landing on a thick black book with a golden trim. "What about this?" She flew down to Twilight and Ruby with it, "Trotter's Tome of Reliquary?"

Ruby's eyes went wide at the sight of the book, "I think I remember seeing Amore with this a few times." This made everypony grow hopeful as Twilight opened it up and flipped through the pages, a frown on her face until she landed on a particular page.

"I think this is it!" She showed the page to the others, Cadance and Ruby reading it.

"Spell of Relic Reconstitution! I can't believe we found it!"

"It's a good thing, too!" Twilight closed the book. "Without this, I don't know what we'd do!"

It was in that moment the baby appeared above the table and flew through the books, knocking them over as Pinkie leapt after her, this time catching her. But as she did this, the foal sneezed again, unleashing a blast that headed straight for Rarity. Luckily, the mare pulled a mirror out of nowhere, deflecting the beam toward Soul and Heart. Both managed to duck under it so it flew over their heads, straight for Shining Armor. He then created a shield that deflected the blast at Starlight, Spike and Thorax, the unicorn reacting with her own barrier that the beam bounced off to Twilight.

The princess quickly ducked down so the blast didn't hit her, only for the beam to hit the book. Twilight gasped as she saw a big gaping hole in the book, the others all wide-eyed as Pinkie squeaked out, "Oops."

Twilight's brain blew a small fuse as she yelled, "NO! That spell was the only thing we found in the whole library that was even close to what we needed!"

Starlight shrunk back at the statement, making her tear up, "I'm so sorry Twilight!"

Twilight turned to her and shook her head as she opened to destroyed book. "No, it's not your fault Starlight. None of us were expecting any of this."

"So...what do we do now?" Heart asked.

"Panic?" Soul suggested before Cadance turned to Twilight.

"Do you think you can remember the spell?"

Twilight slammed the book shut and turned Cadance in disbelief, "I only read it through once!"

Ruby then took the book from her hooves, "And by the looks of things, the spell had several complicated steps. There's no way anypony could remember every detail of it that easily."

"Well then, you haven't truly seen Miss Twilight Sparkle in action," Rarity told the knight. "If anypony can exactly remember something she read for the first time two minutes ago, it's her."

Twilight glanced back at the burnt book and sighed, "I'll try...but I'm not sure how long it'll take."

It was at that moment that a harsh wind blew into the room through a hole the baby had made, causing them all to shiver until Heart went into his fire mode and let out a soft heat. They glanced at the hole, now seeing the dark clouds filling the sky as Pinkie turned to Twilight, "Is quickly an option?"

"I'll help if I can," Cadance told her before turning to Shining. "But we should evacuate the city just in case!" She took the baby in her magic and flew her onto her back. "You need to lead everypony to the train station before the tracks freeze over!"

"We will." Shining replied before nodding, "But between you and Twilight, I'm sure you'll remember the spell." He and Cadance crossed horns before he rushed out of the room, Rarity, Pinkie and Ruby following after him.

"Heart, go with them." Twilight added as she turned to the colt, "They may need your abilities to keep them safe." Heart nodded and flew after the group, Soul staying behind as she was suddenly given the baby to hold while Cadance and Twilight gathered around the table. "I only hope this spell is the one we need."

She took out a scroll and started writing as Starlight trotted up to her. "Is there anything I can do?"

Twilight looked up at her. "I don't think so. Though uh, I'm just sorry about your lesson."

Starlight shook her head, "Oh, that doesn't matter now. Sunburst and I don't have anything in common anyway. He's a big important wizard, and I'm re-learning everything I ever thought I knew."

She leaned against the table and sighed as Cadance turned to her. "Sunburst? I don't recognize the name."

"He's that guy that keeps sending me and Hiveena invites," Thorax reminded her as the baby turned to him, the changeling quickly morphing into a dog, making the foal clap.

Cadance rubbed her chin in thought before saying, "If he's an important wizard, you should bring him here. Maybe he'll know what to do if the spell fails."

This caused Starlight to gasp. "Of course!" She quickly rushed out the door while Twilight turned to her dragon assistant.

"You better go with her, Spike." Spike nodded and ran away just as thunder sounded out through the castle, making them turn to the hole in the wall, "There's no way they can keep this up." She looked back down at the scroll. "We've gotta figure this out now."

"YEAH!" Hiveena screamed as she fired a barrage of magic beams, "WOOHOO! This is the most fun I've had in months!"

"Glad you're enjoying yourself," Flash told her. "But can you please stay focused on the situation at hoof?!"

"Right," Hiveena sighed before taking down another bunch of clouds.

"We won't be able to keep this up much longer sister," Luna added.

"Don't give up Luna! We must persevere!" Celestia called back as she cut down a cloud, "Please hurry Twilight!"

Back on the ground...

The others were now trying to evacuate the crystal ponies, Applejack screaming, "Ya'll can't stay here!"

"What's it gonna take ta make ya'll listen ta us!" Apple Bloom yelled as the moustache stallion ignored her and turned to deck chair mare and jacket pony.

"Did I mention this was a Royal Crystalling? When the crystaller holds the young one aloft, all of the Empire will share their joy and light, and the Crystal Heart will beat stronger than it ever has before!"

"It really is a moving ceremony!" Jacket pony shed a tear, which instantly froze.

"I really don't think it's going to happen," Fluttershy told them as Rainbow shivered.

"Come on, it's freezing out here!"

"JUST GO INSIDE ALREADY!" Scootaloo screamed while deck chair mare rolled her eyes.

"Uh, this is the Crystal Empire. We've seen snow before."

"Not like this!" Everypony looked up to see Shining Armor atop the stage with Ruby. "We don't have time to argue! Princess Cadance has decided to evacuate the city!"

This statement caused the crowd to gasp, moustache stallion beginning to cry, "But the Crystalling...!"

"I don't know if we'll ever have another Crystalling again!" Shining responded with a deep frown gracing his face, "The Crystal Heart...is shattered."

Another more powerful gasp filled the air, the crowd turning to one another in fright, deck chair mare yelling, "It's not safe here!"

Applejack face-hoofed as she barked, "That's what we've been tryin' to tell you!"

"Everypony listen," Ruby called out as Heart flew above them, showing off his flaming form. "Follow this young pegasus. He'll light the way to the train station and keep you from getting too cold." She nodded up at Heart as the colt flew down and began to unleash a constant stream of fire that hit the ground and melted the snow and ice. Shining teleported to the front of the group, leading the colt as Ruby and the Ponyville ponies took the back of the crowd, making sure nopony got left behind.

At the same time...

Starlight and Spike had now arrived at Sunburst's house, the two jumping inside and pushing the door shut, which wasn't easy due to the heavy winds battering against it. The mare then turned to see her former friend organizing his books. "Sunburst!" He looked back at her, "Haven't you looked outside?!

Sunburst raised an eyebrow before looking out the window, "Snow?" He dropped his books, "That's...not right. The Crystal Heart-"

"Is gone!" Starlight interrupted, "The baby, Shining Armor and Cadance's baby...it's an Alicorn!"

This statement made Sunburst's eyes go wide as his glasses slipped down his nose. "Really?" He pushed them back up.

"Really!" Starlight nodded. "And her magic is a little berserk and well, I guess she destroyed the Heart! But Twilight thinks she can fix it and Princess Cadance thought you could help!"

This statement made Sunburst pale, his eyes shrinking as he yelped, "Me?!"

"Yes, you!" Starlight replied as a smile appeared on her face, the mare trotting up to him as he began to backpedal, "You're an important wizard in the Crystal Empire, aren't you? It just makes sense that you could help!"

Sunburst's back then hit his bookshelf, knocking several books off. "Right," he looked away and picked up his books. "Right...right right right." As he shelved them away, he turned back to Starlight. "You know, I'd like to help, I-I-I really would. I just...I just have so much, um, important wizard work to do around here."

"Huh?!" Starlight yelled as her and Spike went wide-eyed, the mare now trotting up to him, "Sunburst, I know you're busy, but didn't you hear what I just said?!"

"Oh, I heard you, but-but like I said, when you're an important wizard, the work just piles up."

"Sunburst!"

The unicorn sighed before turning back to her, removing his glasses and cleaning them. "Look Starlight, I want to help. I really do....but I can't. I wish I could, but I just can't help you."

"What do you mean?!" Starlight replied while placing a hoof on his shoulder, only for Sunburst to glare at her and pull away.

"Are you serious?! Fixing an ancient relic?! I-I-I can't even come close to doing something like that!"

"But I thought you were an important wizard!" Starlight instantly replied.

Sunburst's eyes narrowed, making him yell, "Well you're wrong, okay?! I'm not an important wizard! I'm not even a wizard at all!"

With that, he ran out the room, leaving a very shocked Starlight and Spike behind. The room went silent as they let the information sink in, with the only sound being that of the category five blizzard raging outside. And as Starlight stared at the room Sunburst had ran into, she slowly walked inside, now seeing Sunburst sitting on the other side of the table, his back turned away from them.

He glanced back at her for a second before turning away, "I know it's hard for you to understand, but not all of us end up achieving greatness."

"What?!" Starlight yelped as she trotted up to the table and sat down, "Why wouldn't I understand that?"

"Really?!" Sunburst growled as he turned to her, "You're the protégé of the Princess of Friendship! I don't think she picks just anypony for that!"

Spike chose this moment to chime in, "Technically, she's more of a student than a protégé."

Starlight quickly glared at him, making the dragon shrink back as Sunburst rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He turned back to Starlight, "I'm sorry I'm not the big important wizard you were expecting."

"Sunburst," Starlight tried to reach out to him, "I don't care if you're a wizard or not. I'm just surprised. You always knew so much about magic. I mean, look at all these books!"

Sunburst looked away, sighing as he replied, "Yeah well, reading about magic is one thing, but you don't know what it was like at magic school! To know so much and not be able to do any of it!" He slammed his head onto the table, Starlight letting this info sink in before her face slowly turned into a frown.

"Well, you don't know what it was like to be left behind!" Sunburst looked up at her. "And then getting so bitter that you steal the cutie marks from an entire village and then get defeated by Twilight and her friends, so you travel through time to get back at them, but they beat you again and teach you about friendship, but you're so terrified ponies will find out what you did that you can't make any friends!" Halfway through this outburst, Starlight had started crying, now completely blinded by the water in her eyes that she didn't see the shocked look appearing on Sunburst's face.

The unicorn stared at her as she wiped away the tears, his glasses sliding down his nose. "You traveled through time?"

Starlight went wide-eyed at his question, unable to believe that was what he was focusing on, through Spike chose this moment to elbow her in the ribs. "See? I told you he'd be impressed." She let out a nervous smile as Sunburst got off his stool.

"I'm sorry we lost touch." He said as she got off her chair, "Maybe if I had reached out, you could have helped me at magic school, and I could have helped you to..."

"Not become totally evil?" She sighed before looking away, "Yeah...let's just say I know what it's like to have something you're not exactly proud of."

Sunburst frowned as he replied, "When you showed up thinking I was some big wizard, I...I just couldn't tell you. I'm sorry. I should have told you the truth."

Starlight nodded back, "Its...its fine. At least we worked it all out. I think Twilight would be proud of us."

"Well..." They turned to Spike as he looked out the window. "If you ever want to tell her about it, we should probably leave right now!"

This made Starlight gasp as she turned back to the stallion, "I forgot to tell you! They're evacuating the city!" She jumped up and started pushing Sunburst toward the door. "You need to get to the train station unless you've got a spell here that will drive back the Frozen North and fix the Crystal Heart so the baby can have her Crystalling!"

"The crystalling?" Sunburst whispered as he heard her words, only to go wide-eyed, "Of course!" With that, he jumped away from Starlight and ran to his bookshelf, quickly pulling books off as the two shared a glance.

Back in the skies...

The four ponies fighting the storm were now starting to get onto their last legs, Flash asking Hiveena, "Still having fun?"

"Shut up!" Hiveena barked back while destroying a cloud, only to shiver as she felt some ice creeping up her hooves and wings.

Flash then turned to the royal sisters, seeing they were also getting overwhelmed, Celestia yelling being blocked out by the heavy wind racing past his ears. He looked down next, now seeing Shining and Heart leading the citizens of the empire out of the city, Heart unleashing as much fire as he could make to help keep the path clear and dry. But that image was soon blocked out by the clouds surrounding him, the weather growing worst by the second.

"Ahh!" He heard Luna cry.

"GYAH!" Hiveena yelled.

"FLASH!" He heard Celestia scream, appearing to be using her royal Canterlot voice to be heard. "We must fall back!"

"No!" Flash replied as he continued to swipe at the clouds. "I'm...not...giving...up!" Unbeknownst to him, the gems on his armour were beginning to glow. "Twilight...will find a way." The light spread around the rest of his body and armor as he closed his eyes. "She needs more time. That's why...I WON'T QUIT!" He opened his eyes as the the light exploded off his body, vaporizing the clouds around him and the three mares. Celestia, Luna and Hiveena suddenly found themselves inside an orange construct, a warmth embracing them while also melting the ice off their bodies.

At the same time, Heart melted more of the road while Ruby tried to make a crystal barrier on either side of the path. But as this happened, Heart's flames began to shrink, the snow around him not evaporating. As he did this, the snow around him just turned to water instant of being vaporized, making him damp.

"I won't be able to keep this up much longer!" He told the others as his flames grew weaker.

"Just keep trying!" Shining yelled as a frozen Rainbow landed next to him, her wings now almost fully cover in ice.

And as she appeared, a bright light suddenly exploded out of the clouds. Everypony flinched at the sight, closing their eyes for a second, waiting for their sights to adjust before looking up and going wide-eyed.

While this happened, Twilight and Cadance were standing in front of the shattered heart, both trying to remember the spell to fix it. Soul and Thorax were continuing to keep the baby occupied, Thorax jumping between multiple different animal forms to keep her from getting bored. But as Twilight continued to scribble on the scroll, a bright light suddenly flew through the curtains surrounding them. "What's that?" Soul asked before Cadance opened the curtains and let the light in, blinding most until their eyes adjusted at a new sight.

Twilight could barely believe her eyes, the alicorn reminded of something from when she, Flash and the Rainbooms defeated the Sirens. Flying above the Crystal Empire was a giant alicorn made entirely out of orange light. It was around the same height of the one that had defeated the Dazzlings, maybe even a little bigger. Within the avatar was Celestia, Luna and Hiveena, all glancing around as they floated inside the beast's main body.

"What the heck is going on?" Hiveena asked before looking up at the head of the alicorn, now seeing Flash hover there.

"Is this one of his new powers?" Celestia asked.

"Incredible..." Luna whispered.

Flash opened his eyes, blinking as he stared at the clouds surrounding the empire. As he did this, the horn on his head glowed, now unleashing a light into the avatar's horn. Magic then exploded out of the horn, striking the cloud and cutting into it before completely evaporating that part of the cloud for a good mile.

The avatar then spun around, dragging the beam of light with it as it destroyed more clouds surrounding the empire. As the light flew overhead, it heated the empire, making the snow and ice melt, warming everypony up as many began to sigh in relief at the sight.

But as the avatar did a full circle to destroy every cloud surrounding the city, Flash's body suddenly ceased up. An overwhelming feeling of exhaustion overcame him as the avatar suddenly exploded, its light vanishing. He let out a long moan next, his armor instantly disappearing as his wings gave out.

And as he began to fall, a black blur swooped under him, "Gotcha!" Hiveena said as he let out a groan, "Not bad Sentry. Not bad." Celestia and Luna then hovered over, both asking if he was okay.

At the same time, Shining Armor looked up at the clouds and saw that despite Flash's efforts, they were still growing closer. "We're not out of this yet! This way!"

"Just a little bit further, y'all!" Applejack added, "The station's just ahead!"

But as she said this, she turned to see Starlight, Sunburst and Spike stopping in front of them, blocking their escape as Hiveena and the sisters flew down, "We have to go back!" They heard Starlight cry out.

"I know how to stop this!" Sunburst added, the group blinking at the unicorn as Celestia smiled at them, seeing the confidence on their faces.

After the avatar had vanished, Twilight had gotten back to work, knowing she had no intention of letting Flash's hard work go to waste. "Um..." she stopped writing and looked it over, "I think that's everything."

Cadance looked the spell over, showing a slight grimace, "It looks right to me, but..." She turned to her sister, "There's only one way to find out!"

Twilight nodded and turned to Soul. "We may need some help with this."

"Me?!" Soul yelped, "B-b-but you know I can't control my magic! How could I cast something like that?!"

"You won't need to cast it," Cadance replied, "Just keep your mind clear and fire your magic at the heart after us. The blank magic will mix with ours and help power them up." Cadance could still see the unsure look on the filly's face, the princess moving over to place a hoof under her chin. "I know how you feel. I was a pegasus before transforming just like you. Having all that magic completely out of nowhere can feel daunting, but I realized the first step to learning how to control your magic is believing you can."

Soul shrunk away at her words, "But I...I can't...." Her eyes darted to Twilight, seeing a calm smile and nod from her teacher. Looking back at Cadance, she took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright. I'll...I'll try."

"That's all any of us can do," Twilight told her before she and Cadance sparked their horns. Twilight was the first the fire her spell at the shards, causing them to glow and slowly float into the air. Cadance then began to mix magic in, Soul closing her eyes as she cleared her head before shooting a thin stream of magic out at the shards were starting to slowly put themselves together and began to take shape.

Thorax turned back to normal as he held the baby in his hoof, both him and the foal intrigued by the light show. The three pumped as much magic as they could into the Crystal Heart as it slowly came together piece by piece. And as the last part connected to the rest, they kept the spell up for a few more seconds to make sure it was properly repaired before cutting the magic.

They then saw the repaired relic, smiling at the sight before the magic faded. And as it did, the crystal fell apart, its pieces hitting the floor.

"No...the spell failed," Twilight gasped as her ears drooped down.

Soul let out a sniff, tears trying to appear in her eyes, "I'm sorry Twilight. I didn't do enough magic and-"

"It's not your fault," the Princess of Friendship interrupted. "This was my spell, and it failed."

"But-"

"Don't blame yourself for this." Twilight said as she put a hoof on the filly's shoulder, shaking her head, "We just have to figure out a different solution."

"So...what do we do?" Thorax asked as Cadance took the baby. "Keep trying, or get out of here while the getting's good?"

"I wish there was another way to repair the Heart," Twilight sighed. "But I don't know what else to do."

"An old student of mine believes he does." Twilight turned to the voice and saw all her friends trotting in, Celestia and Luna stepping aside to reveal Sunburst. And as he moved over to the shards, Twilight spotted Flash riding Hiveena and gasped.

"Flash!" She yelped as she ran over and levitated him off the bug. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," he moaned out, "Just...tired."

As he said this, Sunburst turned to Twilight, "The baby did this?!" Twilight nodded and showed him the scroll she had been working on.

"We tried putting it back together with-"

"The spell of Relic Reconstitution," Sunburst finished before scrunching up the scroll and throwing it. "No, that won't do it." He reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a book and a scroll. "The Crystal Heart's been around for millennia. Restoring a relic like this is way beyond one spell." He showed the book to Twilight, "You need to combine it with something else. Something unique to the relic itself." He paused as he said this, only to see the alicorn just staring at him, "Something that strengthens it and provides it with power?"

Twilight blinked at him before a bulb went off in her head, "The Crystalling!"

Sunburst nodded back. "Combining that spell with the light and love of everypony gathered for the ceremony." He turned to the window, seeing the weather now getting closer. "Thanks to Flash, we don't have to worry about the weather for a bit." He then handed the scroll to Cadance and Shining. "This is a spell named Fledgling's Forbearance, which should curb the little one's power fluctuations." He smiled down at the baby, who giggled and started playing with his beard.

"You must be Sunburst," Cadance responded, "Starlight said you were a powerful wizard."

Sunburst shook his head, "Oh, I'm no wizard." This statement got a bunch of gasps and cries of 'What?!' from those around him, Hiveena laughing.

"What, you're surprised?!" Ruby glared at her as Starlight spoke up.

"But he studied magic his whole life! You should see his house! And since nopony has any better ideas, what do we have to lose?!" Celestia nodded in agreement as Shining took the baby in his magic and smiled at Sunburst.

"I had planned on asking Twilight to be our crystaller, but since it seems like she'll be busy..." He floated his daughter over to Sunburst, his eyes going wide as he took her in hoof.

"Oh! I would uh...I'd be honored!"

"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Twilight added as she pointed to the window.

"Let's get out there and save the Empire!" Flash yelled as he tried to gallop, only to trip due to his exhaustion. Luckily, Heart was there to catch him.

"Maybe let the rest of us handle this," Cadance told him before she, Shining, Sunburst, Spike and the rest of the Mane Seven, changelings and CMC all ran outside. At the same time, Twilight, Starlight, Soul, Celestia, Luna and Ruby gathered around the Crystal Heart fragment. Twilight started using the spell again with Celestia and Luna helping, the Crystal Heart once again taking shape.

Soul took a deep breath as she fired a blast of blank magic while Starlight grabbed the scrunched up scroll and opened it up, she and Ruby reading it through and nodding before the two unleashed the spell. Flash and Heart sat there, watching in amazement as the spell put the relic back together, both praying Sunburst's plan would work.

Outside, the group ran onto the stage with Sunburst in the center holding the baby. Cadance and Shining kissed their daughter before casting the spell Sunburst had given them, the baby now glowing and floating out of Sunburst's hooves. At that moment, Rarity took out the box holding the purity crystals that Sunburst took in his magic before holding it aloft. "Citizens! May I present the newest member of the Crystal Empire!" Everypony looked up at the baby as she spread her wings and giggled, the glow from the spell exploding off her, causing the crowd to cheer.

"She's beautiful!" Moustache stallion cheered.

"Oh!" Jacket pony wiped away a tear, "It's just so moving!"

As he said this, he bowed, causing the ground around him to glow. The rest of the crystal ponies did the same, the street soon shining before making the city start to glow. Sunburst lowered the purity crystal to the ground next, touching the making the light on the streets absorb into the crystal. The unicorn then galloped off the stage through the curtain, running up to the Crystal Heart as the six mares worked to keep it together.

"I can't...hold it...much longer." Soul whimpered as Sunburst ran up to the relic.

"You don't have to!" He yelled before stabbing the crystal into the Crystal Heart. As soon as he did this, the crystal was sucked inside, completing the spell. The magic users ceased their spell, stepping back as the light from the Crystalling spread throughout the Crystal Heart and caused it to glow. It shook for several moment before spinning.

Faster and faster it spun, becoming a blur. "Is it supposed to do that?" Heart asked, the adults nodding back.

"Oh yeah," Flash replied, "Just watch. You're gonna like this." As he said that, the Crystal Heart unleashed a shockwave of magic the flew out in all directions, turning everypony it touched into a crystal form. Even Thorax and Hiveena were transformed, the wave continuing to fly out and get rid of the snow and ice that were beginning to build up once again. Within seconds, the clouds approaching the borders of the Crystal Empire were pushed back, all vanishing thanks to the magic of the repaired Crystal Heart.

At the same time, the baby began to float down and land in her parents hooves before the two rubbed their heads against hers. "Best Crystalling ever!" They heard Deck Chair Mare announce before they walked back inside, seeing Twilight and Flash at the bottom of the stairs while Heart and Soul were examining their new looks.

As this happened, Starlight glanced back at Sunburst with a smile, "For a pony who isn't great at magic, you did pretty well."

"Indeed," the unicorns turned to Celestia. "I'm glad to see you've found a way to share your unique gift, Sunburst. You may be more of a wizard than you think."

Ruby then bowed to him, "You just saved the Crystal Empire and its ponies. You have my never ending gratitude."

Sunburst blushed as he saw the thanks from Celestia and Ruby before turning back to Starlight, the two smiling at one another as they saw everything had turned out alright.

Everything after that was a complete blur for the group. After the excitement of nearly being frozen alive, everypony was happy that the rest of their visit went smoothly. Flash and Ruby had even got to show Heart the Hall of Knights. And as time passed, it soon began the time to return home. As this happened, it was the exact same moment Grand and Twilight's parents arrived by train.

"Sorry we're late," Grand told them while holding what looked like a birthday present. "Next time I'm shopping by mail so I don't miss anything."

Night Light nodded in agreement, "You would not believe the crazy weather that delayed our train. Came out of nowhere."

Velvet giggled as she trotted over to Shining, staring at the foal in his arms. "But it was all worth it to see this peaceful little angel!" She looked the baby over, now being overwhelmed by her cuteness. "Awww, so sweet!" She reached out, "Come to your grandmare!" The baby giggled and reached out to her, the others chuckling.

"Eeyup," Applejack added, "Peaceful now, anyway."

Twilight nodded back, "I suppose that spell really did the trick!" In that moment, the baby started charging up a sneeze. This caused everypony to scream and duck for cover, Heart and Soul jumping onto Flash's back and trying to hide behind his wings.

But then the baby sneezed...and it was just a normal sneeze, the ponies un-clenching as Shining looked down at her.

"We have Sunburst to thank for that."

Cadance let out a sigh of relief, "I just hope he takes his role as crystaller seriously. Something tells me that the baby will need a pony like him to look to for magical advice."

"Cadance, darling," Velvet took the foal in her magic and floated her over to her hooves. "Aren't we gonna name the poor little dear, or are we gonna spend our entire visit just calling her 'the baby'?"

Cadance and Shining shared a smile, both nodding as Cadance replied. "We were thinking...Flurry Heart."

Shining turned back to everypony. "You know, to remember the occasion."

"Oh, goodness," Rarity sighed, "How could anypony forget?!"

Scootaloo nodded in agreement, "Yeah! I'm gonna be having nightmares about it for weeks..."

Twilight then trotted over to her niece, "I think it's lovely."

She kissed Flurry as Flash let out a chuckle. "But it's probably best of keep that spell on hoof in case she needs another tune up. Or heck, keep it for the next one."

The new parents were surprised by this statement while the others laughed, Cadance and Shining clearly not planning to extend their family any time soon. After that, the group said their goodbyes before getting on the train. The last one to board was Starlight, Twilight checking on her through the window to see her and Sunburst talking until they hugged. And as Starlight headed for the train, Twilight pulled her head in and frowned.

"What's wrong, Twilight?" Spike asked from the seat across from her.

Twilight shook her head. "I don't know Spike. I think I have a lot to learn about being a teacher."

Flash and Spike shared a glance before the dragon asked, "What are you talking about? Your lesson went perfectly! Starlight and Sunburst got over their past and rekindled their friendship!"

"No thanks to me. I know a lot happened. I just...I wish I could have given my pupil the attention she deserves." She looked back as Starlight walked into the carriage and sat down beside Soul and across from Fluttershy and Sweetie.

Flash then placed a hoof on her shoulder, "Hey, this is your first time being a serious teacher. I know I've still got a long way to go before I'm ready to properly teach Heart." He turned to his student, who was talking to Rainbow and Scootaloo. "But that doesn't mean I shouldn't try."

"He's right," Spike added, "I know she needed to be put on the right path, but giving her the space to make her own decisions worked pretty well." He sat back and smirked, "Isn't that how Celestia taught you?"

Twilight blinked at him, only to remember how Celestia taught her. The memories made her go over Starlight in her head, knowing that simply giving Starlight the answers to her problems would have taught her nothing. If Starlight was going to learn about friendship, she needed to learn the same way Twilight had originally learned about it: Experiencing it.

The alicron glanced back at Starlight, seeing her stare out the window, waving at Sunburst as the train began to pull away. She then smiled back at Spike. "You know, I never thought about it that way...but I guess you're right."

Flash and Spike chuckled back, "Maybe you're a better teacher than you thought."

"And you'll get better in time," Flash finished as the train chugged down the tracks. Their adventure in the Crystal Empire had been an exciting one, but there were many more adventures awaiting them back home. And no matter what these now trials were, together they would have no trouble overcoming them.

Author's Notes:

Well, this was different. Having a season opener as...well...a season opener. Hope you enjoyed it. Now we can get on to more slice of life stuff, with a little insanity thrown into it.

Hope you liked some of Flash's new abilities. Thank you to those who suggested the avatar.

The Heart and Soul of Ponyville

"Delivery!"

That was the first thing Randolph heard when he answered the door that morning. The speaker was a bulky unicorn with a cart full of crates, two of which he magically lifted off the cart along with a clipboard. "Sign here." Randolph respondd by taking a pen out before the unicorn soon left, the elderly butler pushing the crates into the mansion.

While this happened, the owners of the mansion Filthy Rich, Spoiled Rich and their daughter, Diamond Tiara walked up as the butler said, "Delivery for you, sir."

"Ah," Filthy chuckled, "My shipment of lemons and oranges! And two days early! Perfect!"

Diamond began to trot toward the door, "Alright, I'm off." Filthy nodded back while her mother just walked away, making the stallion roll his eyes. Spoiled hadn't been too happy since Diamond chose to turn away from her bratty ways and embrace the true meaning of her cutie mark.

"Alright pumpkin, have a good day." Tiara gave her father a kind smile before walking off, Filthy now turning back to the crates. "Now, how do I get you to the store?" He let out a long sigh, "Of all the days to give my movers the day off."

He then walked away as well, trying to find somepony else as he left them alone in the hallway. The crates remained still for a moment until the lemon crate began to rattle, its top slowly opening as a small fur brown arm reached out and showed off a trio of sharp black claws.

"ONE...TWO...THREE...FOUR...FIVE!" This counting lesson was made by one Flash Sentry, he and Heart being in the training room as the pegasi pair were busy running through the rudimentary positions of a basic pegasus fighting style.

"One!" The two threw a single punch, Heart a few seconds slower than Flash, the colt much less stable in the technique. "Two!" They shifted their wings with a horizontal swipe, Heart still behind his teacher. "Three!" Both extended two hooves up while the back right leg was upward, now standing on one hoof. But as they did this, Heart found himself wobbling, "Four!" As Heart tried to change positions, his wings began to rapidly flap, panicking as he tripped and fell face first.

"Augh!" He yelped, the colt stretching his face off the floor, "Ow...sorry. I messed up again."

Flash laughed and shook his head, "Don't worry about it. It's fine." He then grabbed a towel, throwing it over to Heart. "Trust me on this, it'll be impossible to master this stuff over night. You should have seen Soarin teach me this stuff...my face hurt so much." Heart chuckled at this as he stood up, Flash patting his shoulder, "Don't worry, you'll get it. You've just gotta keep trying and it'll slowly become as easy as breathing." Heart nodded as he wiped his sweat off, right as the training room doors open to show Twilight, Scootaloo and Soul.

"Hey boys," Twilight chimed in before levitating a saddlebag over to Heart. "Time for school."

Heart gulped as the bag was placed on him, his body shaking like a leaf. Today was going to be his and Soul's first day of school, the sight of the shivering colt making Flash pat his shoulder, "Hang on there kiddo. You don't have to be scared, it's just school."

"Like you'd know," Twilight added while rolling her eyes, "You never even went to school."

"No, but you always seemed to enjoy it, so it can't be that bad." Flash replied, only to rub his chin with a cocky smirk, "Then again, it was you, and you are a abnormal bookworm...and we haven't had the best times with Sunset's school and-ow!"

"Stop scaring them." Twilight grumbled as she smacked him with her tail.

"Heh heh...sorry." Flash responded as they arrived at the castle's front door.

Twilight then turned to the siblings, "Now, just remember to do what the teacher tells you and try to stay out of trouble."

"We'll be on our best behavior," Soul instantly replied as Twilight grabbed a comb and tried to brush Heart's mane.

"Hey!" He cried while pulling away, Twilight giving him a smile.

"Just want you to make a good impression."

"They'll be fine," Scootaloo added as she pushed the door open. "They'll have me and the rest of the crusaders to keep an eye on them." The filly pulled her scooter out and jumped on it. "Now come on, you might have been told to be a few minutes late, but I don't get that luxury."

With that, she beat her tiny wings as she rode away from the castle, Heart and Soul taking to the air. "See you later!" Soul yelled back at Twilight.

"Have fun!" The princess replied, she and Flash waving goodbye while the three made their way through town. Heart and Soul followed Scootaloo as she weaved through the streets, narrowly evading ponies with incredible skill and precision.

"Wow," Heart whistled, "She's got skill."

Soul nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Think she gives lessons?"

The three soon arrived at the edge of town, now outside of the Ponyville Schoolhouse. There they saw several young ponies being gathered around the entrance with the pony known as Cheerilee ushering them all inside, ticking their names off the register at the same time.

"Alright," she told them, "Everypony take your seats. I have an important announcement to make." When all but one of her regular students were accounted for, she looked up to see Scootaloo rolling up with her newest students. "Just on time," she gestured to the filly, "You can head inside." Scootaloo nodded and went in as Cheerilee turned to Heart and Soul. "Nervous?"

The two exchanged glances before Soul replied, "Um...a little."

"Yeah..." Heart added while rubbing his hoof, "We uh...haven't been around many of our age till now."

Cheerilee shook her head, "Well, you don't have to be scared. All the kids in my class are friendly, so you shouldn't have any issues making friends with them. Just stay out here until I call you in." They nodded as Cheerilee walked inside, the teacher now seeing everypony in their regular seats. However, many of the students were puzzled by the two new desks and chairs that had be placed at the back of the room. "Good morning class."

"Good morning Miss Cheerilee!" The young ponies replied in perfect unison.

"Well class, I have a very special announcement to make. We have two new students joining our class today. A few of you will know them, and some more of you may have seen them around town." The classes eyes went wide, all having an idea of who it might be. "Now...they haven't had much contact with ponies their own age, so I want you all to do your best to make them feel welcome. Understand?"

"Yes Miss Cheerilee!"

The teacher nodded before turning to the door, "You can come in now." With that, the twins sheepishly tip-hoofed in, both slowly turning toward the students as Cheerilee spoke up, "Class, please say hello to Fire Heart and Shining Soul." The class gave their various ways of saying hello while the two said hello back. "Now, I'm sure you're all curious about them, so why don't we start with a few simple questions. Who has one?" Almost every hoof in the class flew into the air, Cheerilee picking Twist first.

"Are you a princess?" She asked Soul, the filly blushing before shaking her head.

"No..." she spread her wings. "I used to be a pegasus, but then I was turned into an alicorn by a...really powerful being. I don't know if that means I'll be a princess though."

Twist nodded her head as a few more hooves went down, Cheerilee pointing to a colt next, "Rumble? You have a question?"

"Is it true you're Flash Sentry's apprentice?"

"Heck yeah," Heart replied while puffing up his chest. "Future Royal Knight right here!"

The class let out several awes as Rumble spoke up again, "And is it true what Scootaloo said about you being able to set yourself on fire?"

"Rumble," Cheerilee warned, "You had your question."

However, Heart nodded back, "Yeah, I can do that. I'd show you right now, but..." He bit his lip as he said his next words, "Uh...maybe when we're outside."

The next hoof to fly into the air was that of a colt named Button Mash, Cheerilee choosing him. "Is it true you two are a thousand years old?" The rest of the class turned to him with raised eyebrows, making him bark back, "What?! I heard Sweetie say something to Apple Bloom about them being the same age as Princess Celestia."

The class turned to Sweetie, then the twins. "Well..." Soul rubbed the back of her head, "I guess...technically we are?"

"It's um....really weird." Heart added, "We were born like...two thousand years ago, but something happened and we got sent to this time without ageing." Half the class went wide-eyed while the others just gave them deadpan stares.

"Alright, I think that's enough questions." She turned to the twins, "Why don't you sit down at the empty seats in the back, then we'll start today's lesson."

The two nodded and trotted over to their desks as Cheerilee tapped a stick on the chalkboard. What followed was a few hours of learning, the two trying to remain quiet for the most part, not talking or answering a question unless asked. Luckily, the crash courses Twilight had put them through allowed the pair to answer a few of the questions, making so they didn't look like total idiots. But it was clear they still had much to learn about life in Equestria.

Eventually, lunch time came around, the ponies running out to the schoolyard to enjoy themselves. Heart and Soul were the last out, the two soon finding the CMC sitting at a bench, moving over to the three.

"Hey," Heart caught their attention, "Mind if we join you?"

"Sure," Sweetie replied before moving to make room for the two. "You don't have to ask. We're all friends."

"Thanks," Soul responded as she sat down and took out their lunches. Scootaloo, Heart and Soul had a lunch Spike had prepared for them, that being a simple daffodil and daisy sandwich along with a sweet potato muffin. Apple Bloom had a jam sandwich with an apple and Sweetie had a small salad.

"So how you liking school so far?" Sweetie asked while snacking on her salad.

"And don't worry if you say you're bored," Scootaloo added, "That's natural for school."

Soul gave them a sheepish smile, "Actually...I'm enjoying it."

"Meh, it's alright," Heart added as he gulped down his sandwich. "Though I think Flash's lessons are more fun."

"You just wanna do sweaty workouts and burn things." Soul giggled, making Heart roll his eyes.

"Hey, I like my fire powers, and I bet that Flash is doing something way cooler than what we're doing right now!"

"I wouldn't say that." Scootaloo chimed in, "My bro tells me the patrols he does around town are usually pretty boring."

"No way!" Heart barked back, "I bet he's doing something super awesome with the town's defenders!"

Meanwhile...

Flash, Iron, Lightning and Grand sat there in the middle of the town square, staring at the village as its inhabitants walk around while they had bottles of apple cider in their hooves. Pure peace and quiet embraced the area as the four stared out at the town, all of them beginning to speak up.

"Yep." Flash said first.

"Yup." Iron added.

"Yup." Lightning continued.

"Mhmm." Grand finished.

Flash turned to the group, "Hey, wanna play a round of Go Fish?"

"Sure. Its not like any monster attacks are happening today."

"I bet Flash is doing some crazy action-packed adventure of him fighting a bunch of monsters attacking the town right now!" Heart yelled while waving his hooves around.

"Ponyville isn't that chaotic." Scootaloo replied, "And that's even when Discord does visit us."

"But-"

"Hey dude!" interrupted a sudden voice, making Heart turn around to see Rumble, his tail wagging as he added, "Can you show us that fire stuff now?!"

"Rumble!" Apple Bloom yelled, "He's eating his lunch!"

"Aw, come on! Show us before Miss Cheerilee comes out and stops you!" The others glared at him while Heart simply wolfed down his food before wiping his lips.

"Alright," he then flared his wings, "But I'll have to do it in the air so I don't burn anything."

"Heart..." Soul grabbed his hoof, "That might not be a good idea."

"It'll only be for a minute." He quickly took flight next, flapping above them before morphing into his fire form. This caught the attention of the rest of the schoolyard, most gawking at him as he flew down and hovered above the ground so he didn't set the grass on fire. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"That's awesome!" Rumble cheered as Button Mash walked up and nodded, seeing Heart turn back to normal.

"Dude, you're like a video game character!"

This statement made Heart raise an eyebrow, making him ask, "Video...game? What's that?"

Button's eyes slowly went wide, "You...don't know what a video game is?!" Heart did a slow nod back, only to be suddenly hugged by the brown colt. "You poor soul!" Literal tears began to flow out of his eyes, "To never know the joy of playing a video game! Its too horrible!" Heart tried to push him off, but was no match for his earth pony strength, only for Button to suddenly release him and look him in the eye. "You're coming to my house after school! I'll show you all the best games!"

"Huh?!" Heart yelped before falling over, Rumble helping back up.

"Button, you can't just force him to-" Sweetie started, only for Heart to speak up.

"Okay." Everypony turned to the colt, seeing him sheepishly smile, "What? I wanna know what those video games are."

"YES!" Button cheered before turning to Rumble, "You wanna come?"

"Um...sure," Rumble replied, "I'm always up for playing video games."

Soul watched as the three colts broke into a conversation, happy to see her brother was starting to make friends. But as she did this, she turned to the crusaders and saw they were deep in conversation as well, already seeing she couldn't follow it.

"Wait! Come back!" yelled a sudden voice, the alicorn turning to see a gray earth pony with glasses running up to her. She appeared to be chasing a rolling orange, Soul spreading her wings to shoot a small breeze to stop the fruit. And as the filly got up to her, "Thanks." The girl took the fruit in her hooves, only to gasp at the sight of the filly, "Oh uh...you're Soul, right?"

"Yes," Soul nodded while the CMC turned to the two.

"Oh. Hey Silver Spoon." Apple Bloom said in a low tone, Soul turning to see uncomfortable looks on the four fillies faces.

"Hello...crusaders," Spoon replied while starting to backpedal, only for another filly to walk up.

This one was pink and wearing a tiara on her head, which she quickly spoke up as she stared at Soul, "Hey. Wow, you're even cooler up close!"

"Oh, um..." Soul began to shuffle her hooves, "Thank...you?"

The filly flinched at Soul's reaction, making her look away before saying, "Sorry, don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I uh...I'm still getting used to...being nice."

Soul raised an eyebrow at this while the CMC stifled a laugh, only for Soul to hold out a hoof, "It's fine. It's nice to meet you."

"You too," the filly shook her hoof. "I'm Diamond Tiara, and this is Silver Spoon." She then shined a big smile, "Hey, do you maybe wanna come over to my house after school?"

This made Soul go wide-eyed, the crusaders quickly hopping off the bench as Scootaloo spoke up, "Diamond...you're not trying another Twilight Time incident, are you?"

"No!" she rapidly shook her head. "Tell you what, why don't you all come to my house? We could go swimming." This made all four raise eyebrows, the fillies soon nodding back.

"Alright, we'll be there."

"Great!" Diamond Tiara clapped her hooves before the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

And as the young ponies made their way back to the schoolhouse, Soul turned to the CMC, "Did something happen between you and those two? You seemed a little...suspicious of them."

"Well...you could say we that." Apple Bloom tried to reply, "We have a...history."

"Diamond Tiara wasn't always the nicest pony in Ponyville," Sweetie added, "But she's really turned over a new leaf over the last few months."

Scootaloo nodded in agreement, "She's actually the reason the three of us have our cutie marks."

"Really?" The trio nodded back as they entered the schoolhouse and took their seats, Soul turning to Diamond and Spoon, seeing the calm smiles on their faces.

Meanwhile...

Filthy had just returned to his house while being followed by a pair of unicorns. "Sorry for calling you in today lads," Filthy added as he opened the front door, "But if we don't get these crates into storage, the fruit could spoil."

"It's fine sir," one of them replied as they stepped inside.

"We're happy to help," the other added, quickly going up to the crates...only to notice their lids were off.

"What?!" Filthy yelped as he looked into the crate, his heart almost exploding when he saw both were empty. "WHAT HAPPENED?!" He screamed as Randolph walked up to the door, "Randolph, were these crates empty when they arrived?!"

He shook his head. "No sir. They were definitely full when I pushed them inside."

"So then what happened to my oranges and lemons?!" He yelled before turning to his workers, both shrugging. "Well don't just stand there! They have to be somewhere! Let's get looking!" The three nodded before they all spread out into the mansion, unaware of a small furry shadow staring down at them from the staircase.

The school bell rang, signaling the end of the school day.

As soon as they were set free, Heart and his new friends headed toward Button's house while Diamond Tiara lead the girls to hers. The colts were the first to their destination, Heart now going to a quaint little two story house that wasn't too far from the school.

"Mom!" Button yelled as he threw the door open, "I'm home!"

"I'm in the kitchen!" A feminine voice called back, the three heading into the room. There they found a light brown earth pony mare with a brown mane and tail, her cutie mark being a heart and a baby bottle. "Oh," she turned to see her son's friends, "Hello Rumble, and..."

"Heart," he replied.

"Oh. Nice to meet you." She responded while showing a big smile and pointed at herself, "My name's Heart too. Cream Heart."

The colt went wide-eyed before sighing, "I'm Fire Heart...and my name is starting to get a lot more common than I thought." He began to whisper to himself, "First an alicorn foal, and now this..."

Cream then tilted her head, only to gasp, "I remember now! Haven't I seen you hanging around with Flash Sentry?"

"Yes ma'am!" Heart nodded as Rumble chuckled.

"He's Flash's new sidekick."

"Apprentice," Heart corrected.

"Same thing. You should see him when he lights himself on fire."

Cream raised an eyebrow at this, only for Button to speak up, "We're gonna be playing games in my room. Heart's never played video games before, so I'm showing him what he's missing out on."

"That's nice dear. Hey, why don't you boys stay for dinner? I can go get us a pizza from Mr. Domino." Button and Rumble's eyes went wide before licking their lips while Heart just blinked at her.

"What's a...pizza?" This statement made them all gasp, Rumble even appearing to faint at the question.

"Where have you been living your whole life?!" Button yelped. "How can you not have had pizza before?!" Heart just shrugged as Button turned to his mother, "He needs a pizza with everything on it!"

Cream laughed while Rumble seemed to be coming around. "Coming right up. Say, why don't you three help yourself to what's in the fridge and start playing while I go get it." The boys nodded as she headed out, Rumble heading for the fridge first.

"Let's see..." his eyes darted around, "We got soda, OJ, purple stuff and-aw yeah! Sunshine D!" He pulled the large container of orange liquid out of the fridge as Button got a few glasses out of the cupboard. "Wait until you try this. It's awesome."

Heart took a quick swig of the drink next, only to go wide-eyed with oranges in his eyes. "Wow...that's good."

"I know, right? Its awesome!"

"Come on! Let's show Heart everything!" Button chimed in, gesturing to them to follow. They soon went into Button's room, which was filled with a bunch of different toys, but more than anything, it was jam-packed with video games.

"Wow..." Heart whispered before accidently kicking something, the colt looking down to see a strange device with a screen and several buttons.

Button picked it up, "That's my Game-Colt. It lets you play video games anywhere." He switched it on and showed the screen to Heart, the colt squinting his eyes at the electrical device. "Right now it's got a game called Shopumon loaded."

"Shopumon?" Heart asked, taking the game and watching as it showed the game's menu.

"Yeah!" Button nodded. "It's a really fun game were you use monsters to battle other monsters. And sometimes, when you beat the monster, you get this cool medal that you can use to make your own version of that monster."

"Huh. Cool..." Heart replied as he pressed a few of the buttons, only to see it open a folder that showed six strange creatures. The odd thing was that they were all the same creature, except they were different colors.

Button slung his head over the pegasi's shoulder, "Right now, I'm doing a run-through using the same Shopumon but each one's a different element. It's called Serpentore, and I've got a fire, water, plant, electric, wind and earth element."

"Isn't that kinda boring?" Heart asked.

"Nope!" Button shook his head. "Because Shopumon evolve when you get them strong enough, and what they become is different depending on what element it is. Like, my fire Serpentore could evolve into a fire dragon while my water Serpentore will become a leviathan."

"Oh...awesome."

Button then went over to a TV and began plugging something in. As he did this, Rumble turned to Heart, "So what's it like to be Flash Sentry's apprentice?"

"It's great!" Heart cheered as he put the device down, "Flash is super awesome! I just hope I can be like him someday..."

"He is pretty cool," Rumble replied, "Especially since he got that cool golden armor that just appears on him."

"You mean the Sacred Light?" Heart asked, Rumble shrugging back, "Wait until you see his new look. It's even cooler now, and he can even make this giant alicorn out of magic that's as tall as Twilight's castle." Rumble's eyes slowly grew wide in amazement. "It's awesome."

"Wow..." Rumble whispered.

"Hey Rumble!" They turned to Button, "You should show Heart your Flash impression."

Heart turned back to Rumble, the colt now blushing. "I don't know..."

"Really? Show me!" Heart added, soon giving him puppy dog eyes. After a few seconds of staring, Rumble let out a sigh.

"Fine," he cleared his throat and took a deep breath while closing his eyes. When he opened them, he started speaking, his voice now exactly like Flash's. If Heart shut his eyes, he could almost believe Flash was in the room. "I'm Flash Sentry, the Knight of Friendship. Feel the might of my almighty Celestic Gear, Lightbringer!"

He came to a stop and coughed, Heart clapping at the impression. "Nice! I bet Flash would love to hear that!"

"Please don't tell him," Rumble replied while looking away, "It's embarrassing."

"Alright..." Heart responded while rolling his eyes. "But if they ever think of doing a play or a movie with Flash as a character, you should so try out for him."

Rumble continued to blush as Button finally got the game working, "Yes! We're in business!" He took out three controllers and threw them two of them. "Here, why don't we play one of my racing games? That way we can all play together." This sounded more Heart's style and took the controller Rumble gave him. He had a feeling he was gonna like this video game thing.

"Hope Soul's having as much fun as me."

Soul had the biggest smile on her face. Diamond and Silver had treated them all to a cupcake and milkshake as Sugarcube Corner. There she got to enjoy the two telling her about the many mishaps the CMC had gone through before they managed to get their cutie marks that they chose to leave hidden when they told her about the events.

"HAHAHAHA!" Soul laughed after hearing about an event involving renegade farm equipment, almost falling off her stool while the CMC all pouted and drank their shakes. "I can't believe that actually happened."

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "Well, we were young and foolhardy."

"Yeah! Cut us some slack!" Scootaloo nodded as Soul picked herself up, "Now that we've got our cutie marks, that's not gonna happen anymore."

Soul glanced over at the fillies' flanks before a question popped into her head, "Say, you never told me how you got your cutie marks." This made the CMC smirk as they finished off their milkshakes and began to actually head for Diamond's house, all the while telling Soul the story of how they got their butt tattoos.

"And then we high-hoofed, and the next thing we knew, we've got our cutie marks!" Sweetie finished as they walked up the road to the mansion.

"Wow," Soul whispered before turning to Diamond Tiara. "So in a way, you helped them get their cutie marks."

Diamond shrugged back, "I guess I did. I mean, it was karma for me making fun of them not having marks." This made Soul tilt her head as she continued, "Though they did help me realize what my mark was meant for."

"So what's it for?" Soul asked next.

"Getting ponies to do what I want," Diamond replied, "I used to just do that for my own benefit, but it was the crusaders that helped me see I didn't want to do that. That's when I realized I could get ponies to do things that help others."

"Oh..." Soul put a hoof to her chin, "So how are you gonna make a career out of that?" This made Diamond turn to her with a raised eyebrow, "I thought cutie marks were supposed to help ponies find out what jobs and things they're meant to do. Like Apple Bloom's brother and sister have apple marks, so they work in an orchard. Sweetie's sister uses gems in the clothes she makes and Rainbow Dash is gonna be a Wonderbolt. So how is bossing ponies around gonna become a job?"

"Huh..." Diamond showed a small frown, "I hadn't thought of that."

"Neither did...we?" Scootaloo added.

"Ah'm sure there's something that yer special talent could become," Apple Bloom responded as they arrived at the gate of the mansion. "There's lots of jobs that require you to order ponies around. Like...um..."

"Being mayor!" Sweetie chimed in, "Mayor Mare's always giving out orders to the ponies that help keep the town going."

The others quickly nodded at this, Diamond humming, "Being mayor..."

"That sounds awesome!" Silver Spoon cheered, "And maybe I could be your deputy mayor." They all turned to Diamond, all imagining what Diamond being mayor of Ponyville would be like before Spoon pointed at Soul's flank, "Hey Soul, what does your cutie mark represent?"

The others turned to stare at the pink series of lines that formed a flower shape. Soul looked at it as well before replying, "Honestly, I'm not sure. I got it the day I became an alicorn, so I guess it must have something to do with that."

"I guess that makes sense," Diamond responded, "You are gonna be a princess one day, right?"

Soul sighed and shook her head, "Like I said in class, I don't know if I'll ever get that title. I guess it depends on what I'm able to use my magic for."

"What can you use your magic for?" Spoon asked.

"Well..." Soul sparked her horn and used it to pick up a small rock off the ground. "That's pretty much it. The bigger it is, the harder it is to hold it without losing control."

"I get that," Sweetie added, "I remember how hard it was when I was first learning to use magic. But with Twilight's help, I'm sure you'll figure the rest out."

As she said that, Diamond opened the door to the mansion, only to see her father and his employees running around the place. "Daddy?" Filthy came to a stop and stared at them, "What's going on?"

"Thieves!" Filthy yelled, "Something or somepony has stolen my supply of oranges and lemons! We've looked all over the place, but there's nothing!"

"Huh..." Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow, "Ya'll want some help looking?"

"If you wouldn't mind," Filthy replied, "Whatever's done this can't have gotten far." With that, the fillies spread out, Soul using her wings to fly up to the higher spots others couldn't check. And as they helped, a certain creature stared at the flying filly while hiding in a ceiling light's bowl.

"Go, go, go, go, go!" Button yelled as the three colts raced, he and Rumble unable to believe Heart had never played a video game before.

"Ha-ha!" The fire colt cheered as he pressed a button, "Fear my blue carrot of doom!"

"NO!" The boys cried as they were caught up in the explosion, allowing Heart's character to zip past them and cross the finish line.

"YES!" Heart leapt up and started doing a victory dance, his friends rolling their eyes. "I won! I'm the best! Me the winner, you the loser."

"How is he so good?" Rumble complained as Heart flew back down.

"Luck," Button guessed.

"Nah," Heart chuckled, "I just have better hoof eye coordination." He then turned to the other games Button had all over the room, stars in his eyes as he said, "I can't wait to show Soul all of these. I bet she'll love to play 'em."

The statement made Button growl, "You can't bring her to play. Girls ruin video games."

This made Heart turn to him while Rumble just rolled his eyes, "Don't mind him. He's just being a foal about something that happened a while back."

"Six hours wasted because of Sweetie Belle," Button hissed, "It should have been the greatest video gaming accomplishment of my life, but instead it was all for nothing."

"Boys!" they suddenly heard Cream call out, "Pizza's here!" Button and Rumble gasped and ran downstairs with Heart behind them, the three arriving in the kitchen to see Cream putting a box on the table. "You should have seen Mr. Domino's reaction when I told him you've never had a pizza before. He said he put extra effort into making this the best pizza he'd ever made."

"Huh." Heart sat at the table as Cream opened the box. The food he saw had several vegetables, including onions, red peppers, baby spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, and black olives, all of which were covered in a layer of cheese. "So this is a pizza?"

"Uh-huh!" Button nodded as he pulled off a slice and gave it to him. "Try it."

"Alright..." Heart took the slice, blinking at the food before saying, "But I'm not sure if I'll even like it." The other three shared a knowing look as Heart took a bite out of the slice, a small one, but enough for the flavor to flow through him.

"Well?" Rumble asked as tears formed in Heart's eyes and looked up at ceiling, the three almost swearing they saw a heavenly light shine down upon his face.

"I have seen the face of Faust."

"Who?" Cream asked.

"Find anything?" Scootaloo asked as she and Silver Spoon returned from the library.

"Nothing in the kitchen," Apple Bloom replied after she and Sweetie walked into the room. She turned to Diamond and her father, "Anything?"

"Nothing," he sighed, "I might have to summon the police."

"For some stolen oranges and lemons?" Scootaloo asked, Filthy turning to glare at her.

"Those oranges and lemon were inventory for Barnyard Bargains! It'd be like somepony stealing a field of your friend's apples." Scootaloo flinched at his response, only to hesitantly nod, the stallion now sighing, "I hope Randolph and the boys are having better luck in the garden."

As he said that, Soul flew in from outside. "I didn't see anything on the roof."

"Thank you for looking anyway." Filthy replied before going wide-eyed at the alicorn, "Wait...aren't you Princess Twilight's new student?"

Soul did a small nod, slightly blushing as he shined a big smile at his daughter. He was about to tell her how proud he was of her of becoming friends with such an important pony, only for Soul to point at the ceiling's light, seeing a brown furball in it. "What's that?"

They all looked up, only to see a brown creature covered in brown fur staring down at them with its three large black claws on its hands and feet. It had large googly eyes and a large mouth that was constantly smiling, though the fur around its mouth was stained orange. On its back were several long black needle-like bristles.

The creature gave her the cutest face she had ever seen. "Aw..." Soul replied as she hovered up to it, "Hello little guy." She reached out for it, "What are you doing here?" But before she could grab it, the creature suddenly shot past her. "WHOA!" She yelped as the creature hopped onto the roof, clinging to it with its claws.

This allowed the others to see it, Spoon asking, "What is that thing?"

"Never seen anything like it," Scootaloo responded, only for Filthy to see the stain around the creature's mouth.

"Its the thief!" The others turned to him, "Look at its mouth! It must have eaten my oranges, and I bet it ate the lemons too!" The others looked back at the creature as it began to scurry along the ceiling until it reached the wall.

"How could that little thing eat two crates of lemon and oranges?" Apple Bloom asked as Filthy ran up to the wall.

"Get back here, you profit pilfer!" The creature then jumped off the wall, flying over Filthy's head and curling itself up into a furry ball as it hit the ground and rolled away. Filthy turned to chase it, "Grab it!"

"Sweetie," Scootaloo turned to the unicorn, "Try getting it in your magic!" Sweetie nodded and sparked her horn, only for the creature to suddenly zigzag all over the place.

"Hold it still!" She cried as the other tried to jump in front of it, only for the beast to zip past them.

"Gotcha!" Apple Bloom blocked it from escaping through a door, only for it turn to roll toward the stairs.

"No you don't!" Soul landed on the stairs, only for it roll away again.

"I don't think so!" Scootaloo ran to the front door as the creature went for it, "Sweetie!" The unicorn was able to grab the door in her magic and slam it shut, Diamond skidding up and turning the lock.

"There!" she turned to the beast as it stopped spinning and unfurled itself, now finding itself surrounded on all sides. "Now what do we do with it?"

"We should take it ta Twilight," Apple Bloom suggested as they moved in closer, "Or Fluttershy. They should know what it is and what we need to do with it."

"Err...girls?" they turned to Scootaloo as she pointed at the beast. "What's it doing?" They looked back at the animal and saw its entire body was shaking like a leaf, its pupils going small while the rest of its eyes stayed the same size and the tips of its mouth went up and down.

"It's just trying to distract us so we don't punish it," Filthy told them. "Don't let it-" He stopped when he noticed the creature curl up again, likely about to roll away....only to start glowing, "What in Celestia's name?!"

The creature quickly grew from a small furball to a furball larger than Filthy. Everypony began to backpedal, Diamond hitting the door and quickly opening it to jump outside. She turned back to the house and watched as the furball filled up the entire doorway, still growing as the ponies gulped at the sight as the beast hit the ceiling. But even when this happened, its growth didn't stop, the creature's sides beginning to push against the walls.

"Everypony out!" Filthy yelled before running to a nearby window and throwing it open, moving aside so the girls could jump out. First Spoon, then Soul, Sweetie, Applebloom and Scootaloo. As soon as they were outside, the girls ran around the side of the building and watched as Diamond continued to stare at her house.

The pink filly gasped as the front of her house suddenly broke apart, freeing the creature but sending tons of debris flying at her, "AAAAAHHHHH!" She screamed as concrete and wood was about to hit her, only to feel something grab her and pull her away.

"GOTCHA!" She looked up to see Soul had grabbed her and flew her safely out of the debris' line of fire. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Diamond nodded, "Thanks." Soul smiled back before flying down and dropping her into her father's hooves.

"Oh sweetheart!" He hugged her tightly, "Thank Celestia you're alright."

He then glared up at the beast that had destroyed the front of his house and almost crushed his daughter. And as he did, something began to unfurl from around the furball, soon showing a long skinny arm with black claws three times the size of a pony. It reached out and grabbed the ground, sinking its claws into it as another arm unfurled and did the same. The creature then pushed itself up next, unfurling itself to reveal its now giant eyes and mouth. It appeared to have an almost drunk expression on itself as it completely unfurled, placing its large feet in the wreckage of the Rich's mansion before pulling itself along the ground using its arms.

"It's heading into town!" Scootaloo yelped as the creature pulled itself a good twenty feet before needing to stretch out its arms again. And as it did this, Scootaloo turned to the others, "What do we do?!"

She got her answer when Soul began to fly after it. "SOUL!" She stopped at Diamond's cry and turned to her, "What are you doing?!"

"We have to stop that thing!"

"You should leave this to the defenders!" Filthy instantly replied, "You're just a child. What can you do against something like that?"

Soul gaze shifted between them and the creature, Filthy's words echoing in her head. Her mind then flashed to Twilight and Cadance when they stayed behind to try and repair the Crystal Heart while Celestia and Luna worked to fight off the deadly storm clouds. Her eyes shifted up to look at the horn on her head, and then down at her cutie mark.

"Whatever I can." With that, she flew off as fast as she could, knowing she would either find a way or somepony that could help.

Back with Heart, he was stuffing another slice of pizza into his mouth and crying every second.

"Why!?" He almost screamed between bites. "Why did I have to go so long without knowing the beauty of this delectable fusion of dough, sauce, cheese and veggies?" He glared up at the ceiling. "Why is everything here so good?! Why didn't me and Soul have this kind of heavenly food?! Pizza, Pinkie's cakes and cookies...even that ramen stuff Flash showed me yesterday was awesome! Why didn't we have all these awesome, sweet tasting food and was stuck with salads and milkshakes back at the city?!"

Button and Rumble exchanged glances before Button raised a hoof, "Aren't milkshakes really sweet food?" Button then flinched as Heart glared at him with wet eyes.

"You don't understand!" He cried before gulping down another slice. "You don't understand!"

Cream, Rumble and Button simply stared at the colt, barely eating their food as Cream commented, "Somepony's clearly had a very sheltered foalhood. I'm sure if you let Flash and the princess know about your new love, they'd be willing to let you have it more often."

Heart nodded while sniffing, "Yeah...I'm gonna do that. How many more amazing foods does this modern day have that I haven't experienced?! I must try them all!"

"You might wanna pace yourself," Rumble chimed in, "Eat too much and you might get a stomachache." Button and his mom nodded in agreement.

"I'll be fine," Heart replied while waving his hoof, "And trust me," he held up the last slice. "This is worth a stomachache." But as he went to take another bite, the entire house suddenly shook, knocking them off their chairs. "WHOA!"

The shaking lasted a good few seconds before settling down, Cream speaking up, "Is everypony okay?"

"I'm okay," Button muffled out, his face kissing the floor.

"What was that?" Rumble asked, only for the ground to shake again. "Whoa!"

Heart leapt up and ran to the door, only to see a cloud of dust in the distance. "That can't be good." He flared his wings, about to take off before something grabbed his tail and pulled him back. "Hey!"

"Where do you think you're going?!" Cream told him as she let him go.

"There's something happening," he pointed to the fading cloud. "I'm going to go check it out."

"Absolutely not," Cream replied while shaking her head. "I've lived in this town long enough to know that when something bad is happening, and that right there is a 'Stay inside and keep your children safe scenario'."

"But ponies might be in trouble," he instantly responded.

"If they are, Flash and the rest of the defenders will handle it. You might be his new apprentice, but you're also a child. I'm sure Flash wouldn't want you putting yourself in danger like that. That and you just ate, and you don't wanna go out there and throw up what you just ate. Now come inside and let the grownups handle this."

Heart frowned as he looked back at her, only for the ground to shake again. Screams followed this, making him look back at the town before glancing at Cream, "Sorry ma'am." His body suddenly exploded into flames, shocking Cream. "I just can't sit here and let other ponies get hurt. That's not who I am, and that's not the pony Flash chose to make his apprentice." With that, he took to the air, flames bursting out his back hooves and rocketing him toward the scene of the crime.

Cream watched in both shock and awe as the colt flew off, Button and Rumble cheering for their new friend as they watched him fly off like a superhero.

Main street was in turmoil as the creature dragged itself through the town, the ponies screaming as they ran away from it. As this happened, Grand, Lightning and Iron galloped up to the creature, Lightning yelled, "Where'd this thing come from?!"

"Doesn't matter," Grand responded before raising his hammer. "What matters is stopping it before it hurts anypony." With that, he slammed his hammer down into the dirt, causing a crack to shoot out toward the beast splitting to form a circle around the creature. The ground then collapsed, dropping the beast into a hole that was the perfect size to hold it.

"Iron! Do it now!"

"Got it! This should hold yah until we figure out what to do with yah!" He thrust his spear into the ground, metal spikes coming out of the side of the hole before meeting in the middle to form bars.

"Nice," Lightning added as they all stared inside, only to see the creature beginning to shake...and start growing, "What the heck?!" The monster soon became too large for the hole, the metal bars bending. With a single spurt of growth, the beast got free, thrusting its arms out and grabbing a pair of nearby houses to pull itself out of the hole.

"No way," Iron whispered as the beast was freed, pulling itself through the town again. "Oh, no you don't!" He pointed his spear at the beast and started firing a round of Iron Lance Fury. But as the blades struck the creature, they simply bounced off its body without even giving it a hair cut. "What?!"

Lightning took this moment to pull one of his knives out of his cloak and throw it at the creature, the dagger soaring over it. But before it could completely miss it, Lightning appeared where it was and caught it in his mouth before landing on the creature's back. "You're big, strong and apparently hard to cut. So let's see what a couple million bolts does to you." With that, his horn sparked before the electricity surged through his body and into the beast.

Grand and Iron watched as it was electrocuted, only to see the creature not even be fazed by it. As this happened, it jerked its head up, knocking Lightning off, "Whoa!" He yelped before quickly teleporting back to the defenders. "Shoot! That didn't work either!"

"Wait...what's it doing?" Iron asked as the beast started sniffing the area, only to turn toward the town's market place.

It was here that Soul arrived on the scene, landing on a roof to see the beast dragging itself along. The creature then grabbed the top of a house, trying to pull itself forward...only to rip off the top of the building. Screams followed this as it threw the debris back, making Soul gasp as she flew down with her horn sparking.

The ponies on the ground flinched as they saw the rubble coming down at them, closing their eyes just as the roof was about to hit them. However, no impact happened, making them open their eyes to see a golden light wrapped around the falling roof. Sounds of grunting caught their attention next, making them turn to see Soul, the group amazed at the sight of the little alicorn holding up something this heavy. "Hurry!" She moaned, "I don't know how long I can hold this!"

They nodded back before running away, quickly getting away before Bon-Bon turned to her, "Okay, we're safe. You can let go now."

Soul nodded, taking a deep breath as she tried to turn off her magic...only for her horn to spark, the pieces of debris suddenly starting to fly everywhere while still in the golden light. "No!" She cried, closing her eyes as she tried to cut off her magic, only to feel a surge of pain in her head.

Feeling the reaction, her eyes shot open, only to see a large chunk of broken roof in her magic now flying right at her. She screamed as she closed her eyes again, bracing herself for impact. But then...nothing happened. "Huh?" She cracked her eye opened, now seeing the rubble floating in front of her, completely still as the a blue magic aura covered the debris.

"You okay?" Soul turned to see Starlight standing behind her, a smile on her face as her horn glowed the same blue color. "You looked like you were having trouble."

"You don't know the half of it," Soul breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

Starlight nodded back before slowly putting the pieces down, "Just be glad I was out buying haycakes when I saw what was happening. No offense, but you're not ready to lift that kind of stuff with your magic."

"I know...I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." Starlight replied before patting the filly's shoulder, "You were just trying to help." She turned to the creature dragging itself through town. "Now, I don't suppose you know what the heck that thing is?"

Soul shook her head, "No, but I know where it came from." This made Starlight raised an eyebrow as Soul began to trot toward the beast, "Come on. I'll explain on the way."

The creature was still pulling itself through the town, Grand, Lightning and Iron following after it. Everything they had tried to do to slow it down had been useless. It was at this point the creature arrived in the market place, which had quickly been deserted when the ponies saw the monster coming.

And when it came to a stop, it sniffed the air again before reaching out to a certain stand. The defenders then saw it lift up a market stand filled of limes, which it held up as its constantly smiling mouth cracked open, the fruit dropping in with ease.

Lightning blinked at the sight, glancing at the other stands and seeing them packed with more food. "Why'd it go after that one?"

"Who cares?!" Iron barked back. "All that matters is finding a way to stop it."

"ARMORIZE!" They looked up as a bright flash of light signaled the arrival of the Knight of Friendship. Flash dove down in his Shining Guardian form, flying past the beast while slashing at it with his evolved Celestic Gear...only for the blow to do nothing, not even cut the hair. "What?!"

It was here that the rest of the Mane Seven arrived, Rainbow and Applejack running up with Rainbow kicking it while Applejack threw her lasso at it. But the pegasus simply bounced off it while Applejack was pulled around, almost swinging into a building before Flash caught her.

"You okay?" Applejack nodded as he put her down, then turned back to the creature. As he did this, a barrage of fireballs suddenly hit the creature's back. The defender looked up to see a flaming colt flying above the creature, unleashing a stream of fire with little effect on the beast. "Heart! That's not working, so come down here!"

The colt turned to his mentor, quickly landing beside him as he asked, "What the heck is that thing?!"

"It's a screebit," Twilight responded while walking up to them with Fluttershy.

"A what?" Rainbow yelped.

"It's a very rare creature," Fluttershy added. "It's usually very gentle and wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Main street would beg to differ," Lightning deadpanned while pointing at the creature. "That thing keeps growing and destroying everything!"

Twilight shook her head at this, "It's not intentional Lightning. Its using a defense mechanism it has to ward off predators. When it feels threatened, it transforms into this thing. In this state, it's almost indestructible."

"It's mind also gets overpowered," Fluttershy continued, "It won't notice anything that happens to it. It doesn't even know where it's going. It's being driven by its base instincts."

"And what are those instincts telling it to do?" Iron asked.

"Find fuel," Twilight replied. "Screebits can't undergo this transformation on their own. They need a certain type of chemical to cause the reaction, and once transformed, they'll start searching for that chemical so they can remain in that form as long as possible."

"What's the chemical?"

"Citric acid. Screebit are usually found in places that grow citrus fruits like oranges, lemons-"

"Limes?" Grand interrupted, Twilight nodding. "That explains earlier."

Fluttershy turned back to the creature as it sniffed the air, obviously trying to locate another source of citric acid. "I just wish I knew where it came from."

"I know where," they turned to see Soul and Starlight walking up. As they got close, Soul explained what had happened at the Rich Manor, Twilight going wide-eyed at her explanation.

"It ate two crates worth of oranges and lemons?!" Twilight yelped, Soul nodding. "That's not good...." As she said that, the screebit began to drag itself away again. "That much citrus will take days to burn through."

"Seriously?!" Heart asked as they raced after the Screebit. "We can't let that thing run around for days!"

"The Screebit has a very slow metabolism. From what I've read, one orange could keep it at this size for about an hour. And if its eaten two crates worth of it, it's got tons of citric acid stored up."

"So it's like a train," Grand commented, "Once it burns through one piece of fuel, it'll replenish it with stuff from its stomach."

Twilight nodded, "Exactly!"

It was here that they realized where the screebit was going, the sight making them gasp. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" Pinkie screamed when she saw it reach for Sugarcube Corner, the mare now remembering the amount of citrus they used when making desserts. Twilight quickly sparked her horn, putting a large bubble around the cake shop. The screebit tried to claw at the bubble, making Pinkie sigh in relief. "Thanks Twilight."

"No problem," Twilight replied before grunting, "But I can't keep this up forever. We need to find a way to get it away from here until the citric acid wears off."

"We could teleport it somewhere," Rarity suggested. "Someplace it can't harm anypony. Ghastly Gorge maybe? That's large enough to hold it."

"Then what?" Lightning replied, "It'll just keep trying to escape and find more citrus. If it's gonna take days, we'll be too exhausted to just keep it in Ghastly Gorge."

"Well, we have to do something!" Pinkie barked back, "If we don't, it could destroy all of Ponyville."

As the adults discussed what they could do, Heart rubbed his chin while thinking about what Twilight and Fluttershy had told them. And slowly, an idea formed in his head. "We can't hurt it, and it won't notice what we do to it..." he whispered.

And as he did this, Soul noticed a certain look in his eye. "Heart....what are you planning?" Heart turned to smile at his sister, Soul's eyes shrinking at the sight.

"Twilight," the alicorn turned to him, "I have a question. What happens to the acid the screebit isn't using. Where's it kept?"

Twilight hummed. "Well...since it mostly replenishes using juice from fruits, I guess it's possible the acid is stored where the rest of its body water is. Why?"

Heart's reply was a big stupid grin as he turned back to the screebit. "I have..."

"Oh no," Soul moaned.

"A plan!" With that, he leapt up and flew toward the screebit. The older ponies gasped at the sight, the pegasi preparing to take off after him.

"HEART! What are you doing?!"

"Put a barrier around us!" Heart called back.

"What?!" Twilight yelped as Flash spoke up next.

"Heart, you need to tell us your plan!"

"No time!" Heart yelled as he flew above the screebit, the beast still clawing at the shield around Sugarcube Corner. "Just put a barrier around us, the strongest one you can make." He saw the unsure expression on Flash's face, "I know what I'm doing. This'll work."

Him and Flash stared at each other for a few seconds, Flash smirking before turning back to Twilight and nodding. Twilight nodded back and turned to Starlight, the two quickly teleporting themselves to the opposite sides of the screebit. Once there, Twilight cut the spell protecting the bakery before she and Starlight unleashed a blast that formed a bubble around Heart and the creature.

The others watched as Heart smiled down at the screebit. "Alright you overgrown hairball, get ready to feel the heat!" With that, he unleashed a mighty burst of fire from every hoof while swiping his tail around, shooting fireballs at the creature. Like before, the screebit didn't seem at all bothered by the flames, instead just trying to trying to escape the bubble.

"What's he thinking?" Iron asked, "He knows his flames won't hurt it."

Flash was thinking the same thing, only to notice something new. It might have been the coloration from the magic bubble, but the screebit's fur was beginning to look...shiny. Almost as if the fur was damp. The others soon saw this, Grand gasping, "Of course! So that's his plan!"

"What do you mean?" Iron replied.

"He's making it sweat!" Grand responded as he pointed at Heart, the others catching on as Flash just smiled at his apprentice.

"Huh." Lightning added, "So he's making him sweat out all the juice from the fruit."

"And the citrus along with it," Rarity finished.

"That's assuming the acid hasn't been sent to some other part of that thing's body," Iron pointed out.

"All we can do is watch and hope," Flash sighed as he saw the heat wasn't just making the screebit sweat, but Heart as well. If he gave out before it, they knew it would be trouble.

And as this happened, the ponies of Ponyville that had scattered slowly came out of hiding. They watched as the young colt they barely knew was putting himself through the ringer, burning the beast with a plume of flames. A spark of respect ignited within them, all gasping at the sight.

Then, as Heart's flames were about to give up, the screebit slowly began to grow smaller, making everypony smile. It kept shrinking until it reverted back to its old form, Twilight and Starlight dropping the shield as Heart cut his flames. "Ooooh...I don't feel good." Heart moaned as sweat poured down his face, his wings folding as he started to drop like a rock.

"Hang on there, I gotcha!" Flash said as he flew up and caught Heart, slowly lowering him down as the others looked the screebit over.

"Is it okay?" Soul asked Fluttershy, the pegasi nodding back at her.

"He's fine," she assure the filly. "A little dehydrated, but he should be fine once he's gotten some water in him."

"You might wanna get some for this brave colt here too," Flash chuckled as he patted the colt's head, Pinkie quickly zipping into the bakery before returning with a pair of water bottles. She gave one to Fluttershy as she she bottle-fed the screebit while Pinkie poured some of the other bottle's contents onto Heart's face.

"Hey!" he moaned before opening his eyes. When he saw the water bottle in front of him, he gasped before taking it and sucking the liquid down his throat. "Ahhh…thanks." he sighed as his thirst had been quenched, only to turn to others, "So uh...did my plan work?"

"You bet it worked!" Twilight happily cheered, "You and Soul should be very proud!"

Heart smiled while Soul raised an eyebrow, the ponies of the town now walking up to them as she asked, "Why me? I didn't do anything."

"You told us where the screebit came from and how much citrus it had eaten." Twilight replied, "If you hadn't, we would have been trying to keep it away from everypony until the fruit wore off."

"Plus you saved those other ponies," Starlight pointed out. "You might have lost control at the end, but you still saved them."

"You two saved Ponyville," Grand assured them. The young ponies blushed, only to flinch when they heard a round of clapping and cheering. They turned to see the rest of the town was cheering, Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Cream Heart, Rumble, Button Mash and the CMC were all there, along with Bon-Bon, Lyra, Time Turner, Derpy, Octavia, Vinyl and many other ponies. They all cheered and clapped for them, making the two blush even harder.

They couldn't feel more strange. Ever since arriving in Ponyville, they hadn't been feeling the warm feeling they had when living in the Lost City of Faust...but now it was here. The feeling of belonging someplace, of joy about being there. The feeling of home.

The next morning...

Ponyville was now back to normal. Thanks to Twilight and Starlight, many of the houses that had been destroyed were magically repaired, the rest fixing the holes and trenches the screebit had created in its rampage. Twilight had contacted Celestia about the incident and the sun princess had replied by sending some guards to pick up the screebit and transport it someplace it wouldn't be a danger to anypony.

It was here that the doors of the castle of friendship opened up, Heart, Scootaloo and Soul walking out with Flash and Twilight behind them. Soul then turned to their caregivers, "Well, time for school."

"Have fun," Twilight replied, "And Soul, we have magic practice after school."

"Same with you Heart," Flash nodded before smirking. "But I think you'll have time for a small hangout with your friends. Just don't be late."

"We won't," Heart replied before he and his sister took the to skies and Scootaloo shot off on her scooter. The three made their way through the town, the ponies waving at the two newcomers as they flew past them. Heart and Soul smiled back, feeling really comfortable as they traversed their new home.

When they began to pass Sugarcube Corner, a window opened up and Pinkie stretched out of it holding paper bags with their cutie marks on them. One by one, the three grabbed their designated bags while giving their thanks before looking inside, licking their lips at the delicious treats inside before putting them into their saddlebags.

They soon arrived at the schoolhouse, getting greeted by their classmates as they came to a stop. The three split up, Heart talking to Rumble and Button while Scootaloo joined the CMC as Soul went up to Diamond and Spoon. Smiles and laughs were all around as they conversed with their friends until Miss Cheerilee called them inside.

All the nervousness Heart and Soul had been experiencing the previous day was nowhere in sight. The two had found their place in Ponyville and in Equestria too. Though there were many uncertainties about their future, they knew that they now had friends they could look to for support. Life was good.

Author's Notes:

And so Heart and Soul finally find their place in Ponyville. Hope you enjoyed it. I particularly liked a lot of the jokes and references I got to put into this.

Spike's Heartbreak

It was another beautiful day in Ponyville.

All the damage that had recently been done by the screebit's 'attack' had been repaired, and the ponies were once again living their normal everyday lives. This also included one member of the populace that wasn't a pony.

Young Spike T. Dragon was making his way through town on one of his precious days off, one without any work needing to be done for Twilight or chores inside the castle. As such, he was free to do one of his favorite things, paying Rarity a visit. And when Carousel Boutique came into view, he smiled before spitting into his hands and smoothing down the green scales on his head. He then noticed a lone flower on the ground and picked it up before going up to the front door and knocking it...only to get no answer. Raising an eyebrow at this, he checked it to see if was locked.

"Huh?" he whispered as he found himself able to open the door. "That's weird." He peeked his head in, "Hello? Rarity?"

He began to tiptoe inside, eyes darting around before hearing a noise above him. Looking up, he started to hear another sound, making go wide-eyed before turning to the stairs. Worry now on his face, he jogged up the stairs, quickly getting to the second floor. It was here he saw a table at the landing of the stairs, the vase on it on the side, strange since Rarity usually had it perfectly placed in the center. The sight made him realize that somepony had knocked the vase off before lazily putting it back on.

Spike's attention was then pulled away from the vase by another sound, this one coming from the room at the end of the hallway: Rarity's bedroom.

The drake began to tiptoe, now hearing more noise before the sound of a pony's voice caught his attention. And it was one he knew better than any other. "Rarity?" He was about to knock, only to hear Rarity cry out.

"No! Not that!" She screamed, Spike's overactive imagination going into overdrive at the sound as he now feared his precious Rarity was in danger. All thoughts of knocking flew from his mind as he grabbed the door handle and twisted it. It a burst of motion, he shot through the door and slid into Rarity's room. This got a cry of surprise from the pony he had come to save, allowing him to locate her and turn toward the bed....only for his heart to come to a stop.

Rarity was laying on her back with somepony on top of her. It was Lightning Blitz, who's head jerked up from Rarity's neck as the two stared at him. "Spike?!" Rarity yelped, both frozen in their positions. "What are you doing here?" Spike barely heard her, instead focused squarely on Lightning.

Rage, the likes of which he had never felt, surged through his body and caused it to shake. "GET OFF OF HER!" He suddenly roared before leaping at Lightning, the unicorn unable to react as he found himself instantly pushed off the bed.

"Whoa!"

"SPIKE!" Rarity screamed as she saw the young drake clawing at Lightning, the unicorn trying to push the dragon off. The mare quickly lit her horn next, encasing Spike in her magic before pulling him off Lightning, the dragon now floating in the air while wildly flailing his arms and legs around.

Lightning coughed as he picked himself up, "What is wrong with you?"

"I can't believe I thought you'd changed!" Spike cried before breathing fire at Lightning, the unicorn quickly making a small shield, "But to do...this! Forcing Rarity to do...that! YOU WILL PAY!"

"SPIKE!" Rarity turned him towards her, "Stop it!" This statement made Spike go wide-eyed as she then said, "Lightning wasn't forcing me to do anything."

"What?"

Rarity sighed and put him down, her horn still glowing as she replied, "Spike, I didn't want you to find out this way...but I guess we have no choice." She got down off her bed, and moved over to the stallion. "First off, Lightning wasn't doing anything terrible to me. In fact, I invited him up here."

"What? What do you mean he...he..." Spike's mind slowly began to put the pieces together, his gaze shifted from one unicorn to the other until the last gear clicked, "You two are...together."

Rarity sighed again, "That's right darling. I'm sorry you found out like this, but I guess it was inevitable." Rarity continued to speak, but Spike didn't hear her. His head was spinning, a pain now appearing in his chest as it began to surge more and more. The world around him seemed to vanish, the feeling of being sick embracing his stomach as the thought of Rarity being with Lightning entered his brain. "Spike?" He then turned to Rarity as she walked up to him, "Are you alright?" It was here that she noticed tears appearing in Spike's eyes, only for the drake to suddenly spin and run out of the room. "SPIKE!" She yelled before she began to give chase, "Come back!"

However, she and Lightning found themselves surprised at how fast the dragon was running, almost instantly out of the building before running toward a certain castle.

At the Castle of Friendship...

Most of its inhabitants of the castle were currently in the library as this was happening. Flash was standing in his Shining Guardian armor while Twilight placed a rubber ball on a table between them. Starlight, Heart, Soul and even Springer were sitting off to the side. "You ready Flash?"

"As I'll ever be," Flash gulped before closing his eyes. "Let's do this."

"Alright," Twilight nodded. "The first step is to focus on the object." Flash opened his eyes and focused on the rubber ball. "Now imagine that object floating in the air. If it helps, try to visualize a hand holding the ball."

"Psst," Starlight whispered as she leaned over to Soul, "What's a hand?"

"Twilight says its like a paw," Soul pointed to Springer as he held it up. "But they're thinner and they don't have fur."

"Isn't that just a claw?" Starlight replied with a raised eyebrow.

Heart just shrugged at her, "I asked the same thing, but Flash says they're called hands."

They all then turned back to Flash, the defender grunting as he tried to imagine the ball being picked up by an invisible hand. The horn on his helmet started to glow at this, showing off an orange light. That same light soon wrapped around the ball, slowly beginning to float off the table.

"Oh, come on!" Soul yelled, breaking Flash's concentration and making him drop the ball. They all turned to glare at Soul as the ball rolled toward her. "What?!" She pointed to her horn, "I've had this thing for months, and I've only just started learning the same thing Flash just mastered on the first try!"

Everypony opened their mouths to respond, only for a loud banging sound to suddenly echo throughout the castle.

"What was that?" Starlight asked.

"The front door," Twilight replied before sparking her horn, soon teleporting the group to the entryway. When they arrived, Flash and Heart were almost knocked down by a running Spike, both taking to the air before he collided into them. "Spike?" Twilight called out, only for the drake to rush past them and up the stairs without saying a word.

"What's up with him?" Heart asked, Soul turning to her brother.

"He looked upset."

"It's worse than that," Springer added while shaking his head, "When he ran by, I got an overwhelming sense of sorrow coming off of him. Like...some great tragedy had just befallen him."

The others exchanged glances, frowns on every face before Rarity and Lightning suddenly ran up to the door. "Oh! Everypony!" They all turned to Rarity, "Have you seen Spike?!"

"Yeah," Flash pointed to the stairs, "He just ran by. Like, really fast."

"What happened?" Twilight asked next, "Springer said he's feeling really sad."

Rarity grimaced at her words, sighing as she replied, "It's...a long story." She turned to Lightning, "I guess we'll have to come clean."

"Looks like it," he added with a nod.

"Come clean about what?"

Rarity's eyes looked away from everypony for a second before saying, "Well...if you don't mind Twilight, I would prefer to wait until everypony important is here. I'm sure they will have questions, and..." she turned to Lightning, getting another nod from him. "It'd be best to answer everything at once."

Twilight blinked at this response, only for her horn to spark as she responded, "Oookay. Give me a minute."

One minute of teleporting around town later...

"YOU'RE DATING?!" Everypony yelled as almost every jaw in the room dropped.

"Yes, we are." Rarity replied while sitting on her throne. A slight blush was on her face as she slightly looked away, "And well...Spike walked in on us...expressing ourselves."

More blushes appeared in the room as Flash commented, "I'm not even gonna ask what that's supposed to mean."

Twilight smacked him with her tail as Grand spoke up next, "So...no offense, but how long has this been going on?"

"Yeah!" Pinkie and Wild asked in unison before Pinkie went on, "When did you two get together?!"

Lightning twiddled his hooves at this, "Well uh...remember that time when the girls joined us in our training?"

Everypony else searched their memories before Flash replied, "Seriously? That was months ago."

"You've been dating that long?!" Rainbow yelped, "And you kept it from us?! What gives?!"

"First off, Miss Dash," Rarity hissed as she pointed at her. "You weren't exactly truthful about your relationship with Soarin from the very start." Rainbow blushed and looked away, "And secondly, we've only just recently made it official."

Lightning nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Before, we were just going on dates and seeing how things turned out. We didn't tell anypony so that if things didn't work out, we could just go back to normal and everything would be fine."

"But clearly things did work out," Twilight added.

"Oh yes," Rarity responded before rolling her eyes, "I'll admit I was a little...skeptical at first, but it turns out Lightning and I have quite a few things in common. We like similar types of music, a lot of the same foods and a few other things."

"Well, we're happy for ya'll," Applejack chimed in, showing a big smile as the others all nodded in agreement.

"I always thought you'd make a cute couple." Fluttershy said next, "I just didn't want to say anything in case you didn't like the idea."

"That's fine darling," Rarity replied with a wave of a hoof, only to sigh, "I just wish Spike hadn't found out the way he did."

This made the others grimace, Twilight looking up at the ceiling in the direction of Spike's room before turning back to Rarity. "You know, Spike's had a crush on you for a long time-"

"That's an understatement," Rainbow interrupted.

"Yeah." Flash added, "Its been like that since day one. Even before he actually knew you. He took one look at you, and his heart was beating out of his chest."

"Anyways..." Twilight growled while glaring at them before turning back to Rarity. "You need to do something about this. The problem won't just fix itself. You need to go up and tell Spike the truth."

Rarity sighed again, "I know. I just...well, its not easy."

"Stuff like this rarely is," Grand chimed in. "And even if you go up there and tell him, things won't just magically repair itself. Heartbreak isn't something that just vanishes overnight. But it'll take a lot longer if you don't address the issue now."

Rarity and Lightning shared a glance, the mare's ears folding as she got off her throne, "I hate to say it...but you're right. No time like the present, as they say."

"Want me to go with you?" Lightning asked, Rarity shaking her head.

"No, I think it's best if it's just me. Don't want him to lash out on you again if I accidentally say the wrong thing." Lightning nodded in agreement before Rarity turned to head out of the throne room, everypony watching her leave as she prepared to make things right with their favorite dragon.

In his room, Spike was curled up in his bed with his blanket wrapped around him. Both bed and blanket were soaking wet from his tears, the drake only slightly calming down as he stared at a picture of his heartache's source. "Why? Why Rarity?" He asked, sniffing loudly as he wiped his eyes.

It was here he heard a knock at the door, "Spike?" The dragon froze at the voice, "Can I come in?" He wanted to tell her to go away, but his voice had completely vanished. Rarity seemed to take the lack of response as an okay, slowly creaking the door open to peek inside, "Oh Spike," she whispered when she saw him, the mare trotting into the room as Spike pulling his head and the picture of the unicorn into the blanket cocoon. "I'm sorry about what happened. I never wanted you to find out like this."

She waited for a response, but Spike stayed quiet.

"I know what you discovered must have come as a bit of a shock, but please talk to me." Again, there was no reply. "I just want to make sure everything was alright. You have to understand, I never really expected this to happen. When Lightning and I started dating-" That word sent another stabbing pain through Spike's heart, "I didn't think anything would come from it. I thought we would go on a few dates, have a bit of fun, and then move on with our lives. I just...I didn't expect anything more would develop."

This seemed to resonate with Spike, his face slowly shifting out of the cocoon with his eyes staring at her. "You...you didn't?"

"No," Rarity responded while shaking her head, only for a small smile to appear on her face, "I'll admit I was attracted to him at the time, but...but it wasn't until we actually started spending more time with one another, getting to know one another that I...I started developing real feelings for him."

This sent another shot of pain through Spike's heart as he squeaked out, "Feelings?"

"Yes." Rarity could see the look of pain in his eyes, but kept going, "Spike, I'm sorry." This made the dragon wide-eyed as she continued, "I won't apologize for having feelings for somepony else, that's my right. But I am apologizing for not talking to you about this stuff earlier." She walked around the bed and sat down, now noticing it was soaked through. "Oh dear..." she ignored it for a moment, only to wrap a hoof around Spike and pull him up to her. "Spike, you have to understand that nothing could ever truly happen between us." This made him freeze up. "I mean, we're not even the same species. Who knows what could happen if we were together. Not to mention, you're still a child. It'll be another decade before you're truly ready to be in a relationship."

"I'm really mature for my age," he tried to argue.

The mare shook her head, "Spike...please don't do this." She looked down at him, forcing the drake to look up at her. "I know this is hard, but you have to accept it. I'm with Lightning and I'm happy. And one day, when you're older, you'll find yourself somepony, er...some...dragon to be with, and you'll be more happy than you could ever be with me." Spike stayed silent and looked away, Rarity letting him go and hopping off the bed. "I'm sorry this had to happen like this. But then again...maybe it's for the best." She patted his head before turning away, "I'm sorry Spike."

With that, she walked out of the room, not looking back as she stepped outside. As she did this, Spike curled up again as the tears began to well up again. Rarity shut the door with a long sigh, soon going down the hallway and to the stairs. And when she reached the bottom of the stairs, she found all her friends staring at her, "Well?" Twilight asked, pure worry on her face, "How'd it go?"

"I...I don't know. I think I got through to him," Rarity replied, sighing while shaking her head, "But like Grand said, this will take time for him to really heal."

"So what do we do?" Pinkie asked.

"Nothing," Grand instantly responded, "This is something he has to work through himself. Leave him alone for the rest of the day and see how he's doing tomorrow, then try to keep his mind off it. In time, he'll be okay."

"But...should we be trying to help him?" Twilight said as she turned back to the stairs leading up to Spike's room. "I mean, he shouldn't just be alone. If I know Spike, he'll take this hard. He's never had to feel something like this."

Flash then wrapped a wing around the alicorn as he added, "I agree. The little guy has never been the strongest. Though..." he stared at the stairs now, "Maybe we should give him some time..."

The next day...

Spike was still in his room.

He hadn't left since yesterday, his stomach growling at him. However, his heart was responding more, telling his gut to be quiet as the little dragon refused to get off his bed, instead simply staring at the ceiling while his blanket was bunched up on the floor.

The drake barely registered a knock that came from the door before it opened, Twilight and Flash looking into the room. "Hey buddy," Flash said in a calmest tone he could give, "How we doing today?"

Spike's reply was an unintelligent grumble.

"We thought you might be hungry," Twilight added as she held up a large bowl of gems. Usually, the rattle of the crystal rocks would have Spike's face inside the bowl within seconds...but instead, he remained silent, just staring at the ceiling. "I'll just...put it down so you can have it when you're ready."

"We've also got ice cream," Flash chuckled as he held the tub over Spike so he could get a whiff. "Your favorite flavor." Again, Spike said and did nothing. "Alright. Well, it'll be in the fridge if you want it."

The two then headed for the door, both glancing back at Spike as Twilight whispered, "I wish there was something we could do."

"We can't force him to get over it," Flash reminded her, Twilight sighing in agreement as they walked away, leaving Spike to wallow in self pity. Hours passed without him even noticing, only for the door to open again.

"Hey Spike." Starlight said as she tiphoofed into the room, the drake letting out a grumble. "I thought I'd let you know that I'll be doing your chores today, so you can just lay back and enjoy yourself." She floated something over to his bed, "Maybe enjoy this brand new Power Ponies comic I got for you." She dropped the comic and it landed on his chest, Starlight expecting him to react...only for nothing to happen. The sight made the mare frown as she slowly pulled her head out of the room, "Um...alright then. I'll see you later."

She shut the door, time instantly passing again without Spike even noticing. The comic remained exactly where it was, indicating the lack of movement from the dragon.

Eventually, the door opened again as Heart, Soul and Scootaloo trotted in. "Hey Spike!" Heart flew up and hovered right above him, looking into the young dragon's eyes. "We're heading over to Button's for a video game tournament. You want in?" Spike's half-dead stare was all the reply he got, making him glare at the drake, "Come on Spike, you can't spend the rest of your life moping like this. So the mare you like is with somepony else, who cares? Dragon up already!"

This finally seemed to get a response from Spike, who glared at the colt before breathing fire. The flames touched the colt, unfazed since he was completely immune to fire. "You don't need to be so snippy about it," Heart grumbled as he flew away.

"Come on Spike," Soul added as she moved up to him. "We hate seeing you like this."

"Just go away," Spike spoke, the first words in twenty four hours. "I wanna be left alone."

"Being left alone is the last thing you need right now!" Scootaloo barked back, "You need to get out of this room! Get some fresh air! Do something!"

"What's the point," Spike moaned, "Nothing matters anymore." The three young ponies all sighed as he continued, "I just don't get it." They now saw even more tears appear in his eyes. "Why him and not me? What does he have that I don't?"

Heart chimed in first, "Well for one thing, he's actually old enough to date her without getting her arrested."

"And Rarity said they have a lot in common," Soul continued.

"And he's a pony," Scootaloo finished, "Not that there's anything wrong with being a dragon, but is it even possible for the two species to mix. I mean, ponies give birth and dragons lay eggs...at least, I think that's what Twilight told us."

Spike let out a small groan, "Aw...why couldn't I have been born a..." He stopped, his eyes going wide as an idea popped into his head. "That's it!"

"What's it?" Heart asked, only for Spike to hop off his bed and run right past them.

"Gotta go, bye!" The three followed him, leaning out the doorway as the drake ran down the hallway.

"Well...he's up and out of his room." Heart turned to the others, "That's gotta be an improvement, right?"

"I guess?" Soul responded while tilting her head, "But what did we say that made him leave his room?"

"Please!" Spike asked as he clutched Twilight's tail, the pony rolling her eyes as she trotted through the library and dragged the dragon along the floor. "I'm begging you."

"Spike!" Twilight gripped her tail in her magic and pulled it free from his grip, "I'm not turning you into a pony."

"You did it before!" Spike whined, "Back when you changed yourself and the others into breezies! You even turned a frog into an orange!"

"That first time was only because it was an emergency, and the other was an accident. I'm not changing you into anything, so forget it."

"But it's my only chance!" Spike added. "If I'm a pony, then Rarity might realize we're perfect together."

Twilight let out a sigh at this, shaking her head, "Spike, that's enough." She turned back to him. "I know you're upset about what happened, but you're being childish. If Rarity wanted to be with you, it wouldn't matter if you were a pony or a dragon. Just accept her choice and move on."

With that, she spun around and walked away, leaving Spike as she stared at the alicorn. He looked down at the floor, his body shaking before he clenched his fists, the dragon now showing a scowl on his face. "I'm not gonna lose that easily."

The next next day...

The defenders, minus Springer, were now gathered in the center of town, all talking to Mayor Mare and Derpy. "Are you sure this is what you saw?" Grand showed Derpy a book with many creatures inside, pointing to one that looked like a blue furball with light blue skin on its revealed face and paws.

"That's right," Derpy nodded. "But the one I saw was pink. I was making my delivery and I saw one running through the street. When it noticed me, it shot a bunch of pins at me." She then showed them a package, which was covered in sharp pink needles.

"It's a pukwudgie," Iron replied while sighing, "They're pretty short tempered, but not super hard to deal with."

"You've been spending way too much time with Fluttershy," Flash laughed.

Iron rolled his eyes, "I'd just like to know what it was doing here. They're supposed to stay in the Everfree Forest."

"Just tell us the truth," Mayor Mare asked while eyeing the highly pricked box, "Are they...dangerous?"

"One or two of them shouldn't be an issue," Grand assured her. "If there's more though, then we might have a problem."

"We'll be sure to keep an eye out for them," Flash added, "If it looks like it'll be a problem, we'll let you know." Mayor Mare nodded and walked back into Town Hall while Derpy flew off to deliver the prickly package. Once they were gone, Flash turned to the others. "Alright, I'm open to suggestions."

"This would be so much easier if Springer wasn't on maternity leave," Lightning sighed. "I didn't even know we actually had that...and he's male!"

"Stop complaining about that Lightning." Flash replied while crossing his hooves, "Those eggs are important to him. We can figure out a way to find these creatures without him."

Grand nodded in agreement. "He's right. For all we know, that one pukwudgie was alone and has already returned to the forest. But, we should still act like there's more here."

"I'll go see what Fluttershy knows," Iron chimed in, "She might know what kind of food they like, then we'll know the best place to look for 'em."

"And we might be able to lure them into a trap," Lightning suggested. "Then it's just a matter of releasing them somewhere far from town."

"Alright defenders," Flash took to the air. "Let's roll out!" They all nodded before going in separate directions. Once they were far enough away, a bush they had been standing next to suddenly sprouted purple legs and started walking down the street following Lightning.

After a few seconds, Spike's head popped out as he glared at the unicorn. "Alright lover boy, show me your secrets. What is it that allowed you to steal her from me?!" He continued to follow Lightning as the unicorn marched through town, not really doing anything of note. "Come on...do something!"

Then, Lightning stopped and began staring at a table located in front of a shop. Spike saw he was looking at the table's leg, the dragon pulling out a pair of binoculars to watch. He didn't know what Lightning was so fascinated by, only for the owner of the store to come out and the unicorn pointed at the leg, Spike focusing on that spot to see a crack in the woodwork.

The owner thanked Lightning and headed inside to find some superglue, the unicorn then walking away. Spike continued after him, pulling out a notepad at the same time. "Okay...so he's observant. I guess I can see why Rarity would be impressed by that. But I can be just as obser-WHOA!" He yelped, tripping over a rock he hadn't seen. The loud cry seemed to catch Lightning's attention, Spike just managing to pull his legs into the bush as he looked around.

And after a few seconds, he shrugged and continued onward. At the same time, Spike peeked out of the bush, growling as he continued to follow again. It wasn't long till the chasing stopped, Lightning now at Sugarcube Corner. Spike quickly left his bush, now going over to a window and glancing inside to see Lightning snacking on a muffin he had just bought. Wild was also there, the two chatting until Pinkie walked in with Mr. Cake holding his back. "What happened?" His wife asked as Mr. Cake sat down. "Did you throw your back out again?"

"I'm fine," he assured her while trying to stand back up, only to cry out a silent scream, the others pushing him back down. "The delivery cart was just a bit too heavy, that's all."

"You need to rest," Wild responded.

"Yeah!" Pinkie added with a nod, "I'll do the deliveries."

"But what about that big order?" Mr. Cake replied, "There's no way Mrs. Cake can do it alone, even if Wild watched the twins."

The others frowned at this, only to slowly turn to Lightning. The unicorn shrugged back, "Sure, wouldn't be the first time." With that, they headed outside as Lightning was hooked up to the cart. Pinkie looked in the back and was surprised by the number of pies and cakes stuffed inside.

"Wow, he wasn't kidding. This must be the most deliveries we've ever had." She turned to Lightning, "You sure you can pull all of these?"

"I'm gonna give it a try," he said before pulling the cart. He grunted and groaned for a few seconds, but the cart was moving. And once it started rolling, the effort appeared less strenuous.

"Okay," Spike whispered as he watched him leave, "I'll admit he's willing to help out when he doesn't absolutely need to. Not as generous as Rarity, but enough to catch her eye. And I guess the strength he has is pretty noteworthy. But that can't just be the reason."

He continued to follow as the unicorn trotted around town, deliverying the packages. With each delivery, the weight lessened, making Spike have to speed up as his bush zigzagged through the street. And when Lightning delivered his last pie, a loud scream caught their attention.

They both ran toward the source of the scream, turning to a street filled with ponies running all over the place, all of them being chased by the spiny creatures that Iron had told him about earlier. Multiple pukwudgies of differing colors were rolling around, firing their quills around.

Lightning then saw Octavia surrounded by several, being backed up against a wall. Pulling one of his daggers out of his cloak and striking it in the ground, he teleported over to Octavia and grabbed her before warping back as the pukwudgie fired at the wall. "Get out of here!" Octavia nodded and yelled back her thanks as she ran into the nearest house.

The defender turned back to the pukwudgies as they glared at him, "Bring it!"

The creatures hissed before spinning around and firing their quills, Lightning leaping to the side before pulling out his daggers, tossing them all over the place. Not a single one struck a pukwudgie, who kept firing at him. "Ha!" Spike laughed, "Can't even hit one tiny little hedgehog." He slowly moved closer to the nearest dagger, intending to use it to fight off the pukwudgies himself.

But as he did this, the last dagger hit the ground and Lightning's horn began to spark. "This is sure to give you a jolt!" With that, he unleashed a burst of electricity that struck the nearest dagger. It bounced off the metal and split into several streams, hitting each dagger and creating a web of lightning all over the street.

Once the web was created, every dagger unleashed a pulse of lightning that struck everything within two feet of them. This included the pukwudgie and sadly, Spike. "GYAAAAAH!" The little dragon cried from within his bush.

The lightning soon faded, many of the pukwudgies slumping over. None of them were badly hurt, but they would be out of action for a while. Lightning smirked before spotting four of the little creatures that were still up and kicking. They quickly charged at Lightning, leaping up and spinning around to prick him.

But before they could, he caught the four in his magic, only to teleport between them. The creatures straightened their spines at this, the unicorn warping again as they fired...only to hit each other. As this happened, Spike pulled himself out of the bush, moaning as smoke came off his body. He turned to see the unicorn let the pukwudgies go, the four now running away while pulling the spines out of their own backsides.

It was here that the rest of the defenders and mane seven arrived, seeing the many hedgehogs littering the ground. The other townsponies came out, having watched the situation and cheering for Lightning. Spike growled at the sight, only to grimace as he saw Rarity trot over and give Lightning a kiss on the cheek. He wiped his eyes as tears appeared, running away with his eyes staring at the ground.

Once he was a good distance away, he leaned against a wall and slumped down with a long sigh, "Alright...so he's keen eyed, can be generous when he wants to be, and is pretty good at fighting." Spike hissed as he let out a roar, "RAAAGH!" He then tired to kick a box, only to scream out in pain, "Ow!" He hopped on one foot while clutching the other one, only to trip and fall over.

And as his head hit the ground, a click went off in his brain. "Wait..." he moaned as the memory of his first day he met Rarity appeared in his head. "Wait...Rarity was interested in Flash when she found out he was gonna be a Royal Knight. And now she's dating Lightning, who's pretty much a Royal Knight in all but name." His mind slowly put the pieces together, "THAT'S IT!" He jumped up, "Of course Rarity's attracted to a heroic kind of pony. Maybe if I show her I can be heroic, she'll realize I'm the perfect boyfriend."

His mind flashed back to the time when Rarity had been captured by a bunch of Diamond Dogs. Back then, Spike had wanted to save her, but Rarity had ended up saving herself. However, the heroic image Spike had envisioned himself as still swirled around in his mind.

"I just need to figure out a way to show I can be just as heroic as Lightning!" He puffed up his chest...only to slump over, "But...how do I do that?" He crossed his arms with a sigh, only for his eyes to see the Everfree Forest in the distance. "Wait...those pukwudgies went back to the forest. I bet if I get them, everypony will see me as a hero. Heck, I'll have cleaned up Lightning's screw up and stopped those things from spawning and coming back in greater number!" He turned to the castle, knowing him was gonna need some certain equipment if he wanted to catch those runaways. "Just wait Rarity! I'll show you how awesome I can be!"

One hour later...

"Is this the last of them?" Flash asked as he lifted a cage onto a cart filled with cages. Each had a pukwudgie in it, each having plenty of room to move when they woke up and had been enchanted with a magical barrier to keep their spines out.

A few more cages could be seen on the ground, Fluttershy being the one to carefully place each into them. "It's okay little guy," she stroked the furball. "This won't be for too long." She placed it in the cage and shut it. "I already know of a good place that we can set you free, not too far from here and with lots of food and a large canyon between it and us. We won't be bothering you anymore."

"You do realize they were the ones bothering us," Rainbow told her before lifting the cage onto the cart.

"I'm sure they didn't mean it," Fluttershy replied before hearing a loud scream of pain coming from a pony currently getting quills pulled out of their flank.

"That looks painful," Wild commented while flinching.

"Yeah," Pinkie added with a nod, "I sure hope Spike didn't get pricked."

"Spike?" Twilight turned to Pinkie, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, didn't you know? Spike was following Lightning around all day. He was hiding in a bush." She pointed at a certain piece of foliage, "That bush actually."

The others stared at the bush as Lightning asked, "Why was he following me?"

Flash then walked over to the bush, only to pull something out, "What's this?" Flash opened up a notepad, now seeing a page with Spike's hoof...claw writing on it. "Keen eyes, generous when he wants to be, and is strong." He turned to Lightning, "I think he was taking notes on you."

Lightning raised an eyebrow, "I'll ask again. Why?"

Rainbow laughed at this, "Easy! Twilight's corrupted him into being a note-taking egghead."

Twilight glared at her before taking the notebook herself. The sight made her sigh before glancing over at the defender, "I think...I think he was trying to figure out why Rarity is attracted to you."

"What?!" Rarity yelped, "What are you talking about?!"

"Well...think about it," Twilight replied as she turned to her. "Spike found out you weren't into him, and so he wanted to see why you fell for Lightning instead. He probably thinks that if he can imitate whatever it is, you'll fall for him."

"That's ridiculous," Rarity replied, rolling her eyes while waving her hoof. "Spike wouldn't do something that silly..." She then saw everypony glare at her, making her start to shrink back, "Would he?"

"He's young," Grand responded, "Young ponies, and especially young dragons, have a hard time letting go of things they care about."

Rarity blinked at his explanation, sighing and shaking her head, "Even if you say that, I thought I'd made it clear to him."

Lightning grimaced at her, knowing what he had to say as he grabbed her shoulder, "I hate to tell you this, but this is kinda your fault."

Rarity instantly turned to him with wide eyes. "Lightning! How you can say that?!"

The defender sighed as he continued, "Rarity...I know you might have never encouraged his crush on you, but you didn't exactly do anything to stop it either." Rarity leaned back at this, "Honestly...it always kinda felt like you were just leading him on."

"That's...not true." She turned back to her friends, "Is it?" Everypony shared a glance, all not speaking "You all don't think that too, do you? Surely that's not true."

"Well..." Applejack spoke up, her mouth mumbling her words, "Kinda. You do seem to have a habit of getting him to do stuff for yah...a lot."

Rarity waved a hoof at this, "Oh please. I might have asked him to do a few favors for me, but I always pay him back." This statement was followed by several glares, making Rarity blink, "What?"

"Do you really pay him back? Really?" Flash chimed in, Rarity going silent this time as he pointed at her, "You know Spike would do whatever you ask of him in a heartbeat, even without a reward. The only reason he does it is because he thought it would get you to like him back." The unicorn started to backpedal as she saw the others nod in agreement, "I hate to say this Rarity, but you've been taking advantage of his feelings for you...and this is the result."

The unicorn's eyes darted around, seeing confirming nods and glares. She bit her lip at this, the information sinking in. Before she knew it, memories went through her head, thinking back to the many times she had asked Spike for help and he had agreed without question. Every time he would have this puppy dog look on his face and always looking embarrassed every time she thanked him. She sighed as she now remembered all the times she had gotten up close to his face and looked him straight in the eyes, a tactic she had developed during her many years as an entrepreneur in order to get what she needed. But when she used that on other ponies, those ones were always adults, all eventually realizing what she was doing....but Spike was just a naïve lovestruck child.

"Oh dear...what have I done?" She fell to her flank as tears began to fill her eyes, "I've been so cruel to him."

Twilight sighed and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Rarity, I know you didn't mean to hurt Spike, but you have. And as much as I want to keep him from getting hurt more than he has, it'd be worse to let him keep thinking he has a chance with you. You need to set things straight and tell him that nothing can ever happen between you." Twilight cringed at her own next words, "And...well, you need to not be gentle, and definitely not beat around the bush. You have to be firm and tell him the truth. If you don't...he'll never accept it, and he'll never move on."

"She's right," Fluttershy added with a nod, "Remember back when I was helping the breezies? It wasn't until I was firm and direct with them that I was able to truly help. Sometimes, the kinder thing to do is to not sugarcoat something and get it out there."

Rarity sighed again, wiping her eyes. "You...you're right." She stood up, wiping away the tears, "I can't allow this to go on any longer. Its time to give Spike the hard truth." She then stared at the bush he had used, "Though um...where is he?"

"He can't have gotten too far," Flash told her as Fluttershy and Iron lifted the last pukwudgie up onto the cart. "You two take these things to their new home. The rest of us will search for Spike." They nodded and separated, each heading off in a different direction.

And as they got searching, Lightning stopped for a moment as he hummed a thought into his head. "Wait...if he's trying to be me, would he do that?" His mind went back to the four pukwudgie he had let go, only to shake his head, "No, he wouldn't be that stupid." The defender's gaze then slowly shifted to the forest, "Would he?"

Meanwhile...

At the edge of the forest, Spike began his walk into the forest with a fully decked out suit of armor. And by armor, it was a football helmet, knee-pads around the knees and elbows, a small pillow taped to his stomach and a large net in his claws. He checked his equipment and nodded to himself, "This is it." He clutched the net in both claws, "Time to be a hero." He raised the net high as he charged in, yelling at the top of his lungs, "FOR RARITY!"

With that, he disappeared into the foliage, his little dragon legs going through the trees. He had no idea where to go, resulting in about ten minute run before his less then physically fit body to start reminding him his flaws. "Ugh..." he gasped as he slowed to a near crawl while dragging the net behind him. "For...Rarity," his legs then gave out, falling face first. "Ow!"

He stayed like this for a few seconds before rolling onto his back, "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." His eyes turned to the many trees around him, "How the heck am I supposed to find those tiny things in this massive place?"

It was here that a rustling sound caught his attention, making him turn to see a bush moving until something jumped out. A pink pukwudgie. Spike's eyes slowly grew wide, grinning as he slowly reached around and grabbed his net, being sure not to startle the thing. "Hey little guy," he raised it above his head. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Just...stay...STILL!" He swung the net down, but the pukwudgie jumped to the side. "Horse apples!"

Feeling threatened, the pukwudgie spun around to fire its quills at Spike. But the little dragon just lowered his head, the quills bouncing off his helmet and padding. Seeing it was useless, the beast chose to retreat. "Hey! Get back here!" the drake yelled as he got up and gave chase, continuing to swing his net at the same time. The pukwudgie kept itself just out of reach as it ran, making Spike say, "Just get in the net! You can't run forever!"

What followed was a hunt that felt like it went for hours, the pukwudgie easily evading Spike as the dragon kept on its tail. And when the pukwudgie leapt through a bush, Spike then jumped as high as he could while swinging the net down. "I...GOTCHA!"

Now caught in the net, the pukwudgie growled as it tried to pull itself out, only for Spike to scoop the ropes off the ground. "Ha! Not so tough now, are you?" He smirked as he pulled the creature up to his face, "Now, where's your friends?"

The pukwudgie hissed at him, only to suddenly stop and smile. Spike raised an eyebrow at this, but his ears soon told him something else as the sound growling entered them. Looking up, his heart stopped when he saw tons of pukwudgies in the trees. He was surrounded on all sides and they did not look happy. "Oh...there they are." Was all Spike could say before the beasts began to fire at him. Several quills struck the net, cutting through the string and freeing the captured pukwudgie.

They then focused their quills on Spike, the drake now trying to defend himself. "Ow!" He cried as one pierced his toe, "Yow!" Another struck his tail, and then his butt. Some of the quills struck the straps of his pads, cutting through the tape that held his pillow shield.

"STOP IT!" He screamed while randomly swinging the remains of the net, the ropes doing nothing. He began to run away, only to trip on a rock, knocking his helmet off. And as he began to pick himself up, the pukwudgies began to climb down the trees, making him do the one thing he could in this situation. Quickly jump up and sprint off while crying like a little filly, "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

He zipped through the foliage, the pukwudgies on his tail as he kept running. It wasn't long till he took a glance back, gulping at the sight before tripping on a root. "AUGH!" he yelped as he hit the dirt, stumbling to get back up. And as he did this, he saw the creatures surrounding him again, all pins primed at the dragon.

But as he closed his eyes, preparing to get stabbed in every part, a bolt of lightning suddenly shot down, hitting the ground between them. The force of the attack knocked the closest pukwudgies away while blinding the others, Spike opening his eyes to see who had saved him. "Lightning?"

The electric unicorn stood between them, his horn sparking. The pukwudgie quickly recovered, all spinning around to fire pins at him. But as they did this, Lightning quickly swung his cloak, the wind just strong enough to push quills off target enough to miss him.

"Gatling Spark!" He began to unload a barrage of weak lightning bolts, all hitting the many pukwudgies, pushing them back. The creatures began to climb up the trees at this, all leaping and curling up as they tried to stab Lightning with a more direct method. "Plasma Anchor!" He shot a thin stream of lightning that struck the closest pukwudgie before he flicked his head around, pulling the creature around as he began using it like a mace, slamming them into the others before throwing it at the closest group.

Electricity surged everywhere, knocking down tons of pukwudgies before Lightning used this opening to build up a electric ball on the tip of his horn. "Thunder...BAZOOKA!" He fired the ball, hitting the ground before an explosion followed the impact, knocking them all flying. But despite this, more kept rolling after him as Lightning built up some more power. "Lightning...FORCE!" The electricity exploded in a single beam, passing over the pukwudgie and zapping almost the rest.

And as they fell, Lightning began to slump over, panting as he saw several fallen pukwudgie getting up, making him grimace, "With this many, the fight could go on forever."

He turned to Spike next, the little dragon raising an eyebrow before he felt himself grabbed by Lightning's magic, "What are you doing?" He asked as Lightning wrapped his hoof around him before sparking his horn, the two vanishing before another pukwudgie could attack.

In a flash of light, Spike and Lightning appeared on the edge of the forest. As soon as Lightning let him go, Spike fell to the floor, gasping as the fear that had been flooding his body slowly faded away. He turned to see Lightning pull one of his daggers out of a tree, the unicorn now glaring at Spike.

Spike growled and stood up, turning away. "I didn't need your help."

"Clearly," he hissed back, "Your strategy of screaming at the top of your lungs was clearly doing wonders against those things."

"I didn't ask for your help," Spike barked, "If you think you're gonna get a thank you, forget it."

"I didn't do it to get some appreciation. I did it because you were in trouble. Not to mention Rarity would have been devastated if you had gotten hurt trying to impress her."

That statement made Spike's glare slightly fade...only to growl again, "Oh?! But its okay for you to fight against these things to impress her?!"

Lightning rolled his eyes. "Firstly, I actually know how to fight. Secondly, I don't do what I do to impress anypony. I do it because I wanna do it. Unlike you, I'm not playing hero."

"Just shut up!" Spike screamed, "Everything was perfect until you showed up and stole Rarity from me!"

"Stole her from you?!" Lightning yelped with a raised eyebrows, "She wasn't 'yours' to begin with. And even if I never showed up, she never would have been with you anyway!"

"You don't know that!"

"Oh, grow up!" Lightning barked back, "You're acting like a spoiled brat whose parents didn't get a toy for them. You really think Rarity would want to be with somepony so jealous he'd start following his competition around like a creepy stalker?!"

Spike went wide-eyed at this, shrinking back as he said, "But how did you-"

"You left your notepad behind."

The dragon grimaced at this, "Oh...right." He turned away, "I was...I was just trying to learn how I could get Rarity to like me."

Lightning let out a long sigh, shaking his head. "Spike...Rarity does like you, but not that way. She feels for you the same way Twilight feels for you, or how she feels about Sweetie Belle. You're like a brother to her, and you should be happy she likes you that way."

Spike glared back at him, "But why can't she like me the other way?!"

Lightning rolled his eyes at this, "You're not gonna quit, are you?"

"No, I'm not!"

"Listen, this isn't gonna work and..." Lightning came to a stop as a certain though entered his brain, "Spike, think of it like this: What if Rainbow, Applejack or even Pinkie suddenly developed feelings for you. Would you start liking them the same way?" Spike opened his mouth to reply, only for silence to be his answer, making the defender smirk, "You can't, can ya? And that's not because you don't care about them at all. They're just not the kind of pony you want to be with. And that's the same thing with Rarity."

"B-b-but I could be," Spike replied quietly. "That's why I was watching you. That's why I went in there. I was trying to be what Rarity wanted."

Lightning crossed his hooves, "What if Rainbow and Applejack suddenly started acting like Rarity? You wouldn't start liking them, would you?"

"Well...no," Spike sighed and looked away. "I guess not."

The defender took a deep breath, air coming out of his nostrils as he bent down and put his hoof on the drake's shoulder, "Spike, you shouldn't try and be somepony you're not to get somepony else's attention. Even if it got them to start liking you, it wouldn't be you they liked, it would be some fake character that you started playing. You'd be living a lie." Spike reached up to push his hoof away, only to find no strength as Lightning continued, "You need to be who you are, and hope that the pony you care about likes that version of you. And I'm sorry, but sometimes a pony won't like you like that, and...well, you simply have to accept that and move on."

Spike was now staring at the ground, these words now sinking in, "I...I guess you're right. But it still hurts."

"I'm sure it does." Lightning responded before looking up and seeing a certain group of friends running up, Rarity and Twilight at the front, "But you're gonna have to live with that pain. It'll go away someday, and when it does, you'll realize it was for the best." The defender smirked at this, grabbing both of Spike's shoulders, "And for the record, I think Rarity already sees you as a hero."

"She...she does?"

"How many times have you helped her and the others? You did save the Crystal Empire, twice. If that doesn't make you a hero, nothing would."

A smile was starting to form on his face as the group reached them, "SPIKE!" Rarity and Twilight both yelled in unison. "Where have you been?!"

Spike looked back up at Lightning, expecting him to talk...only for silence to be his answer. Sighing at this, he turned back to the group, "Um...nowhere." he squeaked out, "Just...taking a walk, and thinking a few things through."

Rarity let out a long sigh, walking up and leaning down, "Spike, we need to talk. Really talk. I-" She stopped when Spike held up a claw.

"No, it's okay. I get it now. I was just deluding myself. Nothing's ever gonna happen between us." He looked up at her, "Can you forgive me for being such an idiot?"

"Oh, Spike." She pulled the dragon in for a hug, "I'm the one that should be asking you to forgive me. I'm the one whose been playing with your feelings. I see now that that was wrong of me." She pulled back and made him look her in the eye, "Can you forgive me?" The two stared at one another for several seconds before Spike hugged her again, Rarity surprised at his silent response before she reciprocated the hug.

Everypony else smiled, happy this little event was behind them. They all knew Spike still had a crush on Rarity, but knew those feeling had the chance to fade and let him move on with his life. It might take time, but it would happen.

Several days later...

Rarity and Spike had made amends, the dragon finally staying out of his room, (And having to get new bed covers due to his tears ruining the blanket) and now he was still doing his regular routine with the unicorn. He could still feel his heart slightly hurt, but he was still happy to spend time with Rarity.

"Thank you for doing this Spikey," Rarity said as the two made their way through the gem cave under Ponyville. "I promise that as soon as we're done here, I'll treat you to all the ice cream you can stomach."

Spike shook his head as he carried the basket. "You don't have to do that Rarity. I'm happy just helping out."

"I know," Rarity replied, "But I know now it isn't right to expect you to do everything I ask without being willing to do something in return. I know friendship shouldn't require payment, but it does require equal respect."

"Oh...well, I hope you don't mind several tubs." Spike responded with a cheeky grin.

Rarity leaned down with a smirk, "If you're playing that way, you'll be eating strawberry."

Spike stuck out his tongue, "Ew! I don't want that! I want vanilla and chocolate!"

The unicorn rolled his eyes, "Then you only get one tub."

"Fine..." Spike sighed before both started to giggle. It was here that they arrived at the part of the cave they were looking for, one filled to the brim with sparkling jewels of every variety. The sight made Spike lick his lips, Rarity telling him to keep his appetite back as she walked up to the wall and took several gems out. A crumbling sound came next, both looking at the ceiling to see a large cauldron of bats.

Rarity careful placed the gems into the basket, being sure to make as little noise as possible. "The last time I was here, I woke them and ended up with a mane full of bats!" She shivered at the horrible memory before smiling at her little protector. "Thanks for being my basket holder."

"No problem," Spike replied, "Though can we maybe add to the name. Maybe basket holder slash bodyguard? Bet that would look great on my resume." This made Rarity laugh, needing to stifle it behind her hoof.

"Of course, darling." With that, she turned back to the wall and continued pulling the jewels free. While doing so, she made sure her horn's light wasn't pointing up. Luckily, the hardhat she was wearing was blocking the light, so it only glowed in one direction. "Oh, for once I wish unicorn magic wasn't so...luminescent!"

But as she said that, the cave was suddenly filled with light, causing the bats to slowly stir. Rarity turned to her helper, only to go wide-eyed as she saw the little dragon's entire body was glowing. "Spike! You'll wake the bats! Turn that off!"

"Huh?!" he yelped as he looked down at his body, only to suddenly feel an itch. "Ugh...I can't!" he cried as he began to scratch, "Augh! Why am I so itchy?!" The itching began to increase, the light on his body getting brighter as Rarity looked up and saw the bats awakening and shooting off the wall. The next thing Rarity and Spike knew, a cloud of black winged rodents flew down and began to spiral around them.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" They both screamed in terror, the beginning to sprint out of the cave in terror and confusion. And as they ran, Spike continued to glow, unable to stop as they continued to flee.

Author's Notes:

Well, Rarity and Lightning are now officially together and Spike can now move on with his life. I hope I did this situation a service. I know many people wanted something like this in the actual show, so hopefully this works.