My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 12

by twilightsparkle3562

First published 19th of September, 2020

Welcome to Season 12 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!

The Magic of Friendship writes another chapter in this twelfth season featuring Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends from Equestria!

With their kingdom at war with Emperor Grogar and his Legion of Doom, Twilight Sparkle and her friends are joined by Celestia's former student, Sunset Shimmer, who is forced to leave the world of Equestria Girls after Grogar's Legion of Doom attacks her and her human friends. With their new ally, Twilight and her friends seek to gain the upper hand while Luster Dawn and her friends navigate unchartered waters of their own in the world of growing up in Equestria!

Continuation of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 10 and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 11.

Episode 1: "Of Wars and Graduations, Part 1"

Author's Notes:

Episode Summary: As she continues to recover from the loss of Vorak's kingdom, Twilight decides to recruit Sunset Shimmer into joining the war against Grogar.

Cast:

Tara Strong as Princess Twilight Sparkle

Ashleigh Ball as Applejack/Rainbow Dash

Andrea Libman as Pinkie Pie/Fluttershy

Tabitha St. Germain as Rarity/Luna

Cathy Wesluck as Spike/Phlebotomist Pony

Nicole Oliver as Celestia

Kelly Sheridan as Starlight Glimmer

Doc Harris as Grogar

Mark Acheson as Lord Tirek

Robert Morse as Sendak

Alvin Sanders as King Sombra

Robby Benson as Scorpan

Julie Andrews as Gentle Breeze

Dick Van Dyke as Gentle Gust

…

…

"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" Season 12, Episode 1

"Of Wars and Graduations, Part 1"

Written by Jeff Snyder (TwilightSparkle3562)

Edited by SuperPinkBrony12

…

…

Twilight Sparkle was angry. She was angry that she'd lost a battle with Equestria's most feared enemy in their first face to face encounter, she was angry that she and her friends could have done better. But most of all, she was angry at the fact that a leader of a nation had been so stubborn and unwilling to accept help. And that, in the end, had severely handicapped efforts to fight Grogar. "Vorak!" Twilight grunted as she slept in her bedroom at the Castle of Friendship two nights after the battle in the Distant Lands. "Why couldn't you just…?"

Opening her eyes, all Twilight could do was lie in bed. She couldn't sleep, the recent memories of the battle in the distant lands still fresh in her mind. Letting out a loud groan, she climbed out of bed and began to pace back and forth across her bedroom.

"Out of all the stubborn creatures I've met," Twilight seethed. "How could you have been so stupid, Vorak? Thinking that you could handle Grogar on your own? If you had only just shut up and listened to us…"

Disgusted, Twilight walked over to her bedroom window and looked out over the co-capitol of Equestria, Ponyville. "I can't let this happen again," She declared. "Grogar has an advantage over us now because of one stubborn old king who was so pigheaded, it's like our alliance with the Maximals means nothing!" The frustration building up inside of her, Twilight groaned loudly and went back to pacing back and forth.

…

From down the hall, Celestia was asleep in her room when she could hear the hoofbeats of her daughter figure going back and forth. Rising out of bed, Celestia donned a bathrobe and proceeded to walk down the hall. Her body was still stiff from being frozen by Megatron but tried her best to not let it slow down her ability to be there for Twilight. "Twilight?" Celestia asked in a quiet voice as she knocked on the door quietly. "Twilight? Are you okay in there?"

Hearing the sounds of her mother figure made Twilight stop pacing and a look of guilt immediately came onto her face. Opening the door, Twilight saw Celestia on the other side. "Oh, sorry Celestia," Twilight apologized. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's alright," Celestia sighed as she entered Twilight's room. "I couldn't really sleep myself anyway. My body is still feeling stiff from being turned to ice by Megatron. We all made the mistake of underestimating Grogar's Predacon allies."

Shutting the door to her bedroom, Twilight joined Celestia in sitting down on the edge of her bed. Her eyes weighed down by heavy bags from lack of sleep.

"Actually, ever since the battle," Celestia confessed. "I've been really worried about you, Twilight. It seems like you're taking this a little too personally. Yes, we lost the battle and we lost an ally. But we haven't lost the war yet. If we can learn from the mistakes of our last battle, I'm confident we can still defeat Grogar in the end."

Twilight could see that she was about to get this kind of lecture from her mother figure again and took a deep breath. "But I have to take it personally, Celestia," She explained, her eyes locked onto the floor of her bedroom. "I'm the supreme princess of Equestria. Everything that happens in this war falls on my shoulders. And…I don't know…maybe I should have been tougher on Vorak. I mean, what would you do if you dealt with somepony or somecreature who refuses to drop their ego even when their land comes under attack?"

Celestia felt that Twilight was beginning to struggle with her mental health as a result of the loss of Vorak's kingdom and the lack of sleep.

"We have to stand together, Celestia. Regardless of what happens. It's the only way we're going to win this war! Our remaining allies need to be in sync with us one hundred percent!" Then, immediately, Twilight began to get slightly choked up with emotion. "I don't…" She cried with tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "I can't imagine losing this war under my watch, Celestia. What am I going to do?"

Letting out her emotions, Twilight buried herself in Celestia's chest leaving the elder alicorn with only one option that she had. "Twilight," She said tenderly as Twilight sobbed. "I think maybe we should consult Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze. Why don't we see them in the morning?"

Nodding, a tear-filled Twilight accepted Celestia's suggestion as she continued to silently cry in her mentor's chest.

…

…

The next morning, Twilight found herself at Canterlot General Hospital where she was in the office of her two personal therapists. The lack of sleep made her feel weak and tired and it showed in her body language as a phlebotomist pony drew blood out of her foreleg.

"All set, honey," The phlebotomist pony declared as she bandaged up the puncture wound and left with the blood sample. "Good job as always, brave princess."

"Thank you." Gentle Gust said to the phlebotomist pony as she left before turning his attention over to Twilight.

With her blood drawn, Twilight weakly turned her head over to her two therapists. "I can't understand it," She sighed with a combination of sadness and frustration in her voice. "Why wouldn't he just accept help? Vorak is dead and his kingdom is lost to Grogar because of it!"

Looking down at the notes that they had taken so far, Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze both could understand the frustration that their royal patient was going through.

"I mean," Twilight groaned. "Everyone has to do their part! I…I had to strain myself to create a shield for the love of Celestia! Did I see Vorak do anything? No! All he could think about was punishing Tirek! And look where it got him in the end!"

"Hmm," Gentle Gust sighed as Twilight took a sip of her hot cocoa. "Twilight, it occurs to us that maybe… you're continuing to set a high standard that everycreature needs to follow. And it may be a standard that's impossible for some creatures to maintain. I'm sure Vorak had his reasons for refusing help."

"Rather poor reasons if you ask me," Twilight bitterly remarked. "Sure, he was partially responsible for turning Tirek into the creature he is today, but still…that's no excuse for what happened. Because he wouldn't listen to us we were sidelined and straddled, too busy fighting with him to really focus on fighting Grogar and his forces."

"All we're trying to say, dear," Gentle Breeze pointed out. "Is that not every battle you fight is going to be won. Plus, you may not fully understand the reasons that Vorak had for going into the fight alone."

"But he had to accept our help, guys," Twilight protested, looking at her therapists. "Vorak's kingdom had a very low army and if he had gone in alone, the battle would have been a lot worse. His kingdom could have been wiped off the map and it was because of our intervention that some of the kingdom is left standing…albeit now in possession of the Predacons, giving them a base to launch attacks on Equestria."

Letting out a ragged sigh, Twilight dropped herself back on the couch. "But why should I be thinking about this now? He's dead and there's nothing I can do about it. I can't bring back the dead like Grogar can. I mean sure, Grogar lost the Storm King but that's a drop in the bucket compared to what we lost!"

…

Outside the waiting room, Celestia, Luna, Starlight Glimmer, Spike and the rest of Twilight's friends were all listening in and reflecting on the recent downfall of Vorak's kingdom.

"To be honest, y'all, I can't blame Twilight for bein' so hard on herself," Applejack remarked, throwing her hat onto the carpeted floor. "I mean…we're princesses for cryin' out loud, we can do better than this."

"Exactly," Rainbow Dash added, while wincing in pain from her injured wing. "I mean, going up against Chrysalis, I should have beaten her! There was no way I should've lost! Where did we go so wrong?!"

"Well, now you know how I feel sometimes," Starlight remarked. "Just be thankful that you are still alive, Rainbow Dash."

"Well it's clear to me that Grogar's far too powerful. If only we had a better strategy, instead of relying on that unhelpful Vorak." Rarity suggested, before Pinkie Pie interrupted her with a huff.

"Tell me about it, sister!" Pinkie grumpily snorted. "That grumpy old centaur didn't deserve any help. I offered him a party cannon, but no!"

"If not for him I wouldn't be looking the way I am now. Some ally he turned out to be in the end." Rarity finished, looking at her bruised self in a small hoof held mirror.

"I can understand all of your frustrations," Celestia commented. "And you should know that Luna and I are thinking of bringing in additional help."

"What additional help?" Rainbow asked.

But before Celestia could answer, Gentle Gust stepped into the waiting room, motioning for Celestia and Luna to come inside, leaving the six mares in the waiting room to wonder just exactly what the two sisters had in mind.

…

Meanwhile, at Grogar's base on the moon, Scorpan sat in a cell in the dungeons along with several other captured centaur and gargoyle soldiers. All they could do was reflect on what could have been had they defeated Grogar's forces and defended their kingdom successfully. Alas, that was not to be the case.

Just then, their solitude was interrupted by the sounds of hoofbeats coming down the stairs and Scorpan looked to see his own fur and blood standing right outside the cell. Immediately, a disgusted scowl came onto the gargoyle's face.

"So here you are, oh brother of mine," Tirek said quietly as Scorpan looked up at him while attempting to walk over with his feet chained by two ball chains. "The gargoyle who betrayed me to Starswirl the Bearded many, many years ago. And now the tables have turned. I trust you like the accommodations?"

"You heartless…" Scorpan growled as he touched the bars with his claws. "You killed our father, didn't you?!"

"Of course I did!" Tirek answered, much to Scorpan's irritation and anger. "He didn't deserve to live after all he did to me. And if you cared at all you would see it my way."

"You defied him, brother! He had no choice but to oppose you!" Scorpan countered while shaking the bars. "If you'd only kept your mouth shut and listened to reason, everything would have been different."

"Well it's become different, has it? not" Tirek chuckled slightly. "I am now free from my father's shadow, all thanks to Grogar."

"If only Mother were alive…" Scorpan murmured.

"Well, she isn't now!" Tirek remarked. "Remember that Father tormented her as well, blaming her for the way I turned out! The grief consumed her from within."

"Oh, if I ever get out of this situation, Tirek," Scorpan growled. "I will make sure you pay dearly for this. Pay for upending our family and sending our kingdom into ruin!"

Rather than listening to his younger brother, Tirek began to turn away.

"Don't you dare turn your back on me, Tirek!" Scorpan cried.

"Oh no, Scorpan," Tirek whispered as he started to walk away. "Perhaps you should never have turned your back on me!"

Letting out a loud roar, Scorpan shook the bars of his cell in rage. "IS THAT A CHALLENGE?!" He yelled.

But Tirek was unfazed. "Temper, temper, Scorpan. I wouldn't dare dream of challenging you now."

"And why not?!" Scorpan hissed.

"Because as far as brains go," Tirek remarked, turning back around to face his brother. "I got the lion's share. And when it comes to brute strength…I'm afraid you're at the shallow end of the gene pool. So we both know who would win."

Becoming more and more angry, Scorpan watched as Tirek turned his back and walked away from the dungeons. "I hope you like the accommodations here, Scorpan," Tirek said as he left. "Because they will be your new home, forever. Attempt any escape, and you will end up just like Father!"

Once Tirek was gone, Scorpan sighed deeply and sat back down in dismay, accepting his new surroundings.

Emerging from the dungeons, Tirek took in a deep breath after his brief visit with Scorpan. And no sooner did he emerge from the dungeons than he was greeted by Grogar, Sombra and Sendak as they emerged from Grogar's throne room.

"Ah, Tirek," Grogar remarked. "I trust you paid the prisoners of war a visit?"

"I have, my emperor," Tirek answered, bowing to Grogar. "And I also warned Scorpan what fate awaits him should he dare to escape."

"Excellent," Grogar laughed while gesturing for Tirek to rise. "And I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I have employed your mentor as our trusted advisor."

Delighted to hear this, Tirek turned towards Sendak.

"He shall be advising us on how to fight our battles," Sombra declared, also looking over to Sendak. "Of course, I myself never used an advisor during my reign in the Crystal Empire. But in this case, I shall make an exception for the sake of my emperor."

"It's good to be with you again, Sendak," Tirek declared, touching his mentor's hands. "After all this time."

"I am doubly honored, my student," Sendak replied while smiling warmly at Tirek. "You have come back to me and have mastered what I tried to teach you in your arrogant youth."

"Now with your father's former kingdom in the command of Megatron and the Predacons," Grogar declared as they all began to walk away. "The time has now come to proceed to our next…"

Suddenly, Grogar felt his bell starting to glow and immediately ran back into the throne room with Sombra, Sendak and Tirek following right behind! Racing towards his crystal ball, Grogar looked down to see what was happening.

"My emperor, what is it?" Sombra asked as Grogar inspected the ball. "What do you see?"

Grogar began to see three different dragon-like creatures start to manifest before his eyes. One was yellow; one was purple and one was blue. Opening their mouths, the dragon-like creatures released soundwave-like noises on a small village of ponies. Seeing these creatures, Grogar turned back towards his comrades. "They are alive," He said to his comrades. "The sirens are alive."

"The sirens?" Sendak asked. "The creatures that formally absorbed negative feelings to nurture themselves? I thought they were only myth."

"Don't you see?" Grogar protested. "With the Storm King no longer amongst our ranks and Megatron now running the Predacons in Vorak's former kingdom, this would be a perfect opportunity to recruit the sirens to our legion. We won't need the unreliable Predacons, we can leave them to their own devices to keep those Maximals at bay. The sirens shall be all the extra strength we need."

Just then, the crystal ball began to reveal that the sirens began to transform into three different humanoid creatures in another world amongst the same creatures.

"My emperor!" Sombra cried. "What is…what happened?"

"Starswirl must have banished them to another world," Grogar declared. "A world whose inhabitants are similar to those humans we attacked to seize the Predacon traitor, Waspinator. But the world the sirens are in seems to be more advanced."

Realizing what he needed to have done, Grogar began to come up with a plan. "I want them brought to me," Grogar ordered. "Tirek, Queen Chrysalis, Cozy Glow and yourself shall retrieve the sirens and bring them back here."

"Why us?" Tirek asked.

"Because you have already proven yourselves to work together," Grogar answered, remembering how they'd used his bell to nearly conquer Equestria. "If you could work together once, you can do it again."

At first, Tirek was slightly hesitant, but realized that any act of defiance would result in him becoming food for Scarface.

"Bring them to me at once!" Grogar commanded.

"As you command," Tirek hesitantly answered. "My emperor."

Once Tirek left the throne room, Grogar turned towards his second-in-command and his new advisor.

"My emperor," Sendak advised as Grogar returned to his throne. "You must remember that they will change forms upon entering this strange new land you will be sending them to."

"Of course I am aware of it, Sendak," Grogar retorted. "They will have to blend in amongst those two legged creatures, but it is a risk that I'm willing to take if it means I get to conquer that other world as well. I sense that there is Equestrian Magic leaking into that world, ripe for the pickings."

Just then, Grogar began to get himself an idea as he looked over towards his cauldron. He needed a team of specialists familiar with taking on humans and in his mind, there was only one group that could do just that.

…

…

Back at Canterlot Hospital, Celestia and Luna joined Twilight in Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze's office as the two elderly therapists continued to work with Twilight on her latest anxieties.

"How is she?" Celestia asked as she and Luna sat down next to Twilight.

"Well, I think that Twilight here could be suffering from what we know as…survivor's guilt," Gentle Gust answered. "Do you know what that means, Twilight?"

"It's a… a mental condition that occurs when a pony believes they've done something wrong by surviving a traumatic event when others did not," Twilight guessed, much to the confusion of Celestia and Luna. "I mean, after my diagnosis before the coronation, I did a lot of research into mental therapy and mental illness."

"You certainly read a lot, Twilight." Luna remarked with a slight chuckle.

"I mean, I just feel guilty that I failed my first big test as supreme princess, just as much as my friends failed their first big test as princesses," Twilight explained. "All I can think of is, what could have been had everything gone our way?"

"I can tell you from experience Twilight," Celestia explained, causing Twilight to look at her. "That you can't win every battle you fight. Sometimes, we all have to accept defeat as it is, no matter how painful the consequences. I learned that the hard way when I banished you to the moon, Luna."

Remembering how dark of a moment that was, Luna nodded in solidarity with her older sister.

"But we can try and reduce the number of defeats compared to victories, Twilight," Celestia continued. "We can start by adding more allies willing to fight alongside us, and who share our belief in defeating Grogar and his Legion of Doom."

This made Twilight feel slightly confused at what Celestia was trying to say to her. Then she suddenly began to realize exactly what Celestia was trying to imply. "You don't mean…?!" She gasped, slightly jumping back from her mother figure, who nodded her head up and down in confirmation.

…

Back in the waiting room, Starlight and the rest of Twilight's friends were also wondering just what Celestia and Luna were trying to get across to them.

"What does Celestia mean by more help?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "Haven't we got enough allies to fight Grogar? We have the yaks, the dragons, the griffons, the hippogriffs, the changelings, the kirin and even the Maximals if they're not too busy fighting the Predacons."

"Perhaps it could be that we need to get in touch with more creatures, Rainbow Dash," Rarity suggested, trying to apply makeup on her bandaged face. "So that we don't end up in situations where we look like this."

"But who else can there be to help us fight Grogar?" Applejack wondered. "We already have more than a dozen or so allies, not to mention the pillars themselves and Celestia and Luna's parents if they're willin' to fight. Who else have we yet to round up or ask?"

It didn't cross their minds, but both Starlight and Spike each began to have a very good guess on who could join their war defense.

At that moment, the door opened and Gentle Breeze gestured them all to come into the office with Twilight, Celestia and Luna.

"What's up?" Applejack asked as they walked in.

"Well, it seems that Twilight s suffered a mild mental breakdown as a result of the recent battle." Gentle Gust declared.

"I guess it's not surprising," Twilight sighed to her friends. "Given my mental state. This probably would've happened even if we'd won the battle in the badlands."

"Um, I hate to be a bother, darling," Rarity protested. "But you seem to have mentioned that we need to have additional help. Or rather, that's what Celestia and Luna were suggesting, no?"

"We do," Luna replied. "There is one other pony whose help we can use. Although maybe pony isn't the right word to describe her."

"Don't leave us in suspense!" Pinkie Pie cried while jumping into the air slightly. "Who is it?! Who?!"

Taking a deep breath, Celestia revealed the pony's name. "Sunset Shimmer."

Twilight and her friends gasped in shock at what they had just heard!

…

…

"Sunset Shimmer?" Twilight gasped to Celestia and Luna. "But why? I mean, she's got her own world to protect!"

"Yes, but what Grogar might have planned could drag Sunset's new home world into her old home world in terms of the war," Celestia answered. "Because of the fact that there is Equestrian Magic in Sunset's world. And if Grogar learns of this he's sure to stop at nothing to try to claim it for himself, regardless of who he has to hurt in the process."

For several brief moments Twilight began to pace back and forth, trying to process the fact that Sunset Shimmer would need to be pulled away from the human world. Then she got a thought in her brain. "And if he claims it for his own, then he will have a bigger advantage over us." She declared.

"What can we do?" Starlight asked. "I mean, you and I can go into Sunset's world and try to reason with her, Twilight. Maybe she'll listen to us if we plead hard enough."

"It may not be as simple as you think, Starlight," Celestia warned. "Sunset has grown accustomed to her new world, and I'm afraid getting her to leave it won't be easy."

"I will try and convince her myself," Twilight firmly declared. "If there is anypony who can try and get her to open up, it's me. She trusts me even more than she trusts Celestia now."

"I'll go too! Sunset and I are a lot alike, and we clicked during our time together in the human world." Starlight declared.

"I think it would do you some good, Twilight. A chance to put the recent battle behind you and focus on the future." Gentle Breeze suggested, causing Twilight to turn back to her therapists.

"It will do me more than just good, Gentle Breeze," Twilight declared. "It will help Equestria win more victories against Grogar."

With her visit over, Twilight left the office with her friends behind her while Celestia, Luna and the two therapists looked on.

…

A little while later, back at the Castle of Friendship, Twilight, Spike and Starlight stood in the mirror portal to Sunset's world with Celestia, Luna and the other standing behind them.

"I can't believe that we're going back to Sunset's world after all this time." Starlight remarked as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"And who knows what Grogar might have planned if he gets his hooves on Equestrian magic in there?" Twilight wondered, also looking at her own reflection as well. "We're gonna have to be on our guard in case Grogar and his legion try to interfere. And even if they don't there's a pretty good chance we'll get caught up in another one of Sunset's misadventures with Equestrian magic. It seems like there's always something going on that she needs my help with."

Activating her magic, Twilight turned on the portal and taking a deep breath, prepared herself for the journey that she, Spike and Starlight would undertake. Before they stepped forward however, they turned back to their friends.

"Twilight…be careful," Celestia said in a worried voice as Twilight went over and hugged Celestia tightly. "And come home to us soon."

"I will, Celestia," Twilight replied as they broke apart and Twilight hugged Luna as well. Then, Twilight turned to the rest of her friends. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon. The rest of you tend to your injuries, and keep in touch with Waspinator and the Maximals. Even if they'll be busy keeping the Predacons at bay, we'll need them to keep the balance of power from tipping toward Grogar any further."

Touched, the six ponies embraced each other in a group hug for a brief moment before Twilight joined Spike and Starlight. Taking a deep breath, she turned to them. "All right," She declared. "Let's go."

Walking together, the two mares and young dragon walked into the mirror to begin their important task of recruiting Sunset Shimmer into the war against Grogar!

…

TO BE CONTINUED

…

Episode 2: "Of Wars and Graduations, Part 2"

Author's Notes:

Episode Summary: Grogar sends his Legion of Doom into the human world to seek out the Dazzlings as Twilight, Spike and Starlight attempt to persuade Sunset Shimmer to join the war against him.

Cast:

Tara Strong as Princess Twilight Sparkle/Sci-Twi

Kelly Sheridan as Starlight Glimmer

Cathy Wesluck as Spike

Rebecca Shoichet as Sunset Shimmer

Vincent Tong as Flash Sentry

Kazumi Evans as Adagio Dazzle

Diana Karina as Aria Blaze

Maryke Hendrikse as Sonata Dusk

Doc Harris as Grogar

Mark Acheson as Lord Tirek

Sunni Westbrook as Cozy Glow

Kathleen Barr as Queen Chrysalis/Secretary

Alvin Sanders as King Sombra

Robert Morse as Sendak

Jason David Frank as Dr. Thomas "Tommy" Oliver

…

..

"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" Season 12, Episode 2

"Of Wars and Graduations, Part 2"

Written by Jeff Snyder (TwilightSparkle3562)

Edited by SuperPinkBrony12

…

…

"PREVIOUSLY ON MY LITTLE PONY"

…

…

Celestia: "I've been really worried about you, Twilight. It seems like you're taking this a little too personally."

Twilight Sparkle: "I can't imagine losing this war under my watch, Celestia. What am I going to do?"

Gentle Gust: "Twilight, it occurs to us that maybe… you're continuing to set a high standard that everycreature needs to follow."

Celestia: "You should know that Luna and I are thinking of bringing in additional help."

Scorpan: "You killed our father, didn't you?!"

Lord Tirek: "He didn't deserve to live after all he did to me. And if you cared at all you would see it my way."

Scorpan: "I will make sure you pay dearly for this. Pay for upending our family and sending our kingdom into ruin!"

Grogar: "The sirens are alive."

Sendak: "The sirens?"

Grogar: "I want them brought to me."

Luna: "There is one other pony whose help we can use."

Celestia: "Sunset Shimmer."

Twilight Sparkle: "All right, let's go."

…

…

Stepping through the portal at Canterlot High, Twilight, Starlight and Spike each found themselves feeling more different than normal. But, that was to be expected. The two ponies turned humans (and dragon turned dog) emerged to a sunrise emerging over the school.

"It must be morning," Twilight whispered, looking up at the morning colored skies. "Sunset and the others will be arriving soon."

But the silence was almost deafening to them. They couldn't see anyone around.

"What do you think we should do?" Starlight asked. "We don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves yet."

"I think we should wait in the library," Twilight suggested. "The librarian here knows who I am, so as long as you are safe with me that's all that matters."

Walking up the stairs, they came to the door, but found it locked up. Twilight attempted to jiggle the handle, but was unable to. "Locked," She groaned, before getting an idea. "Let's try the back door."

Going around to the back of the school, they ducked into a bush when they heard the sounds of footfalls coming in as a teacher with a black toupee came in through the back. "Looks like Cranky," Twilight whispered as she peaked out from beneath the bush. "And if I know Cranky he doesn't like surprises."

Her anxieties building up inside of her, Twilight quietly pulled the door open and allowed herself and her companions into the school. Soon, they came towards the library and continuing to move quietly, managed to make their way inside.

"Okay, now what?" Starlight whispered.

"If I know Sunset," Twilight replied. "She and her friends will be meeting here like they always do before they go to class."

"Um, maybe we should at least hide in case the librarian shows up." Spike suggested.

"Cheerilee?" Twilight asked. "Don't worry, she knows who I am."

"But does she know your doppelganger?" Starlight asked, remembering about Twilight's human counterpart, Sci-Twi from her last visit to this dimension.

This gave Twilight an idea. "Spike, is there a pencil?"

"Um, what?" Spike asked.

"Get a pencil," Twilight ordered, pointing to Cheerliee's desk as she turned her attention to her hair. "And see if there's a pair of glasses. Librarians like Cheerilee usually keep a spare pair of glasses with them."

Doing as he was told, Spike ran over to the librarian desk and grabbed a pencil and a pair of black rimmed glasses similar to Sci-Twi's.

"Starlight, can you do my hair up so it'll look like my counterpart's?" Twilight asked in a whisper.

"I'm not quite the fashionista like Rarity is. And I don't have as much experience with hands." Starlight replied as Spike ran back to them with the pencil and the glasses.

"Just give it a shot," Twilight urgently instructed. "Quickly, Cheerliee's gonna be here soon!"

Acting fast, Starlight attempted to get Twilight's hair in the bun that her counterpart had but was unsuccessful. To make matters more complicated, the door began to open behind them and a voice similar to Twilight's was heard.

"Um, if you're trying to copy my hairstyle, it doesn't look like that anymore," Turned around, Starlight and Twilight saw Sci-Twi standing behind them. Putting her books down, Sci-Twi walked over and took the pencil out of Twilight's hair with her magic, before putting it in a ponytail. "And those glasses belong to Miss Cheerliee, so I would put those back before she gets here," Sci-Twi suggested before turning to Starlight. "Good to see you again, Ms…"

"Starlight Glimmer, from Equestria," Starlight corrected in an awkward tone. "Remember me? I saved you and your friends from Juniper Montage."

Sci-Twi blinked. "Now that you mention it, I do remember that. Has it really been that long already? It's still so fresh in my mind."

Turning to Twilight, Sci-Twi began to remember that this was the pony she and Rainbow Dash had met from another previous event. "And you're the other me from Equestria," She remarked. "The princess."

"Actually it's Supreme Princess, now," Twilight corrected. "My friends and I are all co-princesses of Equestria. Long story, really."

"I see," Sci-Twi adjusted her glasses. "And I suppose you're not here for a social visit or you would've already written to Sunset Shimmer about it already. I'll let her know you're here." Sitting down, Sci-Twi reached into her backpack and pulled out her phone, sending a text message to Sunset Shimmer.

"How have things been here?" Twilight asked, distracting Sci-Twi from finishing her text message.

"Aside from all the usual activity," Sci-Twi answered while texting away. "Nothing out of the ordinary…except for the fact that we'll soon be moving on from here. We're getting close to graduation," She put her phone down. "All of us got scholarships to a place called Friendship University."

"Friendship University?" Twilight remarked as she nearly jumped in surprise!

"Isn't that the school that was run by the Flim Flam Brothers?" Starlight added as she sat down next to Twilight.

"The who now?" Sci-Twi blinked.

"The Flim Flam brothers, two ponies who also supposedly run a resort in Las Pegasus," Twilight explained. "They once opened a school called Friendship University after a student at my own school sent them a copy of my lesson plans. When I exposed them with a little help from some friends, they had to shut down. I just hope that the Friendship University you and your friends are going to is legit," Then she asked her counterpart. "What do you plan on majoring in?"

"General studies. I'll probably become a scientist or a teacher when I'm done with Friendship University," Sci-Twi answered. "This week is final exams and then the graduation is Friday night. I'm sure that Sunset Shimmer and the others would be interested in having you attend. Even if we'll all be pursuing different degrees in college, at least we'll be attending the same university and will get to see each other."

But as much as Twilight was delighted at being invited, the threat of war in Equestria lingered her mind. She had to remember why she'd come back to this world that Sunset called home.

…

Back on the moon, Tirek called Chrysalis and Cozy Glow into his quarters for a brief meeting to inform them of what Grogar's instructions were.

"The Dazzlings?" Chrysalis asked as she and Cozy Glow said on the edge of Tirek's bed. "But, Starswirl the Bearded banished them from Equestria long ago? Didn't he?"

"Yes," Tirek replied as he paced back and forth in front of his girlfriend and daughter figure. "However, they seem to be surviving in another world that is much like that human village we raided. From what I seem to recall, a creature who goes into the human world, ends up becoming a human, most of the time."

"Golly, what makes you say that?" Cozy Glow asked while hovering in the air.

"You aren't the only one who spent a great deal of time learning one-on-one, Cozy Glow," Tirek answered as he walked over and took a book from a bookshelf near the bedroom door. "My mentor, Sendak, taught me about this world when I was young. Much like Starswirl the Bearded he believed that there were worlds beyond our own, worlds populated by creatures even stranger than ponies. At the time I thought little of it, but now I see that he was more right than he might have known."

Sitting between Cozy and Chrysalis, Tirek showed them the chapter he was referring to. "According to this book," Tirek explained. "It says here that the sirens we seek are creatures that feed off negative feelings. The more they feed, the stronger they become."

"They sound a lot like you. I mean, don't you…?" Cozy Glow began to ask.

"-I only feed off of living creatures, remember?" Tirek interrupted while looking back at Cozy Glow. "These creatures feed off feelings of discontent and hatred among other creatures. But Starswirl used a transport spell to send the sirens to this other world where they assumed the forms of the inhabitants of that world." Closing the book, Tirek placed it on the nightstand.

"So what you're saying is that Grogar wants us to become humans, and bring the Dazzlings back here to join our ranks?" Cozy Glow guessed.

"Yes," Tirek replied, as he rose to his four feet, turning back around to face Chrysalis and Cozy Glow. "Clearly, he wants a strong replacement for the Storm King. And these sirens seem to be the creatures he wants. We will become humans, yes, but the important thing is that we stay together."

"And what happens if we refuse?" Chrysalis asked, feeling a sense of hesitation.

"Then we all become food for Scarface," Cozy Glow guessed. "Don't we?"

Nodding yes, Tirek left the room and both Cozy and Chrysalis followed, left with no other option but to accept the mission assigned to them.

Approaching Grogar's throne, the three core members of the Legion of Doom bowed to Grogar and the demonic ram smiled at the loyalty his legion was displaying. "So, it appears that you have accepted the mission given to you," Grogar remarked. "Wonderful. I knew that you could all work together for this important mission."

"Yes, my emperor, we shall retrieve the sirens for you," Tirek answered. "And bring them back here to serve you and you alone."

"A wise decision," Sombra sneered as he approached them. "A very wise decision indeed. It would be a shame to have our ranks be thinned further at a time like this."

Seeing Sombra approach them made Cozy Glow very uncomfortable, and when the black hearted unicorn approached her she could feel her spine tingle.

"My student," Sendak said while walking down to the three villains. "I commend you for taking this opportunity assigned to you and your comrades."

"All part of the lessons you once taught me, Sendak," Tirek declared while bowing his head to Sendak. "To make me the creature that I am today."

Rising from his throne, Grogar began to tap into the powers of his bell and holding each other's hooves and claws, Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow prepared themselves for the mission that they were about to undertake. A few moments later, with Grogar, Sombra and Sendak watching, the original Legion of Doom disappeared from the throne room.

"What happens now?" Sombra asked Grogar.

"We let the Legion do what is assigned to them," Grogar answered. "And if they fail…"

At that moment, Scarface entered the room.

"My pet will have an appetizer, dinner and desert all wrapped up into one meal." Grogar laughed, looking at the grizzly bear.

…

Back at the library, Twilight and Starlight were happy to hear that their friends from the human world would be graduating, but Twilight had to again remind herself of why they came in the first place. "Look um, other me…" Twilight began.

"-Just call me Sci-Twi, it's easier that way." Sci-Twi interrupted.

"-Okay, Sci-Twi," Twilight replied. "Look, we would love to attend your graduation. But we only came here to ask Sunset Shimmer a really important favor. It's quite urgent, actually."

"Ask me what?" Said a voice and at that moment the door to the library opened and in stepped Sunset Shimmer, surprised to see both Twilight and Starlight Glimmer sitting in the same area.

Right away, Twilight began to gulp nervously as Celestia's former student made her way over to them.

"Oh uh, hi there, Sunset," Twilight said nervously while clearing her throat as Sunset stepped towards the table. "Nice to…see you again."

"Princess Twilight, this is a nice surprise," Sunset chuckled slightly, unaware of the situation. "What brings you here on short notice?"

"I actually have something really important we need to discuss," Twilight somberly explained. "Something about Equestria."

The warm smile that Sunset had on her face quickly disappeared when she heard what Twilight said. "Is this about the Equestrian Magic I failed to tell you about originally? The one from the music festival my friends went to? Because your hunch was ultimately right about the cause. And you'll never guess who I ran into while at the festival."

"It's nothing to do with the festival, it's something different," Twilight replied, much to Sunset's confusion. "A creature of pure evil has declared war on Equestria. We are under attack."

Immediately, Sunset began to take notice of what Twilight was saying to her. "Twilight?" She blinked.

"Me or her?" Sci-Twi asked, getting up from her seat and Sunset pointing at Twilight.

"You, Sci-Twi," Sunset blushed, remembering the nickname she'd agreed to use in cases like this. "Could you wait for the others in the lobby? Let them know I'll catch up with them later?"

"Of…of course. Obviously this is something between you and the other me." Sci-Twi replied, respectfully leaving the library and giving Sunset and her two guests privacy.

With Sci-Twi gone, Sunset sat down and looked up at her two friends. "Who is this creature of pure evil?" Sunset asked.

"It's Grogar." Twilight answered in a quiet voice as Sunset began to feel her stomach drop.

"Grogar? The same creature that used to rule Equestria long before Celestia and Luna took over?" Sunset gasped, briefly looking away from Twilight and Starlight. "I can't believe it! I mean, Celestia made it a point to teach me about him, when I was still her student of course. He's back?!"

"And looking to take Equestria for himself," Twilight answered as Sunset absorbed the latest information given to her. "He launched a massive attack on King Vorak's kingdom and we unfortunately lost it to him." As Twilight spoke, her frustrations of Vorak's stubbornness was beginning to become displayed on her face.

"King Vorak? You mean, Tirek's dad?" Sunset blinked.

"The very same," Twilight groaned while briefly turning away in despair. "I tried to offer him help, but he refused over and over again. We ended up losing because of him even though we had help."

Right away, Sunset could understand the pain that Twilight was going through. Stepping over to her, she placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Twilight," Sunset sighed. "If there's anything I can do to help…"

"-Actually, there is," Twilight interrupted, turning back to Sunset with a look of worry in her eyes. "I need you to come back home to Equestria, Sunset! Equestria needs you! You're the only hope we have left!"

Sunset took an enormous gulp. Right away she became conflicted with the prospect of going back to Equestria and fighting in a war while possibly leaving the friends she had made in the human world, likely forever.

…

Meanwhile, in an alleyway in the center of town, the portal bearing the Legion of Doom opened and out came the legion, now in human form.

"What….where are we?" Cozy Glow murmured, opening her eyes and seeing herself with human hands. "What happened to me?" Cozy attempted to stand on all fours, but was unable to. She felt that her big alicorn wings had also disappeared. She then looked down at the red dress, white tights and black mary jane shoes she was wearing. "And what am I wearing?"

Opening their own eyes, Chrysalis and Tirek also awoke to find themselves in human forms as well. "Ugh!" Chrysalis groaned as she tried to stand up on all fours only to discover that she too had hands. "Huh? What's happened to my hooves?"

"You're a human now," Tirek explained while clumsily helping his girlfriend stand up straight. "We all are. See for yourselves."

Looking over at a broken mirror, the three villains saw themselves as humans and Chrysalis looked carefully at the long sleeveless black dress she was wearing with green high heel pumps. "Say," Chrysalis chuckled. "I look…gorgeous."

Looking at his form, Tirek admired the human biker look he had obtained. "Hmm, not bad," He marveled at himself. "Too bad I can't keep this form forever."

"So what do we do now?" Cozy Glow asked, catching the attention of her comrades. "We've got to find those sirens. What did they call themselves: The Dazzlings?"

"But where do we begin?" Chrysalis remarked. "Tirek, you have knowledge of this world. What would you do?"

Looking out of the alley, Tirek began to get himself an idea and he probably didn't feel it coming, but he suddenly noticed a red motorcycle with a sidecar parked on a sidewalk in front of a bar. "Follow me," Tirek whispered, motioning for his comrades to follow him towards the motorcycle. "We'll take this."

"What is it?" Cozy Glow asked as Tirek placed her inside the sidecar. "I'm not sure, but it has wheels. It must be how these humans get around, like how the ponies go by chariot." Tirek answered, sitting in the rider's seat and grabbing Chrysalis.

"Do you mind?" Chrysalis hissed as Tirek placed her behind him. "I happen to be a queen!"

"Well right now you are not a queen," Tirek replied back. "Now be quiet and let me figure out how this contraption works. It seems rather complicated."

Placing his hands on the handles, Tirek began to pull back on them and all of a sudden, all began to hear the loud sounds of something revving. Suddenly, they felt the motorcycle jerk forward, nearly hitting a vehicle in front of it!

"Okay, okay," Tirek muttered. "So if I push the handles forward, then this must be…" Pulling his hands back, the motorcycle backed up into the car behind it, causing another sudden jerk. Then Tirek turned the handle and the motorcycle began to move out of the parking space.

"What now?!" Cozy Glow asked as she held on for dear life!

"Just hold on! This thing has a mind of its own!" Tirek answered as he powered up the motorcycle and they took off, but not before a blue haired boy came out of the bar.

"Hey! Hey!" The boy cried out in a panicked voice. "That's my bike! Come back, thieves!" Racing back into the bar, the boy went to get help as the Legion of Doom sped away.

…

…

Leaving the town, the Legion of Doom found themselves travelling down a stretch of highway in the motorcycle, trying to seek out the three imprisoned sirens.

"Cozy Glow," Tirek instructed. "Look inside and see if there's a map of this place."

Cozy Glow shouted over the roar! "What compartment!?"

"Down there!" Tirek instructed as he pointed towards a small door in front of the child, and Cozy opened it to reveal broken candy wrappers and small bits of paper.

Eventually, Cozy grabbed hold of a small, maroon colored map. "Is this it?" Cozy asked, only for Chrysalis to snatch it away from her. Opening the map, she showed Tirek the map as he studied it. Unfortunately, Tirek was so distracted by the map that they heard the sounds of horns right in front of them. Reacting fast, Tirek turned the motorcycle out of the approaching vehicle's path at just the last second!

"Maybe I should be studying the map," Cozy finally declared, taking the map back from her two parental figures. "Ugh! This map is useless! We don't even know where we are! I can't make heads or tails of it! How does anyone find their way around this place?!"

Finally, they began to make their way on a small patch of highway heading into a wooded area, the sun beginning to disappear in the trees above them. Finally, Tirek began to sense a disturbance in his head. Putting the brakes on, he stopped the bike right in the middle of the road.

"Why'd you stop?!" Chrysalis cried out in shock only for Tirek to shush her sharply.

"Do you feel that?" Tirek asked in a quiet tone as he moved the motorcycle down a stretch of road and eventually, the three villains pulled into the entrance to a secluded place that had a wooden sign hanging overhead.

"Camp Ever…free?" Cozy Glow wondered as she read the sign. "Why did you take us here, Tirek? If this is like the Everfree Forest in Ponyville it's too dangerous for us to be here alone! Besides, there won't be anything there."

But Tirek said nothing and proceeded to move the motorcycle into the camp and then onto the grounds itself. The three villains looked around pinpointing the source of what led them here.

"The sirens are here!" Tirek declared. "I can feel their presence nearby!"

Eventually, they found themselves going down a bumpy road that led them to a cave in the far right corner of the camp. A small red van was parked right outside the entrance.

Not wanting to give themselves away, Tirek moved the motorcycle into a bush and hid it there.

"What makes you think that?" Cozy Glow asked as they crouched low.

Just then, they saw a blue skinned girl walking out of the cave and into the van. A few moments later, she came out holding what appeared to be a small taco in her hand.

Eventually, they came up to the entrance of the cave and could hear the sounds of faint singing coming from deep inside.

"Follow me." Tirek whispered as Chrysalis and Cozy Glow attempted to follow him. Unfortunately, Chrysalis' pumps were not good walking shoes and she fell face first on the ground.

"Blast these shoes!" Chrysalis muttered as she struggled to get back to her feet.

"Come on!" Tirek hissed, trying to listen to the sounds of the singing. "They're in this cave somewhere! We've got to find them."

Finally, they approached a large open space and there they saw them…three strangely colored human girls standing under a crystalized dome of the cave, trying to absorb powers from an unidentified source.

"Ugh, stupid amulets!" The yellow skinned girl cried out, panting from attempting to sing. "These blasted things still aren't working! What are we doing wrong?!"

"Maybe it could be that we're only trying to steal negative feelings from animals. I told you this was a waste of time." A purple skinned girl snapped.

"Yeah, maybe we should wait 'til the next music festival. There'll be plenty of energy for us to feed on then!" The blue skinned girl remarked as she took a bite into her taco.

"Sonata, you are such an airhead," The yellow skinned girl growled, giving her counterpart a dirty look. "The next so-called music festival for these fools isn't for another year! We have to find a way to get all the energy we need in order to get back to Equestria. Don't you want to go back?"

As they listened, the three villains began to get themselves an idea. To them, the sirens wanted to escape the world that they now found themselves in by any means necessary.

"Should we help them?" Cozy Glow asked Tirek in a hushed voice only to see both Tirek and Chrysalis snickering with delight. "Guys?"

Suddenly, the sirens heard the snickering and turned around to try and find the source of it. "What was that?" The yellow skinned girl cried out while rising to her feet. "Who's there?! Come out, I say, unless you wanna enter a world of hurt!"

Emerging from the shadows, the humanized Tirek and Chrysalis approached the three sirens with the intent of taking them back to Grogar.

"Who are you?" The purple skinned girl shouted, reaching into the campfire and holding a burning stick at the three uninvited guests. "And what do you want?! You got five seconds to explain yourselves!"

But neither Tirek or Chrysalis were fazed by the sudden cries of the three sirens. For they had come face to face with them and would soon recruit them into Grogar's ranks.

…

"Come back home to Equestria, Twilight?" Sunset asked with a conflicted look on her face. "Twilight, I would love to, but…"

"Sunset, please, we need you!" Twilight pleaded. "Grogar is back and he is not going to stop until Equestria is his to rule again! We need all the help we can get, and you're the only ally left we haven't recruited yet."

Backing away, Sunset had a lot of things she needed to clear up before she could make a decision. "Twilight, listen," She declared. "My friends and I are graduating from here in the not too distant future. If I leave now, then I could be worrying them unnecessarily. At least wait until after this Friday so I have time to break the news to them. Maybe I could even bring some of them over."

"Sunset, keep in mind," Starlight warned. "If Grogar conquers Equestria, there's no doubt in any of our minds that he will possibly go after this world too. If it was up to us, I would wait until Grogar is defeated before you graduate. Besides, you need to consider the family you have back in Equestria. And as for your friends, it wouldn't be a good idea to have them be dragged into a war while they're staying indefinitely in Equestria. We don't know how long it'll be before this war with Grogar reaches its end. It could take years, and by that time who knows how much time will have passed here?"

The more Sunset thought about this, the more she became conflicted. But as she contemplated her overall decision in front of her two Equestrian friends, a mysterious figure stepped into Canterlot High in a black jacket and black pants, and approached the office of Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna.

"May I help you, sir?" The secretary asked as the figure removed a pair of sunglasses off of his face.

"Yes, I believe I have an appointment with Principal Celestia," The figure answered. "It's about the…science teacher's job."

"I see," The secretary remarked while looking down at her schedule. "Your name please, sir?"

"Dr. Thomas Oliver." The figure answered and little did anyone know that this man would soon reveal a secret that would reveal itself as a new ally in the war against Grogar!

Episode 3: "Of Wars and Graduations, Part 3"

Author's Notes:

Episode Summary: As Sunset grapples with the option of staying in the human world or returning to fight in Equestria, the Dazzlings agree to join Grogar's Legion of Doom.

Cast:

Tara Strong as Princess Twilight Sparkle

Rebecca Shoichet as Sunset Shimmer

Kelly Sheridan as Starlight Glimmer

Cathy Wesluck as Spike/Secretary

Nicole Oliver as Principal Celestia

Tabitha St. Germain as Vice Principal Luna

Jason David Frank as Dr. Thomas "Tommy" Oliver

Catherine Sutherland as Katherine "Kat" Hillard

Kim Strauss as Ninjor

Richard Steven Horvitz as Alpha 5

Vincent Tong as Flash Sentry

John De Lancie as Discord/Lockdown

Kazumi Evans as Adagio Dazzle

Diana Kaarina as Aria Blaze

Maryke Hendrikse as Sonata Dusk

Mark Acheson as Lord Tirek

Kathleen Barr as Queen Chrysalis

Sunni Westbrook as Cozy Glow

Doug Parker as Terrorsaur

Don Brown as Scorponok

…

…

"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" Season 12, Episode 3

Written by Jeff Snyder (TwilightSparkle3562)

Edited by SuperPinkBrony12

…

…

"PREVIOUSLY ON MY LITTLE PONY"

…

…

Twilight Sparkle: "If I know Sunset, she and her friends will be meeting here like they always do before they go to class."

Sci-Twi: "I suppose you're not here for a social visit or you would've already written to Sunset Shimmer about it already. All of us got scholarships to a place called Friendship University."

Lord Tirek: "According to this book, it says here that the sirens we seek are creatures that feed off negative feelings. The more they feed, the stronger they become."

Sunset Shimmer: "Princess Twilight, what a nice surprise."

Twilight Sparkle: "I actually have something really important we need to discuss. It's Grogar. I need you to come back home to Equestria, Sunset! Equestria needs you! You're the only hope we have left!"

Cozy Glow: "Why did you take us here, Tirek?"

Lord Tirek: "The Sirens are here!"

Sunset Shimmer: "Come back to Equestria?"

Tommy Oliver: "Yes, I believe I have an appointment with Principal Celestia."

Secretary: "Your name please, sir?"

Tommy Oliver: "Dr. Thomas Oliver."

…

…

While the core members of the Legion of Doom were on their mission to recruit the Dazzlings, Discord was rummaging through the stacks of stasis pods that the Predacons had recovered. The events at Vorak's kingdom gave Discord every indication that Equestria needed more allies to battle Grogar if it was going to stand a chance. "There's got to be someone in these pods that I can send to Twilight and the others," He muttered. "If Vorak's kingdom is any indication…"

Just then, he heard the sounds of the door opening and quickly transformed back into Lockdown as the doors opened to reveal Terrorsaur and Scorponok.

"Is the one he wants?" Terrorsaur asked as they grabbed one of the stasis pods.

"Yes," Scorponok answered. "Let's go."

As the two predacons prepared to leave with the pod, Lockdown stepped out from behind a stack and stopped them. "Where are you taking that pod?" He questioned the two Predacons.

"Um, Grogar asked us to get it for him," Scorponok replied while looking suspiciously at Lockdown. "Why do you ask, Lockdown?"

Not wanting his cover to be blown, Lockdown looked away, much to the confusion of Terrorsaur and Scorponok. "I…have my reasons."

Sensing that there was something off, the two Predacons decided to let go of their suspicion and left, taking the stasis pod with them.

Once they were gone, Discord dropped his disguise and returned to seeking out potential Maximals. As he began his search once more, he suddenly heard a faint voice.

"Help…"

The voice was high pitched, yet faint. Discord turned to find the source of it, but found nothing. "Who…who's there?" He asked, snapping his fingers and turning himself into a sound detector. "Is it you, Fluttershy? No, it can't be."

"Help…" The voice called again, this time from further away. "In the name of ninja, help me…"

"The name of ninja?" Discord wondered. "Must be one of the humans that we're keeping prisoner in the dungeons."

But getting another sensation, Discord found himself being drawn further and further to the voice. Leaving the storeroom, he proceeded down to the caves of deception beneath Grogar's palace.

"Help, in the name of ninja…"

Making his way into the caves, Discord began to follow the voice towards a small cavern where a blue bottle was located. "What's this?" Discord asked, flying his way over to the bottle. "Who could possibly be in here?"

Looking inside the bottle, Discord saw what appeared to be a little blue humanoid figure looking right up at him. "Why the great Ninjor of course!" The blue figure answered, much to Discord's surprise and confusion.

"Ninjor?" Discord remarked in a confused tone. "Never heard of you before."

…

…

Meanwhile, back in the human world, Dr. Oliver sat outside Principal Celestia's office and a few moments later, the door opened to reveal the Principal of Canterlot High, gesturing for him to come inside her office. "You must be Dr. Thomas Oliver," She smiled, sitting down at her desk as Dr. Oliver followed. "And you wish to fill our position for a new science teacher, correct?"

"Yes," Dr. Oliver acknowledged. "My last position was…different to an extent."

"In what way?" Principal Celestia asked. "You were once professor of paleontology at Reefside City, a profession that you left."

"Well, at my last job, let's just say we were frequently subjected to monster attacks." Dr. Oliver explained.

Raising an eyebrow, Principal Celestia began to get a sense of where her possible new hire was coming from. "I see," She remarked while, getting back to the task at hand. "Aside from what you just said, are there other kinds of science you teach besides paleontology?"

"Yes, a variety," Dr. Oliver. answered. "I've dabbled in Environmental, Marine Life and Astrology, but my forte is geological: Studying dinosaurs and the history of Prehistoric Earth. Or at least, that's what inspired me in high school."

"And where did you go to high school?" Principal Celestia questioned him.

"I went to Angel Grove High," Dr. Oliver replied. "I was a transfer student from Stone Canyon. I had a rough start in the beginning, but then I began to find my footing once I made some very special friends."

As Dr. Oliver spoke, Principal Celestia began to sense that he was harboring a secret, judging from the body language of his. "So it appears to me that you had a rough start and yet, you were able to overcome expectations to graduate with honors," She declared. "How did you do it?"

"Well, it probably helped that I was in karate." Dr. Oliver explained.

"Karate?" Principal Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, karate," Dr. Oliver answered as he began to briefly recall the days when he was in the prime of his youth. "The martial art helped teach me the importance of hard work and self discipline. In fact, do any students here take part in karate or other martial arts? For that matter, is there any interest?"

Lowering her head down in thought, Principal Celestia began to contemplate the possibilities of hiring someone like Tommy to her staff. "There isn't a karate club or anything martial arts related here, and neither are we looking to add to the after school activities just yet," She answered before finally looking up at Dr. Oliver. "However, I do think you could be a good asset. In fact, I think students will benefit from having someone like you, Dr. Oliver, not just in academics, but also in extracurricular activities too."

Extending her hand out, Principal Celestia had hired the man on the spot. "Welcome to Canterlot High, Dr. Oliver."

Smiling, Tommy shook his new boss' hand and his tenure at Canterlot High was about to begin.

…

Back in the library, Sunset was still trying to process the thought of returning to Equestria to fight Grogar. "Twilight, Starlight, I…" She stammered while pacing back and forth. "I want to help you, I really do. But, if I leave this world and never return then I'd be taking all the knowledge about Equestrian magic with me too! I don't want to leave my friends at a disadvantage, even to help Equestria."

"Sunset, I promise you that you can still be there for your friends," Twilight offered as she tried to give Sunset an option. "I mean, look at me. I was in the same boat as you when I was first crowned as Supreme Princess. I risked the possibility of leaving my friends behind."

But Sunset wasn't comforted by Twilight's words.

"Maybe," Starlight suggested while walking up to the pony turned human. "You might be afraid."

"Afraid?" Sunset remarked while turning around to face Starlight. "Of course I'm afraid! Do both of you realize how dangerous Grogar is?! I learned about him when Celestia was my mentor, and that was when I thought he was just a legend."

"As did I, Sunset," Twilight noodded. "We all thought he was nothing more than a legend after he was banished. A threat that existed solely in children's stories. But now he's back and we all have to play our part to stop him! You are a powerful ally and the only hope we have left."

Sighing deeply, Sunset became more and more conflicted with what was in front of her. Part of her didn't want to leave both Canterlot High and the world that she had made her home after severing ties with Celestia. "Twilight, I…I…" Sunset stammered, turning her attention towards the library doors. "I need to think about this."

"Sunset, wait!" Twilight cried, but Sunset left the library before she could hear Twilight.

Looking back at Starlight, it seemed to Twilight that gaining Sunset as an ally was not going to be possible.

…

…

Running to the girls bathroom, Sunset looked at herself in the mirror and splashed water on her face. Up until this moment she'd been looking forward to graduating and going off to Friendship University with the friends that she'd made. Now all those plans were going to ruin because of the growing war in her former home. "Okay Sunset," She gasped, trying to take in several deep breaths. "You've got this. Maybe going back to Equestria might do you some good. Maybe Grogar isn't as big a threat as he's supposed to be."

Groaning loudly, Sunset grew more and more despondent of her situation to the point that tears were beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. "I can't do this!" She cried to herself. "I can't split my time between two worlds. It's not possible! I've got to make a choice, but how? What would Princess Celestia do in this situation?"

Emerging from the bathroom, Sunset stepped outside just as the students were coming in to start their day. Signs marking her impending graduation ceremony were everywhere. But Sunset wasn't in a graduating state of mind. Even her final exams coming up could distract her from what was in front of her. As Sunset made her way back to the library, she silently began to rehearse just what she was going to say to Twilight.

Meanwhile, Dr. Oliver made his way out of Canterlot High, excited that he was going to be a teacher for the upcoming school year. Reaching for his cell phone, he proceeded to call and share the news. "Kat?" He asked in an excited tone. "Got some news for you."

"What is it, Tommy?" Dr. Oliver heard his wife ask. "You got the job?"

"Yes, I got the job," Tommy declared with a smile. "I start at the end of August!"

"Tommy, that's great! I'm so proud of you!" Kat declared.

"Yeah, it's really great, Kat!" Tommy replied while leaning back against the statue in front of Canterlot High's main entrance. "I think you'd like this place, Katherine. It's kind of reminding me a lot of Angel Grove High."

"It's really too bad you couldn't go back to Angel Grove high as a teacher," Katherine remarked. "Who knows? Maybe the next generation of Power Rangers could come from there, like how you mentored a group of new Power Rangers at Reefside High."

Sighing, Tommy could only look at what was in front of him. "Why don't we discuss it more over dinner tonight?" He asked.

"Sounds good to me, Tommy," Kat answered. "I love you."

"Love you too, Kat. Bye." Hanging up the phone, Tommy placed his cell back in his pocket and proceeded away from the building.

But as he prepared to leave, he suddenly heard a sucking sound coming from behind him. Turning around to investigate, he peeked around and saw a portal letting off strange vibes. "What's this?" He wondered to himself.

…

Meanwhile, inside a cave at Camp Everfree, the three sirens were trying to get the Legion of Doom to leave them alone.

"Five, four, three, two, one, time's up!" The purple skinned girl declared, storming up to the three villains and clutching her fist as she attempted to throw a punch at Tirek. But Tirek used his strong muscles to stop it and produce a strong grip on her hand. The pain she was feeling caused the purple skinned girl to cry out in pain, and when he heard her cry Tirek released his grip.

"What did you do that for?!" The blue skinned girl cried. "Why did you hurt my sister?!"

"It was merely a matter of self-defense, your sister swung first," Cozy Glow answered in a sassy tone. "Duh! For powerful sirens you three sure are dumb."

"Who are you three, and what do you want? And just how do you know who we really are?!" The yellow skin girl answered.

"We've come to give you an offer you can't refuse. There's nothing we don't know about you, because we work for a higher power," Chrysalis chuckled, walking over to the girls and sitting next to the yellow skin girl. "You see, we happen to know a way to get you back to Equestria."

This made the three girls excited, realizing that at long last they could be finally heading back home.

"Of course," Chrysalis continued while stroking the yellow skinned girl's long curly hair. "It would mean a small sacrifice on your part."

"Yes," Tirek answered as he and Cozy Glow approached. "But the reward for you all would be quite big. In fact, does the name Twilight Sparkle mean anything to you?"

A small look of confusion came onto the faces of the girls upon hearing this. "Um, no." The blue skinned girl answered while shrugging her shoulders.

"We do understand about another girl," The yellow skinned girl snarled. "Her name just happens to be Sunset Shimmer, and she's a goody twoshoes if I ever saw one. It's because of her that we're stuck like this!"

The three villains looked at each other in confusion. "Sunset Shimmer?" Cozy Glow asked while looking over at Tirek and Chrysalis. "That's nothing we've ever heard of. Is she like Starlight Glimmer?"

"Don't know who Starlight Glimmer is but trust me when I say Sunset Shimmer is the worst!" The purple skinned girl growled. "Sunset Shimmer and her meddlesome friends destroyed everything we've worked for, even going so far as to shatter our gems and render us powerless!"

"Absolutely, Aria!" The yellow skinned girl cried while ripping the red necklace off her neck. "For too long we have been trying to regain our powers and escape from this forsaken place!"

Taking the necklace from her hand, Chrysalis inspected the pendant and quickly identified what the three girls were doing wrong. "It seems to me that no matter what you do," she declared, giving the pendant back to the yellow skinned girl. "You will never get your powers back because they are not made from Equestrian magic. But we can fix that."

"Really? How do we get Equestrian magic?" The blue skinned girl wondered as she took another bite of her taco. This gave the Legion of Doom an idea. "There isn't any for miles."

"There's plenty of Equestrian magic around here, Sonata! Just nothing we can use!" The yellow skinned girl snapped, glaring at her equal before turning back to the Legion. "You'll have to excuse Sonata Dusk here, she can be a clumsy idiot at times. Honestly, if I weren't around to keep her and Aria Blaze in line, we'd all fall apart."

"That's alright," Chrysalis sneered while looking at the girls. "Just do as we say and we will not only bring you back home to Equestria, but give you all the power you need to survive and then some."

The three girls listened at the offer that was being given to them.

…

…

Looking at the portal, Tommy began to get a suspicion that something was amiss. Being a Power Ranger, he was all too familiar with portals that led to different dimensions and the trouble they could cause. "It's too bad Zordon isn't here right now," He thought to himself as he reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a device with a gold center on it. "Might need this later."

Tommy then turned over to a silver wristband on his watch and then, after looking around to avoid suspicion, he proceeded towards a corner of the school where he spoke into it. "Alpha, are you there?" He whispered into the wristband. "It's me, Tommy."

"Yes, Tommy, I read you," A high pitched robotic voice responded on the other end. "What is it?"

"Alpha, listen," Tommy explained. "I'm at a place called Canterlot High right now. I was just leaving and all of a sudden I detected strange vibes coming from one of the statues. I think it leads to another dimension."

"Another dimension?" Alpha asked. "I'll run a scan of your surrounding area now. By the way, did you get the job?"

"I did, thanks for asking," Tommy acknowledged. "Let me know when you've completed the scan. Tommy out."

Meanwhile, Sunset returned to the library to make her decision. In her mind, she didn't know how Twilight and Starlight were going to react, but she had to prepare herself for whatever came her way.

"Sunset!" Twilight cried in relief. "What did you decide?"

"Twilight, Starlight, I…" Sunset started to say. "I want to help you and your friends fight Grogar, but I need to ask for time."

"Time?" Starlight asked. "How long?"

"Time to at least let me graduate from here with my friends and break the news to them," Sunset answered. "The graduation is Friday night and then…"

But Twilight placed a hand on Sunset's bare shoulder, acknowledging her fear.

"Remember that time in Equestria and this world are far different from one another," Twilight said with a warm smile. "Don't worry, I won't let you miss your graduation with the others. Not if I can help it."

Feeling somewhat better, Sunset leapt in front of Twilight and hugged her, grateful that Twilight was willing to be flexible with her schedule.

"All right," Twilight declared as Sunset pulled away from her. "The portal is always open whenever you're ready, Sunset. I'll do my best to get you up to speed on everything you need to know."

"Thanks, Twilight." Sunset smiled as she turned and left the library.

With Sunset on board, Twilight and her companions were ready to leave the school and return to Equestria.

But at the same time, the sirens and the Legion of Doom were preparing to leave the caves and proceed towards Equestria.

"Just remember what you have to do, Adagio." Tirek instructed as she and the other sirens boarded their red van.

"Oh don't worry, Tirek," Adagion sinisterly smiled as she shut the door to the van. "I certainly will. Ready girls?"

With the sounds of their engine running, Tirek and his comrades boarded their motorcycle.

"Do you think they don't have plans of their own to betray us at some point?" Cozy nervously asked.

"Of course they don't, child. Not now anyway," Chrysalis answered. "They seem worthy enough to stick to our plan and besides, even if they did betray us, that big bear of Grogar's will have a three course meal waiting for him."

Laughing, the three villains followed the sirens as they drove away from the campgrounds and back towards Canterlot High School.

Just then, Flash Sentry darted into the school. His face filled with panic just as Vice Principal Luna was coming out of the office. "Flash Sentry!" She cried out, stopping him from going any further. "What is the meaning of this?! You know that finals started not too long ago! Where were you?!"

"I was in town, stopping off at my dad's bar," Flash explained as he panted, clearly out of breath. "But my bike was stolen!"

"That is a lie on top of a lie, young man," Vice Principal Luna replied, her face not showing any remorse. "We will discuss this later, now go to your exam at once."

"But, Vice…" Flash began to protest.

"NOW!" Luna shouted, pointing for Flash Sentry to leave. Exasperated, Flash did as he was told and when he was gone, Luna returned to the office as her older sister emerged from her own office.

"Luna, what's going on?" Celestia asked.

"Flash Sentry decided to show up late," Luna answered. "Apparently, he claimed his bike was stolen just so he could get out of finals. Can you believe it?"

But a look of disappointment befell on Celestia's face. "You don't believe me, do you, sister?" Luna asked.

"I saw the look on Flash's face," Principal Celestia remarked, her arms folded in her chest. "And from the looks of it, I don't think he would be lying. We both know Flash and we both know how honest he can be. It's not like him to suddenly start lying now. If his bike was stolen…"

Immediately, the vice principal developed a look of shear guilt on her face and turned away in slight embarrassment. "Sorry, Celestia," Vice Principal Luna apologized. "I guess…the end of the year activities…."

"Save it for Flash Sentry, Luna," Principal Celestia scolded. "When the finals are over, you owe him an apology."

…

At that moment, Twilight and Starlight proceeded to make their way towards the portal when Spike noticed something coming down the road. "Hey guys," He called, tapping on Starlight's human leg. "What's that coming towards us?"

Looking in the direction Spike was showing them, both Twilight and Starlight each saw a red motorcycle and a red van coming towards the school. Right away, both of them realized there was something off as the van and motorcycle drove right onto the school grounds.

"What in the world…?!" Twilight cried as the van and the motorcycle darted towards them. Immediately, all three recognized the human counterparts on the motorcycle. "Impossible!"

"Hello, Twilight!" Cozy Glow sneered as she jumped out of the sidecar. "Fancy running into you and Headmare Starlight here! Golly, how do we keep meeting like this all the time?"

"What are you three doing here?!" Twilight demanded.

"Oh, just recruiting some old 'friends' of yours into our ranks," Tirek declared, and at that moment the doors of the van opened and Twilight saw the Dazzling emerge. "I believe you know them all, don't you?"

"Adagio Dazzle!" Twilight cried. "And your sisters too!"

"Hello, Princess Twilight," The lead Dazzling remarked while looking down at her hand. "Thanks to our new friends here, we know more about you."

Just then, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna saw what was happening from their outside window.

"I guess Flash was telling the truth after all," Luna whispered. "His bike was stolen."

"And look who else decided to come back," Celestia remarked. "The Dazzlings." Darting out of the office, Principal Celestia was determined to get these intruders off of school property. "Hey!" she shouted, catching the villains' attention. "What do you think you are doing here?! You're trespassing!"

"Principal Celestia," Aria Blaze snarled. "It just so happened we were in the neighborhood, and thought we'd say hello."

"Get off the school grounds right now!" Celestia angrily commanded as she stormed towards them. "We expelled you three after the Battle of the Bands."

"Yah, but we began to miss the place of our near triumph over you pathetic humans." Sonata cackled as the sirens were absorbing Celestia's anger into their pendants, giving them some of their power back.

Just then, Vice Principal Luna came out and seeing the Dazzlings, also stormed over.

"And Vice Principal Luna," Aria Blaze laughed. "Good to see you too."

"Save it, Aria!" the Vice Principal snapped. "You three are trespassing and that goes for your friends here too!"

"Oh golly, she called us your friends," Cozy Glow sneered. "Well let's show them who they're messing with, shall we?"

Advancing towards the principals, Tirek and Chrysalis each grabbed the sisters and began to drag them back into the school.

"Hey, let them go!" Twilight commanded, only for Chrysalis to somehow use her magic and send Twilight back hard against the side of the statue.

"Twilight!" Starlight cried, running to her former pupil's side. "Are you okay?"

Looking at the top of Twilight's head, Starlight could see that Twilight had bumped her head. Growling, Starlight proceeded to charge at the villains only for Chrysalis to do the same thing. And Starlight was soon pushed back when Tirek and Cozy Glow joined the fight, knocking Starlight down as she and Twilight struggled just to get to their feet.

"Now all we have to do is conquer the school, and Grogar will have an entire set of new recruits at his disposal." Chrysalis laughed as they held the two principals against their will.

But before they could go into the school, they heard a sharp voice.

"Hey!" Emerging from his hiding spot in the right side of the building, Tommy walked over to the villains, catching their attention. "You're not taking over this school on my watch!"

"Oh really?" Chrysalis mockingly replied. "Who are you to give us such commands? I happen to be a queen, you know."

But Tommy wasn't backing down. He just kept staring the six villains down while he stuck his hand in his suit pocket. "You say you're a queen?" Tommy remarked, pulling out a gold device with a gold center in the middle. "Well then, unless you have what I have, you don't even deserve to be queen or any of you for that matter. Because in my view…you're nothing but cheap carbon copies and amateurs. You pale in comparison to some of the threats I've had to face."

Right away, the villains began to get a sense of unease as Tommy placed his hands on the device, holding it out in front of the villains.

"What is that?!" Cozy Glow cried in a panicked voice.

"It's Morphin' Time!" Tommy shouted while tapping into the powers of his device as the center formed into the shape of a strange footprint. "Dragonzord!"

In a flash of green light, the villains saw that Tommy had transformed into a being in a green suit with a gold chest shield and a helmet with a dinosaur mouth on it. Throwing the two principals aside, the six villains confronted the figure, not realizing the power that Tommy held in his hands.

…

…

Episode 4: "Of Wars and Graduations, Part 4"

Author's Notes:

Episode Summary: With Tommy Oliver facing off against the Sirens and the Legion of Doom, Sunset Shimmer bids farewell to her friends as she prepares to return to Equestria.

Cast:

Jason David Frank as Dr. Thomas "Tommy" Oliver

Tara Strong as Princess Twilight Sparkle/Sci-Twi

Rebecca Shoichet as Sunset Shimmer

Ashleigh Ball as Applejack/Rainbow Dash

Andrea Libman as Pinkie Pie/Fluttershy

Tabitha St. Germain as Rarity/Vice Principal Luna

Cathy Wesluck as Spike

Nicole Oliver as Principal Celestia

Kelly Sheridan as Starlight Glimmer

Catherine Sutherland as Katherine "Kat" Hillard

Kim Strauss as Ninjor

John De Lancie as Discord

Mark Acheson as Lord Tirek

Kathleen Barr as Queen Chrysalis

Sunni Westbrook as Cozy Glow

Kazumi Evans as Adagio Dazzle

Diana Kaarina as Aria Blaze

Maryke Hendrikse as Sonata Dusk

Doc Harris as Grogar

Alvin Sanders as King Sombra

Robert Morse as Sendak

Vincent Tong as Flash Sentry

Tony Oliver as Saba

…

…

"My Litt

…

…

"PREVIOUSLY ON MY LITTLE PONY"

…

…

Ninjor: "In the name of ninja, help me…"

Discord: "Never heard of you before."

Principal Celestia: You were once professor of paleontology at Reefside City, a profession that you left."

Tommy: "Well, at my last job, let's just say we were frequently subjected to monster attacks."

Principal Celestia: "Welcome to Canterlot High, Dr. Oliver."

Twilight Sparkle: "You are a powerful ally and the only hope we have left."

Sunset Shimmer: "I need to think about this."

Queen Chrysalis: "We've come to give you an offer you can't refuse. Just do as we say and we will not only bring you back home to Equestria, but give you all the power you need to survive and then some."

Tommy: "I detected strange vibes coming from one of the statues. I think it leads to another dimension."

Flash Sentry: "My bike was stolen!"

Tommy: "You're nothing but cheap carbon copies and amateurs. It's morphin time!"

…

…

The six villains could not believe their eyes! They had come face to face with someone that none of them had ever heard of before.

"I don't know who you think you are, mister," Chrysalis snapped as she and the others took up fighting stances. "But you're messing with the wrong creatures!"

"No," Tommy said quietly as he took up a battle position. "You're messing with the wrong creature: me! You've obviously never tangled with a power ranger before. Well you're about to learn the hard way!" Making his move, Tommy began to engage the villains in hand to hand combat, throwing punches and kicks wherever he went all the while uttering screams.

"Don't just stand there, sisters!" Adagio cried to Aria and Sonata as Tommy threw a punch at Tirek's mouth. "Help them out!"

"But, I'm not much of a…" Sonata pleaded only to be pushed by Adagio while Aria punched Tommy in the stomach, sending him flying onto the stairs.

Getting to their feet, Principal Celestia and her sister realized that something needed to be done.

"Celestia, we have to do something!" Vice-Principal Luna cried in a panicked voice as she helped her sister up. "These creatures might be from that other world that Sunset belongs to."

"When you're right you're right, Luna," Celestia replied. "Come on! We've got to lock the school down before any of our students get caught in the crossfire!"

But just as the two prepared to go around back to enter the school, they saw the knocked out Twilight and Starlight lying unconscious against the statue.

"We can't leave them here, they need medical attention!" Luna declared, grabbing a hold of the unconscious Starlight and flinging her on her shoulder. "Help me out, sister! Quickly!"

Doing as she was told, Celestia helped out by lifting Twilight onto her own shoulder. Seizing an opportunity, the two sisters darted for the door while Tommy dealt with the villains. Running inside, Celestia and Luna placed the unconscious girls in the chairs while Celestia ran for the microphone crying out in an urgent voice. "Attention!" She called. "This is a message for the entire school! Condition Red, lockdown! This is not a drill!"

Upon hearing those words, every classroom in the school began to shut down their operations, including the classroom where Sunset and her friends were in. Huddled into a corner, they immediately began wondering what was going on. Sunset had a very good idea of what was going on.

"Sunset," Fluttershy whispered. "What's happening?"

"It's not good," Sunset whispered back as the lights were turned off. "I think I know what's happening. Princess Twilight's in trouble!"

…

Back in the courtyard, Tommy continued to duel with the villains. But, he felt that he needed to take his fighting to the next level. "It's morphin' time!" He cried out, holding out his master morpher as the logo in the center shifted. "Tigerzord!" Immediately, Tommy transformed from his current form to a human covered in white with a black chest shield, along with gold trimmings and a gold tiger like head on his helmet. "Okay Saba, ready?" He cried to his sword with a tiger head on it.

"Ready, Tommy! This is just like old times." The sword acknowledged.

Using his sword, Tommy swiped and slashed at the villains, including Chrysalis, the tip of the sword striking her in the shoulder and causing her to screech in pain.

"You'll pay for that!" Chrysalis cried.

"Put it on my tab!" Tommy remarked as he swung in the air and kicked Chrysalis back.

Angered by seeing his girlfriend hurt, Tirek jumped in the air!

Tommy acted quickly, tapping into the powers of his master morpher again. "It's morphin' time! Ninja Ranger Power now!" Transforming into a white hooded ninja outfit, Tommy managed to jump out of Tirek's way and leapt onto the top of the school.

"Come back here!" Tirek yelled as Tommy lept from one roof to the other, running up the side of another and eventually coming back down on his feet as Cozy Glow charged at him.

Letting out a loud cry of her own, Cozy jumped into the air and flew a kick at Tommy.

But Tommy had expected this. "It's morphin' time!" He shouted once again, tapping into the powers of his master morpher again. "White Ranger Power!" Transforming back into his white ranger form, Tommy then tapped into his powers even further. "Metallic Armor Power Up!"

Suddenly, Cozy Glow felt herself hitting something metallic when she made contact with Tommy's costume, and fell back onto the ground, her leg in great pain as she tried to stand up. "My leg!" She cried, holding it tightly as a look of anger befell her tear stricken face. "I think I sprained my leg!"

Hearing Cozy's cries of pain, Tirek ran around to the back and charged at Tommy, but Tommy used his metallic armor to throw fast moving punches and kicks at Tirek, hitting him repeatedly in the chest. And Tirek soon found himself unconscious and falling down onto the side, next to the injured Cozy Glow.

Just then, Tommy saw Chrysalis and the sirens running towards him. Once again he tapped into the powers of his master morpher. "Time to kick things up a notch! It's morphin' time!" He cried as his master morpher's symbol shifted once more. "Zeo Ranger Five, Red!"

Changing out of his white suit, Tommy now wore a suit of red that had white on the arms, legs and neck and gold trim on the collar. A black star was displayed prominently in the center of his helmet. Reaching into the holster of this new suit, Tommy fired several blasts at the feet of Chrysalis and the sirens, sending them back several inches!

From their office window, Celestia and Luna watched the whole thing unfold.

"Who knew Dr. Oliver was more than a teacher?!" Vice Principal Luna gasped.

"I think there's more to him than meets the eye," Celestia acknowledged. "Much more. This must've been what he did in his spare time at Reefside and Angel Grove."

…

Meanwhile, up on the moon, Grogar was about to begin work on resurrecting a possible minion when he suddenly felt a summons from his bell.

"What is it, my emperor?" Sombra asked as Grogar called back his spell. "What's wrong?"

Growling, Grogar turned around and walked back towards his viewing globe, seeing Tommy do battle with Chrysalis and the Sirens. "What is going on here?!" Grogar growled. "Who is this creature I see?!"

"I don't know, my emperor," Sombra replied. "He's like no creature I've ever seen before."

Grogar hissed. "I asked those three to recruit the sirens and yet…" Realizing that he needed deeper advice, Grogar motioned for Sendak to come over to him. "Come here you old geezer," He commanded to the elder centaur. "Who is this masked creature who wields such incredible power?! Tell me who he is!"

"The strange, red costumed, two legged creature?" Sendak asked as he shook his head. "I know not who he is. He wields powers even I would never dream of. They must come from somewhere though."

Meanwhile, Discord teleported himself out of the castle holding the blue jar containing the mysterious ninja figure inside.

"What's going on?" Ninjor asked. "I'm getting sick in here!"

"Shh, keep it down!" Discord whispered while glaring into the bottle with one of his eyes. "Do you want Grogar to hear you and get us both in trouble?!"

"Well, I…" Ninjor started to say.

"-Good!" Discord interrupted. "Now, I'm going to send you back to where I came from. Just stay in your little jar until you arrive."

Transforming himself into a baseball player, Discord aimed the jar towards Equestria. "Here's the windup…" He whispered to himself. "And the pitch…" Using his lion paw, Discord threw the jar into space and could only wonder if it would arrive safely in Equestria. Watching from the moon, Discord saw the jar going further and further away as it headed straight for Equestria.

…

…

Back in the human world, Tommy continued to battle Chrysalis and the Sirens and then he realized he needed to go to the next level. "Dino Thunder, power up!" He cried and he transformed into a black suited ranger covered in gold markings. "I can keep this up all day!"

As Aria Blaze attempted to battle Tommy, the veteran ranger pushed down on Aria's wrist, causing her again to cry out in pain. "Hey! Let go of me!" Aria cried.

Sonata attempted to help but Tommy kicked her in the stomach and sent her back.

Having seen enough, Grogar decided to bring his troops back home. "All right," He declared. "This madness ends now! It's time to bring my troops home!" Tapping into the powers of his bell, Grogar teleported the villains out of the human world including Aria Blaze, Tommy losing his grip on her as a result.

"Where…where did they go?" Toomy gasped, looking around to see that all the villains were gone. Immediately, Tommy turned back towards the school as Celestia made the announcement to end the brief lockdown.

"All clear," Celestia declared in a calm voice, then turning to the injured Twilight and Starlight. "Sister, we've got to get them to the nurse's office. Let's go!"

Helping them up, the two principals proceeded to the nurse's office.

"Power down!" Tommy cried as he reverted to normal. But before he could go into the school, he heard the sounds of rustling from the bushes and pulling them back, he saw Spike hiding in the bushes.

"Are they…are they gone?" Spike whimpered.

"A talking dog?!" Tommy gasped. "Why doesn't it surprise me?"

"Well, I'm really a…a dragon," Spike stammered as Tommy gently extended his hand to him. "Please, don't hurt me! I mean you no harm!"

"I'm not going to hurt you," Tommy said tenderly as he scooped Spike out of the bushes. "Come here."

"Twilight, Starlight! Where are they?" Spike wondered.

"You mean those two girls from earlier? They're probably with the school principals if I had to guess." Tommy declared. And then with Spike in his arms, Tommy made his way back into the school.

…

In the nurse's office, Twilight opened her eyes and found herself and Starlight lying on two separate beds. "Mmm, what...what happened to me?" She moaned, looking over to see Principal Celestia standing over her as she tried to sit up.

"Lie still, Princess Twilight," Celestia whispered, pushing Twilight back down on her back. "You and your friend were knocked unconscious."

Just then, Sunset Shimmer made her way into the nurse's office and saw her Equestrian friends lying down. "I came as soon as you called me," Sunset said as she stood in front of Twilight and Starlight. "You guys okay?"

"We're…fine…I think we'll manage," Starlight replied as she tried to rub her head. "Ohh, I'm gonna feel that in the morning for sure."

"Just be thankful you're still alive," Twilight whispered. "The Dazzlings and the Legion of Doom working together, I should have known."

"That's who those three were?" Vice Principal Luna remarked. "We knew about the Dazzlings, but…"

"-They aren't of this world," Sunset interrupted. "They're from my home world, Equestria. Even before the battle of the bands they'd been trapped here. But now they've been freed."

"Freed?" Twilight asked as she felt a sharp pain in her head. "That is not what I wanted to hear, Sunset. They're surely going to be recruited in Grogar's ranks, meaning he'll have even more powerful subordinates at his disposal."

As she looked down at Twilight and Starlight, Sunset began to realize that she needed to do something. She couldn't bear the thought of seeing her home being attacked and conquered by Grogar.

Just then, Tommy came into the room holding a very scared Spike as Twilight looked up, taking Spike from him.

"Tw…Tw…Twilight! Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!" Spike cried in a shaky voice as Twilight hugged him, noticing his own PTSD kicking in.

"Shh, shh. It's okay, Spike. You're okay, we're safe now," Twilight whispered as she held Spike in her arms. "Thanks for bringing him here, Mr…"

"Thomas," Tommy corrected. "Doctor Thomas Oliver to be exact. I saw you get attacked by three girls and three others: A man, a woman and a crazy child."

"Yes, we know who they are, unfortunately," Starlight declared. "How did you know about them?"

"I fought them in the school courtyard after you two were knocked out," Tommy explained. "They intended to take control of the school and brainwash everyone into serving someone named…Grogar."

Right away, Sunset immediately began getting flashbacks to when she became a demon and how she'd once intended to conquer Equestria with her own teenage army.

"Who is this 'Grogar' you speak of?" Principal Celestia questioned. "I would assume he's not from this world?"

"He isn't, and he's bad news," Sunset Shimmer answered. "He used to rule my home world with an iron hoof, but he was banished to the moon by my mentor's parents millions of years ago. But now he's back and looking to reclaim my home world for himself."

"You…you said that you fought the Dazzlings and the Legion of Doom?" Sunset asked Tommy. "Sorry in advance for this, but…"

Holding out her hand, Sunset grabbed Tommy's hand and looked into his mind, seeing visions of him fighting the Legion of Doom and the Sirens in his ranger forms. She then began to look back at the moment that the villains intended to conquer the school:

"Now all we have to do is conquer the school, and Grogar will have an entire set of new recruits at his disposal," Chrysalis laughed. But before they could go into the school, they heard a sharp voice.

"Hey!" Emerging from his hiding spot in the right side of the building, Tommy walked over to the villains, catching their attention. "You're not taking over this school on my watch!"

"Oh really?" Chrysalis mockingly replied. "Who are you to give us such commands? I happen to be a queen, you know."

But Tommy wasn't backing down. He just kept staring the six villains down while he stuck his hand in his suit pocket.

"You say you're a queen?" Tommy remarked, pulling out a gold device with a gold center in the middle. "Well then, unless you have what I have, you don't even deserve to be queen or any of you for that matter. Because in my view…you're nothing but cheap carbon copies and amateurs. You pale in comparison to some of the threats I've had to face."

Right away, the villains began to get a sense of unease as Tommy placed his hands on the device, holding it out in front of the villains.

"What is that?!" Cozy Glow cried in a panicked voice.

"It's Morphin' Time!" Tommy shouted while tapping into the powers of his device as the center formed into the shape of a strange footprint. "Dragonzord!"

In a flash of green light, the villains saw that Tommy had transformed into a being in a green suit with a gold chest shield and a helmet with a dinosaur mouth on it.

Having seen enough, Sunset released her grip on Tommy. "No way! You're one of them!" She gasped. "You're one of the Power Rangers!"

"Who?" Twilight asked.

"The Power Rangers," Sunset answered. "I remember hearing about them when I first came here. How they saved Angel Grove time after time from monsters. And you, you're one of them, Doctor Thomas! All this time, I thought they were just a legend, but they're real! And so are you!"

"Yes," Tommy confessed. "Me and my fiancée are both former Power Rangers. And I want you to promise me something, Sunset Shimmer."

"Of course," Sunset nodded. "What is it?"

"You are not to tell anyone about my identity as a Power Ranger besides the ones who just overheard this conversation," Tommy instructed. "Do you promise me that?"

"I promise," Sunset promised to Tommy before turning to Twilight and Starlight. "And one more thing…I'm going to join you to help defend Equestria against Grogar. With the Dazzlings on his side it's become personal!"

Both Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna felt their mouths drop upon hearing what Sunset had just said!

"Sunset, are you…are you sure about that?" Vice Principal Luna asked. "You do realize that…"

"-Time in Equestria is far different from how it is here in this world," Sunset interrupted as she sat down next to Twilight. "I may be back before you know it. Besides, I can't stand idly by while my home world is attacked! If Grogar isn't stopped, no world will be safe from him, not even this one."

The two principals were taken aback by Sunset's decision. In their minds, she was going to be sacrificing not just her final exams but much more.

"S-Sunset," Principal Celestia stammered. "We respect your decision, really. But you do realize that if you…if you…"

"It's okay, Principal Celestia," Sunset said in a tender voice while trying to sound optimistic. "If anything, we may defeat Grogar quicker than we realized. And if not I can find a way to finish my exams in Equestria."

"It won't be that easy, Sunset," Twilight remarked, remembering her previous defeat. "My friends and I recently fought Grogar defending King Vorak's kingdom and we were defeated by him. You're going to be dealing with someone who is unlike anything we've ever seen before. And with the Dazzlings on his side he's bound to be even tougher to defeat."

Sunset's optimism quickly turned off upon hearing Twilight's words.

…

…

Back on the moon, the Dazzlings and the Legion of Doom found themselves face to face with Grogar as he scowled down at them inside his throne room while Sombra and Sendak watched.

"You have succeeded in bringing the sirens to me," Grogar said to the Legion of Doom, acknowledging their success. "But it wasn't without reckless behavior. What were you thinking trying to recruit soldiers into our ranks without my permission?"

"Well, we…" Chrysalis started to say, a bandage covering the wound on her shoulder where Tommy had struck her during the fight. "We just wanted to…"

"-Well, I have more than enough to serve me already, despite the loss of the Storm King!" Grogar angrily interrupted. "Your instructions were to simply find the sirens and return here! Instead, you…"

"-But Grogar!" Cozy protested, a small cast on her left hind leg.

"SILENCE!" Grogar demanded, scaring the alicorn filly. "Despite you succeeding in your quest, you deliberately disobeyed me and thus must be punished! Leave my sight at once, I'll let Sombra decide your fate!"

With the legion gone, Grogar turned his attention to the sirens, still in their human forms.

"You…you scare me!" Sonata whimpered. "I don't think I like you very much, Mr. Grogar sir."

"Well as long as you obey my commands," Grogar declared, towering over the three. "You shall not be harmed or punished in any way. You have my word on that."

"Which means keeping your big mouth shut for a change." Adagio hissed at Sonata, much to Grogar's annoyance.

"Yes," Grogar nodded, taking note of Adagio's remark. "That is true. And if you do disobey me greatly or fail me too often, this is what will happen to you…" Tapping his hoof three times, the sirens heard the sounds of Scarface coming into the throne room as the scar faced grizzly studied the three sirens.

"A bear?!" Aria Blaze gasped.

"Yes, a bear," Grogar answered. "But not just any bear. Scarface is my pet who carries out my greatest punishments. Obey me, and you shall not suffer his wrath."

Naturally, Sonata Dusk was frightened greatly by Scarface's presence. Grogar was quick to take note of this. "Do not be frightened, my child," He said in a sarcastic tone, walking over to Sonata. "He's usually very friendly once you get to know him."

But Sonata was still uneased by the bear's presence and the sirens knew that they were now in Grogar's world and under Grogar's command.

…

Back in the human world, Sunset Shimmer stood in front of the portal to Equestria as she hugged her human friends one last time. "Don't worry, guys," Sunset promised. "I'll be back soon. You count on it!"

"Oh, we'll worry anyhow. It'd be weird not to." Rarity declared.

"Yeah," Pinkie Pie added in a sobbing tone. "We're going to miss you so much!"

"It's not like I'm going away forever, Pinkie," Sunset reassured her. "I'm just playing my part in protecting Equestria, that's all. I'll come back someday, I promise."

"Oh okay." Pinkie said, immediately putting on a forced smile, much to Sunset's relief.

As Sunset was getting ready to step through with Twilight, Starlight and Spike, Tommy stopped her. "Wait, Sunset!" He called, catching her attention. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on your friends while you're gone."

"Thank you, Dr. Oliver," Sunset replied. "But we'll be graduating soon and…"

"I can still learn my way around here by being here for your friends," Tommy interrupted. "Don't worry, your world is in safe hands with me."

Smiling at those words, Sunset turned her attention back to the portal and stepped forward, taking a deep breath as she stepped through the portal while Tommy and her human friends watched.

"So, what do we do now, Dr. Oliver?" Sci Twi asked as Tommy looked at them.

"We prepare for whatever this Grogar has planned for us," Tommy answered. "Come." And Dr. Oliver led the six girls back inside the school.

A few moments later, Twilight, Starlight, Spike and Sunset came out of the portal much to the relief of all who had been waiting.

"Twilight, you're back!" Applejack cried as she and the others gathered around Twilight!

"Good to see you again, Twi." Rainbow Dash added.

But rather than being welcomed by Twilight's friends, Sunset turned all of her attention towards Celestia and Luna. "Hey there." Sunset remarked to the two sisters.

"Welcome back, Sunset Shimmer!" Celestia said as she and Sunset warmly embraced one another. "Thank you for helping us fight our greatest war."

Sunset was grateful to be back home, but at the same time all she could do was wonder what was going to happen now that she was dragged into the fight for the future of Equestria.

"Well, you have to thank Princess Twilight for persuading me," Sunset remarked as she and Celestia left the library. "I understand a lot has happened here."

"Yes," Celestia nodded as they walked down the hall. "I've since given up my crown to Twilight and her friends, and am now teaching at the School of Friendship alongside Luna."

"Wait, Luna retired too?" Sunset blinked.

"Yes. We've both decided that being there for Twilight and the others is more important," Luna explained. "Like you said, there's so much you must catch up on."

Nodding in reply, Sunset agreed with Celestia. However, there was something far more important that she needed to turn her attention to.

"I trust you will be wondering where you can stay," Celestia remarked and Sunset once again nodded in reply. "Well, you're welcome to stay here in the castle if you like. Luna and I have been living here since we've retired."

"Thanks for your offer, Celestia," Sunset replied. "But I think that I need to be closer to ponies that I know very well."

Stepping up onto the roof of the castle, Sunset looked out in the distance towards Canterlot where her family lived. Sunset knew that she wasn't fully at home in Equestria until she was in Canterlot.

"You say this war affects everypony in Equestria?" Sunset asked Celestia.

"It does and everycreature too," Celestia answered her former pupil. "Everyone must play their part in stopping Grogar, Sunset."

"And I will play my part too, Celestia," Sunset sighed as a gust of wind blew through her brightly flaming mane. "If Grogar ever touches my family or my friends…he will feel my wrath!"

And as Sunset spoke Grogar's name, she swore she could hear the sounds of Grogar's evil laughing off in the distance symbolizing that the stakes had never been so higher.

…

…

Episode 5: "A Visit to Silver Shoals"

Author's Notes:

Episode Summary: Celestia and Luna travel to Silver Shoals to visit their parents, King Cosmo and Queen Galaxia.

Cast:

Nicole Oliver as Celestia

Tabitha St. Germain as Luna

Jim Miller as King Cosmo

Lauren Faust as Queen Galaxia

Tara Strong as Princess Twilight Sparkle

Rebecca Shoichet as Sunset Shimmer

Kelly Sheridan as Starlight Glimmer

Cathy Wesluck as Spike

Alex House as Wild Fire/Attendant

…

…

"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" Season 12, Episode 5

"A Visit to Silver Shoals"

Written by Jeff Snyder (TwilightSparkle3562)

Edited by SuperPinkBrony12

…

…

…

Ever since they had returned home after a thousand years, Cosmo and Galaxia had been trying to get reacquainted to the land that they had once ruled over. Now they were living in Silver Shoals, the same retirement community their daughters had originally been planning to retire to.

"Cosmo," Galaxia called as she was reading a newspaper in the living room about Twilight's coronation. "Come take a look at this."

"What is it?" Cosmo asked, walking into the living room from the kitchen and carefully noticing the date that was on the newspaper. "Galaxia, my dear, that newspaper was from quite a while ago."

"But don't you see?" Galaxia remarked. "Our daughters were featured in it, quite prominently in fact."

Letting out a small chuckle, Cosmo couldn't help but feel slightly amused by his wife's excitement over their daughters' accomplishments.

"I mean look at this picture!" Galaxia went on. "Look at our daughters, being so proud of Princess Twilight. Makes you wonder what could have been had Grogar not imprisoned us all those years ago."

"You're right, my dear," Cosmo sighed with a hint of anger and disgust in his voice. "So much we missed out on thanks to that demonic beast. If I ever face him again…"

"Careful, Cosmo, mind your blood pressure," Galaxia cautioned. "I'm sure Celestia and Luna don't want you to display any of that when we see them tomorrow."

Heeding his wife's advice, Cosmo immediately calmed himself down. "You're right, Galaxia. I should watch my blood pressure, even my doctor agrees," He sighed. "It's just that…seeing Luna being banished to the moon from Grogar's prison walls, among other things…"

"It's in the past now," Galaxia reminded her husband. "We have to move on, Cosmo. Just as our daughters did."

"Easier said than done, Galaxia," Cosmo reluctantly sighed. "Easier said than done."

Meanwhile, with the events of recent, all Celestia could think about was her former student coming home and joining the fight against Grogar. It had been a long time since Sunset Shimmer had been in Equestria on a full time basis and she thought that paying Sunset a visit at her parents' home in Canterlot would do her some good.

Knocking on the door, Celestia waited for whoever was inside to answer and a few moments later, the door opened to reveal an orange coated unicorn stallion with a flaming orange colored mane done up in curls. "Celestia!" The pony remarked, slightly taken aback by the former princess standing in the doorway. "Uh, you still aren't a princess anymore, are you?"

"Wild Fire," Celestia chuckled, placing a hoof to the stallion's chin. "It's okay to forget that I'm not a princess anymore. I've even had some students ask me as if I was not truly retired."

Clearing his throat, the stallion gestured for Celestia to come inside.

"Anyways," Celestia said as the door was closed behind her. "I came to see how Sunset's been doing since she returned here."

"Honestly," Wild Fire commented as he gestured Celestia to sit down on the couch. "Nothing has made Solar Eclipse or I happier than having Sunset home again. It's been such a long time. Who knew that it would take a war of all things to get her to come back, even just temporarily?"

Just then, the sounds of hoofbeats came down the stairs and Sunset came into the living room, slightly taken aback by the presence of the pony she had abandoned long ago. "Celestia, what are you doing here?" Sunset inquired.

"I just wanted to see how you're doing, Sunset." Celestia warmly answered.

"With what?" Sunset pondered.

Celestia smiled. "Getting reacquainted with living in Equestria again."

Although she didn't want to show it, Sunset was beginning to miss all of her Canterlot High friends. But she made an agreement to fight this war and defend her homeland and was going to stick to that agreement. "It's been…strange to say the least," She sighed while sitting next to Celestia on the couch. "In fact, I don't know what I'm going to do now. I clearly need to get a job, obviously. I never even had one in the human world, I was waiting until graduation."

"Well, Twilight tells me that Starlight Glimmer is always looking for more teachers at the School of Friendship," Celestia suggested, much to the surprise of Sunset's father. "Maybe you can teach the students the difference between your world and Equestria? If what you said is true and the Dazzlings are on Grogar's side now, it's imperative we know as much as possible about the world you used to call home so we can be prepared."

To get back into the classroom for Sunset was a tough call, especially given the circumstances of the situation.

"It might do you some good, Sunset," Wild Fire remarked as Sunset looked over at her father. "Give it some thought."

Not saying anything, Sunset nodded.

"In fact, I'll tell you what," Celestia offered. "Luna and I are paying a visit to our parents this weekend at Silver Shoals. Why don't you think about it and then give me your answer when we return?"

Sunset felt her eyes widen at what Celestia said. "Still can't believe your parents are alive," Sunset remarked. "I mean, being stuck in space for over a thousand years. It's not possible."

However, Celestia couldn't help but feel slightly touched by Sunset's remark. Her parents had only been back in Equestria for a short time and part of her was asking herself the same question.

"Well," Celestia awkwardly and uncomfortably chuckled. "You know us alicorns, we don't really age. For us, a thousand years is only a couple of years at most."

Naturally, Sunset had her suspicions about Celestia and Luna's parents. But she had her own issues to worry about. "All right," She declared. "I'll think about your offer this weekend, Celestia. I mean, this might be the first real part I contribute to during the war."

"I know you'll make the right decision, Sunset Shimmer. Goodbye." Celestia smiled warmly as she hugged Sunset and her father.

As she left, Celestia could hear Sunset's remark about her parents playing over and over in her head.

"I just hope Luna can understand and forgive Mom and Dad for not being there for her when she needed them the most." Celestia thought to herself as she flew back towards the Castle of Friendship.

…

…

At the Castle of Friendship, Luna was in her room packing all of her essentials for her weekend trip to Silver Shoals. Although she was excited to be seeing her parents, part of her was angry at them for what had happened over a thousand years ago, despite them not being there to resolve it.

Hearing a knock at the door, Luna turned to see Starlight Glimmer coming into the bedroom.

"Hey Luna," Starlight greeted while holding a book in her aura. "Here;s the book you wanted to take to Silver Shoals."

"Thank you, Starlight," Luna replied, taking the book from her and placing it in a book bag. "Just another in the stack. There are so many great books I want to show to my parents."

"Um, Luna," Starlight asked, inspecting the stack. "These are quite a lot of books here. Are you sure that you plan on reading all of them over the weekend?"

"Why do you ask, Starlight Glimmer?" Luna asked while folding a shirt to be packed into her suitcase.

"Well, because…you're spending time with your parents and…I don't think all these books are really necessary to bring. Maybe just bring a few small ones." Starlight nervously suggested.

"Starlight," Luna sighed while turning around to face her friend. "There's something you must understand. Despite the fact that Twilight and her friends managed to help me overcome my past, there's a part of me that feels like…like…my parents are partially to blame for me becoming Nightmare Moon."

Starlight was somewhat taken aback by this statement! "Luna, are you sure about that?" She gasped. "I mean, Grogar did imprison them in whoever knows where! Even in the days of my hatred of cutie marks I didn't blame my dad for not being around to help me. In fact, I felt like there was no point in telling him because he wouldn't care and would just think I was being silly."

"Well that's just it, Starlight!" Luna cried. "If Grogar hadn't interfered then things would have been different. My parents wouldn't have allowed things to get so bad between my sister and I that one had to banish the other. Part of me wishes I could go back in time and save my parents from being captured. Then all of the sorrow I had to endure would never have happened"

"But you can't change the past!" Starlight protested. "If anypony knows that it's me, because I sure tried."

…

Meanwhile, Celestia came into the Castle of Friendship's front door and made her way up the stairs as Twilight also walked down the stairs, holding an important document in her magic.

"Oh, hi Celestia," Twilight acknowledged as they both stopped on the stairs. "Where'd you go off to this morning?"

"I just wanted to check in on Sunset," Celestia replied. "See how she's doing with getting used to being back in Equestria."

"It's likely going to take time for her to get fully adjusted to everything," Twilight replied before frowning. "Which is something we unfortunately don't have a lot of. But maybe you and Luna visiting your parents this weekend will be a good distraction. After all, we're going to need you both at one hundred percent for the war. And we may have to consider involving your parents if things really get dicey."

"I hope it doesn't come to that. And I hope all goes well this weekend at Silver Shoals," Celestia commented as she briefly looked away from Twilight. "I don't know about Luna, though. Ever since we agreed to this trip, she's been acting like she can't let go of what happened to our parents. But what could we have done? We had no clue they'd ever been abducted."

"Perhaps something else is going on with her," Twilight suggested as she walked with Celestia up the stairs. "I mean, neither of you could help it when your parents disappeared without a trace. Had you known you surely would've searched for them."

"Of course, Twilight," Celestia reluctantly nodded. "It's just that…you know Luna can be very stubborn when it comes to letting go of her past. Not even forming the Nightmare Knights could help her fully move on, there are times when she still seems to think about Nightmare Moon. And I fear those times have only been happening more often since we agreed to this trip."

Going into Celestia's room, Twilight watched as the former princess began her last minute packing. "Um, Celestia, I just had a thought," Twilight remarked. "Do you think that maybe Luna might be suffering from survivor's guilt like I am?"

This made Celestia stop her packing and look at her daughter figure. "In what way, Twilight?"

"I mean, Luna does tend to not let go of her past fully," Twilight suggested. "Even after the Tantabus, it sounds like she still struggles with not being there for her parents. Perhaps Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze could help her, once they get back from their vacation anyway."

"Even the greatest of minds must relax every once in a while, Twilight," Celestia chuckled, taking her attention off of her packing as she grabbed a ziplining helmet. "I know Luna isn't that big in high adventure, but it might do her some good. She needs to get her mind off her troubles."

…

Still Twilight had her thoughts and that night, Twilight paced back and forth across her bedroom trying to figure out how to help Luna. At that moment, there was a knock at her door, interrupting her train of thought. "Who is it?" Twilight whispered.

"It's me, Starlight." Opening the door, Starlight walked into Twilight's bedroom looking just as restless as Twilight was.

"Guess you can't sleep either?" Twilight remarked.

"Ya think?" Starlight sighed as she shut the door. "Luna's been really bothering me all day. She seems so determined to just read in Silver Shoals this weekend and not spend time with her own family. And she's talking like she wants to do what I once tried to do, rewrite history."

"I'm getting the hunch that Luna might be suffering from Survivor's Guilt, since my last visit to Gentle Breeze and Gentle Gust I've been doing more research into mental health in my spare time," Twilight remarked as she pulled a book on Mental Health from her bookshelf and showed it to Starlight, opening it up to the section on Survivor's Guilt. "A mental condition that occurs when a creature believes they've done something wrong by surviving a traumatic event when others did not."

"Where did you get this book in particular?" Starlight questioned. "I never recall you having it on hoof before."

"Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze gave it to me as a coronation present," Twilight answered. "It's very useful. At first it was just for the knowledge, but now I think it's really going to be useful."

The more that the two mares discussed Luna's hidden condition, the more they began to realize that they needed to be there for the two former princesses.

"It makes me want to go with them this weekend," Starlight sighed. "Just to keep an eye on them in case something comes up."

"I agree with you, Starlight," Twilight remarked as she climbed into bed. "Celestia and Luna are not just my mother and big sister figures, but also my subjects. Anything that concerns them concerns me."

"Should we tell them that we're going with them then?" Starlight reluctantly asked.

"We'll tell them in the morning," Twilight answered before lying back down in bed. "Now try to get some sleep, Starlight."

"Of course, Twilight." Starlight nodded in reply, and left Twilight's room as they prepared to accompany Celestia and Luna to Silver Shoals the next day.

…

…

The next morning, Celestia and Luna left the Castle of Friendship preparing to catch their train to Silver Shoals. Luna continued to harbor her ill feelings and yet tried to keep them hidden from Celestia. Eventually, they proceeded to the train station only to discover that the platform was empty.

"Um, Luna?" Celestia asked Luna. "Is there any reason why nopony's here?"

"Maybe it's a light train schedule, sister?" Luna remarked. "We can't be the only ones travelling to Silver Shoals."

Going over to the ticket window, Celestia knocked on the glass, catching the attendant's attention. "Excuse me," She chuckled with an embarrassed smile as she looked at the attendant. "Are there any trains coming today?"

"Uh, where are you bound?" The attendant asked while looking at the schedule.

"Silver Shoals." Celestia answered.

"Silver…silver…silver…" The attendant muttered. "Ah, yes. There was a train scheduled for this morning, but it got cancelled."

"What?!" Celestia gasped! "Why?!"

"It was cancelled this morning because Princess Twilight is also bound for Silver Shoals, and thus special arrangements had to be made." The attendant answered as the sounds of chugging came closer and closer.

Turning her attention away from the attendant, both Celestia and Luna saw Twilight's royal train make it' way into the station.

"Twilight, just what is going on here?" Celestia asked as Twilight emerged off of the train. "Why are you going to Silver Shoals as well, and on today of all days?"

"Official Princess Duties," Twilight answered while holding a wing out to her fellow alicorns. "Shall we go?"

"But…" Luna started to say.

"-Don't worry," Twilight interrupted. "Since we're all going to the same destination, there really is no need for you to have your own train. You can ride with me."

Confused, Celestia and Luna boarded the royal train as it departed for Silver Shoals. As they boarded, they could see that they were the only ones aboard the train.

"Um, shouldn't there be other ponies aside from yourself on this train, Twilight?" Luna asked as she and Celestia sat down in the car. "Where is the press?"

"There is no press," Twilight shook her head. "They weren't invited. It's only Starlight, Spike and I."

At that moment, Starlight and Spike came into the cabin, adding further confusion to Celestia and Luna.

"Look, Twilight," Celestia explained. "It's not that Luna and I aren't grateful that you want to escort us to Silver Shoals for the weekend, but what exactly is going on here? What are you really up to"

"You'll see soon enough," Starlight vaguely replied as the royal train began to depart. "But for now, just sit back and enjoy the ride, okay?"

Throughout the train ride, both Celestia and Luna could only wonder what the visit with their parents was going to look like. For Luna in particular, all she could do was read one of her books while trying to keep her emotions in check.

From another part of the train, Twilight, Starlight and Spike were wondering just how this visit with Celestia and Luna's parents was going to go.

"Do you think they might be onto us?" Spike asked.

"I don't know," Starlight answered. "For some reason, part of me thinks that Luna might want to turn this train around and head back."

"This is for her own good, Starlight," Twilight firmly insisted. "Letting go of the past is important for everypony, especially Luna. If what you said about her earlier comments is true then this is something she must face!" As Twilight spoke, she began to reflect on the time that Luna revealed she was punishing herself by creating the Tantabus. In fact, part of her even wondered if the Tantabus would somehow get out again and become stronger than ever as a result!

…

Eventually, the train arrived in Silver Shoals and the three alicorns, unicorn and young dragon stepped onto the platform. The smell of the salty sea air couldn't help but brighten the spirits of them all.

"Do you know where Mother and Father are staying?" Luna asked Celestia.

"How should I know, Luna?" Celestia retorted. "You know that I'm very bad with directions."

Luna said nothing and proceeded to walk away in a huff.

Celestia felt somewhat insulted by her younger sister's behavior. "What is with her?" She cried to Twilight and Starlight. "She just seems so pigheaded. We both agreed to this visit, but now it seems like she just wants to back out of it."

"I think I may have a guess," Twilight declared. "But it's going to be revealed in time. Come on."

Confused, Celestia followed Twilight, Starlight and Spike as they left the platform and they soon arrived at the retirement home just off the shore from the beach (with Luna reluctantly following them). Looking at all the elderly ponies walking past them, they all proceeded towards an apartment with a gold star on the door.

"This must be their apartment." Starlight whispered to Twilight as Celestia knocked on the door while two guard ponies guarded it on each side.

A few moments later, the door opened to reveal Galaxia on the other side, happy to see her daughters again as she immediately pulled them both into a hug.

"Mother, you're embarrassing me!" Luna groaned as Galaxia tightened her grip on both of the royal sisters.

"Oh, I can't help it! It's just so good to see you both," Galaxia declared. "Come on in! I've been waiting for this for a long time," And as her daughters walked in, she also saw Twilight, Starlight and Spike standing in the doorway. "Why, if it isn't Princess Twilight!" She remarked, gesturing for the others to come inside. "Care to join me?"

"Of course." Twilight replied, taking up on the offer as all walked inside.

"Your father and I were looking at this recent newspaper of Twilight's coronation," Galaxia explained to her daughters. "I mean, look at how happy you all were."

Passing the newspaper onto Celestia, the two sisters looked at it and right away, Luna began to get a sickening feeling.

"It certainly was an important day," Celestia said with a hint of remorse in her voice. "Shame that Grogar ruined your chance to see it."

"Along with many others," Luna bitterly whispered. "My return from the moon, Cadence's wedding, Twilight's first coronation…"

"-Well, we were there in spirit," Cosmo sighed, coming into the living room with several glasses of water. "Still it never defeats the purpose of being there personally. But at least we have Silver Shoals to make new memories at."

The more her parents spoke, the more Luna grew bitter and thus looked away in disgust.

"So, what have you both been doing since you came here?" Celestia asked her parents.

"Oh, trying out various forms of activities," Cosmo answered. "I've been trying my hoof at rock climbing, surfing and anything else extreme. Your mother is more reserved though."

At that moment, Galaxia turned her attention to Luna, who was trying to hide her negative emotions. "Luna, if it makes you feel better," She declared. "I've recently joined a book club that Dusty Pages runs once a week. Given how much you love to read and relax, maybe you could join me. If you're not too busy teaching at the school that is."

But Luna said nothing, her emotions starting to come out.

"Um, Luna?" Cosmo questioned. "Is everything alright? You're not looking like yourself."

"Sister?" Celestia asked. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?!" Luna cried with tears starting to come out of her eyes. "I'll tell you what's wrong! All of the conversations we are having of past events, it's making me wonder what could have been if not for Grogar!"

"Luna…" Celestia started to say, trying to help her younger sister.

"Don't touch me, Celestia!" Luna snapped. "Coming here was a big mistake and you know it! You all know it! If that Grogar never took you away from me…I…I…" Her emotions coming out, Luna activated her teleportation spell and disappeared in a flash.

"Luna!" Galaxia cried as all in the room recoiled in what just transpired!

…

…

Absorbing what just happened, all in the living room were shocked by Luna's sudden outburst. What began as a candid conversation had turned into something completely different.

"What is with her?" Cosmo cried. "Of course Galaxia and I wish we were there for you and Celestia. It's just that things didn't work out that way. We had no way to contact you or any clue as to where we were for the longest time."

Sighing, Celestia rose to her hooves. "I think Luna may have been harboring ill feelings about coming here, particularly because of what happened between us in the past," She solemnly declared. "But we had to come here to visit you. After all that we've been through, we barely even get to see you as it is."

"We know you had to do it, Celestia," Galaxia sighed. "We feel just as bad for not being there for you both. Luna must know that."

"Well I'm afraid it goes much deeper than that," Twilight reluctantly replied. "Luna has something inside of her that could pose a danger to Equestria. Something that's been laying dormant inside of her."

Hearing this, both Galaxia and Cosmo became concerned. "What are you talking about, Princess Twilight?" Cosmo asked.

…

Meanwhile, Luna sat down on the beach looking at her tear stained reflection in the water. Her sadness and anger trying to consume her every feeling. "Why did I even bother coming here?!" She cried as her tears hit the water. "This was all done to make the Tantabus come back out! That's what it was!"

In a fit of anger, Luna pounded her hoof into the sand in frustration.

"Luna!" Called a voice, but Luna kept her focus on the water.

At that moment, Galaxia stepped forward and sat down next to her youngest daughter, draping a wing over her shoulder. "Luna, I'm sorry you're feeling like this. I really am, you must believe me."

"It's too late now isn't it, Mother?" Luna sadly replied while looking over at Galaxia. "When I became Nightmare Moon where were you, huh?! All this talk about what could have been had Grogar not interfered…did he…did he want me to become Nightmare Moon?! Is that it?! Was I always destined for this because of him?!"

As Luna silently cried, Galaxia pulled her daughter close and got Luna to look into her eyes. "Luna," She explained in a tender voice. "Princess Twilight told me everything about how you created a tantabus to punish yourself for becoming Nightmare Moon. I will admit, your father and I feel somewhat responsible for what happened to you. But we can't change the past, my daughter. Even if we may wish we could."

"What do you mean? Of course we can!" Luna protested. "There's a spell for it!"

"If we used the spell," Galaxia cautioned in a calm tone of voice. "Then we would just be living the same events repeatedly. Do you want that to happen? Because I certainly wouldn't. I love you, Luna and your father, your sister. And your little sister figure loves you just as much as anyone else in Equestria. You've got to stop living in the past and look at what you've got in front of you."

"And what would that be, Mother?" Luna asked.

"Us, Luna!" Galaxia replied And with those words she pulled Luna into an embrace, pledging her commitment to being there for her youngest daughter.

…

Returning to the apartment, Luna faced her family and extended family figures with a sort of guilty look on her face.

"Luna, we're all sorry for what you're going through," Cosmo told her. "And it's not healthy that you were trying to keep such feelings bottled up. We're all affected by what happened in the past."

"Thanks, Father," Luna quietly replied. "Grogar took something away from each of us, but he took the biggest piece away from me."

"Each of us were thinking," Twilight then declared. "Perhap a visit to Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze may be in order for you, Luna. If they can help Discord, Spike and I then they can certainly help you."

Sighing, Luna slowly began to accept what she needed to do in order to continue combating her demons.

Meanwhile, back in Canterlot, Sunset Shimmer had finally come to a decision. Sitting in her bedroom, she made a quick note to herself on a piece of parchment. She was planning to be involved with the School of Friendship. "I'll interview with Starlight Glimmer for a position as soon as she comes back from Silver Shoals." She thought to herself.

…

…

Episode 6: "Starlight's Back Woes"

Author's Notes:

Episode Summary: Starlight Glimmer is forced to sit on the sidelines when her lower back pain causes her to take a leave of absence from the School of Friendship.

Cast:

Kelly Sheridan as Starlight Glimmer

Ian Hanlin as Sunburst

Kathleen Barr as Trixie

Nicole Oliver as Celestia

Tabitha St. Germain as Luna

Veena Sood as Ms. Harshwhinny

Tara Strong as Princess Twilight Sparkle

Cathy Wesluck as Spike

Shannon Chan-Kent as Smolder

Gavin Langelo as Gallus/Icarus

Lauren Jackson as Silverstream

Katrina Salisbury as Yona

Vincent Tong as Sandbar

Devyn Dalton as Ocellus

Britt Irvin as Luster Dawn

Brad Swalie as Cherry Tomato

Ingrid Nilson as Quiet Play/Receptionist

Peter New as Doctor Stable

…

…

"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" Season 12, Episode 6

"Starlight's Back Woes"

Written by Jeff Snyder (TwilightSparkle3562)

Edited by SuperPinkBrony12

…

…

Ever since she had been appointed as head of the School of Friendship, Starlight Glimmer had dedicated her life to growing the minds of each student in an effort to continue the mission that Twilight Sparkle had started. And since coming back from the human world the task had become more difficult for the unicorn, and soon she would learn that it wasn't just because of the increased workload due to the war.

It all started one morning as Starlight stood in front of her bathroom mirror, making sure her headmare's suit was not wrinkled and her mane looking presentable. Today was going to be an important day at the school. "Good morning, Ms. Harshwhinny," She said to herself. "On behalf of all the students and faculty at the School of Friendship, I would like to welcome you to…"

But Starlight suddenly felt herself stumped. The words she wanted to say wouldn't come out. "Okay," She whispered to herself, closing her eyes and taking another deep breath. "Good morning, Ms. Harshwhinny. On behalf of the students and faculty at the School of Friendship, I would like to welcome you to the School of Friendship and…"

Stopping again, Starlight recognized her most recent error. "Darn it!" She groaned while looking away from the mirror again. "I said School of Friendship twice. That can't happen."

Taking another deep breath, Starlight started her speech again. "Good morning, Ms. Harshwhinny," She started for a third time. "On behalf…"

But she found herself interrupted with a knock at the door. "Starlight!" She heard a voice call. "Are you going to be long? I need to brush my teeth if you don't mind.."

Rolling her eyes, Starlight turned away from the mirror and answered the door, revealing it to be Trixie.

The best friend and guidance counselor was slightly taken aback by Starlight's scowl. "Uh, sorry. Did I miss something?" Trixie asked.

"Only that your best friend was rehearsing for the big visit for Ms. Harshwhinny, and was so rudely interrupted by you," Starlight snapped. "This is really important, Trixie! I can't afford any screwups."

"Sorry, Starlight," Trixie apologized while stepping into the bathroom. "But Trixie needs her breath as fresh as possible. I don't think any students would want the Great and Powerful Trixie to have bad breath."

Sighing, Starlight gestured for Trixie to enter and use the bathroom sink. "I suppose so, Trix," Starlight replied. "I don't think the new head of the EEA would appreciate a hostess having bad breath."

"Don't forget host." Trixie said as she brushed her teeth in front of the mirror. "

Chuckling, Starlight took in her best friend's remark. But as she chuckled she began to feel a slight twinge in her lower back. Letting out a slight wince as she interrupted Trixie's teeth brushing.

"Uh, are you okay, Starlight?" Trixie wondered as she turned away from the mirror. "Were you expecting the school to be an all girls school?"

"No," Starlight quickly replied. "It's just that my back's been bothering me, that's all."

"Uh-huh," Trixie remarked as she thought little of this development due to her experience with stage fright. "Don't tell me you're trying to get out of hosting such an important guest. It's okay if you have stage fright."

"I don't have stage fright! And I'm not trying to get out of hosting!" Starlight protested as they left the bathroom. "My back really has been bothering me, Trixie. And it's been getting worse."

"Then how come you haven't told anypony yet?" Trixie pondered. "We do have a school nurse, you know."

This made Starlight look away in shame. "It's not that bad, really. I just haven't had much of a chance to rest it off," She hastily answered. "Don't worry, it'll probably go away once today passes and all the stress we've been under goes away."

But as the two unicorns entered the kitchen for breakfast, Starlight's back was beginning to hurt even more and very soon she would be confronted with a reality she couldn't ignore!

…

…

Standing in the lobby of the School of Friendship later that same day, Starlight and Sunburst went about their usual weekly routine of greeting the students who lived off of school grounds. Both the pain in her back and the anxiety of Ms. Harshwhinny's impending visit was beginning to take their toll on Starlight.

"Good morning, everycreature!" Starlight declared in a tense voice as she noticed Icarus coming in while wearing a hat. "Remember, we have a special visitor today. So everyone please be on your best behavior. And no hats in the building, Icarus!"

"Darn!" Icarus groaned, reluctantly doing as he was told.

"I hope you do well on your test today, Ocellus. You're one of our brightest and most promising students, and I know Ms. Harshwhinny will admire that." Starlight added.

But the young changeling was quick to notice the pressed look on Starlight's face. Not wanting to get in trouble though, she said nothing as the other students made their way to class and Starlight now was waiting for Ms. Harshwhinny to arrive.

"She should be here any minute," Sunburst commented as he saw Starlight begin pacing back and forth in front of him. "Starlight, take it easy! Why are you getting so worked up?"

"Sunburst, I just want this day to be perfect and…" Starlight started to reply, only for her to get another twinge of pain in her lower back that caused her to go down on one foreleg.

"Um, right now, things aren't really that perfect if you ask me," Sunburst remarked, going over to Starlight and helping her up. "Also, this might sound embarrassing but, is something wrong with your back?"

"My back? Pah! Not you too, Sunburst!" Starlight huffed and snorted. "What's this? 'Telling Starlight about her back pain day'?! It's probably just anxieties, Sunburst. I mean, didn't you have back pain once when you were nervous?"

"Uh, no," Sunburst remarked with a look of confusion on his face. "If I ever had back pain, I would have told you about it. I know Twilight said she used to get breakouts before exams with Celestia, but I know pain caused by anxiety when I see it and back pain isn't usually a symptom."

"Look, let's just get through this day, alright?" Starlight groaned as she irritably looked at Sunburst. "Ms. Harshwhinny is expecting us to welcome her and show her around, and that's just what we're going to do, okay?"

"Well, you certainly aren't welcoming me now." A familiar stuffed up voice declared as both Starlight and Sunburst were greeted by the sight of a female earth pony wearing a purple suit jacket with white shirt, and a pink scarf around her neck.

"M-Ms. Harshwhinny!" Starlight nervously chuckled, clearing her throat and approaching the new EEA head while extending a hoof out to her. "On behalf of the students and faculty of the School of Friendship, I welcome you to the School of Friendship."

"You said your institution's name twice, Ms. Glimmer. I do hope this is not how you greet all visitors." Ms. Harshwhinny dryly remarked, much to Starlight's embarrassment.

"Sorry," Starlight nervously chuckled while motioning for Sunburst to step forward. "This is Vice Headstallion Sunburst."

"Charmed to meet you," Ms. Harshwhinny declared while shaking his hoof. "I dare say you seem much more capable of running this school from what I've seen so far."

"I'm only here to share leadership," Sunburst explained. "Headmare Starlight and myself work together."

"Of course," Ms. Harshwhinny declared while looking over at Starlight. "Now, as the new head of the Equestrian Education Association it is my responsibility to get acquainted with all the schools that we have accredited. So, would you care to show me around?"

"Yes, follow me, Ms. Harshwhinny." Starlight replied. as she tried not let her back pain get in the way of her job.

The three soon walked the halls with the tour of the school proceeding uneventfully. Ms. Harshwhinny was taking in the atmosphere as they walked from classroom to classroom. Soon they walked into Celestia's class and sat in the back as the former princess of Equestria taught her students.

Ms. Harshwhinny was surprised to see the former princess teaching. "Shouldn't she have retired to Silver Shoals alongside her sister? I was told that was their original intention, or did I miss something?" She asked Sunburst who said nothing, not wanting to interrupt the classroom atmosphere.

From the front of her class, Celestia noticed the three sitting in the back. And she pretended she hadn't heard what Ms. Harshwhinny had said. "Now students," She spoke up, gesturing her students to look to the back of the classroom. "We happen to have a very special guest with us today. May I present Ms. Harshwhinny, the new head of the Equestrian Education Association."

From their seats, both Ocellus and Luster Dawn could see the pained look on Starlight's face through her forced smile. "Something must be wrong!" Ocellus thought to herself. "That's not a natural smile from Headmare Starlight."

Over the course of the next few minutes, Starlight, Sunburst and their guest sat in the back while Ms. Harshwhinny took down several notes. Then they proceeded to leave Celestia's classroom.

No sooner did they step out into the halls though, than did Starlight feel another pain in her back that was much sharper. "OWWW!" She cried out, feeling her back stiffen. This had the unintended side effect of attracting the attention of Celestia and her students. "OWWW! MY BACK! MY BACK!"

Racing outside of her classroom, Celestia raced to Starlight's side as Starlight fell over onto her side. "Starlight, what happened?! What's wrong?!" Celestia asked in a concerned tone as tears of pain began forming in Starlight's eyes while she screamed loudly, students and teachers looking into the hallway to see what was happening.

"My back! MY BACK!" Starlight cried out as Celestia placed a hoof on the area. "OW! DON'T TOUCH ME! IT HURTS!"

Trying to find the source, Celestia realized that Starlight needed urgent care immediately. "She needs a doctor, now!" She called to an equally concerned Sunburst! Looking over to Ms. Harshwhinny, Sunburst felt that there was one thing he needed to do.

Acting fast, several students went into the halls and tried to help out the downed Starlight, but Sunburst held them back. "Stay back!" He ordered to the students and the teachers. "Give Headmare Starlight space! All of you get back to class, there's nothing any of you can do here!"

From inside Celestia's classroom though, Ocellus felt that her suspicions of Starlight's condition were now warranted.

…

…

After being loaded onto a stretcher, the downed Starlight was taken to Ponyville General Hospital with Trixie for company, leaving the worried teachers and students behind.

"What happened?" Smolder cried to Luster Dawn and Ocellus upon seeing their frantic faces. "I was in gym class when I heard that someone was hurt, and it sounded pretty bad. Who was it?"

"It's Headmare Starlight!" Luster declared while looking at the young dragon. "She was visiting Celestia's class with Vice-Headstallion Sunburst when she suddenly started screaming in pain! It's her back!"

"Her back?" Smolder remarked. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure," Luster replied. "But I know a pony in pain when I see one."

"All right students and teachers," Sunburst gestured, assuming command in Starlight's absence. "Get back to class! There's nothing seriously wrong with Headmare Starlight."

But those words didn't sit well with Luster Dawn and Ocellus.

Meanwhile, arriving at Ponyville General Hospital, Starlight was immediately taken into the emergency room and immediately put through a series of tests while Doctor Stable examined her. "What's going on?" He asked Starlight as he placed his hoof on her back, causing Starlight to scream out in pain.

"Don't touch it!" Starlight wailed at the top of her lungs. "Don't touch it! PLEASE!"

Lifting up her headmare jacket and shirt, Doctor Stable felt that there was only one thing to do. "She's going to need an x-ray," He declared to the trauma team. "I can feel something in her back. Something that shouldn't be there."

"It hurts! IT HURTS!" Starlight sobbed as Trixie looked down at her pained friend. "Why?! WHY?!"

Trixie could do nothing but just stand in disbelief at the pain Starlight was going through.

And a few moments later, a nurse came in with a hospital gown. "Can you help her get undressed?" Doctor Stable asked Trixie, much to her surprise. "We need to put this on her to protect her from the x-ray's radiation."

Taking a deep breath, Trixie and several nurses used their magic to remove Starlight's headmare suit as Starlight cried and cried.

"And prepare a sedative," Doctor Stable ordered to another nurse. "We've got to calm her down before the procedure."

Dressing her in the hospital gown, the nurses carefully rolled Starlight on her front as Doctor Stable held a medical syringe in his aura that contained a sedative drug.

Feeling the pain of the hypodermic needle, Starlight let out several more cries as Trixie continued to stay at her side. "TRIXIE!" Starlight sobbed.

"Starlight, it's going to be okay," Trixie whispered, herself feeling tears of pain forming in her eyes. "It's going to be okay. Trust me."

…

Back at the School of Friendship, the events of Starlight's back problems were on the minds of both teachers and students.

"I can't believe this," Silverstream remarked as she and her friends all gathered at the Treehouse of Friendship later that day. "Hearing Headmare Starlight cry out like that… no creature should ever be in that kind of pain. Unless that creature's a no good jerkface like the Storm King, in which case they get what they deserve!" Her face briefly morphed into a scowl at the thought of him.

"Yona feels bad for former counselor pony turned headmare." Yona added.

"What exactly was going on with her?" Sandbar pondered. "I mean, Headmare Starlight never showed any signs of pain before. Did she throw her back out all of a sudden or something?"

"No, she probably did something to her back some point long before today," Cherry Tomato declared. "My dad is a chiropractor in Mustangia and would know more."

"Really?" Gallus grumbled in a bitter tone. "Since when is your dad a doctor? You never mentioned him before."

"He's always been one," Cherry Tomato retorted to Gallus. "Back injuries are his specialty. He's the top pony at his craft."

"Of course he is," Ocellus replied as she and Luster Dawn came out of one of the rooms with a medical book. "Luster Dawn and I were catching up on this book about medical injuries. Headmare Starlight could have maybe pulled a muscle and didn't even realize it. Apparently, it's the most common type of injury, though it usually doesn't get so severe that a pony has to go to the hospital."

The other students couldn't help but question this.

"Doesn't everycreature hurt themselves all the time and not even realize it?" Icarus wondered. " Perhaps Headmare Starlight was so upset by me wearing this new hat today that she…"

"-Don't even go there, cousin!" Gallus interrupted. "Don't! Even! Go there!"

"Don't even go there," Quiet Play mimicked before turning to the group. "Most Kirin have back problems the same as anycreature. Although we have herbal remedies for them."

"But I thought that kirin only made a cure to cure their silence," Smolder pondered. "I mean, didn't that one kirin…?"

"You mean Autumn Blaze?" Quiet Play replied. "Even before her, kirin had herbal remedies for almost all ailments."

As they all talked, both Luster Dawn and Ocellus were beginning to get themselves an idea.

"Look guys," Luster Dawn declared, getting everyone's attention. "The fact of the matter is that our headmare hurt herself and is in the hospital. Maybe it would be nice for us to at least make a card for Headmare Starlight to let her know how we feel about her."

"I agree with Luster," Sandbar nodded, looking out on the horizon with Yona. "Headmare Starlight needs our support right now!"

Yona nodded too. "Yona agrees as well."

One by one, the rest of the students agreed and the decision was reached, they were going to make a card for Starlight.

Meanwhile, Celestia and Luna immediately made their way from the School of Friendship with Sunburst to Ponyville General Hospital, determined to check on Starlight's condition.

"We're here to see Starlight." Sunburst said to the receptionist.

"Starlight Glimmer?" The receptionist asked. "Of course, I'll send you in as soon as she's all set up in recovery. Please have a seat."

Frustrated, Sunburst sat down in the waiting room just as Twilight ran into the waiting room with Spike in tow along with several guard ponies.

"We came as soon as we got Sunburst's scroll!" Twilight told Celestia and Luna, panting heavily. "What happened to Starlight?!"

"Apparently, she was hosting Ms. Harshwhinny and her back just started really bothering her," Luna declared with a hint of fear in her voice. "Hearing her scream like that though…"

"She's been putting something like this off, ever since we came back from the other world her back's been bothering her," Spike remarked. "Didn't she have any painful episodes recently?"

"Yes," Twilight answered. "A few nights ago, actually. But I don't understand why she wouldn't even tell us. It's not like she's the only one who got injured when we went through the mirror to recruit Sunset."

As they all reconvened, Celestia began to get a sense of why Starlight was having her back pains. Looking back to the receptionist desk, they would soon get their answer as Doctor Stable came into the waiting room.

"Are you Starlight Glimmer's friends?" The doctor asked.

"How is she, doctor?" Sunburst asked in a worried voice. "How's Starlight?"

Sighing, Doctor Stable motioned for them all to follow him and soon, they came to Starlight's hospital room with the unicorn lying on her side while Trixie sat beside her, holding Stalright's hoof.

Opening her tear stained eyes, Starlight weakly looked at the group of ponies gathered outside her room.

"Oh, Starlight." Twilight whispered, her mouth hanging ajar at seeing her former pupil and friend lying in a hospital bed.

…

…

Quietly approaching her bed, the group of Starlight's friends immediately began to feel nothing but sympathy for the fallen headmare.

"Your friends are here to see you." Trixie whispered to Starlight.

"What…what happened?" Starlight whispered. "I remember my back pain flaring up, and then…" Her voice trailed off.

"It's okay, you're in a hospital room now," Twilight said as Doctor Stable placed several x-rays of Starlight's back on a screen. "Don't worry, you're in good hooves now."

"Guess I…I can't keep it in any longer," Starlight whispered to Sunburst. "That my back was bothering me."

"It doesn't matter right now," Sunburst sighed, sitting at the edge of Starlight's bed. "All that matters is you're getting the help you need."

A few moments later, Doctor Stable turned back to the group and removed his glasses in preparation to deliver his diagnosis.

"How is she, doctor? How bad is it?" Twilight asked.

"There's…" Doctor Stable explained, directing the attention of everypony in the room to the x-ray in question. "-A spot right here on the left side of Starlight's back that appears to be torn."

"Torn?" Trixie cried while still holding onto Starlight's hoof. "What do you mean by that?"

Doctor Stable replied and explained. "Torn muscle ligaments in the lower back. Most likely from being thrown up against something hard."

As she listened, Celestia began to get more and more confirmation that this was no accident that Starlight was involved in. "How long did she have this pain?"

"She wouldn't tell us," Trixie answered. "I mean, Starlight seemed to first start occasionally having this pain right after those villains were defeated. Right before Princess Twilight's second coronation, of course."

"Trixie…" Starlight moaned while weakly looking at her best friend.

"I had to do it, Starlight," Trixie replied firmly. "Even the Great and Powerful Trixie has to reveal secrets sometimes. You taught her that some things aren't worth bottling up, and our well being is one of those things."

"It appears to me that the muscle was torn either in an accident, or Starlight was hit with a strong beam of magic that caused the initial injury," Doctor Stable declared. "Because she didn't get it treated it's likely that a recent battle or accident made the injury even worse than the lack of attention it received. Do you know if there was any exposure to powerful magic in Starlight's last year or so?"

"Yes," Celestia firmly declared, catching Doctor Stabke's attention as she began to play out the events in the Canterlot Dungeons during the final battle with Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow. "It was when we were trying to free Twilight's friends from the Canterlot Dungeons after we fell to the Legion of Doom. Discord managed to goad Tirek into freeing Starlight and succeeded in doing so. However, Chrysalis snuck up behind Starlight and fired a beam of her dark magic at her lower back just before Starlight could free us."

"I can't believe this!" Twilight gasped, looking at Doctor Stable before turning back to the wounded Starlight. "I knew Chrysalis would stoop low. But to actually hurt you, Starlight? If I ever see her again, I'll make her pay! I promise you that."

"Chrysalis is a dangerous creature not to be underestimated," Luna somberly cautioned. "It's not surprising she would stop at nothing until her revenge against Starlight was obtained. Though I doubt even she realized what she'd caused at the time, as Starlight has endured worse."

"Yes," Spike added, once again beginning to get flashbacks of nearly getting his wings torn off. "But it was because of Chrysalis that I…I almost lost my wings. Physical pain is something she'd never have a problem with. And who knows how far she'd be willing to go if we never stopped her?"

Sensing her advisor's growing fears, Twilight draped a wing over Spike.

"Well, what do we do?" Sunburst asked with a look of general concern on his face. "Clearly, Starlight's going to be out of commission for a while."

"Sunburst. I can't ask you to do that. I'll find a way to work through the pain." Starlight groaned while trying to get Sunburst's attention.

"Starlight, you need to focus on letting your back heal. You won't be able to work through the pain if you collapse all the time," Sunburst ordered, trying to keep Starlight from not moving. "Trixie and I can run the School of Friendship in your absence. We can make adjustments."

"Yes, Sunburst can be acting headstallion and I can be acting vice-headmare," Trixie declared. "Look, I know what you're thinking, Starlight. But Trixie promises you it will only be temporary. Then once you feel better, Trixie can go back to being the guidance counselor. It shouldn't be too hard to find somepony to take my place there."

Groaning again, Starlight felt compiled to say something in protest, but the effects of the sedative prevented her from doing so.

"I think," Doctor Stable warned Starlight. "That you're also going to need extensive physical therapy, even after you return to your job. This may well become a chronic condition that can't be cured, only treated."

Starlight couldn't believe what she was hearing as she let out another sigh. In her mind, she felt like she was being pushed aside from her position as headmare.

"Look, Starlight," Twilight interjected, walking over to her former pupil's side. "Do you remember when I had my mental health crisis, how you persuaded me to split my time between Canterlot and Ponyville? It's really helped me greatly. Now I need you to let me return the favor."

With tears once again forming in her eyes, Starlight produced a small smile at Twilight for her kind words of reassurance.

"When will she be discharged?" Sunburst asked Doctor Stable as he prepared to leave the room.

"She can be discharged in the morning," Doctor Stable answered. "In the meantime, I would focus on getting control of your back, Ms. Glimmer." With those words, Doctor Stable departed and Starlight was left to accept what had been given to her.

…

The next morning, Starlight was released from the hospital in a wheelchair and returned to the Castle of Friendship. Looking out her bedroom window as she laid in bed, Starlight felt somewhat bad that she was not able to be running the school that was bestowed upon her. Seeing the students going into the school without her was difficult, but she needed to do what needed to be done in order for her to get well again.

"Starlight?" Twilight asked as she entered Starlight's bedroom with a card in her aura. "Luster Dawn and the other students wanted me to give this to you."

"What is it?" Starlight asked, cocking her head slightly to see the card.

"It's a get-well card from Luster Dawn and the other students," Twilight explained as she gave Starlight the card. Opening it up, Starlight could see the artwork that students put into it. "They want you to get well as much as I do. They're obviously going to miss their headmare while she's away."

Smiling with tears in her eyes, Starlight placed the card on her nightstand and slowly accepted her fate. "Twilight…do you think that maybe I will…?" She started to ask.

"You will," Twilight interrupted, looking at Starlight. "You'll get back to where you belong when Doctor Stable and whoever oversees your physical therapy says you can. Our mental and physical health are more important than anything else in Equestria. I learned that once, and now you're learning the same lesson."

"Touche." Starlight said weakly and satisfied as she was left alone to face this unexpected speed bump in her life.

Meanwhile, in his best friend's office, Sunburst found himself now doing what Starlight always did. Even though it was temporary though, he felt like he was stealing Starlight's thunder.

"You look nervous," Trixie remarked as she looked at Sunburst sitting behind Starlight's desk. "Try to relax, it's only temporary."

"Yeah," Sunburst nervously answered. "It is only temporary. But I wonder if the students will get too used to not seeing Starlight here in this office."

"They know that they won't," Trixie reassured while walking over to Sunburst. "They know better."

"I hope so, Trixie," Sunburst sighed. "I do hope so."

But only time would tell if such a premonition would indeed happen to the School of Friendship.

…

…