Chapter 31: Old Friends vs New Friends
Hey everyone I'm back with a new chapter. I'm glad all of you enjoyed my latest twist with adding the Storm Hawks. Needless to say things are going to be interesting. I hope you like what I have planned. Please Review and Enjoy.
After that rocky first meeting, Luke was downstairs with his old team while the Rainbooms were getting cleaned up.
"Sorry again about the whole breaking into your base and attacking your new friends." Aerrow said as he and Luke cleaned up the webs.
"Yeah what happened back there? I think you might have left a bad first impression with them." Luke asks.
"Yeah our bad." Junko apologized.
"We've been a little on edge lately. Lots of problems have been popping up all over Slugterra." Piper said.
"Stuff even worse than usual." Stork cringed.
"And unfortunately, your folks and the rest of the Shane Gang have been no shows." Finn said.
"We've been running around for 3 days straight." Sunburst said.
"Well I guess I can understand that." Luke said throwing out the webs.
"I don't suppose you would mind if we crashed here tonight?" Aerrow asks.
"Like you guys even have to ask." Luke smiles.
"Thanks buddy." Junko said playfully punching his shoulder making him cringe in pain.
"So you guys have any idea on where my parents went missing? It's because of them I came running back." Luke asks.
Upstairs, Rainbow and Sonata walked out and slowly peeked down to listen in.
"We're not sure but if we flipped over a few rocks, we can find out." Piper suggests.
"It's good to have you back Luke. We missed you." Aerrow said as Radarr jumped on his back and hugged him.
"I missed you too Radarr." Luke laughs putting him down.
"So what's the story with those girls?" Starling asks.
"They were there to help me when I really needed. If it wasn't for them, I would have been in trouble." Luke explains making Rainbow and Sonata smile.
"Well they certainly seemed like they knew how to fight." Starling admits.
"Give them a chance. You might like them. I know I do." Luke smiles.
"So they're cool?" Finn asks.
"The coolest." Luke said.
"Yes." Rainbow whispers pumping her fist.
"So you gonna tell us what happened on this big super-secret Shane mission?" Starlight asks leaning in interested.
"Uh it's complicated." Luke said not sure how or if he even could explain.
"Looks like Luke doesn't trust them like he trusts us." Sonata whispers making Rainbow snicker.
Walking over Starlight lays down on the couch in front of him. Putting her feet up and her head on her hands.
"Come on Luke we're your team. You can trust us." Starlight said in a flirty tone.
"Yeah come on Luke." Junko said as they all egged him on.
"Guys, I'm sorry but right now with my folks missing in action I gotta be ready to take on Slugterra. I got a lot on my plate." Luke sighs.
Frowning Starlight scooted closer to him.
"Hey that's why you got us. To help you keep things going." Starlight said.
"Yeah Luke. With you and me leading the team we'll clean up Slugterra just like old times." Aerrow smiles.
"Well hopefully not as messy as old times." Luke jokes making them all laugh.
"There's the Luke we know and love." Piper said.
"Don't worry Luke with all of us back together again. We'll not only keep Slugterra going but we'll also find your family." Aerrow said.
"Well let's not get ahead of ourselves. That's a tall order." Stork said nervously.
"What do think Luke? It'll be just like the good old days." Junko smiles.
Looking at all their smiling faces Luke couldn't help but smile.
"Okay that does sound awesome. If I'm gonna help Slugterra I'm gonna need the best team ever." Luke admits making them cheer.
"That's what I want to hear." Finn said.
"Maybe we can also do another thing like the good old times." Starlight teases before pecking him on the cheek making him blush.
Eyes widening Sonata and Rainbow snuck away.
"Hey Luke if you want information, maybe it's time you phoned in an old friend." Starling hints.
"You think he's still around?" Luke asks curiously.
"Oh yeah, he's too sneaky to die." Starling said.
"I'll think about it." Luke said.
After cleaning up the mess Luke's old team had decided to crash downstairs Luke opened the door to his old room.
"Wow, exactly how I left it." Luke smiles walking inside.
Chirping Burpy hopped off his shoulder along with the rest of his slugs.
"Been a while since I laid in this bed." Luke said laying down. "Just like old times eh Burpy?"
Chirping Burpy smiled laying down on a little Slug pillow.
As all of Luke's other slugs looked at him, he sighed.
"I always knew I'd have to step for my dad sooner or later, but now that I'm actually doing it. I gotta admit guys, I've got so many thoughts going through my head. I'm gonna need all the help I can get but if I tell Aerrow, Starlight and the others about the problem they'll know about the surface." Luke said.
Frowning Burpy tapped Luke on the shoulder trying to be supportive.
"Why is it everything I do ends up with me ignoring generations of Shane rules?" Luke asks but Burpy just shrugs. "Let's go to bed, maybe things will be easier in the morning."
Nodding all the slugs deiced to turn in.
Grabbing his blanket, Luke pulled it over him and went to sleep.
Little did he know a few rooms over, the Rainbooms were having their own meeting.
"Luke is gonna replace us?" They gasped.
"Rainbow Dash are you sure? I mean are you 100% sure about this?" Twilight asks.
"Sonata and I heard the whole thing. They want him to join back up with them as their team leader." Rainbow said.
"It's true." Sonata nods.
"But if Luke joins up with them then what use are we anymore?" Sunset asks.
"I don't know but it won't be awesome that's for sure." Rainbow said.
"We can't let these old faces come and take away our teammate. What do these guys know about Equestrian Magic?" Twilight asks.
"Yeah what do they have that we don't?" Fluttershy asks.
"Well they have more experience, known Luke longer, know more about Slugterra, pretty decent fighting skills—" Applejack lists.
"We get it!" Rarity said not needing to hear more.
"This Starlight is very different from the one back in Equestria. You don't think she actually still has feelings for Luke?" Twilight asks.
"No she definitely does." Sonata said getting their attention.
"Wait what?" Sunset asks.
"Oh yeah the way she talked to him, hugged him, she's totally still in love with him." Sonata said making Sunset twitch.
"What are we gonna do? We can't let these guys take Luke away." Rarity asks.
"What do we do?" Fluttershy asks.
"I'll tell you what we're gonna do. We're gonna prove we're a better team than those guys ever were. We're gonna show just how much Luke needs us." Sunset declares standing up.
"Yeah. He picked us to stop the Equestrian Dark Clan. Not them." Twilight agrees.
"Anything they can do we can do better." Applejack said.
"Uhm I don't know maybe they could help us." Fluttershy mumbles not wanting to pick a fight with them.
"Fluttershy this is about keeping our team together." Rainbow said.
"Luke says he needs the best team to help him. We need to make sure that's us." Sonata said.
"Oh yeah. We'll show those Slugterra kids how we do things back home." Spike said as they all cheered in agreement.
The next morning, Luke wakes up and made his way downstairs and to his surprise saw the Rainbooms sitting around eating while Applejack and Pinkie in the kitchen.
"Hey Luke Rise and shine." Applejack said.
"We made breakfast." Pinkie said blowing a noise maker.
"Wow you girls didn't have to do all this." Luke said.
"Oh come on you brought us here. We thought it was the least we can do." Applejack said flipping pancakes.
From the garage, Starlight, Aerrow and Junko walk in.
"Whoa what smells good?" Junko asks licking his lips.
"Breakfast. You guys want to join us?" Luke asks.
"Wow quite a large spread you guys made." Aerrow said.
"Oh we just did what any awesome teammates would do." Rainbow said getting Starlight's attention.
"Uh guys a word? Give us a second Luke." Starlight said pushing the team into the garage.
"Guys we got a problem." Starlight said.
Peeking through the door Stork saw the big breakfast.
"Okay please tell me I'm not the only one seeing what's happening? And I'm not the only one being paranoid." Stork asks.
"They're really sucking up to Luke." Finn said.
"I don't know have you tried these?" Junko asks holding up his plate.
"Junko, they're trying to replace us." Aerrow said.
"What?" Junko gasps.
"These guys got a taste of working with a Shane and now they want to push us out of the picture." Piper realized.
"Uh are you sure? I mean are we really sure?" Starling asks.
"They're literally buttering him up." Starlight gestures to the buttery pancakes.
"What do we do? We just got him back. We can't lose him again." Junko asks.
"Don't worry big guy we won't." Aerrow said.
After breakfast, everyone was smiling with full stomachs.
"Applejack I should have you over for breakfast more often." Luke said.
"Aw shucks Luke it's just a family recipe." Applejack blushes.
"So what's the plan now Luke?" Piper asks.
"I'm gonna see if I can get an old friend to look into something. Why don't you guys use this chance to get to know each other better?" Luke suggests.
"Wouldn't you feel better if you had someone come with you?" Sunset asks.
"I got this. I need my team rested and ready." Luke smiles walking out.
"Well have fun buddy." Finn said but the second Luke left both teams glared at each other.
"You know it was nice having you guys over but we can take it from here." Spike said.
"Nah, Luke might need our help when he gets back." Finn said.
Chattering Radarr agrees with him.
"Luke has us. If he needs help he can just ask." Rarity said.
"Same for us." Piper said.
"Look we appreciate whatever it is you guys did for Luke but we can take it from here." Twilight said.
"Yeah we're his New Shane Gang." Pinkie points out.
"We've been the New Shane Gang for way longer than you." Junko said.
"Correction you were." Rainbow said.
"We're not just gonna hand this title over to just anyone." Aerrow said.
"Alright then, let's see for ourselves who deserves the title of Shane Gang." Sunset said.
"Fine by us, but since Luke wants us to get along let's change up the events besides Slug Slinging. See who's really better than who in events we're good at." Aerrow suggests.
"Sounds good to us." Sunset said.
"We'll see." Starlight narrows her eyes.
"Uh hold on. Luke said he didn't want anything ugly. We can't just have back to back rounds of Slug Duels." Starling points out.
"Well then we'll just have to make our own little contests." Rainbow realizes.
"Fine with us." Finn said.
For the first round Finn and Rainbow Dash had their guitars ready.
"Gotta admit this song you picked is pretty cool. I might make it my theme music when this is over." Finn said.
"Ha fat chance. That song is my theme music." Rainbow asks.
"Hey uh just out of curiosity what is she talking about?" Starlight asks.
"You know it might be easier if you just listened to it." Sunset shrugs.
"Alright first round. Start your instruments in three, two, one." Aerrow said before both started rocking out.
(Play Awesome as I wanna be Duet)
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
Awesome as I wanna be
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
Awesome as I wanna be
"First you see me riding on a sonic boom Got my guitar shreddin' up my latest tune." Finn sang.
"There is nothin' you can do to beat me I'm so good that you can't defeat me." Rainbow sang.
Yeah, I'm awesome, take caution
Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be
(Yeah!) I'm awesome, take caution
Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be
As the two of them rocked out the others couldn't help but enjoy the clash of showoffs.
Moving forward Finn bumps Rainbow.
Step aside now, you're just gettin' in my way
I got sick chops you could never hope to play
When it comes to makin' music, I'm the ruler
"You wish you could be 20% cooler" Stepping forward Rainbow shoves him out of the way.
Yeah, I'm awesome, take caution
Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be
(Yeah!) I'm awesome, take caution
Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be
(Song End)
As the two of them kept rocking out Rainbow went on the attack and when Finn tried to up his game his guitar strings broke making him fall over.
"Ha! Round 1 goes to us!" Rainbow smiles in victory.
Groaning Finn got up.
"Okay that was pretty cool." Finn admits.
"Yeah it was." Rainbow smirks.
Round 2, was Rarity against Piper. To test their attention to detail.
In front of them were two ships in bottles.
"Alright whoever assembles their ship first wins." Aerrow said.
"Last chance to back out. I'm really good with tweezers." Piper said.
"Please darling these eyebrows don't happen by themselves." Rarity smirks gesturing to her face.
Putting on magnifying headsets both girls got to work.
Watching carefully they saw Rarity and Piper work their magic assembling these tiny ships with such skill and precision.
As Rarity was assembling the last part of the mast, Piper pulls down the cloth for the sails.
"Done." Piper declares getting their attention.
Slowly Sunset examines the ship for any missing details.
"Yep she's got it." Sunset said making Piper's team cheer.
"Yes all tied up!" Finn said.
As Piper looked at Rarity's ship, she saw she was only a few moves behind.
"Wow that's pretty good. You really have an eye for detail." Piper admits.
"Like I said, this doesn't happen." Rarity smirks taking off her headset.
"I'm impressed you got that good just by doing makeup." Piper said.
"You're not too bad yourself. How did you get so good with tools?" Rarity asks.
"Working on the team's gear. How about you?" Piper asks.
"Bedazzling and sewing patterns onto my fashion lines." Rarity said getting her attention.
"Wow…that's actually pretty cool." Piper said. "Can you show me a few later?"
"I don't see why not." Rarity smiles.
Round 3 was Junko vs Applejack and the two of them had decided to do something simple.
Sitting on opposite ends of the table, Junko and Applejack narrowed their eyes.
As Junko cracked his knuckles Applejack adjusted her hat before putting their arms on the table to arm wrestle.
"Okay no sneaky tricks. I want a clean match." Starling said.
"Oh this is gonna be good." Finn chuckles.
"I can't believe she actually agreed." Piper said a little worried.
"Applejack is a lot stronger than she looks. She can handle it." Rarity smirks.
"And…go." Starling said.
Growling Junko and Applejack pushed with all their might trying to overpower the other but they appeared to be in a lock.
"Come on big guy!" Starlight said.
"Push her back!" Sunburst said.
"Show him who's boss Applejack!" Rainbow said.
"Get him!" Sonata said.
As Junko slowly pushed back Applejack gritted her teeth and twists with all her might slamming Junko's arm to the table.
"Applejack wins." Starling declares.
"Oh yeah!" Applejack said.
While the others were in shock, Junko picked himself up and laughs.
"Whoa, that was awesome. How did you get so strong?" Junko asks.
"Years of working on the farm. You didn't make it easy that's for sure." Applejack smiles.
"Nice can you show me some of your workouts. I could bulk up." Junko said making Applejack chuckle.
"Sure thing." Applejack said.
For the next match, everyone was preparing for Stork against Fluttershy but the two competitors weren't very eager.
As they discussed the event Stork and Fluttershy looked at them in fear.
"So uh…I don't know about you but I don't want to do this." Fluttershy said.
"Me neither. I don't like this one bit." Stork said.
"How do we get out of this? If we throw the match it'll break their hearts." Fluttershy asks.
"What if we never make it to the match?" Stork asks.
Pausing Fluttershy looks at him interested.
"What do we do?" Fluttersh0y asks.
"Follow my lead." Stork said clearing his throat. "Oh my stomach. Oh it hurts." Stork said faking an energy.
"Ugh. It hurts." Fluttershy said as both turned and banged into each other falling to the ground getting everyone's attention.
"Fluttershy are you okay?" Rarity asks helping her up.
"Stork buddy what's wrong?" Junko asks.
"My head, it hurts so much." Fluttershy said.
"My stomach is doing somersaults." Stork said.
"Darling you compete like this." Rarity said.
"So that means we win by default?" Junko asks.
"No Junko, Stork pulls out. We can't make him compete." Aerrow said.
Hearing this Fluttershy looks to Stork who winks at her making her smile back grateful for the help.
"Alright since we're each down a member it's a best of 8 now. You guys fine with that?" Sunburst asks.
"Agreed, but even so the odds of winning are still in our favor." Twilight said adjusting her glasses.
"We'll see because you two are the next round." Starlight said.
"Big your match guys." Sunset said as both brainiacs readied themselves.
Meanwhile in a small town, Luke was slowly making his way through the market before making a turn into a dark alley.
Leaping off his mecha beast, Luke looked around for something unaware that someone was watching him.
Chirping Burpy made a small flame to light the way.
"Well what do we have here? Is that Luke Shane?" A male voice calls out.
Activating his wrist blasters, Luke took a stance.
"Hey buddy relax, I don't want trouble. Not to one of my best customers." Leaping down Luke sees a figure land across from him.
Slowly walking out was a man with dark brown skin, purple hair, a red jacket that looked like it had seen better days, black pants, and a Negashade slug on his shoulder.
"Well look what the cat dragged in. Himself." Luke said.
"Good to see you too Luke." He said as the two of them did a fist bump.
"Capper I need your help. You know everything that goes on in Slugterra. What's going on?" Luke asks.
"Hmm you're gonna have to narrow it down. Lot of stuff happens." Capper said holding out his hand.
"Still as smooth as ever." Luke mumbles putting some gold in his hands.
"Yeah I think heard some rumors going the 99 Caverns. Not a lot of friendly faces are starting to come out. People are really taking advantage of the No Shane No Rules situation." Capper said.
"Well there's one now. I need clues on my parent's whereabouts and dirt on whoever's trying to ruin the peace. You get around Capper if anyone can figure this out it's you." Luke said.
"What makes you think I can do all that? I'm not curious." Capper asks.
Immediately Luke hands him some more gold.
"I might know a few faces around Slugterra. I'll do some digging around." Capper said.
"And this is why we don't throw you prison. Give me a heads up if anyone is getting out of hand as well." Luke said.
"Whoa hold up that's crazy. What if I get caught?" Capper asks and Luke hands him a few more coins. "BUt then again no one ever catches me and lucky for you I like crazy. I am your eyes and ears."
"That's what I thought." Luke smirks.
"Hey uh how's my old spy partner doing by the way?" Capper asks.
"Starling's doing well. It's nice to know you still care." Luke smirks.
"What? I don't. It's just Shadow won't stop bugging me about here." Capper said gesturing to his Negashade who shook his head.
"Sure Capper whatever you say." Luke smirks.
"You're gonna need more than just your old buddies to save Slugterra this time Luke. Hope you got a decent team." Capper said.
"I do, I just need to make sure I let them know that." Luke said.
Back at the Shane base, both teams were groaning in agony as Twilight and Sunburst had decided on scientific debate for their event.
"Please clearly the theory wouldn't work if you didn't take into consideration the conversion from minutes to seconds." Twilight said.
"Not if you include the speed of gravity multiple by the angle and momentum." Sunburst counters.
"Does anyone have any idea what these eggheads are talking about?" Rainbow asks bored out of her mind.
"Never have never will. I swear does anyone?" Finn asks.
"Ehh." All of them cringed.
"Alright I'm calling it." Piper said whistling loudly getting their attention.
"Alright you two have been at this for a full half-hour. You both seemed to be equal, and frankly, you're starting to lose the audience. Who's fine with this one being a tie?" Piper asks.
"Yo!" Everyone said raising their hands.
"I swear sometimes being the smart one is curse." Sunburst sighs.
"I know, it's like they live to shut me down when I'm in the middle of answering their questions." Twilight said.
"By the way that was a pretty solid debate. It's nice having an intelligent conversation with someone for a change." Sunburst smiles.
"Yeah I liked it too." Twilight smiles.
Round 5 was a battle of animal sidekicks.
Outside the base, Spike and Radarr had taken running stances.
"Alright guys, this one is a race. The first one to grab one of those cans at the end of the path and bring it back wins." Rainbow points to two cans a small distance away.
"Alright Spike time for all those long walks to pay off." Twilight said.
"I got this. No way am I losing this." Spike said pumped.
"No fair I wanted to face Radarr." Pinkie said.
"Pinkie that's not exactly a fair matchup." Fluttershy gestures.
"Oh fine." Pinkie sighs.
"And go!" Rainbow said as both animal sidekicks raced down the path.
Barking Spike and Radarr ran neck and neck like…well like dogs trying to get a ball.
Making it to the end Spike grabs his can with his mouth while Radarr grabs his.
As the two turned around to head back Radarr sees a vine up ahead.
Leaping into the air Radarr swings in allowing him to arrive back at the group first winning the race.
"Oh yeah good boy Radarr!" Aerrow smiles rubbing his forehead.
"Sorry Twilight." Spike frowns dropping the can.
"You did your best Spike." Twilight said petting him.
"Alright round 6!" Sunburst said as they walked away.
Pausing Radarr nudges Spike.
"Huh? What do you want? Ready to insult me?" Spike asks.
Chattering Radarr reached into his pocket and pulled out a ball making him gasp.
"A ball?! I apologize for everything! Now throw it! Throw it!" Spike said eagerly.
Smiling Radarr threw the ball making Spike bark happily and chase after it.
Round 6 was Pinkie Pie and Starling. Both had decided on a stealth contest. They had to make special designs that would lead to blending in.
Using some paints, Starling showed a practical camouflage design to sneak around.
"Alright Pinkie Pie top that." Starling said looking around, but for some reason didn't see her.
Pausing Starling noticed a present on the table covered by a cloth.
"Oh come on Pinkie, at least try to win." Starling said pulling away from the cloth but they saw she wasn't under the table cloth.
"Huh?" Starling said when the present burst open and a cupcake landed on her face.
"Surprise!" Pinkie said causing Starling to fall over.
"How did you fit inside that small box?" Starling asks surprised.
"Sorry that's my little secret. So how does defeat taste?" Pinkie asks as Starling tastes the cupcake.
"Ooh is this chocolate buttercream frosting?" Starling asks.
"Yeah you like?" Pinkie asks before she wobbled and fell out of the box and onto another cupcake.
"You tell me." Starling laughs.
"Mm tasty." Pinkie said licking frosting off her lips.
"One more win and it's ours." Applejack grins.
"Alright Sonata you're up." Rainbow said pumping her up.
"Alright let's do it. I'm in the zone." Sonata said.
Round 7, Sonata faced Aerrow.
"Alight you say you were Luke's right hand, well let's see if you can keep that title." Sonata said cracking her knuckles.
"Oh I can, and anyone who has Luke's back has to know how to keep a blaster ready at any time." Aerrow said as both had parts scattered around them.
"I had Luke and his grandparents teach me this. Quick assemble is how we decide movie nights." Sonata grins.
"And go." Twilight said starting a timer.
Grabbing the pieces both began assembling their blasters as fast as they could.
Cheering Piper and Aerrow's Hoverbug hopped up and down cheering for their owners but in the end Aerrow finished first.
"Ha! Yes." Aerrow grins.
"Wow you're fast." Sonata whistles.
"Yeah I am." Aerrow smiles proudly.
"All tied up, this next one settles it." Twilight said.
Finally it was Sunset vs Starlight.
Both girls were more determined than ever to win for their teams but also for personal reasons.
"Alright last event. Trick shots." Aerrow said as both stood with their backs to each other and holding a Speed Stinger.
"Alright off the branch back to my hand." Sunset said firing first.
As the Speed Stinger transforms it bounced off the branch and to her arm.
"Off the branch off the mechas into my hand." Starlight said firing next.
Bouncing off the branch it flies up and bounced off her mechabeast and flew back into her arm.
"Okay we have a match." Finn said.
Firing trick shot after trick shot everyone cheered as the Speed Stingers were bouncing all over.
Off branches, the mechas, pots and pans, heck they even did one off the house and Finn.
"Nothing but hand!" Sunset said catching her Speed Stinger.
"Ugh can we change it up." Finn groans.
"You ready to give up?" Sunset asks.
"No way am I losing! I am not letting you guys replace us as Luke's team!" Starlight declares surprising Sunset.
"Wait, you thought we were replacing you guys?" Sunset asks.
Pausing both teams look at each other.
"Wait we thought you guys were replacing us?" Rainbow asks.
"Are you kidding? Luke wouldn't stop bragging about you guys. We thought we were losing him." Aerrow said.
"We thought you guys were gonna replace us." Applejack said.
"Yeah you're Luke's original team. His best buds. We didn't want to lose him." Sonata said.
"Neither did we." Finn said.
As Radarr made his strange chattering he gestured to all of them.
"Oh man really? Man that's what we thought." Spike said.
"So are you saying we all did this stupid competition because we feared the same thing." Twilight starts.
"And we were so paranoid of being left behind we never bothered to actually talk about it." Sunburst realized.
"Wow. When you say it out loud we really sound ridiculous." Pinkie realized.
"So what do we do now?" Sunset asks.
"I think we need to ask Luke what he meant by the best team." Starlight realized.
"So did we just do a whole competition for nothing?" Spike asks.
"Well…I'll admit it was pretty cool shredding with you back there Rainbow." Finn admits.
"Yeah it was pretty awesome having a shred off." Rainbow admits.
"And you got muscle AJ respect." Junko said.
"Respect back partner." Applejack said as they fist-bumped.
"You know for a fashion girl you really have an eye for detail." Piper admits looking at Rarity.
"You too." Rarity smiles.
"And it's kinda nice having someone to have intelligent conversations with." Twilight said looking at Sunburst.
"Right back at ya." Sunburst nods.
"So truce?" Spike asks looking at Radarr.
Chattering the two animals shook paws.
"I can see why Luke had you as his go to backup. You got moves." Aerrow said.
"You know Luke might need a left- and right-hand man. And there's two of us." Sonata hints as Aerrow smiles liking the sound of that.
"I am so glad I didn't get involved in this craziness." Stork said.
"Me too." Fluttershy said.
"You're a pretty fun one Pinkie." Starling said.
"Thanks Starling. You too despite being so serious all the time." Pinkie said reaching into her hair and pulling out a cookie. "Want one?"
"Uh I prefer my sweets freshly baked." Starling said making her gasp.
"Ooh that's a great idea." Pinkie smiles. "Hey everyone who wants some cookies?!"
Hearing this all the slingers and slugs liked the sound of that.
As they walked in Starlight looks to Sunset.
"You're pretty tough." Sunset said.
"Right back at you. But don't think I've given up our real battle." Starlight smirks before walking away.
"Real battle?" Sunset asks before realizing what she meant. "Oh man she still loves Luke."
Soon Luke was making his way back to the base.
"Well Burpy I hope they actually got along. I really don't want to walk into another fight." Luke said as Burpy cringed in agreement.
Slowly opening the door Luke and Burpy look in surprise to see everyone hanging out and having fun like they were pals.
"Whoa what happened here?" Luke asks as Pinkie and Starling walked in.
"Who wants cookies?" Pinkie asks before noticing him. "Hey Luke."
"What took you so long?" Starling asks.
"Uh am I missing something here?" Luke asks.
"We just took your advice. Turns out your friends are pretty fun to hang out with." Junko said.
"Not as cool as me, but pretty cool." Finn said.
"Oh please." Rainbow said playfully shoving him.
"Well I'm really happy to see that you're all getting along." Luke said walking in.
"Hey uh Luke, earlier you said you needed the best team to help with Slugterra. Were you talking about us?" Aerrow asks.
"Or did you mean us?" Twilight asks.
"Oh that. I thought it was obvious. You guys are the best team. All of you." Luke declares.
Hearing this all of them couldn't help but smile.
"Of course he would say something like that." Starling said.
"But before any of that, I have a confession guys." Luke said turning to his old team. "I've been keeping a secret from you guys for a while but I feel if we're gonna work together I need to tell you."
"What is it?" Starlight asks.
"I told you I went away on a super-secret mission far away from here. Well, that part was true, but it wasn't to another cavern. I went…up." Luke cringed.
"Up? Up to where?" Finn asks.
"The Burning World." Luke declares making Starling drop her tray and all the other Slugterra residents to look in shock.
"The Burning World? Whoa that sounds hot. Where's that?" Pinkie asks.
"Pinkie that's what we call the surface." Luke clarifies.
"So wait does that mean that you guys are—" Sunburst turns towards the Rainbooms.
"We're from the Burning World apparently." Applejack said.
"I-I don't understand." Starlight said blown away.
"Well long story short dangers from the world up there have mixed with the dangers of Slugterra and they came down to help me stop them." Luke explains.
"Oh man. I knew the Shanes kept secrets but this…this is insane." Aerrow said.
"The magic here, the Slugs. They would be lost forever if the Surface world ever knew the truth about all this. And with the magic combined from Equestria, we have to save Slugterra at all costs." Luke said.
"This is insane Luke. You shouldn't have told us this. You should have kept this a secret." Piper said.
"Yeah this beyond nuts." Finn said.
"I'm telling you guys this because I trust you, all of you. Do you trust me?" Luke asks.
Hearing this Luke's old friends couldn't help but smile.
"Like you even have to ask." Aerrow smiles wrapping his arm around him.
"Well you guys are handling this a lot better than we did." Rainbow said.
"Are you kidding? I got like million questions." Starling said.
"Yeah, this sky thing. Does it really go on forever?" Junko asks.
"And is there really this giant flaming orb that lights up the burning world?" Starling asks.
"You mean the sun?" Twilight asks.
"And what about this moon thing? What keeps the two from crushing down on everyone?" Sunburst asks.
"Whoa, whoa one at a time guys please." Sunset said.
Looking to Burpy, Luke shrugs.
"We gotta mix it up Burpy. I gotta drop a few secrets if we need to want to save everyone." Luke explains.
Pausing Burpy nods saying he was right.
"We'll fill them in on Equestria soon. Right now, one world bomb at a time." Luke chuckles.