Friendship is Magic: The Seventh Element

by Master Mr B

"When the sixth element is revealed, a special element can appear that is a combination of the other six. It serves as the controller that bounds the power if the six elements together. But nobody, not even the royal sisters, have ever uncovered this...Seventh Element..." Follow my OC as he takes part in the adventures of FiM. And possibly win the heart of Twilight Sparkle...

165. Triple Threat

Triple Threat

Pony's Log Number 715: What happens when a changeling and a dragon cross paths? Ask Spike! His anxiety will tell you the answer...

As some cheerful music began to play, the town area was being decorated for a special event. Diamond Tiara and Mario were busy getting several decorations placed and set up around the area while Starlight and Twilight were busy working together trying to set up a banner on the top of town hall. Spike was overseeing everything as he looked at a long list that dragged as he walked about.

"Is the banner even?" Spike asked anxiously and then turned so Twinkleshine, who was in town for a visit and offered to help, "Are the flowers in place?" Twinkleshine used her magic to lift the flowers and place them into a wagon belonging to Berry Punch. Berry Punch smiled as she pulled the cart away.

"By which I mean "completely out of view"," said Spike, "I'm pretty sure dragons don't like flowers?"

"That's true," said Diamond Tiara as she walked up to Spike, "I remember when I gave Ember some roses for her cave. They ended up being used for her fire pit...to light the fire!"

"Speaking about fire," said Spike as he walked over to a red crystal object that Mario was setting up, "And what about the Ceremonial Dragon Fire Flame of Friendship? Is it still flaming?" Mario went to activate it, but for some reason nothing was happening.

"Oh of all the times to not light up," said Mario as he and Spike leaned into the hole where the fire was supposed to come out.

FWOOSH!

And as they looked inside, the flame erupted from the center of the pit.

"HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT!" Mario yelped as he was launched high into the air with his rear end smoking. Spike was simply knocked backwards with his front scales and body singed as he landed on his back. Spike quickly patted the soot off his body as he stood up. Mario landed on his bottom, putting the flames out.

"You alright, Dad?" Diamond Tiara asked worriedly, "I can't imagine how much that hurts."

"It's more of an annoyance than painful, sweetheart," said Mario as he used his tail to fan off the smoke, "But I'm okay." Diamond Tiara smiled in reply. Twilight then landed before Spike.

"Spike, everything looks great!" said Twilight, "You're getting yourself worked up for no reason."

"Listen to Mom," Diamond Tiara remarked quietly to Mario. Mario snickered and quickly shushed her.

"I have lots of reasons," Spike replied, "In fact, I wrote them down." Spike then showed Twilight her own checklist. Starlight then walked up.

"You've been hanging around Twilight for too long," said Starlight Glimmer. Twilight just smiled and chuckled nervously.

"The checklist is a habit we've all gotten from her," said Mario, "I use one everyday too!"

"I even have a checklist of all my worries regarding my branch line," said Diamond Tiara as she put her brown frames on and looked at her list, "I sure hope Toola and Coco can handle things on the branch line while I am here. I know they've learned how to handle freight cars, but it takes experience to handle their tricks."

"They're ready," said Mario, "I taught them everything I taught you. They won't let the freight cars boss them around."

"Ahem," said Spike.

"Sorry, Spike," said Diamond Tiara as she took her glasses off, "What are you concerned about?"

"Reason number one - I invited Dragon Lord Ember to Ponyville today," said Spike, "Reason two - Ember is a Dragon Lord is a dragon. Reason three - she's coming to learn more about friendship."

"Okay, the first reason is a big deal," said Diamond Tiara, "The second reason is a bit redundant, but the point is made since ponies are still a little hesitant with meeting a dragon other then you face to face. The third reason is going to be an interesting challenge in of itself." Spike just glared.

"You really are turning into Twilight 2, you know that," Spike remarked.

"I thought that was you," said Diamond Tiara plainly, "I'm Twilight 3. Thought I prefer mini-Twily if you're gonna say I'm just like Mom." Spike just rolled his eyes. Twilight giggled to herself. She secretly liked the idea of Diamond Tiara being her mini-Twily.

"You really brainwashed that poor filly into becoming you," Starlight remarked in a teasing tone.

"Very funny," said Twilight, "But getting back on topic, according to Ember's letters, the dragons are trying to be friends, but competing is in their nature, and it's leading to more and more fights."

"Can't be anything worse than when Rainbow Dash and Auntie Applejack get competitive," said Diamond Tiara.

"That is a good point," said Mario.

"Which brings me to reason number four," said Spike and held up a list, "The Dragon Lord wants my advice, and as the new official Equestrian friendship ambassador to the dragons, I can't let her down."

"When did he get that title?" Diamond Tiara asked annoyingly.

"I have no idea," said Mario bluntly, emphasizing he didn't give that title to Spike.

"This isn't a joke!" Spike snapped, "I just saying I'm taking this visit very seriously?!"

"Easy Spike," said Mario, "We know. We've got your back." Diamond Tiara smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I know you feel a lot of pressure," said Twilight, "But you've got this, Spike!" Spike smiled and then leaned forward worriedly.

"I...I just want things to be perfect," said Spike.

"I know you do, Spike," said Diamond Tiara, "But you can't control how the day is going to go. All you can do is expect...the...unexpected?!" Diamond Tiara's voice raised an octave when she and Mario turned around as a familiar shadow appeared behind them. The shadow then walked up and tapped Spike on the shoulder. Spike gasped when he turned around and saw who is was. Even Starlight and Twilight were in shock when they saw a familiar figure standing before them.

"Thorax!" Spike exclaimed, "You're in Ponyville!"

"Of course I am, silly!" said Thorax, "You invited me. And I'm not one to back out of an invitation."

"Say, what?!" Mario remarked, his own voice raising an octave.

"Hey, Mario!" said Thorax. Mario quickly recovered.

"Hey Thorax, good to see ya," said Mario politely.

"Hey, Di!" said Thorax, "You're looking as pretty as ever!" Diamond Tiara blinked, blushed dark pink, and giggled.

"Thank you, handsome," said Diamond Tiara bashfully.

"Hey, Twilight! Hey, Starlight!" Thorax said to the two mares as he waved at them.

"Hey!" said Twilight nervously.

"Hello!" said Starlight in the same tone and at the same time as Twilight. They also waved hello at the same time.

"Oooh! I can't believe you did all this for me!" said Thorax as the view zoomed out to show the decorated surroundings, "Great banner! Love the stage!" He then noticed the fire pit, "What's this flame thingy? Oh, it's pretty!" Thorax smiled excitedly and bounced on his hooves before rushing off. Twilight walked up to Spike.

"You invited Thorax over to Ponyville on the same day as Ember?!" Twilight whispered.

"Apparently," said Spike.

"And judging by the look on your face," said Mario with Diamond Tiara beside him, "You didn't plan to do that."

"Apparently," Spike repeated rather sheepishly.

"That doesn't seem like a good idea," said Starlight, "How are you gonna entertain them both?"

"I have no idea," said Spike and whimpered as he started to panic.

"Like they always say," Diamond Tiara said bluntly, "whenever a pony desires perfect, anything that can go wrong, does go wrong."

While nopony said anything, they all agreed with her.

(Main theme)

After a few moments of silence, Mario decided to speak up.

"How exactly did this happen?" said Mario, "I recall giving you a calendar to help you avoid something like this."

"I accidentally startled Spike when he was looking at it," said Diamond Tiara, "and he burned it to a crisp. I offered to get him a replacement, but he said he had everything he had written own in his head. Apparently not!"

"I completely forgot!" Spike interjected, "Thorax wrote and said he needed to talk, and I told him to come over. I didn't realize it was the same day I invited Ember! What am I going to do?!" Spike's teeth began to chatter as he started to panic once again. Twilight and Starlight looked at Spike worriedly.

"Geez, pull yourself together Spike," said Diamond Tiara, trying to keep calm, "This could be a great opportunity to open the door of friendship between the changelings and the dragons."

"WHAT?!" Spike interjected in shock, "are you crazy?!"

"Well, maybe they'll like each other," Starlight added with a sheepish smile on her face.

"Probably not," said Spike, "Ember is tough and self-assured and intimidating. And Thorax..."

"Spike, I'm so glad you invited me!" said Thorax as he appeared behind him and hugged him happily, "You are one of my closest, nicest, most caring, and most understanding friends ever!" Spike just smiled nervously when Thorax noticed something in the distance, "Ooh! Is that ice in the shape of a dragon?" Thorax then rushed over to look at it, acting like a fan-boy as he did so.

"Thorax is a super sweetie and a total cutie," said Diamond Tiara, looking a bit swooned. The other ponies stared at her as Spike gave her an annoyed look.

"Heh..." Diamond Tiara chuckled nervously at all the attention and looked away uncomfortably.

"Yeah...that..." Spike replied, not holding back the sarcasm in his tone.

"Yeah, I see you point," said Starlight bluntly, "They might not get each other."

"Or worse - they'll hate each other!" said Spike worriedly, "And if the leader of the changelings and the Dragon Lord get into a fight..." Spike gulped, "I could be responsible for starting a war that could ruin Equestria as we know it!" Spike then gasped as an animation appeared in screen showing Thorax and the changelings were colored in shades of red while Ember and the dragons were in shades of blue. The changelings and dragons then clashed to the point the ground cracked and the entire land exploded.

Back in reality, Spike had gone rigid with a terrified look on his face. Diamond Tiara waved a fore-leg over Spike's face.

"Earth to Spike!" said Diamond Tiara, "That won't happen!" Spike began to hyperventilate in reply, which made the tiara wearing filly bite her lip.

"Spike, please settle down," Diamond Tiara pleaded, "I was being serious! Mom..."

"Spike, calm down," said Twilight as she walked up to the frazzled dragon, "Di is right. I'm sure that won't happen. Now pull it together." Spike managed to do so and noticed that Thorax was busy admiring the ice sculpture of Ember.

"I honestly think having them meet each other would be a good idea, Spike," said Mario.

"I agree," said Diamond Tiara.

"Not happening!" Spike interjected. Diamond Tiara tried to protest, but Mario held her back and shook his head.

"Fine, we'll do it your way," Diamond Tiara conceded with an eye roll, "We'll help you keep them apart."

"For now at least," Mario said discreetly to his daughter, who just smiled in reply.

"Thank you," said Spike, "Come on, Di. You can help me with Thorax." Spike approached Thorax with Diamond Tiara following right beside him.

"So, heh, Thorax, heh, everything good with you?" Spike asked nervously.

"Well, honestly, no," Thorax replied, "Not really."

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Diamond Tiara asked.

""Sweetie"?" Spike remarked annoyingly as Diamond Tiara glared.

"It's alright, Spike," said Thorax, "I told Di she could call me that. She cares about me too after all. Anyway, back to your question, I have indigestion. Not sure if it's the new diet or stress. Or maybe it's both." Spike did his best to listen but then noticed in the sky behind Thorax and a familiar blue dragon was approaching.

"Well, I'd think it'd be more from stress than your diet," said Diamond Tiara as Spike was starting to panic again, "You were eating fruits and hay long before you ever took over as leader and..."

"NO!" Spike yelped in shock, making Mario, Twilight, and Starlight look up in the sky.

"Yeah, it really could be both," Thorax continued, "And it might be affecting my sleeping, too. I'm a real tosser and turner."

"Oh, you poor thing," said Diamond Tiara in a caring tone. She had seen Ember approaching and was currently trying to keep Thorax from seeing the blue dragon approaching behind him. Spike looked back at the two ponies.

"Uh-oh!" Twilight whimpered.

"Honey, we can deal with Thorax," said Mario, "Di and Starlight can handle Ember for now."

"Why not let Di handle Thorax?" said Starlight and then blinked and smirked, "Unless you're going overprotective father because of her crush."

"It's not that," said Mario in a rather defensive tone, "I want you and her here because..." Mario then whispered something to Starlight. Starlight then gave a firm nod in understanding. Then Twilight and Mario headed over to Thorax and Spike.

"Sounds like you really need to unwind," said Spike once he saw the royal couple approaching, "Uh, how about a, uh...a trip to the castle? Heh...you can't miss that view!" Spike then got behind Thorax and began to push him forward as Mario and Twilight walked up.

"Yes, the castle! Mario and I will give you a personal tour!" said Twilight.

"That's a good idea!" said Diamond Tiara, "We can certainly..."

"Actually, Di," said Spike, "I need you and Starlight to help me keep Ember busy." Diamond Tiara wanted to protest but Mario gave her a firm head gesture not to argue.

"Fine..." Diamond Tiara huffed. As the alicorn couple and changeling walked off, Thorax then looked back when he saw Spike wasn't with them.

"Uh, aren't you coming?" Thorax asked.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna...grab some ice cream for us and catch up. Heh-heh," Spike replied nervously as the threesome walked off. It was at that moment, Ember made a firm landing on ground and stood confidently before Spike.

"Whoa!" said Diamond Tiara, clearly impressed. Spike then looked around as six ponies in marching uniforms appeared with trumpets. Spike quickly gave them a thumbs up. The six ponies blew their trumpets...right into Ember's face. Ember raised her claws to attack when Spike called for her attention. But Ember had managed to scare one of the ponies so bad that they ran off. Spike and Diamond Tiara approached her.

"Dragon Lord Ember, as the official Equestrian friendship ambassador for the Dragon Lands and Ponyville," Spike began, "I, Spike of Ponyville..."

"And?" Diamond Tiara remarked.

"And...Diamond Tiara, Mario's personal student of friendship, blah-blah-blah..." Spike added dismissively, getting a glare from the tiara-wearing filly, "welcome you to...uh, Ponyville." He then added quietly to himself, "I gotta work on my official speech."

"No kidding," Diamond Tiara remarked, getting a glare from Spike.

"Okay, thanks," said Ember as Spike gave her a hug. Ember just chuckled uncomfortably and patted his head.

"Right, the hug thing," said Ember. Diamond Tiara rushed up.

"As much as I like giving hugs," said Diamond Tiara, "I don't want to make you uncomfortable. How 'bout we just hoof bump?" Diamond Tiara held a fore-hoof in the air. Ember smiled.

"That works," said Ember and returned the hoof-bump, "Uh...what's the name again?"

"Diamond Tiara," the filly replied, "But you can just call me Di."

"Cool," said Ember and then looked around the town, "This place has a lot of colors. In the Dragon Lands, everything's just rocks or the color of ash."

"What about molten lava?" Diamond Tiara added.

"That too," said Ember and then gave a big sneeze, sending a large fireball at the banner above town hall. The nearby ponies gasped in shock.

"That's probably why," said Ember. The surrounding ponies started running and screaming for their lives.

"Calm down, everypony," Diamond Tiara called out, "All she did was sneeze!" But pony would listen. Ember just looked most annoyed at all the panicking ponies as Spike and Diamond Tiara smiled apologetically. The former also shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, Twilight!" said Ember as she waved to...Starlight?! Starlight gave her a funny look and looked around.

"Actually, I'm Starlight," said the lilac pony, "Starlight Glimmer. Nice to meet you." Starlight waved hello as Ember awkwardly returned the gesture.

"Oh, sorry," said Ember, "I'm really gonna have to get used to these pony names. Lots of "-lights" and shiny things."

"My name is based off of a piece of jewelry you wear on your head," said Diamond Tiara, looking up at her tiara so she finished speaking.

"And diamonds make a luxury snack too," said Ember, making Diamond Tiara smile nervously, "So, where is Twilight? And Mario for that matter?"

"They are at their castle," said Spike without thinking and then realized his mistake, "D'oh!" Spike covered his mouth.

"You dummy!" Diamond Tiara muttered through her teeth and slapped Spike's side.

"We should go visit them then," said Ember, "Part of friendship is saying "hi" to your friends, right?"

"We, well, yeah, but..." Spike stammered nervously, but could only make funny sounds and his face turned deep red.

"You're making weird noises," Ember pointed out, "Do you have a stomachache?"

"Nah, that's just Spike being normal," Diamond Tiara replied bluntly.

"Oh, very funny!" Spike retorted. Starlight just giggled at the exchange. She secretly enjoyed it when Diamond Tiara got sarcastic with Spike, "but to answer your question...dah. I think I feel one coming on." Spike just smiled timidly.

"Well, you know what us dragons say," said Ember, "Push past the pain!"

"Sound advice," said Diamond Tiara.

"Thanks," said Ember, "Now let's go." The blue dragon quickly walked off.

"Or we could stay here," Spike suggested quickly and nervously.

"Or I could go without you," Ember replied with a smirk and kept walking away. Diamond Tiara quickly grabbed the locket she had gotten for saving Equestria and put it on. She then shocked Spike and Starlight when she put a fore-hoof onto the pendant, her body glowed, and she disappeared and reappeared before Ember.

"Did she just teleport?!" Spike said in shock.

"I thought only unicorns and alicorns could learn that," Starlight added in the same state of shock. Diamond Tiara spoke before they could ask the filly how she pulled off teleporting.

"Now hold on just a minute their Ember!" said Diamond Tiara, "While you are right about saying hi to your friends is part of friendship. We also know that you dragons like a little competition. And friendship is all about embracing each other's customs."

"Okay..." said Ember in a slow but puzzled tone.

"Well, I was told that you dragons know the training art of Ponymon," said Diamond Tiara and gave Ember a determined smirk, "If you want to see Mom and Dad, you gotta face my Ponymon challenge. All you gotta do is participate and you get to go to the castle."

"Seriously," said Ember, "Wouldn't it be better if I beat you to get the right to go to the castle?"

"Nah," said Diamond Tiara, "Besides, if you win, I'll give you my prized tiara. If you'll lose...I'm still figuring something out, but it's gonna be something really sappy." Ember cringed.

"I'm not gonna lose to the likes of you," said Ember confidently, "And I'll warn you right now that just because I'm a dragon doesn't mean that is my battle type! I used to be the member of the Elite Four in the Dragon Ponymon league. I won't go down easily."

"Pft, you don't scare me!" said Diamond Tiara, "Bring it on!" Ember then charged at the little filly, summoning a Ponymon Battle.

(cue favorite "wild Pokemon" battle theme)

The view zoomed in quickly to show Ember, who roared loudly and shot some flames from her mouth as she hovered into the air.

A wild Ember appeared!

Starlight stood a short distance away and let Diamond Tiara hold her fore-leg so the mare could swing the filly into action.

Starlight sent out Diamond Tiara.

Ember chuckled.

"Don't think just because you're a little filly that I'm gonna take it easy on ya!" said Ember. Ember then used Flamethrower. The flames head right at Diamond Tiara, who simply flinched at the flames.

Ember's attack wasn't very effective. Ember was surprised.

"Huh?" said Ember, "Are you actually a fire type fighter?" Diamond Tiara smirked.

"Nice of you to figure out," said Diamond Tiara, "and thanks for hinting what your two types are."

"Huh?" said Ember.

"Di, use Zippy Zap!" Starlight called out. Ember snorted to avoid laughing aloud.

"Zippy Zap?" Ember remarked with a chuckle, "What kind of move is...wait...uh-oh..." Ember then saw Diamond Tiara's body get covered in electricity.

"Alright!" said Diamond Tiara as she charged right at Ember, "TAKE THAT!"

POW! BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

It's super effective! A critical hit!

Ember cringed painfully and then glared at Diamond Tiara.

"Okay, you wanna play rough? I'll show you rough!" said Ember.

"I thought you said you weren't going to hold back?" Diamond Tiara asked casually. Ember growled and then shot high into the air. Diamond Tiara and Starlight just looked up. Starlight then tossed Diamond Tiara a teal colored mushroom. Diamond Tiara ate it as her body glowed teal, raising her special defense. Suddenly, the sound of a jet engine was heard as Ember dived at high speed into Diamond Tiara. The attack was just effective damage, but it was enough to make Diamond Tiara cringe.

"Oooooh, that hurt," said Diamond Tiara, looking a little battered.

"Just hang in there Di," said Starlight, getting ready to activate the love stone to power the filly up.

"Starlight, don't!" said Diamond Tiara, "Let's beat Ember through pure strength alone." Starlight blinked but then smiled and gave the filly a nod.

"Then let's use another Zippy Zap!" said Starlight. Diamond Tiara did and charged in for another super effective and critical hit! Ember groaned since the attacks were really dealing a lot of damage to her.

"Is that all you've got?" Ember asked, trying to hide the fact she those attacks were starting to hurt.

"Well, you're clearly immune to any ground type attacks and my flight and fire type attacks aren't going to dent you," Diamond Tiara remarked, "I have a brain after all." Ember smirked.

"Good, then you get to think about how much this attack hurts!" said Ember as she used a Low Sweep Kick attack. Diamond Tiara was knocked off her feet, but the damage dealt to her wasn't too bad.

"Geez, you're tough," said Ember annoyingly.

"Most Earth ponies have a high physical defense," Spike pointed out.

"I noticed," Ember remarked through her teeth when...

POW! BZZZZZZZZZT!

Diamond Tiara did a third Zippy Zap for high damage to Ember.

"No way..." Ember groaned as she fell over, passed out, and poofed away.

(Cue favorite "Wild battle victory" fanfare)

As the scene returned to being just outside of town hall, Spike gave a clearly exhausted Ember a crystallized mushroom to restore her health. Ember stood up once she felt the strength to do so, but her face showed that she was still fuming.

"I can't believe I just lost to a little filly," Ember seethed angrily, "I'm a member of the Elite Four for dragon's sake! I'll never hear the end of it if word gets out about this!"

"Chill, girl," said Diamond Tiara, "I wasn't looking to embarrass you by winning and I have no intentions of telling any other dragons about this. All I wanted to do was prove myself to you." Ember was just pouting until she heard what Diamond Tiara said.

"Wait, you beat me...because you wanted to prove yourself?" Ember asked in a puzzled tone. Diamond Tiara nodded.

"You looked cool and really strong," said Diamond Tiara, "It was an honor to fight against you in a Ponymon battle. I've done alot of training to get strong. I'm actually surprised I beat you. Zippy Zap might have a high critical hit rate, but it isn't that powerful of an attack on its own." Ember blinked and then smiled.

"Well, you certainly impressed me," said Ember before frowning, "but what exactly are you going to make me do that is sappy?" Diamond Tiara chuckled.

"I'm still thinking it over," said Diamond Tiara, "Just trust me when I say it's something to help you open up, not humiliate you."

"I'll...take your word for it," said Ember wearily, "Now let's get to the castle." Spike, who had just been listening, suddenly cringed fearfully.

"Or we could just stay here and you two could do another battle," said Spike, "I'm sure you want revenge for being beaten."

"Or...Di and I can just go without you," said Ember smugly as Diamond Tiara just smiled.

"Follow me," said Diamond Tiara as she led the blue dragon to where the castle was located. Spike just leaned forward with face filled with dread. Starlight chuckled.

"Ah, I like her," said Starlight with a smug smile on her face.

"Ohhh..." Spike whimpered as he rushed after Ember and Diamond Tiara. Starlight just continued to smirk and then followed closely behind at a casual pace. It didn't take them too long to reach the castle. Diamond Tiara was about to open the door when Spike rushed ahead of her and opened it instead.

"Hey!" Diamond Tiara retorted but Spike ignored her protests as he opened the door and looking inside of the main foyer. He found the area empty.

"Good," said Spike, "They're not here."

"What was that?" Ember asked since she had heard Spike's mumbling.

"Uh, I...I said, "It's all clean in here"!" said Spike, as Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, Even Ember gave Spike a funny look. Spike just sweated as he tried to find something else to say.

"Uh, you must be hungry from your travels," Spike continued, "Please, I'd love to present you with an official friendship welcome banquet." Ember then walked off as Spike nervously followed behind Ember. Diamond Tiara just followed behind with a heavy sigh. Starlight was the only pony who kept calm as she closed the front door and followed the others to the dining room.

Once in the dining room, Spike, Diamond Tiara, and Starlight were soon cringing as they watched Ember eat. One would think it might have to do with Ember's table manners, but sadly they weren't that lucky. What was so cringe worthy was the fact that Ember was eating the actual dinnerware and not the food inside it. Unlike traditional china ware, this table ware was made out of the same material as the castle itself.

"So this is something friends do?" Ember as asked as she crunched loudly on a bowl, "I could get used to this." She then took another bite out of the bowl and continued munching loudly. Diamond Tiara's eyes shifted quickly between Spike and Starlight.

"Should I tell her or do you want to say something?" Diamond Tiara asked slowly.

"Actually, that's not food," said Starlight, but then Spike switched places with Diamond Tiara, at her expense and nudged Starlight's side.

"Dragons love gems!" Spike told Starlight quickly.

"Fine, but you're telling Twilight and Mario what happened to their wall," said Starlight.

"And all their dinnerware," said Diamond Tiara, "I can tell you right now that Dad isn't going to be happy when he sees that Ember ate the dining room." Nearby, Ember was now taking bites out of the walls of the room and the columns.

"Just keep her here," said Spike to Diamond Tiara and Starlight and then looked over in Ember's direction, "Okay, Yeah!" He quickly laughed, "Enjoy all the, uh...crystal...things." Starlight looked annoyed while Diamond Tiara was most indignant as Spike rushed off, but not without Ember noticing.

"Where are you going?" Ember asked, "I thought this was an official friendship banquet." Spike quickly skidded to a stop.

"Just gotta use the little dragons' room!" Spike lied, then quickly revved his feet and ran off.

"There is no little dragon's room," Diamond Tiara muttered under her breath. Then was surprised when Spike appeared beside her.

"Oh? What's that?" Spike said aloud, "Di has to go to the little filly's room! Come on, I'll escort you!"

"What?!" Diamond Tiara exclaimed, "No I...EEEK!" Diamond Tiara couldn't say more as Spike grabbed her and rushed off with her. Ember just shrugged cluelessly and went back to munching on the castle walls and columns. Starlight just hunched forward from her seat with a long face and said nothing.

Back in the library, Twilight was just holding a book with her magic as she sat in a comfy single chair that was actually big enough for two. Thorax was just watching and listening politely while Mario just stood nearby with a rather annoyed looking face.

"So this is my chair for fictional reads," said Twilight and then shuffled about a bit trying to get comfortable on one side of the chair. Mario rolled his eyes and decided to sit on the other side of the chair since there was room for him.

"It also acts as our cuddle chair," said Mario, "Since there is room for two." Mario then nuzzled her cheek affectionately. Twilight smiled, but then noticed Thorax was smirking, making her feel rather embarrassed.

"Anyway," said Twilight as she used her magic to shove Mario out of the chair.

"WAH! OOMPH!" Mario yelped from being shoved off the chair and landing on the floor. Twilight then hopped out of the chair, ignoring Mario's glares, and sat on another chair made out of the castle crystal.

"This is my studying chair because the hard back keeps me awake," said Twilight as she slammed her back against the chair, cringing uncomfortably and smiling to try and hide her discomfort. Thorax just smiled politely. Mario just shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"YEOW!" shouted a familiar voice. Spike the entered the library room, fanning his claw since Diamond Tiara had bit the claw to make the dragon let go of her. Thorax blinked when he saw them.

"Oh, Spike! And Diamond Tiara!" said Thorax, bouncing excitedly on his hooves as he rushed up to his two friends, "I'm so glad you're here! Both of you!"

"Glad to be here, sweetie," said Diamond Tiara, but gave Spike the stink eye. Thorax than leaned over to the two of them.

"This castle visit is getting weird," said Thorax discreetly to the two of them, "Twilight really likes chairs." Spike looked to see Twilight was using her magic to float some chairs about and smiling sheepishly. Mario just sat nearby with his fore-hooves crossed and looking very, very annoyed.

"Oh, what happened to the ice cream?" Thorax asked.

"Yeah, where's the ice cream, Spike?" Diamond Tiara asked in a sweet and sarcastic tone.

"Uh, they ran out," said Spike, giving the filly a fast glare, "Heh. Hey, I'm really sorry, but I gotta borrow Twilight and Mario quickly." Spike then rushed quickly grabbed Twilight and Mario.

"Aah!" Twilight yelped, making her drop the floating chairs.

"Yipe!" Mario yelped as well.

"Be right back!" said Spike as he pushed both alicorns out of the room.

"But we didn't get to talk yet!" Thorax called out, but Spike was already gone and groaned.

"It's okay, sweetie," said Diamond Tiara, "I actually would like to..."

"Need you to, Di!" Spike said as he appeared quickly and snatched Diamond Tiara away.

"EEP!" Diamond Tiara shrieked and they were quickly out of the room, leaving Thorax alone as he groaned a second time.

It wasn't long before Spike had shoved both Twilight and Mario into the throne room. He had barely closed the doors when Diamond Tiara, who was under his arm, bit his claw again.

"OW!" Spike yelped, making him drop the filly. Spike went to retort when Diamond Tiara got right into Spike's face.

"If you grab and carry me off one more time," Diamond Tiara warned in a low tone, "I'm gonna buck you straight to the moon!"

"Okay! Okay! Sorry," said Spike, "But I had to stop you!"

"Stop me from what?!" Diamond Tiara protested, "Having Thorax make a new friend?"

"Oh Di," Mario said wearily.

"Ember's here!" said Spike.

"We know," Twilight replied, "we saw you coming and had to distract Thorax by showing him chairs."

"And you thought that was a good idea?!" Spike asked Mario.

"She took over the tour!" Mario protested.

"Of course I did," said Twilight, "You wanted to show Thorax your train collection."

"And showing him chairs was a better option?!" Mario retorted.

"I was under pressure!" Twilight shot back.

"Never mind!" said Spike, feeling a headache coming on as he put a pair of fingers to his fore-head.

"Why did you bring Ember to the castle of all places?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know," said Spike as he turned around and started to panic, "Ember was asking for you, Thorax wants to talk to me, and your daughter keeps trying to get them to cross paths!"

"Because I think keeping them apart is ridiculous!" Diamond Tiara protested, "The world isn't going to explode if they meet each other. I think it would be a great friendship opportunity!"

"And I think you're insane!" Spike retorted. Diamond Tiara scoffed.

"Listen to him," Diamond Tiara remarked skeptically and annoyingly. Spike ignored her and zipped up to Twilight and Mario.

"We need to switch places!" said Spike, "They're getting suspicious!"

"Well why don't we just introduce them to each other?" Diamond Tiara suggested.

"Not happening!" Spike snapped, making Diamond Tiara groan and face-hoof herself.

"Just take it easy, sweetie," said Mario as he walked up to the filly and hugged her gently, "You know based on experience that sometimes the best you can do in these kind of situations is just be supportive and hope they see common sense before the worst can happen." Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow at the alicorn prince.

"The worst always happens when ponies ignore you," said Diamond Tiara, "and then you have to bail them out of it." Mario chuckled.

"Well, sometimes the best lessons in life are the hard ones," said Mario, "and sometimes ponies with high anxiety have a very, very difficult time listening to reason." Diamond Tiara snickered.

"And to think Spike gives Mom such a hard time for over-stressing about the worst," said Diamond Tiara.

"I can hear the both of you," said Twilight annoyingly. Mario and Diamond Tiara just gave Twilight sheepish smiles.

"Sorry, Mom," said Diamond Tiara, "But when you get stressed, you do ignore Dad when he tries to help you." Twilight just sighed.

"I'm getting better with that," Twilight snorted, "Anyway, all we have to do is make both Thorax and Ember feel special and keep them apart for a few more hours. We can do this."

"Alright, your call, honey," said Mario, "How about Spike, Starlight, and I keep Ember busy while you and Di entrain Thorax?" Diamond Tiara gasped excitedly.

"I like this idea," Diamond Tiara said happily as she danced on her hooves. Twilight giggled to herself. Spike just rolled his eyes…until he noticed that his top scales were glowing from front to back.

"Dah?! What's happening?!" Spike exclaimed in shock and whimpered nervously.

"I never seen a dragon do that before," said Diamond Tiara.

"But I have a good guess why Spike's scales are doing that," said Mario as he pointed a fore-hoof toward Diamond Tiara's flank.

"Huh?" said Diamond Tiara and looked back. She gasped.

"Sweet Celestia! My cutie mark is glowing!" Diamond Tiara exclaimed when she looked at her flank and saw her cutie mark was glowing.

"I think it's the map," said Twilight, "It's calling…both of you. The group then looked at the map.

(Cue favorite "world select" music)

Flower Sprites: 80

There above Ponyville was an image of Spike's head and Diamond Tiara's cutie mark.

"Apparently, you two also have to solve a friendship problem!" said Twilight.

"Well that's gonna complicate things," Diamond Tiara remarked. Poor Spike just looked more dramatic than ever.

"The map is calling me?!" Spike remarked.

"Don't you mean calling us?" Diamond Tiara pointed out, but Spike didn't reply.

"Oh, amazing!" said Twilight, "First my baby girl and now you? The map is really reaching out!" Diamond Tiara smiled, but Twilight noticed that Spike was giving her a very bitter look.

"Not a good time?" said Twilight sheepishly, "I get it." Just then, Starlight entered the room.

"Spike, are you here?" Starlight called out, "Ember's eaten all of Twilight and Mario's decorations, and—"

"Ember did WHAT?!" Mario interjected and gave Spike a glare. Spike just gave a squeaky sheepish smile. Starlight soon realized her mistake.

"—Oh! Hey, Twilight! Hey, Mario!" said Starlight in a casual tone with a chuckle and then gasped when she saw the map, Spike, and Diamond Tiara, "Glowing map…" She gulped, "…glowing spikes…glowing cutie mark…That's not good."

"I know!" Spike snapped, jumping into the air, sweating as his scales kept glowing.

"At least your friendship problem is in Ponyville? Heh," Starlight pointed out.

"If that is true…" said Diamond Tiara as she pondered aloud.

"Ember and Thorax are NOT the friendship problem," Spike protested. Diamond Tiara grunted loudly, but then remembered what Mario had told her and took a deep breath the same way Cadance had taught her.

"Alright then," said Diamond Tiara in a calm tone, "If you believe somepony else needs our help and not Ember and Thorax, then let's go find out where they are and take care of it. I'm sure Mom, Dad, and big sister can handle things…right?"

"Okey-dokey," said Mario with a light hoof pump.

"Okay, okay, you're right Di, to pull this off," said Spike slowly, "we're gonna need all three of your help. You three need to keep Ember and Thorax separate while I get ice cream."

"Ice cream?!" Diamond Tiara remarked with a raised eyebrow.

"You mean "find the friendship problem"," Twilight pointed out with a skeptical look on her face. Mario and Starlight were also glaring at him.

"Yeeeees!" said Spike timidly, "Go easy on me. I'm under a lot of pressure." Spike then rushed off.

"He wouldn't be if he could see the problem is right in front of his face and listen to me," Diamond Tiara remarked irritably.

"Di…" Mario warned, "Go!"

"I'm going! I'm going!" Diamond Tiara replied hastily as she went to catch up with Spike.

It didn't take long before Spike and Diamond Tiara were back in town.

"Friendship problem?" Spike called out as ponies were just walking about the area, "Anypony gotta friendship problem here?" He then rushed over two random ponies, "Any problems to solve?" The two ponies were too disturbed to answer. Diamond Tiara just rolled her eyes and followed behind Spike with a long face.

"Friendship problems?" Spike asked as he popped out of bush before a pony that was digging up a hole. The pony was so startled that they jumped right into the nearby hole. Diamond Tiara just walked up to the bush and said nothing. Another mare was about to get some apples when Spike suddenly popped out of the apple pile.

"Friendship problems!" Spike shouted, scaring the pony away. Spike then opened a window and found two ponies at a table.

"Anypony got friendship problems here?" Spike asked, but after a few seconds heard no reply, "No? Okay." Spike then walked off until he nearly bumped into Diamond Tiara, who as giving him a very blunt and annoyed look.

"It's NOT Ember and Thorax!" Spike protested.

"Fine," said Diamond Tiara plainly, "But if I may interject…"

"Like I can stop you," Spike remarked sarcastically.

"Dad has taught me that you can't just find a friendship problem," said Diamond Tiara, "it often takes just being at the right place at the right time or the problem will come to you."

"That is the most…logical thing I've heard you say today," said Spike, rather impressed, "But…we're short on time. How can we make the problem come to us faster?"

"I don't think that's even…" Diamond tiara tried to explain when some loud voices interrupted them. They both looked to see that Lyra and Bon Bon were having a bit of a disagreement.

"Well, I think vanilla strawberry cream is overused!" Lyra grunted.

"Hmph," Bon Bon huffed indignantly.

"Yes! Fighting!" Spike shouted with a fist pump, getting Lyra and Bon Bon's attention as well as glares from both ponies. Spike quickly recomposed himself.

"Uh, I mean, what seems to be the problem?" Spike asked.

"What's seems to be the trouble?" Diamond Tiara asked, "I might not be Mario , but he's taught me a lot on how to solve disagreements." Lyra and Bon Bon just exchanged looks with each other. They were tempted to tell them not to get involved, but conceded to letting the little dragon and filly help them out.

Back at the castle, Ember was still munching away at the dining room walls.

"Mmm. Mmm," said Ember, "I'm stuffed." She then gave a loud burp to make her point. It was at that moment Twilight and Mario entered the room.

"Ember, there you are!" said Twilight.

"We've been looking all over for you," Mario added. Twilight then rushed over to give Ember a hug.

"Okay, right," said Ember uncomfortably, "More pony hugs." Mario chuckled.

"Same as ever I see," said Mario as he extended his fore-hoof for a hoof-bump. Ember chuckled as she returned the hoof-bump.

"I met your daughter and I must say that she's pretty cool," said Ember, "and between you and me, you look nicer as a pony than that spiked dragon disguise." Twilight looked a tad jealous until she saw Ember looking at her. Twilight just smiled sheepishly and looked away.

"Heard my daughter beat you in a Ponymon battle," said Mario smugly, "Guess we ponies can hold our ground against a dragon." Ember cringed.

"I should've known she would tell you about that," Ember said bitterly, still not taking the fact she lost very well.

"How's your trip to Ponyville so far?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I'm certainly learning a lot about friendship," Ember replied, "I had no idea it was polite to decorate your walls in your friends' favorite foods!" Mario and Twilight looked around to see all the chewed up walls and missing dinnerware.

"Oh, my," Twilight said with a nervous laugh.

"Ah…ah…ah…ah…ah…" Mario croaked since he was in deep shock.

"Keep it together, dear," Twilight murmured, "We can fix it later." Twilight just smiled sheepishly to Ember as Mario shook his head, burbling as he composed himself.

"Right," said Mario, and a certain little dragon is gonna be losing his allowance for a few months.

"Where'd Spike and Starlight go?" Ember asked, "I feel like I'm being avoided." Ember snorted and began to pout. Mario cringed.

"Nooooo," said Twilight, "They're just making sure everything is perfect for your welcome party later."

"We had a welcome party?" Mario asked since Spike said he only had a grand entrance for Ember. Twilight's reply was nudging him hard in a fore-knee, making Mario wince painfully as he glared at his wife and rubbed his fore-knee with her other fore-hoof.

"In the meantime, how about we show you around town?" Twilight suggested.

"Sounds good," said Ember, "I can't exactly learn about friendship if I don't make new friends." Ember then left the room as Twilight and Mario smiled and then sighed together once the blue dragon was a safe distance away.

"Maybe we should just introduce Ember to Thorax before we have to deal with even more damage," Mario suggested.

"I'm sorry, but your wife is no longer listening to you and is gonna do this her way," said Twilight smugly, "Please leave a message at the sound of the boop. BOOP." Twilight then booped Mario's nose with a fore-hoof to make her point and trotted off. Mario blinked for a moment and then grunted annoyingly.

"I hate it when she does that," Mario remarked, referring to being ignored and not the nose boop, and followed after her with a long face.

Meanwhile, Thorax was trying to get comfy in one of the cushy chairs and then sighed sadly. It was then the doors opened and closed to reveal Starlight.

"Oh!" Thorax jumped since Starlight had closed the door a little too firmly.

"Uh, hey, Thorax," said Starlight, "Um, Twilight, Mario, and Spike had some boring official paperwork to deal with, so looks like you and I get to hang out. What would you like to do?"

"And what happened to Di?" Thorax asked.

"She had some homework she needed to get done," Starlight said quickly, "But I'm here for you." Thorax just looked disappointed.

"But I wanted to talk with Spike, even Di too since she really cares a lot about me," said Thorax, "He said he'd be right back and I figured Di would be back to since she never lets Spike drag her off like that without a reason."

"Oh, you will, with one or the other or even both," said Starlight, "But first, how about we grab a bite to eat?" Thorax then rubbed his belly.

"Huh. Well, you know, now that you've said it," said Thorax, "I am a little hungry. Is there a dining room in the castle?" Starlight cringed.

"NO!" Starlight snapped, then Thorax looked at her curiously, "I mean, yeah, but that's castle food."

"But I thought Mario was a world class chef?" said Thorax. Starlight sweated nervously and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"I cooked the banquet for today!" said Starlight, "But I'm not really a cook and…uh…heh…it didn't turn out that great…" Starlight smiled sheepishly. Thorax cringed.

"Okay…I'll take your word for it," said Thorax wearily.

"As I was saying," Starlight continued, "If you want the good stuff, we gotta go to town." Thorax just smiled and walked past Starlight as he headed out of the room.

"Phew!" said Starlight as she wiped her brow and headed after Thorax.

Back in town, Spike was chatting with Lyra and Bon Bon. His lecture seemed to have settled the quarrel between the two ponies.

"…and that's why you should never let cupcake flavors get in the way of your friendship," Spike concluded with Diamond Tiara behind him with a bored look. Spike had been talking so much that she hadn't been able to get a word into the conversation. Lyra and Bon Bon, however, were rather impressed with what Spike had to say.

"Huh, I guess I never thought of it that way," said Lyra, "Thanks, Spike! By the way, Di, how's Mario?"

"Yeah," Bon Bon added, "We heard from Moon Dancer he finally stopped letting mean ponies knock him down."

"He's been doing a lot better," Diamond Tiara replied, "I'll let him know you're thinking of him."

"Please do," said Lyra, "See you two later!" The two ponies walked off as Spike looked up at his scales, but nothing happened.

"Oh, come on! Glow!" Spike shouted as he squatted down on the ground.

"No glow? Wow, big surprise there," Diamond Tiara muttered, not even bothering to check her flank since she already knew it wasn't going to glow.

"Spike! Di!" Thorax called out from a table he and Starlight were sitting at since they had just finished lunch, "There you two are! Uh, done with your boring paperwork and homework I see." Thorax then sipped his tea. Spike and Diamond Tiara had some blank looks until they noticed Starlight smiling at them.

"Uh-huh. Uh-huh," Starlight murmured, laughing nervously and hinting at them to play along.

"Yep," said Spike with a laugh as he and Diamond Tiara walked up to them, "I am done with whatever Starlight says I was doing. What about you Di?"

"Y-y-yeah, me too," said Diamond Tiara, quickly getting herself together, "As much as I love you Thorax, darling, I can't shirk my schoolwork if I'm gonna stay at the top of the class." Diamond Tiara giggled to herself and sighed rather wearily.

I don't get how I used to love lying back in the day Diamond Tiara thought to herself, My heart hurts lying to Thorax.

"Thorax wanted to get out of the castle," Starlight explained, "I thought coming to town was a really, really good idea."

"It is a great idea," said Diamond Tiara, "Sweetie, how would you like to meet…MMPH?!" Spike cut Diamond Tiara off by sticking Starlight's empty tea cup into her mouth.

"Whose "MMPH?!"," Thorax asked curiously.

"Uh, she means Silver Spoon, her original best friend," said Spike, giving the filly a discreet stink eye, "But she forgot that Silver is out of town with her father this week." Diamond Tiara spat out the tea cup and gave Spike a low, threatening growl. Spike then wiggled a finger to Thorax, who was looking at Di with concern.

"R-r-right," said Diamond Tiara, "I forgot about…Silver…" Diamond Tiara just huffed as she took a seat, put her fore-knees on the table, and rested her head on her fore-hooves.

"Well, if that's taken care of," said Thorax, "maybe we can talk."

"Uh, sssssure," said Spike as he looked behind himself and sat down.

"Why not?" Diamond Tiara added, "What's on your mind, sweetie?" Thorax smiled.

"I'll leave you guys to it," said Starlight as she excused herself and went to find Twilight and Mario.

"First of all, I wanted to thank you for having me over," said Thorax to Spike specifically, "I'm in a bit of a leadership pickle, and I could use some advice. And since Di is here to and actually very wise for her age, I'd like to hear what she has to say to."

"Well, I definitely want to help you as quickly as possible," Spike replied uneasily when Diamond Tiara smacked the side of his head with a fore-hoof, "OW!"

"Ignore that remark," said Diamond Tiara as she scooted over to him and held one of his fore-hooves, "What's troubling you, sweetie?"

"Here's my problem," said Thorax, "There's this renegade group of changelings who still feed off of love."

"I thought you said you dealt with those changelings already," Diamond Tiara asked.

"I thought I could, but it's not as easy as I thought it would be," said Thorax, "Even though I said, "Hey let's not do that anymore," they say, "Hey, this is how we've been doing things for hundreds of years…" As Thorax kept speaking, the scene crossfaded to emphasize that Thorax was rambling on and on. Diamond Tiara was the only one actually listening, giving nods here and there and sharing any input on Thorax's situation. While Spike was listening, he seemed to be getting more uneasy, agitated, and downright impatient as the conversation dragged on.

"but it's like they don't want to, even though I'm the leader and I have to…" Thorax continued as his words seemed to fade out of Spike's mind.

In another part of town Ember, Twilight, and Mario were just walking around. While Ember enjoyed the sites, Twilight and Mario were also keeping a discreet eye for Starlight, Spike, Diamond Tiara, and especially Thorax. Other ponies were gathering around Ember, chattering with interest to each other at the sight of the blue dragon.

"Looks like you're getting rather popular around here Ember," Mario told the blue dragon.

"Hello, I am Ember, daughter of Torch, winner of the Gauntlet of Fire, and lord of all dragons!" the blue dragon told the crowd and then breathed a huge flame from her mouth. Unfortunately, this frightened the crowd of ponies and sent them screaming and running away.

"Usually when I do that, the dragons are eager to meet me," Ember told the alicorn couple.

"That's not how ponies make friends," Twilight replied.

"You don't need to show your strength to prove yourself to ponies (usually)," said Mario, muttering the last word under his breath, "The trick is just being friendly and approachable. Keep in mind, most ponies are still intimidated by dragons because all they ever wanted to do was attack them and steal their treasures. Showing off your fire-power can give ponies the wrong impression."

"Ah, I get it," said Ember with a smirk.

"Good," Mario replied as Twilight smiled back. Ember then walked ahead and found Muffins about to eat her favorite treat, a muffin. Ember quickly snatched the muffin out of Muffins hooves.

"This is a weird friendship thing you ponies do, right?" Ember asked as she smeared the muffin all over a nearby wall. Muffins was stunned and disturbed as Ember just smirked and wiggled her eyebrows at her. Poor Muffins just nervously back away. Ember looked very confused.

"Okay…why would you think doing that was a good idea?" said Mario, "You can't exactly do that with gems!"

"It made sense in my head," Ember replied honestly.

PLOP!

Mario did a comedic plop at the expense of Ember's moment of stupidity.

"Momma mia…" Mario groaned wearily as Starlight arrived before Ember.

"Uh, you guys are in town, too?" Starlight Glimmer remarked.

"What are you talking about?" Ember replied, "You've been with me this whole time." Starlight raised an eyebrow at the blue dragon.

"No, I'm Starlight," the lilac unicorn replied. Ember looked back to see Twilight giving her skeptical look. Mario was also giving Ember a similar look.

"Can you really not tell them apart?" Mario asked with interest. Ember looked at Twilight and Starlight.

"Riiiight," Ember said slowly, "I'm sorry, but you can't blame me. You both look and act so much alike."

"What?!" Starlight and Twilight exclaimed at the same time, both of them giving Ember the stink eye. Mario snickered loudly. Now Starlight and Twilight were glaring at him.

"Well, in her defense," said Mario, "You're both hyper-organized, suffer anxiety in stressful situations, have this need to have full control over a situation or your temper self-destructs, you don't listen to reason when you're fearing worst case-scenario, and you make funny faces when you try to lie or cover up something…"

"Grrr…" Starlight and Twilight growled together.

"Stop it! We've all got quirks that we're not proud of," Mario continued, "I'm a hot-head with self-confidence issues, I don't like it when I can't control a situation either, and I'm a bit of a drama queen. I'm just saying you two have similar flaws. But you also have things in common that are amazing as well." Twilight and Starlight kept glaring, but deep down they were rather impressed that Mario would save himself by admitting his own flaws and not go straight to complementing them.

"We're listening," Twilight said in a warning tone as Starlight kept glaring.

"We'll the most obvious is that you're both very beautiful, inside and out," said Mario, making both Starlight and Twilight blush, "You both are fighters. You do anything you can to accomplish your goals and you'll do whatever you can to help and support your friends. You're not afraid to let others know you're not perfect and that you've made mistakes. You're smart and two of the most powerful magic wielders I've ever met." Twilight and Starlight eventually smiled as Mario finished speaking.

"You are either really sweet or really good at saving your flank," Starlight remarked as Twilight smirked.

"Hey, I'm just saying you two have a lot on common," said Mario, "Good and bad."

"And that you look and act exactly alike," Ember added, finally grateful to get back into the conversation.

"Uh, I can see the similarities in personalities," said Mario, "but they do not look the same."

"You said they were beautiful!" said Ember.

"How does that translate to looking the same?" Mario asked in a very annoyed tone.

As the argument continued between Ember and the three ponies, back at the café, Thorax was still rambling on. Diamond Tiara was the only pony taking what he had to say seriously. Spike was getting too antsy to listen.

"…and they said to me they just keep saying the same thing," Thorax continued.

"Talk about a bunch of stubborn mules," said Diamond Tiara, "I'm sure you can be a great leader. You just gotta believe in yourself, sweetie."

"Maybe," said Thorax, not exactly feeling convinced, "You know, I think my leadership problem started in childhood. I must've been three when…" Thorax's speaking crossfaded out as Spike looked more anxious than ever, the fact he could see the shadow of the sun moving across his tea cup meant Thorax was just rambling on and on. Like before, Diamond Tiara was the only one really listening and holding Thorax's fore-leg as well.

"…three's a different story, a-and you've definitely gotta hear it," said Thorax, "But the story about my brother was when I was two…or was I one?"

"Take your time," said Diamond Tiara gently, "We're not rushing you." Spike's jaw literally hit the floor as a silent but strained squeak left his mouth. He wanted Thorax to wrap things up as soon as possible! It was then Spike noticed two ponies about to take a seat in the same chair before glaring angrily at each other.

"This is my seat!" shouted the stallion named Crusoe Palm, "I saw it first!"

"Well, I got here first!" said the mare named Rainbow Stars.

"Thorax, uh, excuse me for a second," said Spike as he got off his seat, took it with him, and walked over to the angry ponies. Crusoe Palm and Rainbow Stars were growling at each other until Spike pushed them apart while standing on his seat.

"Ponies, please!" said Spike, "If I may, I think I can help solve this friendship problem." He then hopped off the seat as the two ponies gave each other the stink eyes. In the distance Thorax and Diamond Tiara watched with interest, but the latter did roll her eyes.

"Here we go again," Diamond Tiara muttered. Spike then brought over two seats and put them side by side of each other.

"You two should sit together," Spike suggested, "You both like the same place, you both ordered muffins, you're both ponies. I think if you made a little effort, you'd find—Whoa!" Spike was cut off and knocked out of the way. Crusoe Palm and Rainbow Stars sat together with their back pressed against each other and smiled. Spike smiled for a job well done.

"Okay, that had to have done it," said Spike as he looked at his scales, "Come on, spikes. Glow!" Spike strained and grunted to make his scales glow, but nothing happened. He then sighed in defeat as Diamond Tiara walked up and shook her head at him.

"Not. A. Word," Spike warned. Diamond Tiara glared.

"You are so dense," Diamond Tiara said bluntly and walked back to the table. Spike snorted and went back to the table as well.

"Hey, that was really great advice," said Thorax, "So what do you think I should do?"

"Yeah, Spike, what do you think Thorax should do to solve his leadership issues?" Diamond Tiara asked in a sarcastic tone. Spike gave her a glare as he struggled to find an answer.

"Uh, actually, I, uh…" Spike stuttered, but before he could find his words, he saw Twilight, Starlight and Mario with Ember. He could see that Mario and Ember were having a rather heated conversation, "…need a minute…alone…to, uh, really come up with great advice!"

"Seriously?" Diamond Tiara remarked. Spike gave the filly the stink eye.

"We'll be right back," said Spike.

"What do you mean we?" Diamond Tiara remarked.

"GRRR!" Spike growled in rage, looking fit to explode as he got into her face.

"Alright, simmer down," said Diamond Tiara, pushing Spike back as she turned to Thorax, "We'll be back as soon as we can, sweetie." Then the dragon and filly rushed off before Thorax could reply.

"Great. No problem. Leave me again. It's fine," said Thorax with a long sigh and face-planted the table.

Back with Mario, Starlight, Twilight, and Ember. Mario and Ember were still bickering.

"I'm just saying," Ember explained to Mario, "they're both purple ponies with purple hair." Twilight and Starlight glared.

"You both have cutie marks with sparkly things," Ember continued as she pointed to both their flanks. Starlight chuckled humorlessly.

"Mine's more of a glimmer. Heh," Starlight remarked.

"How is that different?" Ember retorted.

"You're generalizing my wife and my sister," Mario remarked as he walked up to his wife, "My wife's fur is a natural shade of purple with darker colored mane with even trimmed bangs and a lovely streak of magenta in the middle." He then walked up to Starlight, "Starlight's fur is more closer to lilac, her mane is lighter than my wife's fur with a light blue streak in the middle and her bangs curl cutely around her horn. And their cutie marks are different. Starlight's cutie mark is a type of sparkly object, but Twilight's is a star, just like mine!" Mario pointed at the star cutie mark on his flank to prove his point. Ember just snorted as Spike and Diamond Tiara arrived.

"Oh, good, Spike," said Ember, "Can you please tell these three I'm right? Twilight and Starlight both look very similar." Twilight, Starlight, and Mario were most indignant, especially Mario since Ember had completely disregarded everything he had just told her.

"Wait, Big Sis and Mom don't…MMPH!" Diamond Tiara was cut off once again when Spike put a claw over her mouth.

"Uh…We'll y'know, one thing friends do is let something go when it's upsetting somepony else," Spike said sheepishly.

"But I'm right," Ember said indignantly with her arms crossed.

"YEOW!" Spike yelped as Diamond Tiara bit his claw to make him let go of her mouth and then she got into his face.

"I've just about had enough of you doing that to me all day!" Diamond Tiara yelled furiously, making Spike cringe.

"Besides, who are you to be telling me about friendship?" Ember snorted angrily as she got in Spike's face, "I've barely seen you all day!"

"Uh, well, I've seen you," Spike stuttered.

"ARE YOU CALLING ME A LIAR?!" Ember yelled, her voice knocking Spike down and a few feet away. Spike cowered back fearfully. Then there was trouble. Thorax was actually not too far away and had seen everything.

"Hey! NO one yells at my friend!" Thorax said angrily before transforming into a large grizzly bear. He gave a loud bear growl as he beat his chest, charged, and landed between Spike and Ember.

"Uh-oh," Diamond Tiara squeaked fearfully.

"Spike, get away from the bear!" Ember shouted.

"This can't be good," said Mario worriedly as Twilight and Starlight cringed. Twilight was the first to recover.

"Actually, the bear is a changeling," Twilight explained, "And he's quite gentle."

"Not anymore!" Thorax shouted and gave a loud roar.

"Thorax please calm down!" Diamond Tiara pleaded but Ember gave a roar of her own and used Flamethrower at Thorax. Thorax used his giant bear paw to block the oncoming flames to avoid any damage. Then Thorax and Ember charged at each other, making Spike scream.

"My worst fears are happening!" Spike cried out as Diamond Tiara cringed fearfully. Thorax and Ember were able to engage in battle when…

"NOOOOOOOO!" Spike shouted, making Thorax and Ember stand down.

"Back away, Spike and Di!" Thorax warned, "I'm not gonna let this dragon harm a scale on your back, or a hair on Di's beautiful mane."

"Squee! He said I'm beautiful!" Diamond Tiara cooed and clapped cutely to herself, but then noticed Twilight, Starlight, and Mario were giving her skeptical look.

"Heh…r-r-right, not a good time," Diamond Tiara said meekly with her cheeks full of blush.

"You back away!" Ember shouted, "I'm not gonna you harm them." Ember then blinked at what she had said and what Thorax had said, "Wait. Did you say you're not gonna let me harm, Spike and Di?"

"Yeah!" Thorax replied sternly.

"But that's what I'm doing?" Ember replied.

"Uh, what?" Thorax said confused.

"Yeah, what?" Ember replied in the same confused tone.

"Equestria as we know it is over!" Spike said in a panicked tone as he lay stomach first on the ground with his eyes closed, "The war that pits changeling against dragon is about to begin! And it's all my fault! My title of Equestria's friendship ambassador is a lie—!"

"Will you pull yourself together and open your eyes!" Diamond Tiara snapped. Spike did open his eyes and saw Thorax and Ember giving him blank looks.

"Oh. Hey. You guys aren't fighting?" Spike asked casually and in surprise.

"Why would we be fighting?" Ember asked.

"Because I accidentally invited you both over to Ponyville on the same day?" Spike replied. Ember and Thorax looked at each other.

"So what?" Ember and Thorax said together.

"I've been asking myself that all day," Diamond Tiara remarked to herself sarcastically. Thorax heard her.

"Wait, that friend you were trying to tell me about," said Thorax, "It was Ember you were trying to have me meet, wasn't it?" Diamond Tiara nodded sadly. Thorax then turned to Spike.

"Why didn't you let me meet Ember?" Thorax asked Spike.

"And why didn't you let me meet Thorax?" Ember asked in a stern tone.

"I…was trying to keep you apart because I didn't think you'd get along," Spike admitted honestly. Thorax and Ember shared skeptical looks with each other.

"Oh. I get it," said Ember, "You thought he wouldn't like me because I'm a dragon and I'm bad at friendship?"

"No, no, of course not!" said Spike in his defense, "But—Wait. Isn't that why you're here?"

"I can say I'm bad at friendship," Ember retorted angrily, "You or Di can't say it about me! You know what? I don't wanna talk about it."

"Wait, please!" Spike called out, but it was too late. Ember had flown off. Spike just sighed and then turned to Thorax, "I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's cool," said Thorax before a bitter look appeared on her face, "You thought I would be too soft, and someone like Ember would never respect me. Just like my own changelings. At least Di thought Ember would've wanted to be my friend!"

"No, that's not it!" Spike called out but Thorax was already flying away, "Thorax, wait!" Once again, Spike was too late and soon Thorax was out of sight.

"Oh, no…What have I done?" Spike asked as he held his head. He then saw Diamond Tiara approach him.

"Spike…" said Diamond Tiara in a firm tone.

"Not one word out of you!" Spike shouted angrily, but he soon regretted it when he saw Diamond Tiara began to cry, "Oh great…Di…I didn't mean…"

"You make me feel so worthless!" Diamond Tiara sobbed, "I'm not trying to make you feel dumb on purpose! I'm not trying to prove you wrong! I'm not trying to say I'm better than you or smarter than you! All I wanted to do was help you! This could've been avoided if you just listened to me! But you didn't, you kept brushing me off. I know I'm just a filly and still a friendship student, but I didn't think that meant my feelings and opinions had no value! Despite all the sarcasm, I love you Spike. You're like a brother to me. I thought we were friends…" Diamond Tiara began to cry louder. Spike felt even worse as he noticed that Mario, Starlight, and Twilight were giving him sad and disappointed looks.

"I just did to Di what Twilight does to Mario," said Spike sadly. He then looked at the still crying filly and hugged her gently.

"I'm so sorry, Di," said Spike, "You were right about everything…you were right…" Spike then began to shed his own tears as Diamond Tiara cried herself out into his shoulder.

Just outside of town, Thorax was just sitting before a small pond, chucking rocks into the water and looking rather glum. He wasn't alone for long as Ember arrived.

"Why are you still here?" Ember asked. Thorax sighed.

"Because I'm having trouble leading my pack," Thorax replied honestly, "so I don't really wanna go home."

"Wait, you're in charge?" Ember asked and then chuckled, "Oh, boy. You need to be more assertive."

"Well, that's my problem," Thorax replied, "I don't know how! I tried asking them to please follow my directions. I even offered a prize, and then—" Thorax was cut off when Ember put a finger over his lips.

"Shhh! Stop talking," Ember said quickly. Thorax just blinked.

"That's how you do it," said Ember as she backed away.

"Whoa! That just gave my chills," said Thorax, clearly impressed.

"I know you have it in you," Ember told the changeling, "You turned into a bear to defend Spike and Di."

"Huh, I guess I can be tough when I'm defending my friends," said Thorax, "But when I'm just enforcing my rules, I-I feel unsure of myself."

"There's nothing to be unsure of," Ember replied, "You're the leader for a reason. Make a decision and let it be known that the decision is final. And if that doesn't work, turn into a bear."

"Oh, well, that's good advice," Thorax replied.

"I know it is," said Ember smugly.

"So what's your deal?" Thorax asked the blue dragon, "Why do you think you're so bad at friendship?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Ember replied firmly as she turned away from Thorax.

"Oh you have to!" said Thorax, "How else are you gonna solve your problems?"

"Through feats of strength and fire duels, of course," Ember answered as she tossed a large rock into the air, used Flamethrower to make the rock explode into tiny pieces.

"Uh, how does that help?" Thorax asked, feeling rather confused. Ember landed firmly on top of a rock.

"Crushing another dragon in competition establishes my dominance and makes me feel great," Ember boasted and posed to prove her point.

"Right, but, uh, how do you think they feel?" Thorax asked.

"Humiliated! Ashamed!" Ember said confidently before her tone grew sheepish, "They'd probably wanna run away and bury themselves under a rock and…never come out. They're probably sad. Kinda low. Definitely not happy." Ember didn't hide the fact she now felt rather glum.

"That's because that kind of competition can divide you," Thorax explained, "And it doesn't get to the heart of the issue. Talking about your feelings does." Ember gave a loud sneeze, shooting flames out of her mouth as she did so.

"Ugh! I think I'm allergic to feelings," Ember groaned.

"You know you don't have to be sappy," Thorax pointed out, "or huggy-feely about it! But you should let your friends know how you feel. If you need someone that will help you feel more comfortable doing so, talk to Mario. You can be as sappy and touchy feely as you want and he'll make sure you don't feel silly about it."

"I…think I can manage without speaking to Mario," said Ember, "and I know where we can start." Ember then flew off.

"Where?" said Thorax before he figured it out, "Ohhhh. Spike. Hah. I got there." Thorax just smirked to himself.

Back in town, Twilight, Starlight, and Mario were busy cleaning up the area, especially the banner that been burned up at the beginning of the area. Spike and Diamond Tiara were just sweeping up the grounds. While Spike had managed to calm the filly down, she was still looking rather glum. Mario walked up to her.

"Sweetie?" Mario asked gently as Diamond Tiara gave him a very sad look.

"I'm sorry," Diamond Tiara said sadly, "I didn't mean to explode…"

"It's okay," said Mario, "What Spike did to you wasn't right. Just because Twilight does that to me doesn't make it right either and she knows that. But we are part of a family with ponies who suffer high anxiety. That makes it difficult for them to use common sense sometimes. I can't really criticize since I've let me fear get the best of me too."

"I never see you doing that," said Diamond Tiara.

"My gloominess is a good example," said Mario, "And I'm sure Twilight told you about that little incident about her future self."

"Ohhh…." said Diamond Tiara sadly, "Mom did tell me about that. How you do deal with it thought? Being ignored really hurts…even more since all I'm trying to do is show compassion and be helpful. My love magic sure makes my heart ache when I feel like this."

"Believe me, I know that feeling all too well," said Mario as he hugged her close, "but you just need to keep in mind that it's nothing personal. And they'll let you know that."

"Mario's right, Di," said Spike as he walked up to her, "I really didn't mean to brush you aside." Spike chuckled sadly, "Remind me never to get annoyed with Twilight when she does that. I just did the exact same thing to you. I think you might be right. They probably were the friendship problem and because of me, we failed our mission."

"We haven't failed, Spike," said Diamond Tiara, "Ember and Thorax are just hurt. Give them time and I'm sure they'll be back."

"It's been almost an hour," said Spike sadly, "I think they're gone. They probably never want to see me again."

At that very moment, Ember and Thorax landed firmly before Spike.

"Or they want to see you now," said Starlight in the background since she had been listening in. Spike gulped and Starlight smiled nervously as she and Mario walked away. Diamond Tiara stood in front of the purple dragon.

"Don't be too mad at him," said Diamond Tiara, "He's got an anxiety problem and it made him think worst-case scenario."

"Di, we want to speak to Spike," said Ember, "At least you tried to introduce us to each other." Thorax nodded in agreement. Diamond Tiara just sighed and backed away so Spike was facing Ember and Thorax alone.

"Guess what, Spike," Ember said firmly.

"I know," said Spike sadly, "I'm so sorry."

"Let me talk about this!" Ember yelled and then found it very difficult to speak up, "I…feel…mad." Ember strained so much that her face turned purple and she was sweating heavily before letting out a long sigh.

"Okaaaay…That's a good first attempt," said Thorax slowly, "Now maybe try to be more specific?" He gave her an encouraging smile. Ember stretched her arms, fanned herself since she was feeling a little sweaty again before trying to speak again.

"I'm…" Ember struggled to say before sighing, "upset!"

"You have every right to be," Spike replied.

"I know I do," said Ember, getting into Spike's face, "And I know I need to tell you how I feel because my friend Thorax said it would make me feel better. And it does!" Ember flew away a few feet before stopping and then smiled smugly.

"Liar," said a voice. Ember cringed painfully and then looked to see Diamond Tiara glaring at her. Twilight and Starlight cringed while Mario just had a passive look on his face.

"Di. I don't—" Twilight tried to say.

"No, dear," said Mario as he put a fore-leg on her shoulder, "Just trust your daughter."

"While I'm glad that you were able to tell Spike that you were upset," said Diamond Tiara, "You can't seriously say you feel better just telling Spike your upset because Thorax told you to. That's not what it means to open up."

"Hey! Thorax told me that I don't need to be sappy or touchy-feely about it," Ember protested, "And why do you care if I open up or not?" Diamond Tiara glared.

"You still owe me for beating you in that Ponymon battle," said Diamond Tiara, "And you're gonna open up the right way." Ember spluttered.

"Oh come on!" Ember snapped, "Can't I just give you a victory badge or something?!"

"No," said Diamond Tiara, "Thorax is right, telling others how you feel will make you feel better. But telling others how you feel is more than just telling people that you are upset, but you need to explain why."

"But Spike said he gets why!" Ember protested.

"But you can tell him if there's more to it than the fact he didn't trust you to make your own decision about Thorax," said Diamond Tiara, "After all, why else would you get so angry about it if there wasn't another reason?" Ember opened and closed her mouth.

"I don't have to tell him anything!" said Ember angrily.

"Doesn't he deserve to know?" said Diamond Tiara, "So at least he can apologize for that too? If what Spike did upset you so much, you should let him know why what he did angers you."

"If he can't figure it out…" Ember said, feeling her anger surge.

"He can't read your mind, Ember," Diamond Tiara snapped sternly, "even if he could take the time to figure it out on his own, why make him when you can just tell him outright? What are you afraid will happen if you tell him the truth?"

"I'm not afraid of anything!" Ember yelled, shaking her fist at the little filly.

"There you go, getting all defensive and ready to beat me up," Diamond Tiara remarked, "Why? Because you don't want to tell him the truth. You'd rather keep stuffing it down and letting all those buried feeling make you angry and bitter inside."

"Don't go telling ME how I feel inside!" Ember yelled again, getting into Diamond Tiara's face, but the little filly refused to back down.

"You know," said Diamond Tiara, "Mario told me all about the Gauntlet of Fire, including what you had to deal with regarding your father." Ember blinked and stepped back in shock.

"What's that got to do anything?" Ember asked, still on the defense.

"You grew up with a father who was largest and strongest dragon in the world," Diamond Tiara replied, "Because of your small size, you had to focus not just on physical strength, but also being sharp minded and quick witted. Then your chance to prove your worth finally comes and he shuts you down. So you have to openly defy his wishes in order to prove that your worthy and thanks to Spike, Rarity, and my mom and dad, you were able to do just that so he accepted you as the new Dragon Lord."

"Yeah…so?" Ember replied huffily.

"You've grown up your entire life trying to prove yourself," said Diamond Tiara, "because no dragon would just accept you for just being really smart. You are constantly having to show your strength because of your size. Spike was the first dragon who accepted you from the start. You didn't need to prove anything to him. He called you his friend because you were only dragon who wanted to be reasonable and not just poke fun at him for being small or different."

"That…is actually true," said Ember sadly, "Spike did accept me right from the start. I didn't have to prove my strength or defeat him. He called me his friend long before I was willing to…" Ember then gasped when she felt something moist in her eye. She put a pair of fingers on it and found that it was from her eyes.

"Based on that fact alone," said Diamond Tiara, "I believe the reason your upset is because Spike was the first dragon to accept you without judgement or assuming the worst of you. So when he tells you that he doesn't think you would accept Thorax. Its feel like he's judging you and labeling you as something you're not. Like you said, you're still learning about friendship. But that doesn't mean you're not willing to make a new friend. For Spike to do this, it makes you feel like he's assuming stuff about you that isn't true. And it hurts because the very friend who accepted you unconditionally is now treating you the way other dragons do." Ember let out a deep breath and sighed in defeat.

"Yes, it's true," said Ember and then looked at Spike, "I'm upset because instead of just trusting me to give Thorax a chance you assumed something about me that wasn't true! I spent my whole life with dragons doing that do me. While I don't mind proving my strength all the time, it's nice to have a dragon or two who don't treat me that way and I don't feel like I have to keep proving myself to them to be respected. It makes me feel so weak to want that, but it's true. And you better not tell any other dragons about this or I'll bury you so deep not even pony magic can dig you out, got it!" Spike gulped.

"Yes ma'am," Spike squeaked fearfully.

"Ember, you don't need to threaten him," said Diamond Tiara, "We're not looking to use this against you. But sometimes opening up means venting and saying personal things about yourself. That's what friends are for, to be there for you and give you strength when you do feel weakness. Needing a friend to give you strength is not a weakness. And if it makes you feel better, anything you say when you open up, no matter how personal, sappy, or touchy-feely, will not leave this group. Right guys?" The others gave smiled and nods in agreement. Ember just felt a little insecure and then gave another sneeze.

"This sharing your feelings with friends feel so awkward," Ember admitted, "But…I have to say I really do feel better now, especially since I was finally able to tell Spike the real truth."

"That's good," said Spike, giving a hopeful smile.

"Yeah!" Thorax said sternly, getting into Spike's face, "And I have no problem telling you what you did was wrong because my friend Ember is helping me be more assertive!" Spike then fell down.

"Whoa," said Spike in shock.

"Nice," said Ember impressively.

"Ha-ha!" said Ember and Thorax together as they shared a high-hoof.

"So confident, so attractive," said Diamond Tiara, clearly swooned as hearts floated above her head. Mario, Starlight, and Twilight exchanged smirks with each other. Spike stood up to speak to the changeling and dragon.

"You guys should be mad at me," said Spike, "I was so worried about how it could go wrong, I didn't even think about how it could go right." Spike sighed sadly, "Can you forgive me?" Spike got down on his knees and pleaded to them. Ember and Thorax exchange nods.

"Well, thanks to Di, I really do feel better," said Ember, "So, yeah. I'm good."

"Hah. Me, too," said Thorax, then smirked as he grabbed Spike, Diamond Tiara, and Ember and pulled them in for a group hug. Ember groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Again?" Ember remarked.

"Come on, admit it, you like hugs," Diamond Tiara teased.

"Oh shut your mouth!" Ember retorted annoyingly. Spike and Diamond Tiara laughed.

"Oh, by the way, Ember and I found these on our way here," said Thorax, "'Course Ember learned the hard way that you couldn't eat them." Ember smiled sheepishly, showing one of her teeth had a chip on it. Thorax then presented…

TWO flower sprites!

They both floated above Spike and Diamond Tiara's head. The two friends smiled before jumping up to collect them.

(Cue "You got a Flower Sprite" fanfare)

Each flower sprite floated down before Spike and Diamond Tiara, which the latter stood on her hind legs. They each grabbed their respective flower sprite, twirled around once, and then posed as they held their flower sprite in the air.

"Woo-hoo!" Spike and Diamond Tiara shouted before the two flower sprites went into Diamond Tiara.

"Wait, you can hold onto Flower Sprites now?!" Spike said in surprise, "As if seeing you do teleportation wasn't surprising already."

"Wait! My baby girl can teleport?!" Twilight spluttered.

"Only short distances," Diamond Tiara answered, "And as for the Flower Sprites. They trust me I guess." Suddenly, the two friends heard the sound of shimmering and chiming. Spike looked up to see his scales were glowing and Diamond Tiara found her cutie mark was glowing as well.

"No way! It's finally happening!" said Spike, "I solved a friendship problem!"

"Ahem," Diamond Tiara said indignantly.

"Sorry, I meant we solved a friendship problem," said Spike.

"Actually, you created the friendship problem by not trusting your friends," said Starlight as she, Twilight, and Mario walked up.

"And not trusting in Di," said Mario.

"Yeah, but then I solved it by learning my lesson," said Spike in a smug tone, "And by realizing that Di was only trying to help me and getting upset because I ignored her. I should've trusted her when she suggested they meet. And I should have told my two friends about each other immediately instead of assuming they wouldn't get along."

"Aw, he does have a brain after all," Diamond Tiara teased, kissed his cheek, and hugged him tightly.

"Oh, gross!" Spike retorted in disgust, "Now I see why Ember can stand sappy." Thorax and Ember chuckled.

"Good job, Spike," said Twilight, "And good job to you too, Di."

"Why me?" said Diamond Tiara, "I didn't exactly help Spike realize the truth sooner."

"But you did help Ember open up so she could be completely honest with Spike," said Mario, "You're ability to empathize and understand others almost rivals my own skills. You've come a long way from when I first made you my student. I'm so very proud of you."

"Thanks Dad," said Diamond Tiara in a humble tone before rushing up to Twilight and Mario so they could give her a hug. Spike then joined the hug along with Starlight. Thorax was rather touched at the sight while Ember felt rather skeptical.

"Is this another part of friendship?" Ember asked, "Telling each other what you've learned all the time." Spike, Twilight, Diamond Tiara, Starlight, and Mario all giggled to each other.

"Yeah, pretty much," said Starlight.

"Yup," said Spike.

"It's the cool thing to do around here," Diamond Tiara said smugly, "It's what all the hardcore ponies do." All but Ember laughed. The blue dragon rolled her eyes, but smirked afterward.

A little later that day, some balloons floated past the foreground so Spike was standing in front of town hall with Diamond Tiara at his right side. In front of him were Ember and Thorax. The foreground had a bunch of ponies who were chattering with each other until Diamond Tiara whistled to get their attention.

"So, as a show of unity, I present the Dragon Fire Flame of Friendship to both Dragon Lord Ember and Thorax, leader of the changeling pack!" Spike announced, "May the flame of friendship burn for eternity." The ponies all cheered. Diamond Tiara clapped happily. Mario, Starlight and Twilight exchanged smiled with each other before each mare leaned against Mario's side so he could hold them both. Then suddenly…

ACHOO!

WHOOOOOOSH!

Ember sneezed, sending a fireball at a nearby ice statue, and melting it into water. The ponies all gasped as Ember recovered.

"You should have more things made of rocks," Ember suggested.

"Correction," said Diamond Tiara, "we need more things made of rock that you're not gonna eat and destroy!"

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Ember remarked sarcastically, but she, along with the others all laughed.

Just proves to show you that even the most unexpected individuals can be friends.

You just gotta put a little faith and trust in them to do so.

And there you have it. Another chapter complete. I hope adding Diamond Tiara to this episode made it more enjoyable and I'm sorry that I haven't been updating as often. I've been dealing with a lot of personal stuff and it makes it hard to be motivated to write.

I also hope you enjoyed seeing Diamond Tiara being able to access her love magic thanks to the locket Mario gave her back at the start of the season. Aside from sensing a troubled heart like Mario can, she can now teleport short distances. I kept her teleporting short distances because long range teleporting would be too difficult for her to do since she is still an Earth pony and not a unicorn/alicorn.

I also hope nopony thought I was trying to make Ember look soft by having Diamond Tiara make Ember open up. I just feel like the original writers missed a big opportunity to get Ember to open up about her past a bit when she was struggling with telling Spike about her feelings. Like Thorax said, it didn't need to be sappy and I didn't make Ember breakdown crying like with other characters. I just wanted Ember to explain why she felt so "upset" for Spike thinking the worst case about her. As for Thorax, he pretty much said why he was so hurt with what Spike did and he already knows how to open up.

I also hope you enjoyed the Ponymon battle too. It's been while since Diamond Tiara was seen in actions. I also went back to previous Ponymon battles from season six and edited them since I realized I wasn't accurate on Diamond Tiara's strengths and weaknesses in battle. I even fixed her four moves as well.

Next time: Mario joined the CMC and their sisters (he is directly related to Applejack) on their camping trip to Rainbow Falls. Where they literally an adventure into a "legendary" journey!

NOTE: I don't want to give any spoilers, but I want to put this to rest right now. Mario will NOT have a pillar. The seventh element is meant to be something MORE than just be a spiritual successor of a pony of the past. But what might that be? You'll have to wait and see…

Peace Pony Fans!