Chapter 9: Winds of Love
The Destiny's Bounty has parked next to Canterlot castle as the ninjas were discussing about their next move. The main six were surprised to find out that Aqua was the samurai the entire time, but there was no time for that kind of discussion. In the bridge, the ninjas, main six but Twilight, Starlight, and Aqua had gathered. "Though they got the first one, but there are three more, and we just need one to stop Pythor," Aqua tells the group as a hologram of a Fangblade floated above them.
"But they have a map to them and we don't." Starlight reminded them. "But we do know they need two keys to get the next one."
"So we snatch one of those keys and we stop them in their tracks!" Gaia proclaimed.
Thunder moved closer to Aqua, "Ehehe, I'm still in shock by the fact that you were the mysterious Samurai," he said as Aqua smirked, "Is anypony else totally blown away like I am?"
"Oh me, me, me!" Pinkie Pie shouted as jumped around.
"Ugh, we're over that okay?! So can we please just move on to the more important things here?!" Trail grumbled.
"Simmer down there Sugarcube." Applejack told him.
Thunder smirked and said, "Oh-ho-ho, somepony's a little hot under the collar!"
Frost stepped forward, "It appears his impatience is because he has not found inner peace and unlocked his full potential like you and I have, Thunder." He smiled as Trail frowned.
"Great observation, Mr. Roboto." Trail snarked, before jerking his hoof to Landrush, Gaia and Flash, the Pegasus looking like he was in deep thought. "But Landrush, Gaia and Flash haven't found theirs either."
Flash then grinned as he turned to them, "I got it!"
Trail, Landrush and Gaia looked at him in shock. "You've already Unlocked it?!"
"No, I got an idea of where the one of keys they're looking for might be." Flash explained to them. "When I was a royal guard and station at the Crystal Empire, I noticed an odd key in the shape of a snake when I patrolled the halls."
"The Crystal Empire, hmm?" Rarity said rubbing her chin, "Well that's good since that means we may have a head start on Pythor, since the Serpentine might not have known about the Empire before it was banished."
"But if the first Key is at the Empire then where's the second one?" Rainbow asked before Gaia coughed and twiddled her hooves nervously.
"Um, I might know where it is," She admitted as they all looked her expectantly, "But let's focus on getting the key at the Crystal Empire before we go after that one." she suggested a little quickly.
They all looked at each other in confusion, "Um, okay. Let's get Twilight and head over there, ASAP!" Landrush said as they all nodded.
"I'll go get her," Flash said as he left the bridge and they all looked at each other knowingly and snickered.
"That guy will take any excuse to be with the princess, huh?" Trail commented.
"I know, serious when is Flash going to ask her out?" Aqua asked.
With in the Madness Realm, the Spinjitzu brothers and the royal sisters made part way up the Mountain of Madness until Garmadon noticed this realm's moon has risen up. "I had hoped we would have reached the Mountain before Moonrise. The Craglings never miss a midnight feast." He said, which made the other three worry.
"Craglings? Just what is this place Garmadon?" Celestia asked him.
"There is no such thing in Equestria." Wu told her.
"They're a horde unlike nothing you've ever seen." Garmadon told them. "Not all places exist to be found siblings. Sometimes, one must revel in the shadows to truly see the light." He then looked at Luna. "You of all ponies should understand, don't you Luna?" She had looked down as she remembers her time as Nightmare Moon.
"I do." Luna said as Celestia placed a wing over her back to comfort her,
"Come on, if we keep moving, we should be able to avoid them until we reach the summit," Garmadon said as they continued their way up the mountain, not noticing some rocks rolling after them.
Back in Equestria in the Canterlot castle Library, Twilight was scheming and looking through each book with Spike and Cozy Glow on anything on the Serpentine. "Find anything yet you two?" She asked them.
"Nope, nothing yet." Spike said as he was putting away a few books.
"I founda book on snakes, but it's not the one we're looking for." Cozy Glow said, holding up a book with the picture of a cobra on it. "But I did find out that a black mamba is called that because its tongue is black."
"Keep searching, there has to be something on the Serpentine and The Great Devourer." Twilight told as she continued to search.
Spike then had a thought, "Hey Twilight? Why do you think the ancient Serpentine hid the fang blades in different locations in first place?" he asked.
Twilight shrugged looking as concerned as he did, "I don't know Spike, if the Serpentine did want to unleash the Great Devourer why didn't they're ancestors just leave them in their tombs or in the city of Ouroboros?" As Twilight spoke, Cozy Glow found a green book with the Ancient Equestria Serpent Symbol on its cover.
"'Stories of the Great War'? I think I found something!" She called the alicorn and dragon. Twilight came over and saw the cover. She smiled and nuzzled Cozy.
"Good job Cozy!" She praised as she placed the book down on a table, "This should tell us everything we need to know about the Great Devourer." Spike and Cozy gathered around Twilight as she opened the book and as she read it, it gave them great concern.
During the days of the Great War, the battle long and hard fought between the kingdoms for control of Equestria. Midway through the war the Serpentine had unleashed their greatest weapon against the ponies and other creatures of Equestria: The Great Devourer, a gargantuan Snake with insatiable appetite to consume everything in it's path, with a hide was impenetrable to any weapon or spell and powerful fangs filled with venom capable of turning a creature's heart as black as night.
The Devourer laid waste to armies and villages across Equestria and the Serpentine were quickly conquering the realm piece by piece, it seemed the war was all but loss, until the Serpentine soon discovered a problem, the bigger the Devourer's body got the stronger it's hunger became and because that it became far too large, strong and dangerous for even the Serpentine to control anymore, especially since their weapon had turned it appetite on them.
So to prevent the Devourer from destroying them along with the rest of Equestria, the Anacondrai General; Arcturus, had four of its fangs removed, thus placing the Devourer into a deep slumber and sealed beneath their City of Ouroboros which sank beneath the Sea of Sand. And so to prevent Devourer from ever awakening again, Arcturus gave one Fangblade to the Generals of the other four tribes at the time, to be sealed in four separate locations, and map that would only be revealed when all five tribes unite as one.
For some time the war seemed to have ended, with the Anacondrai declaring a truce, until the Creatures of Equestria were once again turned on each other and the war became even bloodier than when it began. The war soon ended with the discovery of the sacred flutes that drove the Serpentine Tribes apart and locked away in tombs, and the others kingdom returned to their borders, promising never to cross them with the others permission and peace returned to Equestria.
"Whoa," Cozy breathed out in shock as Twilight closed the book.
Spike grimaced, "Wait so the Serpentine made the Devourer try and eat all of Equestria and when it got too big and tried to eat them too, they broke off its teeth and put it underneath their city? Gross!" He gagged.
Twilight now understood that if Pythor succeeded in awakening the Great Devourer, he wouldn't be unleashing a weapon to help him and the Serpentine conquer Equestria but an uncontrollable and gluttonous monster that would consume everything around it, even the Serpentine. "I have to warn the others!" She said before she galloped off to the bounty but then bumped into Flash.
Flash looked down at her and smiled, "We got to stop bumping into each other like this." Twilight blushed as she stood back up.
"H-hey Flash," She said with her cheeks blushing pink. "What's the news on the keys?"
"Well the good news is that I know where one of them is," Flash answered, "The first key is in the Crystal Empire's Castle and Gaia says she knows where the second one is, I just came to tell you we're about to leave."
Twilight blinked, she didn't think that one of the keys to one of the artifacts that would awaken the greatest monster in Equestria was in a place like the Crystal Empire "Oh Okay," She said as she and Flash stood in awkward silence. Not taking it anymore, Twilight decided to come clean about her feelings to Flash.
Flash was about to leave when Twilight spoke up, "Um, Flash? I, I want to tell you something important." She said nervously, rubbing her left hoof over her right one.
"What is it, Twilight?" He asked, unbeknownst to either of them the others were listening in on them from around the corner on both ends.
Twilight breathed in with a hoof to her chest, then breathed out pulling her hoof away and then said her piece, "Well, I want you to know that, ever since we first met I felt this unexplainable feeling whenever I looked into your eyes, whenever we bumped into each other and you were always such a gentlecolt to me. And overtime with my Coronation Disaster, the Skulkin attack, Lord Garmadon's return and now the Serpentine I began to see you as a very brave, kind and funny pony and even a great leader."
Flash looked at her in amazement as she blushed and smiled nervously, "I guess what I'm trying to say is," She looked Flash right in the eyes as she placed a hoof on his chin, "I love Flash Sentry, Master of Wind." She then kissed Flash on the lips for sec as the pegasus's wing flared out and his eyes widened, as did they others behind him.
Twilight pulled away and saw the shocked look on Flash's face, "Fl-Flash? What's wrong?" Twilight asked in concern.
Flash regained his senses as he was unsure how answer. He didn't realized that Twilight was in love with him, but now that he thought about it, it made sense: The blushing and stammering, the nervousness, the way Twilight always wanted to spend time with him. All of it was indications that she saw him as more than just a friend but did he feel the same.
Twilight became worried by his lack of answer, "Fl-Flash, don't you feel the same about me?" She asked fearfully as her ears folded back.
Flash darted his eyes to the sides as he wasn't sure how he felt about Twilight. Sure he cared about her as friend, but as something more? "T-Twilight I, I don't," He struggled to say as his tongue felt very dry for some reason.
Twilight however took those words as him saying he didn't feel the same as her. Twilight sucked in a breath as tears of regret, shame and heartbreak formed in her eyes, "I-I'm sorry! Th-this was a mistake!" Twilight shouted before she turned tail and ran, tears streaming from her eyes.
"Twilight wait!" Flash called out to her but just sighed as she kept on running. He didn't even noticed the rest of the Mane 6 and Starlight going after her with Spike and Cozy right behind them. Flash sat on the floor regretful of how he hurt Twilight. He felt a hoof on his shoulder and turned to see Trail and the others looking at him sympathetically.
"Just give her some space, she'll be fine," Trail assured the Pegasus, "Come on, let's get the Bounty ready and head for the Empire," Flash didn't say anything but just nodded. As the others turned to head back, Flash glanced back to where Twilight ran before sighing and catching up with his team.
Meanwhile in the frozen north, the Serpentine were making their way to the Crystal Empire. Unfortunately Pythor was shivering from the low temperature as were the Venomari, Constrictai and Fangpyre that were with him, since snakes were not fond of the cold. Skales and the other Hypnobrai on the other hand, being trapped in an ice cold tomb for so long, were unbothered by the cold, "I w-w-will nev-v-ver und-d-ders-s-stand how your t-tribe s-s-s-survived i-in t-t-this k-k-k-kind of w-w-weather, Skales." Pythor told his righthand, hugging himself to stay warm. "H-H-How much f-f-further to the Empir-r-r-r-re?"
Skales took a spyglass and looked through it. He smirked as he saw the Crystal Empire, "Not much further at all. The Crysssstal Empire issss just up ahead." He said, as Pythor took the spy glass and looked.
"Excellent, now let us tunnel beneath them, get that key out of the castle, find out where the other one is," Pythor said as cold blew past them and he and the other non-Hypnobrai Serpentine all shivered, "A-a-a-and p-p-possible g-get s-s-some, hot chocolate."
And so the Serpentine continued the long, and cold, dig under the snow and towards the empire.
Some of the crystal guards was at their post ear the border of the empire and one was looking through a spyglass, "Well, looks pretty normal out there," He said as he saw nothing but white, "Just snow, ice and also-" He was cut off when a Fangpyre jumped out infront of him out of nowhere, knocking his spyglass away.
"Serpentine!" He yelled as more Serpentine burst out of the ground, quickly surrounded them, "We're under attack! Sound the alarm!"
One of the guards was about blow the horn until he was knocked off his hooves by a Hypnobrai smirking at him, "Now, now. Wouldn't you rather Lisssten to me?" He asked as he Hypnotized the guard and others were quickly overwhelmed by the snakes. Before long the entire Empire was at the mercy of the Serpentine, some of the Crystal Ponies were hypnotized, other were bitten by the Fangpyre, sprayed by the Venomari or held down by the Constrictai.
As some of the guards fought the Serpentine, Pythor turned invisible and snuck through the chaos into the castle.
Shining Armor and the guards rush into the throne room. "The guards say that Pythor's breached the Castle!" Shining told Cadance who was writing a letter for help.
"Hurry Twilight, Flash we need you." She said to herself before rolling up the scroll and sending it. She then approached her husband, "Do you have Flurry Heart?!" She asked with much fear.
"I thought you had her!" Shining retorted.
The two gasped in fear and ran towards Flurry Heart's room and barged the doors opened, only to see Pythor in there with his tail wrapped around the baby alicorn as he grinned cruelly at them.
"Mawa!" Flurry called as Pythor squeezed her.
Cadance tries to attack but Pythor moves Flurry close to his mouth, threating to eat her and Shining stops her. The two glare at Pythor. "You won't get away with this!" Cadance snarled at the Anacondrai as he slithers up to them.
"Oh, on the contrary your majesty, I already have," Pythor told the couple as he then boops Flurry's nose. When she tries to bite him, Pythor pulls his hand away and laughs. Skales Slithers in with some Hypnotized guards.
"We've taken control of the cassstle and the guards sir. And we believe that the key issss being held ssssomewhere in the castle." Skales told Pythor as smirks and slithers towards the door still holding Flurry Heart.
"Excellent work Skales, keep the Crystal Ponies under careful watch and have the boys be on the look out for those troublesome ninja." Pythor ordered as Skales nodded and motioned to the guards. "Once we have that key we will be one step closer to awakening the Great Devourer."
"Pythor, stops this please!" Cadance pleaded to the Anacondrai as the guards restrained her and Shining Armor, "I know you and the rest of Serpentine are angry at the creatures of Equestria for sealing them underground, but unleashing the Devourer isn't the way!"
"But it doesn't matter! Twiliy, Flash and their friends will come for us and then kick your scaly tails out of our kingdom!" Shining Armor promised as they were taken away.
Pythor smirks at the Crystal Empire's rulers and slithers out the door. "We'll see about that." He said, he turned to Skales as passed him, "Actually, Skales I think we might have a use for these two, wouldn't you agree?"
"Oh yesss, we can." Skales smirked and turned to Cadance and Shining, who looked worried before they stared into his swirling, red eyes. The last thing the couple heard was Pythor laughing evilly and Flurry Heart calling out to them before everything went black.
Back in Canterlot, the ninjas were getting ready to set out to the Crystal Empire for the key. Flash however couldn't help but think about Twilight and what happened before. He was so distracted by his thoughts, he bumped into Thunder and Trail while they carried a few boxes and made them drop them on Trail's hoof.
Trail whimpered from the weight of the box on his back hoof, "Owowowowow!" He screamed in pain while held his hoof with his two front ones and hopped on his back one.
"Oops! Sorry, Trail." Flash quickly said before Gaia walked up to him.
"You still can't stop thinking about Twilight?" She asked while patting his back.
"Yeah," Flash answered with his ears drooping. "I know I should have said something after she confessed her feelings to me, but after that kiss I felt a little... I can't explain it." He sat down as the others listen to him. "I felt my heart was beating by the minute, my voice was stuck in my throat, I didn't know what to do. I don't even know if I feel the same."
"Dude, we seen the way you look at her." Landrush told him. "You agreed to hang out with her any chance you get."
"She agreed to help you with the Serpentine egg when you asked her." Trail added.
"Whenever she's near you, the temperature in her cheeks rises about 9.5%." Frost calculated.
"You two are meant for each other." Thunder said as he wrapped his hoof around Flash's shoulder. "And every creature in equestrian knows it."
"I get it!" Flash shouted as the others back away and he sighed, slumping over again. "But what am I supposed to do?! I'm a ninja and she's the ruler of Equestria! What if my ninja job puts her in danger or what if she's too busy with our dates?! I don't want to put her in that kind of position. I just, don't know," The Ninja all looked unsure what to say, in the time they knew Flash he never showed any signs of doubt or fear, he always seemed so brave and levelheaded, but now, knowing a princess loved him, he didn't have any idea what to do.
But then before they could say anything helpful, "Guys, guys!" Spike said as they turned to see the Mane Six, Starlight, Spike, and Cozy Glow run in with worried looks on their faces.
They all stopped and panted, "We got a problem!" Rainbow said.
"What's wrong?" Thunder asked as Twilight frantically passed them a scroll. Flash took the scroll and read it.
"It's from Princess Cadance! Pythor and the Serpentine are invading the Crystal Empire!" Flash gasped in fear as the other Ninja did too.
"Oh no! They must've figured out the key is there!" Aqua shouted as the Mane 6, Starlight, Spike and Cozy finally caught their breath.
"So much for being a step ahead of those revolting reptiles," Rarity sighed.
"No time complaining! Everypony, to your stations now!" Everypony but Flash and Twilight were rushing to set out to the Crystal Empire.
"Look Twilight, I-" Flash was cut off when Twilight put her hoof on his mouth.
"It can wait, we have to get to the Crystal Empire, and save my brother, sister-in-law, and niece." She told him as she dashed away. Flash sighed, knowing this wasn't the time or the place to talk to Twilight about what happen.
Soon the Destiny's Bounty took off and blasted away to the Crystal Empire.
The Bounty hovered out of sight, high above the Crystal Empire as they saw a bunch of Serpentine roaming the streets. "Looks like they haven't found the key yet, if they had, they'd be gone by now." Trail said as they watched from the monitor.
"They must have Shining Armor and Cadance locked up in the castle." Twilight theorized as they saw Pythor and Skales keeping watch from the castle Balcony before slithering back inside.
"If they see us, they might try take it out on the Crystal Ponies." Flash said as he saw a few scared citizens with the some Serpentine guards around them on the monitor.
"So, anypony got any ideas?" Gaia asked before she put her on Thunder's mouth. "Other than using the anchor again. We agreed never to do that again and I rather we not destroy the Empire."
"If only we all can turn invisible, that way it would be easier to sneak pass them." Spike said, witch gave Twilight an idea.
"That's it, we can turn invisible!" She proclaimed.
"Uh Twi, we're not chameleons." Rainbow Dash told her.
"No, I mean we can turn invisible with an invisibility spell." Twilight explained. "I can cast one on us so we can sneak past them without being seen and save the Empire."
"Sweet! Now that's what I call going into the shadows!" Thunder shouted excitedly.
"Okay, let's split into two teams." Flash told the others. "Twilight, you, your friends, Cozy Glow, and Spike use the spell to help everypony down there get to safety. The rest of us will go into the castle to help Shining and Cadance also to get the key before they do."
"Fair warning, the spell will last about one hour so make it count." Twilight told them.
"We done so worst with others." Applejack said, straightening her hat. "Y'all ready to do this?"
"Like you have to ask?" Trail asked as he and the other ninjas ready their weapons. "Let's do this!"
"NINJA-GO!" They all shouted together.
Twilight the cast the invisible spell on herself, her friends, Starlight, Spike, and Cozy Glow before she teleported all of them in a alley in the empire. The ninjas and Aqua in her samurai armor took to the shadows while the rest went to do their job. The Ninjas quickly and silently ran and jumped from rooftop to rooftop, above the Serpentine's heads while the Mane 6, Starlight, Spike and Cozy Glow carefully weaved through the guards, and ducking into alleys. Flash and Trail quietly ran past the Library as two Serpentine were have a conversation, they looked behind them, as they thought they heard something but saw nothing and just went back to talking.
Thunder and Landrush tip-toed down the street as a Constrictai looked around but didn't know the Ninja were right behind him. Gaia and Frost were sneaking through the alley when they saw one of the Serpentine had spotted where Pinkie, Spike and Cozy Glow were hiding when he saw a shadow on the ground. But before he could alarm any one Frost and Gaia grabbed him from behind and knocked him out.
Spike, Cozy Glow, and Pinkie Pie picked up a few pots and frying pans before carrying them behind a crystal building. They then made noises with the frying pans and pots to get the attention of some Serpentine guards. When they were distracted, both Applejack and Rainbow Dash knocked them out and carried their bodies into some trash cans. Fluttershy and Rarity were helping the crystal ponies get to Twilight and Starlight who use their teleportation spell to get them out of there.
The Ninja soon regrouped in the castle court yard and looked to see the Crystal Heart was missing, "Hey, what happened to the heart!?" Thunder asked.
"The Serpentine must've grabbed when they took over!" Gaia guessed with a scowl.
Trail groaned in frustration, "Great, now we have to find Princess Cadance, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, The key AND the Crystal Heart!"
"Well let's hurry up and find them," Landrush suggested before turning to Flash, "Do you remember where you saw the key, Flash?"
"Yeah, but right now let's get Shining and Cadance free." Flash said before Twilight teleported next to them.
"I'm coming with you, I need to help my family!" Twilight said in tone that this wasn't a suggestion. The glanced at each other and nodded before they made their way to the dungeon.
They made their way past a few guards and down into the dungeon and looked in each cell till they found them lying on the ground. "Shining, Cadance! It's me Twilight!" Twilight whispered to them and got their attention.
Thunder then started picked the lock as the others kept watch, "Don't worry we'll have you out in just a sec," He promised as Cadance and Shining stood but kept their eyes down.
"Now that we found you, let's find Flurry Heart, get that Key and kick Pythor and the rest of these snakes," Trail said as Shining and Cadance stepped out of the cage.
Flash nodded as he turned to leave, "Great, now your highnesses stay close to us and-" Flash was cutoff when he was hit on the back of his head by a blue beam of magic and into a wall.
"Flash!" Twilight shouted before she was blasted right next to him by a magenta beam. The others gasped in shock before turning to Cadance and Shining Armor, with their horns glowing and their eyes closed...before they opened them revealing them to be red and swirled.
"Nopony, is going, anywhere!" Shining Armor snarled.
"The only place your all going to, is down!" Cadance shouted as her horn charged up.
While Landrush and Frost help Flash up to his hooves, Trail, Gaia and Thunder back away, "Sh-Shining, C-Cadance?" Twilight asked fearfully, while still hurt on the inside by how her own brother attacked her.
"Uh, anypony else recognize those eyes?" Thunder asked as Shining and Cadance stomped towards them.
"The Hypnobrai!" Gaia answered as Cadance fired a laser at them. "They're being controlled!"
"Then logically speaking the rest of the citizens have been hypnotized as well!" Frost guessed as he dodged another laser from Shining.
The Ninja then got a call from Aqua in their hoods, "Um guys? We got a problem! You know those ponies we saved? Apparently they've all taken over by the Serpentine! They've got me and the girls surrounded!" Aqua exclaimed as sounds of struggle could be heard.
"Oh no, we walked right into a trap!" Twilight cried.
"Correct!" The Ninja turned to see Skales slithering into the Dungeons, "Friends are there the greatesssst weapon against our enemiessss. Issss that not what you teach in that sssschool of your'ssss, Princessss?" He taunted.
Twilight straightened her back as the six ninja and the princess glare at the Hypnobrai General, "Where is Flurry Heart?" She demanded, her horn glowing.
Cadance laughed, "Oh don't worry Twilight, our sweet little one is with Pythor," the Ninja and Twilight gasped horror, "Oh don't be so dramatic, I'm sure she's having tons of fun right now."
"Yeah, Pythor has proven to be a better foalsitter then you ever were, Little sister, " Shining cackled as he smirked cruelly. Twilight flinched, even though she knew it was the Hypnobrai's mind control talking, it still hurt. She made a silent gasp when she felt a wing wrapped around her and turned to see it was Flash while he glared at the hypnotized rulers, "Besides, he agreed to take good care of Flurry after we told him where he could find the first key to the Fangblade was."
"Both of you snap out of it!" Flash shouted at the two. "Pythor wants to unleash the Great Devourer and kill us all! You don't want to do this!" Cadance and Shining Didn't listen and Fired a combined beam at them. The 7 dodged and the laser flew straight towards Skales.
Skales yelped and waved his arms frantically while back away, "Wait, wait ,wait Stop! STOP!" He demanded but it was in vain as Shining and Cadance blasted him right out of the Dungeon and out of the castle.
The Ninja and Twilight regrouped and Flash turned to the others, "You guys hold off these two! me and Twilight will go after Pythor!" He ordered before dashing off, "Come on Twilight!"
Twilight made a short glance at her hypnotized brother and sister-in-law with a sad expression before it turned determined and ran off after Flash.
Flash and Twilight ran through the halls of the Crystal Palace until they reach the spot where he saw the key. The key itself was on the bottom of a chandelier and the snake that's on it is dark green with red eyes and facing down. Twilight used her magic to carefully remove the key from the chandelier and lower down to them. "We got the key, now let's find Pythor and give him a piece of our minds!" Flash told Twilight before they heard laughter at the end of the hall.
They turned to see Pythor holding Flurry Heart wrapped in his tail while he held the Crystal Heart in his hand. "I'm afraid the only thing you'll be giving me, is that key, old boy." Pythor declared.
"Flurry!" Twilight yelled as Flurry whimpered and reached out for her aunty.
Flash pulled out his bo, "Pythor, you have ten seconds to get you and your troops out of the Empire!" He threatened.
Pythor's smug expression didn't change however, "Of course, but I prefer to travel light," He said he held up the Crystal Heart and Flurry, "What shall I leave behind in exchange for the key? The Crystal Heart or Princess Flurry Heart?"
"Don't try that! We'll trade with you!" Flash told Pythor. "But we want both Flurry and the Heart and we meet in the middle so there's no funny business!"
"Very well." Pythor said as slithered towards them with both the Crystal Heart and Flurry Heart while Flash carried the key over until they are in the middle of the hallway. Pythor and Flash never broke eye contact, Flash just kept on glaring at the snake as he passed him the key. Pythor smirked and took the key in his own hand before he released Flurry Heart from his tail and she flew into her auntie arms.
Flurry whimpered a bit and Twilight hugged her, "Shh, it's okay sweetie, it's okay. Auntie Twiliy not gonna let the big mean snake hurt you." Twilight comforted her niece.
Flash glanced back at them with a smile before scowling at Pythor as he examined the key, smirking, "Alright Pythor, now the Heart!" he demanded, holding out his hoof.
Pythor just chuckled back at him, "Did you really think I would just give back a relic as powerful as the Crystal Heart? I think not." Flash gaped in shock, "Terribly sorry Mr. Sentry, but you should've remembered one very important Lesson: Never Trust a Snake!"
Flash snarled, "Why you dirty-" but he stopped as he felt a cold wind from the window.
Pythor laughed again, "Oh dear, looks like we're in for some bad weather. Best I get out of here. Ta-ta!" He said as rushed out the door.
Flash flared his wings, "Get back here!" He shouted as he galloped after Pythor with Twilight and Flurry right behind him.
As soon as they made it outside, Pythor yelped as he was stopped in his tracks by Aqua in her mech. "Where do you think you're going with that?!" She glared.
But before she could grab him, the Fangpyre Wrecking Ball knocked her away, and A Rattle-Copter dropped down in front of Pythor, the door opened with Skales inside, "Hurry we must leave here before the storm becomes too great!" He said to Pythor as he boarded.
"No, he's getting away with the Key and Heart!" Twilight shouted when the Rattle-Copter was flying away and the snowstorm was getting worse.
"We need to get the Crystal Heart back before we're all buried under a hundred feet of snow!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she tried to keep the hypnotized crystal ponies back. She started to feel her wings get frozen by the Frozen North's wind and knew it wouldn't be long.
"And I think it's magic may be the only thing that can reverse the effects on the Crystal Ponies!" Aqua said as she stepped out her wrecked mech and over to Flash and Twilight.
Flash scowled as spread his wings, "Leave this to me! You guys just drive the rest of the Serpentine out of the Empire!" He told the girls before he took off. Twilight made a determined face before passing Flurry to Aqua.
"Watch Flurry! I'm going after him!" Twilight told Aqua before she flew after Flash. Aqua watch them fly off before she sees Thunder flying out of the castle, screaming as he landed a few feet from her. She then turned to see Trail, Landrush, Gaia and Frost charging out into the Courtyard still fighting Shining and Cadance.
Flurry's ears folded back as she saw her parents' mean looking faces. Aqua saw this and hugged her, "Don't worry sweetie, we'll save your mommy and daddy." She promised before looking back the Ninja still fighting and then back at the stormy sky where Flash and Twilight flew after Pythor, "I hope."
Flash and Twilight were doing their best to keep in the air as their wings were getting frozen by the Frozen North's winds. The Rattlecopter as up ahead and the trying to keep on it before Twilight's wings froze up and she started to fall. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" She screamed as she fell. Flash saw her falling towards a deep canyon and knew he had to save her, even if it meant letting Pythor get away with the key and Crystal Heart.
"TWILIGHT! HANG ON!" Flash Shouted as he dove after her. The winds then got stronger causing the Rattle-copter to jostle.
Pythor turned to see Flash and Twilight falling, and laughed, "Excellent, we have the key and a little souvenir!" he boasted holding the Crystal Heart and the key.
Flash dove in faster and faster until he was in hooves reach of Twilight and grabbed her. "Flash, you are crazy, what are you doing?! They're getting away with the Key and the Heart!" Twilight scolded as they kept on falling.
Flash knew there was no way he could safely fly both himself and Twilight through the storm, so he knew that before they met their end he had to give Twilight his answer. "I won't let you go! You're too important to me! I love you too Twilight and I was afraid that our jobs as a ninja and a princess would get the way!" He said as loudly as he could as Twilight looked him, "I'm only sorry it took me this long to say because now I'm not afraid anymore! We're perfect for each other and all of Equestria knows it!"
Twilight looked speechless for a moment before she made a tearful smile and kissed Flash with all the passion she had and though he was surprised at first he just kissed back as they neared the canyon.
But then as they pulled away, Flash felt the winds around them stirring as power built up inside him and his eyes glowed alongwith his Bo of Wind.
Flash looked surprise, "What, what is this?" he asked, though Twillight had a good idea.
"Your True Potential!" She answered with a smile. Flash's body glowed yellow with swirling wind around before he smirked and spread his wings. As they fell into the blackness of the cavern Flash pulled up at super sonic speeds while carrying Twilight.
As soon as Flash made it back to the Crystal Empire's Courtyard, the others were amazed that he has unlocked his true potential. After setting Twilight down, flash vanish in a gust of wind and reappeared next Pythor. "What in Equestria?!" Pythor yelped when saw Flash before the pegasus took back the Crystal Heart and used the wind to blow the Rattle-Copter far away. "WHOA, WHOA WAHHH! CURSE YOU NINJA!" Pythor cried out before Flash flew back to the Empire.
He then returned back to the courtyard and placed the Crystal Heart back on its pedestal. The Crystal Spun around before releasing a dome of light that crystalized everypony, cured the Crystal Ponies from the Serpentine's influence and blasted the Snakes out of the Empire and into the frozen north.
"Retreat!" A Fangpyre said as the Serpentine dove into a hole to escape.
Cadance and Shining shook their heads as their hypnosis was broken, "What? What happened?" Cadance asked, looking around in confusion.
"Where's Pythor?!" Shining asked before Flurry Heart dove into his and Cadance's forelegs hugging them.
Flash landed in the courtyard as everypony celebrated. Flash's body returned to normal and slumped down, "Whew, now THAT, was a totally rush!" He commented before Twilight jumped on him, while hugging and laughing.
After a quick explanation about what happened, everypony were in the dining room for a nice lunch. "Thank you all so much! you have done the Crystal Empire a great Service!" Cadance thanked the Ninja.
Flash just waved her off, "Ah, don't worry Princess just doing our job," He said before from and leaning on his hoof, "Just wish I grabbed that key before I blasted that Copter away." Twilight rubbed his back.
"Pythor may have gone the key, but we got back the Crystal Heart and saved everypony." Twilight said before she took a bite of her hayburger.
"And there's still another key out there to find. We just need to find it, get it and Pythor can't get that Fangblade," Landrush said, before he started thinking. "But, I could have sworn I seen the Fangblade somewhere before."
Trail drank his soda, "Well apart from losing the first key and saving the Empire, now half of our team have unlocked their true potential," he gestured to Frost, Thunder and Flash, as the latter two hoofbumped while the former just nodded, "And once I find mine and become the Light Ninja, Pythor won't know what hit him."
The others groaned, "Oh Trail, don't start that again!" Aqua told her brother.
"Oh I almost forgot!" Twilight said with realization. "There's something me, Spike, and Cozy Glow found out about the Great Devourer." She then told every pony in the room about their discovery and what it might do when it reawakens.
Everypony was stunned silent, if they failed to stop Pythor from collect the four Fangblades, everycreature in Equestria was doomed. But Flash shook off his shock and he bore a determined look, "Well, this changes nothing! All that means is that we need to try even harder to stop Pythor from Awakening the Devourer!" He told them, "Even we are afraid of what comes next, we can't let fear stop us from doing what we know is right!" Twilight smiled at him, knowing that he making a reference to how he found his true potential by facing his fear of confessing his love to her.
The others smiled too as Applejack declared, "Well then, let's get to work ya'll and get that next key!" everypony agreed, minus Gaia who looked worried about something. But before they could declare their catchphrase, they heard somepony say.
"Ninja-go!" Everypony's jaws dropped as they turned to the pony who said it...Flurry Heart smiling in her mother's arms, "Ninja-go!" She said again, before giggling.
Cadance recovered from her shock before she grinned widely in excitement with her eyes sparkling, "OOOH FLURRY! You said your first Word! Mommy's so proud of you!" She praised Flurry as she hugged her daughter while, standing up and spinning on one hoof. Everypony else laughed while Shining let out some tears, or liquid pride as he called it. Twilight and Flash stopped laughing for second before giving each other a loving smile and subtly held each other's hooves. Pythor may have gotten the key, but they had found something greater.