Chapter 12: The Light Ninja
After returning from the Equestria's Got Talent show, the Ninja returned to Canterlot to do some training with their new powers, minus Trail of course who has yet to unlock his True Potential. Late that night In the Bounty, a pony had entered Sensei Wu's berth, opened a cabinet, and found a silver Ninja suit. They looked around before taking the suit.
Outside Canterlot Castle, Landrush had his Scythe drawn as the shadowy figure of a Venomari approached him. "Earth!" he called out his element, slamming his Scythe against the ground and knocking the Serpentine off its feet.
Back on the Bounty, the pony had put on the silver Ninja suit and was standing in front of a mirror.
Meanwhile, Thunder and Gaia were faced with two Serpentine as well. Gaia spun her Sais and charged. "Life!" she called out, stabbing her weapons into the ground as vines burst forth and wrapped around one of them.
Thunder spun and whipped around his Nunchucks before rushing at his Serpentine. "Lightning!" he called out before doing Spinjitzu and whacking the Venomari away.
Back with the pony inside the Bounty, they were doing, flips, spins, and air punches.
In the Canterlot Courtyard, Frost threw his Shurikens into the air and Flash spun his Bo facing the last two Serpentine. "Wind!" Flash called his element out before thrusting his bo forward blasted a wave of air at the snake, sending it flying towards a wall.
"Ice!" Frost called out his element as he flung his Shurikens at the feet of the Serpentine, freezing it solid.
Then a light shined down from above. "Good training," Aqua said as she, The Mane 6, Spike, Cozy Glow, The Young Six, Shining Armor, Cadance, Flurry Heart, Trixie and Blueblood watched them from above the castle, revealing that the five Ninja had only been training and had been fighting Dummies the whole time.
"I'll say, those powers of yours are gettin' stronger every day," Applejack commented.
"You keep this up, Pythor and the real Serpentine won't know what hit 'em!" Gallus said.
Twilight turned to them, "Well, seeing as though almost all of them had discovered their True Potential, capturing the last two Fangblade should be easier now," she told them.
But Cadance then noticed something, "But um, where's Trail?" she asked as they all looked around.
Back in Wu's room, Trail, who was the pony wearing the Light Ninja suit, was still practicing some moves in front of the mirror, "Fire! Unlock Fire! Uh… Fire, go! Shoot flames!" he called out his element but nothing happened. He sighed in frustration, "Oh, come on. Everypony can do it. So can you. Bring heat!" He told himself before doing some push-ups and standing back up only to see the others in the mirror behind him laughing.
"Very nice. Perhaps if you tried the phrase 'Fire dork', maybe it might work," Landrush suggested with a smirk as Trail frantically took off the hood and turned to them.
"How long have you all been-?!" he asked in embarrassment.
"Oh, long enough, my dear Trail. Long enough," Gaia told him with a giggle. "At least, enough to see your new attire,"
"The 'Light Ninja' suit. That's awesome!" Thunder said.
Trail then tried to explain himself. "Well, I was looking for some kind of clue from Sensei and then I found this," he said before Frost stepped forward.
"But you know only he who is foretold to face Lord Garmadon is destined to be the Light Ninja, and only he should wear the Light Ninja outfit," he told him.
Flash then bumped Trail who looked down in disappointment. "So Sensei will likely be really peeved at you snooping around his things,"
Trail sighed and walked towards the window. "I know, I know. But I thought if I just tried it on, it might help me see my True Potential," he said as the others joined him. "It's not fair that you guys have unlocked your cool powers and I still haven't,"
The others understood Trail's frustrations, being the only one who didn't have any powers. He felt like he was the weakest one, but they knew Trail would never find his True Potential if didn't overcome whatever was holding him back.
Trail then decided to change the subject and turned to them, "Besides, Sensei's still gone with Celestia and Luna, and we don't know when their coming back-"
As soon as he said that however, the sound of somepony landing on the deck was heard, "Hello! We're home!" Wu's voice was heard.
"And I'm pleased to say our mission was successful!" Celestia was also heard.
"Would everycreature, please meet us in the ballroom!" Luna's voice added.
The Ninja, minus Trail who looked quite shocked, beamed and cheered in unison, "Sensei!" They all rushed outside as Trail remembered what he was wearing and ducked behind a wall to change. If Sensei Wu had caught him wearing the suit, he was dead for sure.
In the ballroom of Canterlot Castle, everypony gathered for the return of Sensei Wu and the Royal Sisters, "Ah, it's so good to be home," Wu sighed happily.
"Indeed, it is," Celestia said as Twilight gave her a hug. "I trust you've all been doing well without us,"
"Yup! A few ups and downs here and there, but nothing we couldn't bounce back from," Spike assured her as Cadance hugged Celestia next.
"So glad you're back," Frost told them.
"Where did you go?" Flash asked.
"What did you see?" Gaia added as Wu noted the change in her accent.
"Did you bring us anything?" Landrush asked.
Thunder then stepped forward, "Oh Sensei, have you and the Princesses missed a lot!" He told them.
"Yeah, a WHOLE lot!" Pinkie said as she went up on stage, "Frosty's a Nindroid, Aqua's the mysterious Samurai, Flash is dating Twilight, Flurry said her first word, Gaia is a rich mare, Landrush's a dancer…" she told them.
Luna however was put off by the first one, "I beg your pardon, but Frost is a…what?" she asked with a raised brow.
"You have been gone a while. We'll catch you up later," Frost told them.
"But you should know, all of us except for Trail have discovered our True Potential," Flash told them.
"Have you now?" Wu said, looking impressed but then noticed that one pony was still unattended. "Where is Trail?"
"Right here!" Trail said as rushed into the room, in his own suit, and stood in front of Wu dusting himself off, "So glad you three are back safe," he said.
"So did Sensei Pony and Royal sisters find creature who help us smash nasty Pythor and Serpentine?" Yona asked.
The three looked at each other warily, knowing the group may not be welcoming to their new "ally". "Ehhhh… yes," Celestia said carefully.
"Awesome! So uh, where are they?" Rainbow asked, looking around the three to see if there was anypony behind them.
"Oh, it must be somepony very important if you believe they can help us against those Serpentine savages," Rarity commented as Spike looked behind them and gasped in fright and saw somepony he never thought he'd see.
"Maybe the pony they brought back with them, has a black coat, sharp teeth, red eyes and a helmet with a bone in it!" He told the others frantically while pulling on Twilight's tail while pointing behind Celestia.
Twilight however just rolled her eyes in amusement. "Yeah right. That's Lord Garmadon," she told him with a smirk, thinking her assistant was just playing around.
"Now why in the wide world of Equestria would our sensei, and the Royal Sisters, ask somepony like that for help?" Gaia asked with a grin, also thinking Spike was joking, until the Young Six saw the newcomer and gasped in shock as well.
"U-umm, m-maybe… maybe y-you should ask… h-h-him!" Sliverstream asked fearfully, pointing behind Celestia.
They all turned and saw a pair of black dragon wings, a long black horn, a bone helmet, and four pony legs behind the sun princess before stepping out behind her was Lord Garmadon.
Shocked by the return of their oldest enemy, with a new form, Trail gasped in surprise before glaring. "Aah! Celestia, behind you!" he shouted as he jumped in front of Garmadon, drawing his Sword of Fire while the rest of Ninja, Mane 6, and Shining Armor were shocked or stood protectively in front of the others.
"Sensei!" Frost shouted as leaped in front of Wu while Trail slashed his sword at Garmadon, though the Dark Lord managed to avoid it he was knocked off his hooves.
"Gah, he's an alicorn now!" Trail said as he pounced onto Garmadon as the black stallion grabbed his sword with his four front hooves.
"And he's got six legs!" Rainbow said as she pounced on Garmadon too.
Garmadon grunted as he tried to push the two pegasi off him. "So, we meet again, little Fire Ninja!" he growled to Trail.
"He must have followed you three, Sensei!" Trail told Wu as he prepared to strike Garmadon again before Wu rushed over to him.
"Trail, Rainbow Dash, stop!" he ordered as gestured to his brother. "He is the reason we left,"
"WHAT?!" The others shouted behind them.
Twilight then approached her former mentor slowly. "With all due respect Celestia but," Twilight started politely before shouted with the Royal Canterlot Voice, "HOW COULD YOU THREE BRING LORD GARMADON HERE!?" Soon after, she calmed down and cleared her throat. "Ahem, if you don't mind me asking?"
Celestia simply smiled and said, "I'm fully aware that last time you all faced my… 'big brother', he created serious havoc in Equestria," she said as Rainbow and Trail begrudgingly got off Garmadon.
"By 'some havoc', you mean sending an army of skeletons to attack Canterlot during Twily Coronation?" Shining asked looking at the Dark Lord with disdain.
"And tried to steal the Golden Weapons from their resting place while trying to kill us!" Sandbar added.
"And used me and Twilight as bait to get the last one and nearly dropped into a bottomless pit!" Aqua retorted.
Celestia nodded. "Yes, I know, I know. But we believes that Garmadon could be of great aid in our battle with the Serpentine, as well as rescuing young Lloyd," she said.
"That is why, for so long as Pythor has Lloyd, he will be our guest," Wu finished.
The Ninja were aghast, "We have to live with this guy?!" Landrush exclaimed.
"But Sensei, he's an alicorn now!" Gaia shouted.
"And he has six legs!" Frost added.
"How are we suppose to trust him around here!" Flash questioned.
"Uh, and must I remind you, ever since he's turned evil, he's been trying to get our golden weap-" Thunder tried to say before Wu finally had it.
"Enough!" Wu shouted. The six Ninja stood at attention in a line.
"Yes, sensei," then said as Garmadon stood up.
"This isn't about the golden weapons. It's about saving my son," Garmadon told them as he stood beside Wu, Celestia and Luna.
"From here on out, you will obey me and you will respect our brother," Wu ordered them as Garmadon crossed two of front legs, smiling smugly.
"Yes, sensei," all six of them said with a bow. Before Wu turned to his brother.
"And you," he said with a serious tone, turning to Garmadon, "you will remember well our agreement, brother and as long as you are here don't even try stealing the golden weapons."
Garmadon merely scoffed and turned his head.
Wu sighed and turned to his pupils. "Now, everypony to the Bounty, we have more pressing matters to attend to," he said as he and the Royal sisters left the room with Garmadon behind them. Before he left though Garmadon shot the younger ones a sinister smile, Trail growled and tried to keep himself from doing something foolish.
"So does anyone else think this might be a bad idea?" Gallus asked as there was quiet round of agreements. Though Garmadon was on their side, for now, none of them were in any rush to make him their friend.
The next morning, everyone had gathered to the bridge to discuss the next phase. "So, where are we at with the four Fangblades?" Wu asked.
"Oh. Pythor's managed to take the first two, but there's still two left," Thunder answered.
"And we only need one in order to prevent him from unleashing The Great Devourer," Landrush added.
"But considering they have a map to them and we don't, that's easier said than done," Starlight said.
"Any clues to their whereabouts?" Celestia asked them.
"No, but my Falcon is programmed to alert us if sees any suspicious activity," Frost said.
"And if we find the Fangblade, we find Lloyd," Twilight said.
"Good, Trail and Aqua, prepare the deck and double check the anchor," Wu told them. "We need to be ready when we first get word of activity."
"Yes Sensei," The siblings said, as they turned to leave, but Trail turned to Garmadon.
"I have my eye on you," Trail warned, doing the "I'm watching you" gesture to Garmadon as the Dark Lord smirked. Trail kept doing the gesture until he bumped right into a wall. Wu sighed as Trail finally left.
"Frost, did you say the Falcon was… programmed?" Celestia asked as she remembered what he said.
"And I'm still a bit confused about this 'Nindroid' ordeal," Luna spoke up.
"Oh Luna, I have no idea where to even start," Thunder said as he went on to explain everything they missed. "It all started when we saw the Falcon, and then we ran after it..."
Outside Trail was talking to Aqua about Garmadon and his new body.
"But Aqua, didn't you see he's an alicorn with six legs now?" Trail asked his sister as he swept the deck "Wherever Sensei and royal sisters found him, he's now made it possible to control all six weapons at once. I don't trust him. Not one bit."
Aqua however tried to assure him, "You have to remember, he's not just the Dark Lord, he's also Sensei's brother, Celestia and Luna's friend and brother figure, Lloyd's father," she reminded him as she opens the sails. "Even though he's pure evil, and kidnapped me, Sensei holds him close to his heart."
Then Trail got an idea. "Wait, that's it!" he said with a smile.
"What's it?" Aqua asked with a raised brow.
"To unlock my power. Sensei said the heart is the key," Trail explained. "Maybe if I stand up to Lord Garmadon, I'll find my True Potential and then everypony can see I'm the Light Ninja!" he declared with a flip and kick onto the lower deck. "Ha! Aqua, you are a genius!"
At any other time, Aqua would like to brag about her brother calling her a genius, but this time Trail misinterpreted her words. "Um, I don't really follow your logic-" she tried to say but Trail Interrupted her.
"No time to explain! I have to go train! If I'm gonna confront Garmadon soon..." he said doing some moves and then he backflipped back to her, "I gotta be at the top of my game."
"But Sensei said he's our guest, and that we had to respect him," Aqua reminded him.
"Garmadon might've fooled Sensei and the Princesses, but don't think for a second I'm not keeping my eye on him," Trail told her as he turned to his sister. "Aqua, the Lord of Darkness just became our roommate!"
While the Ninja were brushing their teeth with toothbrushes, Garmadon was sharpening his with a file. And surprisingly, it was doing wonders for his teeth.
During lunchtime, while everypony were enjoying their noodles, Garmadon was eating what looked like a plate of thick, black sludge with live maggots. He held one up with his fork and winked at Trail who was glaring at him, before scarfing it down, causing Fluttershy to become quite queasy at the thought of a pony eating live bugs.
"What is he eating?" Rainbow asked, slightly grossed.
"Condensed Evil," Trail answered as Garmadon continued eating. "Twilight said it's supposed to be low in fat."
One of the maggots crawled over to Trail, who let out a disgusted groan as he whacked it away with his fork.
Later, three couples (Flash and Twilight, Aqua and Thunder, Gallus and Sliverstream) were watching a nice romantic film. They were focused on a tear-jerking goodbye scene, before Garmadon used his magic to change the channel a few times only to stop a horror film. He started laughing at it like it was comedy, while the couples turned to him in annoyance, their movie night having been spoiled.
The Bounty was soon sailing through a storm. Trail and Frost were struggling to keep the ship stable while Applejack and Landrush rushed from port to starboard and back, hurling from their motion sickness.
"Where's Garmadon?" Frost asked Trail as they held onto the wheel.
Trail sighed and pointed outside. "Sunbathing," on the deck Garmadon was wearing sunglasses and relaxing on a blanket like he was trying to get a tan.
"Storm-bathing is more like it," Gaia said as she braced herself against a table as she watched Applejack and Landrush hurling again. "And would somepony please get those two, a pair of buckets!"
At night the Ninja were about to go to sleep but were interrupted by Garmadon, generating a ball of electricity while in his sleeping bag.
"Do you have to do that?!" Trail asked as he sat up, "We're trying to sleep."
Garmadon just chuckled evilly to himself and kept powering the ball. Trail groaned and covered his face with a pillow.
"This is gonna be a long night." Flash sighed as he and the others tried to sleep as best as they could.
In the morning, Garmadon was playing one of the Ninja's games with two controllers, while the others watched him from the door, "Wow, who woulda thunk that the Lord of Darkness would be so good at video games?" Applejack commented.
"But he's not even playing the game right," Trail retorted. "He's just shooting and destroying things!"
Flash simply raised a brow. "Um Trail, the point of the game is to shoot and destroy the targets," he reminded him.
"Ya know, I was skeptical of him at first, but when you get past the fact that he's the biggest, baddest villain in all of Equestria, he's actually pretty okay," Rainbow admitted.
"I concur. I've noticed that when he's not focused on turning Equestria into his own image, he's quite fascinating," Frost added.
"Sure, the six-legged alicorn thing is still a little freakish, but he's pretty cool… in his own way, I guess," Landrush started.
"I must admit, he does have a certain charm about him," Gaia finished.
"And he is quite the good-looking stallion," Rarity pointed out wistfully, before shaking out of her gaze to quickly add, "in a 1000 year old, evil, black, six-legged, alicorn 'don't-mess-with-me-or-I'll-destroy-you' kind of way, of course."
"And he's certainly one dedicated father, if he's willing to put up with us just to save Lloyd," Twilight said with a small smile, finding it adorable somepony like Garmadon had a soft-spot for a little colt like Lloyd.
"Even though I'm still a little ticked at him for kidnapping you, Twi," Flash admitted before grinning, "all in all, Garmadon's really not that bad a guy once you get to know him."
"He may be pulling the wool over all your eyes, but not mine!" Trail argued as Garmadon laughed after getting the high score. "He's up to something, and I'm gonna be ready for it."
Frost's Falcon cried out as it soared through the air, flying over the Dragon lands near a volcano. It soon landed on a rock and spotted something of interest: Pythor and the Serpentine making their way to the volcano, with Lloyd pulled behind them in a cage. The Falcon used its robotic eyes to take camera shots and footage of this and sent it back to the Ninja.
Back on the Bounty, Lloyd in the cage was shown on-screen, but Trail was so busy on the bridge pretending to fight he did not even see it. "Garmadon, get ready to get Trail Blaze'd!" he declared as flipped around the room, doing moves, "Fire! Wham, bammy, sorry to beat you, old pony!" He shouted as he pretended to play the guitar before hearing Wu's voice.
"This way. Come, come."
Trail followed the voice until he reached the doorway and snuck up quietly to listen in.
"I have come to understand the mysterious Samurai is no longer a mystery," Wu's voice was heard on the other side of the door.
On the other side, Wu was with Twilight, Celestia, and Luna, talking with Aqua about the latest developments, and standing a bit from Aqua and Twilight… was the 'Light Ninja' suit and the Golden Weapons.
"Oh yeah, you heard about that. I guess I picked up a thing or two," Aqua remarked.
"It was foolish of me to think that a mare other than Gaia could not be the destined Light Ninja," Wu admitted as Trail tried to peer into the room through a window while standing on a stepstool.
Trail was shocked. "Aqua's the Light Ninja?" he whispered to himself, realizing that he and the others never considered that the Light Ninja may not have been one of them at all.
"And as the ruler of Equestria, Twilight, it has been your responsibility to protect all ponykind and the friendships within," Celestia explained before gesturing to the suit and weapons. "So perhaps that means doing so by wearing the Light Ninja's gi?"
Twilight looked curious but unsure about that, while Trail's gaze widened even more at this.
"Twilight could be the Light Ninja?" he whispered.
"When the six weapons are laid out before the destined one, the weapons will react, revealing the identity of the Light Ninja." Luna explained to the two mares, "You will each approach and try to see if either of you are to be the chosen."
Aqua and Twilight looked unsure. Aqua had always wanted to be like her brother and the others but she knew how badly her brother wanted to be the Light Ninja too, and Twilight was not sure if she could be a hero and ruler at the same time.
"But, Sensei..." Aqua tried to say.
"What if...?" Twilight asked before Celestia raised a hoof with a comforting smile.
"Approach the weapons, my faithful student." She instructed as Twilight and Aqua glanced at each other. Twilight gulped as she slowly walked towards the weapons while Trail watched in anticipation.
"What are you doing out here?" Garmadon asked Trail, startling him into falling off the stool.
"What are you doing out here?" Trail asked the same question.
"Evil never sleeps," Garmadon said as he approached Trail.
"Yeah, well, good never rests," Trail responded after getting up.
"Maybe we should take care of this right now," Garmadon suggested a bit menacingly.
"I was hoping you'd say that," Trail agreed as they started pushing each other back. but before a full-on fight could happen, Aqua opened the door.
"Guys, guys. What are you doing out here?" She asked as she and Twilight stepped out.
"Perhaps you should be asking Mr. Snoopy Flanks that question?" Garmadon ratted Trail out as Aqua turned to her brother in shock.
"Trail, were you spying on us?" Aqua asked in repulse.
"Uh, no way! I was, uh, keeping watch," Trail lied. "So… which one of you is the Light Ninja?"
"What? No, neither of us are," Twilight answered.
"So the weapons didn't tell you? Ah, that means I still have a chance," Trail said excitedly before Sensei Wu, Celestia, and Luna walked out.
"Truth is, neither of them wanted to know," Wu told him.
"At first, all I wanted was to be like you," Aqua admitted. "But after seeing how obsessed you've become and discovered what I could do on my own, I'm happy being a Samurai."
"And being the Ruler of Equestria is enough for me. It's my destiny, and I wouldn't change it or trade it for anything at all," Twilight added.
"So, who is the Light Ninja?" Trail wondered.
"Perhaps we will never know," Celestia said before Thunder burst through the doors.
"Trail, you were supposed to be in the bridge!" Thunder told Trail. "Frost's Falcon found Lloyd and the Serpentine!"
Gathered in front of the computers at the bridge, the others were looking at images of a volcano, with Pythor and his armies heading towards it.
"Looks like Pythor is in the Dragon Lands," Twilight said when the others came into the bridge. "The Fangblade must be somewhere in that active volcano."
"And Lloyd," Garmadon added.
"I've sent a mission to Ember to help us," Spike said, "But even with her it won't be easy."
"Well then, for the sake of young Lloyd, the Fangblade, and Equestria, we mustn't let them get it," Luna said.
"So that means we all have to get along," Landrush said, specifically to Trail and Garmadon. The red pegasus just scoffed and reluctantly agreed.
"Not to mention, we might want to be careful also," Aqua said as she was checking the readings on the volcano. "The volcano appears to be unstable. The place is a powder keg just waiting to blow up. This will be a highly combustible environment."
"Oh, great. Just what I like. Fighting armed and deadly snakes in a highly combustible environment about to blow up!" Thunder shouted sarcastically.
"We will do what we must." Wu told them.
"Yes, sensei. But where are our weapons?" Frost asked as Trail noticed somepony was not in the room with them anymore.
"And why is Lord Garmadon not here?" he asked but he already had an idea as he charged out of the room.
"Trail wait I-" Celestia try to say but Trail was already out of the room and flipped his hood on.
He rushed back to the room where the Golden Weapons were kept, and saw Garmadon holding the Scythe of Quakes, Nunchucks of Lightning, Shurikens of Ice and Sword of Fire in his four front hooves, and the Bo of Wind and Sais of Life in his wing claws.
"I knew I couldn't trust you! You thief!" Trail accused the Dark Lord.
Garmadon, having about enough of the Fire Ninja's attitude, turned to him while brandishing the weapons, "Hrgh, foolish colt. I look forward to teaching you a lesson!" he told him.
"This ends NOW!" Trail declared, slamming his hooves together.
"Indeed!" Garmadon agreed.
Trail charged at Garmadon while he spun the six Weapons.
"NINJA, GO!" Trail shouted doing his Spinjitzu as Garmadon leapt right towards him. Trail's Spinjitzu stopped midway as has he dodged a swing from Garmadon before he kicked them in the gut. The two of them crash-landed on the ground as Garmadon dropped all six weapons.
"I'm alive. I'm alive!" Trail said in elation as Garmadon stood back up.
"You need to be taught a lesson!" Garmadon shouted as Trail turned to him.
He then threw a punch at Trail but he dodged and kicked him in the face. Garmadon was surprised at first but recovered and kicked Trail back. Trail flipped and rebounded off the wall towards Garmadon, grabbing him by the helmet, flipping over him and knocking him down. Garmadon and Trail then threw punches at each other, connecting each hit with their opponent.
...Big mistake.
The impact hurt them both a lot. Trail shook his hoof while Garmadon nursed his. While Garmadon was still checking his hoof, Trail heard Aqua calling out from the hallway.
"Trail? You in here?"
Trail was not going to let the others cheat him out of unlocking his powers. As the others walked down the corridor, Trail closed and locked the door; he needed to defeat Garmadon alone. Aqua and the others walked up to the door to hear the two of them fighting inside the room. Aqua tried to open the door, only to find that it was locked.
"What are you doing?!" she asked her brother inside before his face was pressed against the window of the door.
"Discovering my True Potential!" Trail answered before Garmadon through him against a wall. He turned to them to open the door but Trail pounced on him before that.
"Unh! The door won't budge!" Thunder shouted as he tried to open the door.
"Come on! We defeated Changelings, Skeletons, and Serpentine, but we can't open a DOOR?!" Starlight asked as she tried to yank the door open.
"Why are they fighting? And what did he meant when he said discovering his True Potential?" Blueblood asked.
"Trail thinks he'll unlock his power if he stands up to Lord Garmadon." Aqua told the group.
"Why in tarnation would he think that?!" Applejack asked in shock.
"Because he thinks he's the Light Ninja!" Aqua quickly answered as she twirled a hoof to her head.
"THAT AGAIN?!" Gaia asked, as she ruffled her mane, "I know we all desired to be the Light Ninja but Trail is blowing this whole thing WAY out of proportion!"
"Exactly!" Flash said in anger, "Trail doesn't realize that this obsession with being the Light Ninja has brought us all nothing but bad luck! Losing the Monastery, us getting punished, and then Lloyd's kidnapping!"
"Well, if we don't break down this door, I think he's gonna add becoming 'Ninja pulp' to the list!" Landrush said as approached the door. "Stand back!"
Everypony backed up as Landrush's eyes glowed and his body surged with elemental energy. "Earth!" With a powerful kick, Landrush broke down the door and they all charged in only to find Trail standing on top of Garmadon laying on the floor, panting.
"I defeated him! I did it!" Trail praised himself. "Are my eyes glowing? Did I unlock my powers?" he asked as he looked at himself and felt no difference within him. "Is this my true potential?" He still waited and still nothing happened. "Argh! Why isn't it working?!"
"Because you can't defeat somepony who allowed himself to be defeated." Sensei Wu told him as he stepped forward.
Trail moved himself off Garmadon as Wu helped his brother up. "I never had any real intention to hurt you, boy," Garmadon explained. "I was only fetching your weapons."
Trail however wasn't buying it. "But you were trying to steal them-" he accused before Celestia cut him off.
"Wu and I asked Garmadon to retrieve them," Celestia told him as Trail looked at her in surprise. Celestia gave him an unimpressed look. "So… your obsession with becoming the chosen one has not only led you to invading our privacy and ignoring your duties, but also into attacking an ally."
Wu then turned to Trail in disappointment, "Perhaps it is for the best you do not reach your True Potential, or else somecreature may get hurt," he remarked. "And from what I've seen of your behavior, Trail… I can most definitely confirm you have the least likely chance of becoming the Light Ninja."
"Way to go, hero," Landrush commented as Trail looked down in shame and guilt while the others just scowled at him in disappointment. He knew they were right; he had been letting the personal mission of proving to be the Light Ninja was really costing them a lot, especially Lloyd.
Fluttershy approached Garmadon. "Oh you poor thing," she comforted as she and Wu helped Garmadon to his hooves. "Let me help you."
"Yes. Poor thing," Garmadon subtly mocked at Trail with a smirk. Trail trembled with rage at the Dark Lord provoking him, but reined it in as he would only be making it worse for himself. Then as Garmadon stood up the Bounty shook.
"Sounds like we've reached our destination," Gaia said as they all went up on deck and saw a river of lava and a large Volcano bellowing smoke a few yards away, "The Dragon Lands," in the distance they heard dragons roaring.
"Do you think she got your message Spike?" Cozy Glow asked before they could see Dragon Lord Ember flying up to the bounty.
"Yeah… I think she did," Spike said before she landed on deck.
"Hey there, made it just in time," Ember greeted before she jerked a thumb to the volcano. "Let's get moving. My dragons say that Pythor guy and his grunts are in the volcano. But bring a small party. It's not just those snake goons you're gonna have worry about."
The Ninja, the Mane Six, the Royal Sisters, the Spinjitzu Brothers, and the Dragon Lord made their way to the volcano where they could see up ahead a hole had been drilled into the side of it. Frost's Falcon flew around them as Aqua's voice came out of it via radio transmission. "The volcano seems to be on the verge of erupting. All recent indicators tell us that this place is becoming increasingly fragile. Even the smallest rupture can make the whole thing go off."
"Then we mustn't use the Golden Weapons or any magic," Luna said as everypony nodded and the Ninja, minus Trail, put their weapons away. Trail, however, just kept walking while holding his Sword until Aqua spoke through the Falcon again.
"Trail?" she warned as she was not going to let his arrogance and short temper put them in jeopardy again.
Trail sighed as he put his sword on his back. "Yeah, yeah. No Sword of Fire, but only because I wouldn't want anything stopping us from getting that Fangblade." he reluctantly replied. Since leaving the Bounty, he figured that perhaps retrieving the third Fangblade could help him become the Light Ninja.
"Or my son!" Garmadon reminded him.
As the group walked, Twilight noticed many painted carvings on the walls, likely the history of the Dragon Lands in pictorial form. Soon, her eyes were stopped by a particular craving: a large red dragon with black details sitting upon the Dragon Lord's throne with several other dragons bowing before it.
"Hey Ember, what's this?" Twilight asked the Dragon Lord.
Ember turned to the picture, her eyes widening with a bit of reverence. "Oh, that?" she asked before explaining, "That's one of the few carvings of Firstbourne~"
"Oh… Was she one of the past Dragon Lords?" Rarity asked.
"She wasn't just a one of the old Dragon Lord, she was the very first Dragon Lord in our history," Ember corrected. "Not only that, the legends said that every dragon that's ever been was descended from her bloodline."
Celestia also approached as she pointed out, "Which is why she also referred to as: The Mother of all Dragons."
"Or as we dragons call her, 'The Great Mother'," Ember added. "It was said her breath held the power of every element. And although she was said to be incredibly fierce and strong, she was also considered kind and wise."
Through the Falcon, the others back at the Bounty listened in awe, especially Spike and Smolder.
"Amazing, but what happened to her?" Twilight asked, to which Ember simply shrugged.
"Don't know. My dad told me that one day she just disappeared without a trace. Some say she ran away from her duties as Dragon Lord, while others say that she simply passed on. But I guess we'll never really know what happened to her," she remarked before waving at them to follow her. "Anyway, enough story time. Come on, we got some Serpentine to stomp out of my kingdom."
They soon started walking again as Twilight glanced once more at the depiction of Firstbourne before catching up with the others.
They soon came upon a cave shaped like a Serpentine with lava pouring down it, "Oh, a giant snake head," Rainbow said, laughing nervously. "That's totally not ominous."
"I hope it's not hungry," Thunder commented.
Ember pointed at the cave. "There, the Serpentine must be inside the inner core of the Volcano looking for that Fangblade," she said.
"Then from here on out, we travel by shadow," Wu ordered as they walked into the cave.
"It's the only way I know how," Garmadon said as rushed quietly into the cave.
"And I, as well," Luna added.
Soon they quietly rushed down the tunnel where they saw the Serpentine standing around what looked like an old lava mine. Pythor was seen looking at the map while a Hypnobrai was digging at the ground.
Pinkie then looked to her right and gasped silently. "There's Lloyd!" she told them as they saw Lloyd sitting sadly in a cage.
Garmadon gasped as he saw his child. "Son," he said as he tried to reach out to him.
Celestia pulled him back however. "Shh, they mustn't know we're here," she whispered. "Move silently and slowly everypony,"
The others nodded as they carefully scaled down the wall.
Meanwhile, Pythor heard what sounded like metal being struck in the ground, making him look up from the map to address the diggers.
"Argh, out of my way, fool!" he shouted at the Hypnobrai that was digging before he pushed him aside. He looked closer and saw the third Fangblade sticking out of the ground.
"The third Fangblade is ours!" Pythor declared as all the other Serpentine cheered and laughed, now they were only one Fangblade away from their goal.
As the heroes continued scaling the wall, Pythor looked at the blade and in its reflection, he saw the Ninja and the others in it behind him.
"Ninja?" He shouted in surprise before he turned to them pointing the blade. "Attack!" he commanded his army, who took notice of the heroes too and pulled out their weapons.
With their cover blow, the group stood ready for battle, "Light as a leaf! Attack like there's no tomorrow!" Wu ordered them.
"Or else there'll be no tomorrow!" Celestia added as she knocked a knocked a Hypnobrai into the Lava below.
Luckily, he managed to climb back up before he sank but his tail was on fire and ran away to put out. "Ow, owowow, ow! Hot tail! Hot tail! HOT TAIL!" He yelled in pain as Celestia and Wu knocked away more Serpentine.
Landrush and Applejack rushed from platform to platform knocking down Serpentine. On the other side, Flash and Twilight worked together to fight off the snakes. After Flash kicked down a Fangpyre a small burst of lava appeared in front of him. "Wind!" he called out, flapping his wings, creating a small wind tunnel that parted the lava and Twilight rode the wind to kick down some snakes.
Frost then punched two Serpentine behind him without even looking. "Ice!" he commanded, creating an ice slide which Fluttershy and Rarity slide down to kick away the Serpentine.
Gaia flipped over three snakes before knocking them over. "Life!" she called out which summoned large roots out from the ground which grabbed the Serpentine, letting Rainbow, and Pinkie take them down.
Trail soon found himself surrounded, and being the only one without powers he had no way of fighting back. Then after contemplating with himself, Trail drew the Sword of Fire and used its power to beat back the Serpentine. Unfortunately, the volcano sensed the Sword's elemental power of fire and soon the lava began glowing and rising around them.
"Trail! What are you doing?!" Starlight asked as she kicked away a Venomari.
"Trail! Your sword is compromising our safety!" Aqua told her brother through the Falcon.
Trail however, even though seeing the danger they were in, refused to put away his Sword, "I will do what I must," he said firmly.
The Serpentine then decided it was time to leave. "Let's get out of here!" Pythor called out as he turned to three Constrictai with a smirk, "But not before we leave them with a parting gift! BOYS!" The Serpentine diggers saluted as they started burrowing throughout the cave, lava spewing out from the holes they created as the volcano started shaking violently.
"They're making the volcano unstable." Frost told the others.
"Any minute this place is gonna blow!" Twilight added as the ground began to shook. "We have to get out of here!"
"Not without my son!" Garmadon said as he push them aside when he saw the Serpentine taking his son with them.
"Dad!" Lloyd called out from the cage.
Garmadon then jumped across the lava and started attacking the snakes as he climbed up to get his son. Pythor saw Garmadon approaching and knew exactly what he was coming for.
"Argh! Lose the colt!" he ordered the Serpentine carrying Lloyd, having no further use for his 'liberator'.
"Daddy!" Lloyd called as his cage was throw over the ledge and down into the lava.
"Lloyd!" Garmadon yelled in horror, but to his relief, Lloyd landed on a ledge but the cage was slowly sinking into the Lava. Garmadon knocked away each Serpentine as the lava was getting close to Lloyd. He looked up ahead as there were more Serpentine but not enough time to reach his son. One Serpentine charged at Garmadon with a sphere before Garmadon grabbed it and flipped that Serpentine over and charged at a bunch of them before using the spear to hurdle over them. He then grabbed the handle of the cage and pulled Lloyd up to safety.
Lloyd hung from the half-melted cage as he neared his father. "Daddy!" the colt said with joy as he jumped into Garmadon's arms and nuzzled his chest, too happy to even question his father's new body.
Garmadon hugged his son closely to his chest for the first time in years, "Son," he said in relieved joy. The two were so busy with their reunion they did not notice Trail fly past them.
"The Fangblade's mine!" he said flying as fast as he could towards Pythor.
"Trail, come back! It's too dangerous!" Flash called out as the others were making their way from where they came in. "The whole place is going to explode!"
"Then I better be quick!" Trail shouted as Pythor was about to go through the hole the Serpentine came through with the Fangblade. Trail wasn't going to let him get away with it as he drew out his sword and through it at Pythor, knocking the blade out of his hand and sticking both it and the sword in the wall. Pythor let out a frustrated roar when the Fangblade was knocked out of his hand before he tried to pull the sword out of the wall to get the blade.
"Hurry, we must leave here at once!" Skales called out to Pythor from the hole before a burst of lava shot up in front of him. Pythor yelped in fright before rushing through the hole, knowing the Fangblade was not worth getting fried over, before it caved in.
As Garmadon returned with Lloyd to the other Trail still made a run for his sword and the Fangblade.
"Leave it Trail! It isn't worth your life!" Thunder shouted to him.
"Not without that Fangblade!" Trail shouted as he dodged another piece of falling rock.
"Just let that thing melt in the lava, Trail! If it's destroyed, we'll still win!" Twilight shouted but Trail ignored her. The lava below soon began to rise rapidly as the whole place was coming down around them.
"We don't have much time. We need to go now!" Ember shouted.
"But what about Trail?" Lloyd asked before he turned to look where Trail was. "Trail!" He called out before a piece of the ledge he is standing on broke apart.
"Lloyd!" Garmadon called out as he tried to grab his son but was too late. They all watched as Lloyd fell down before landing on the piece of ledge that ended up floated on the lava.
"DADDY!" he called out as they tried to find a way to reach him while Trail tried to free his Sword and the Fangblade free. "Dad! I'm sinking!" Lloyd's rock raft floated further and further away from his father and friends.
"Ugh, it won't budge!" Trail grunted as pulled and pulled on his Sword, completely ignoring Lloyd in the middle of lava. Then with one last pull, Trail freed his Golden Weapon but the Fangblade fell towards the lava before it got caught on a ledge.
The volcano was getting closer and closer to erupting as more debris fell around them, "We have to get out of here, or else none of us will get out of here!" Wu told them as Trail leapt down and tried to grab the Fangblade.
"But my son!" Garmadon argued, desperately trying to go back for Lloyd as Wu and Celestia pulled him back.
"I'm sorry, big brother," Celestia said regretfully.
Flash then looked down at Trail, knowing that he may very well be Lloyd's only hope. "Trail! If you can hear me, just this ONCE do what is truly right and protect those who need you!" he shouted to him before the cave entrance collapsed.
Trail seemed to have ignored Flash as he tried to grab the Fangblade as it sank closer and closer towards the lava. Trail growled in frustration, he was literally in his element and still he could do nothing, "Come on! Why won't my power unlock?" Trail demanded himself, wanting to know what he had to prove to-
"TRAIL! HELP ME!" Trail was pulled from his frustration as finally turned to Lloyd, trapped in the middle of the lava and looking very afraid. Trail soon found himself with a tough choice: If he tried to save the Fangblade he would save Equestria from the Serpentine and prove himself to be the Light Ninja but Lloyd would be doomed. But if he saved Lloyd, he would lose the Fangblade, along with his last chance to become the Light Ninja.
Then he remembered Flash's words. "Just this ONCE do what is truly right and protect those who need you!". He looked towards Lloyd, the son of the greatest villain of Equestria, the one who started this whole mess with Pythor and Serpentine but overtime grew to be part of their family. Then right then and there, Trail realized something.
With one last glance to Fangblade that was now sinking into the lava, Trail turned back to Lloyd with determined look and did what he should've done from the very being: protecting his friend. "Come on! Let's get out of here!" Trail shouted as he flew over to Lloyd and lifted him to his back.
"But the Fangblade-!" Lloyd tried to say as he saw it disappear beneath the lava.
"Forget it! This place is coming apart!" Trail told him, not regretting his decision at all, as it was probably best the Fangblade was in the lava. "NINJA, GO!" Trail used Spinjitzu to jump from rock to rock before flying up to escape, but the cave entrance was already blocked. but then before he could do anything he and Lloyd soon found themselves surround by walls of fire, but strangely enough the flames didn't touch them, if anything they seemed to be protecting them. Trail felt a power rising inside of him and the Sword of Fire began to glow, he then realized what was happening as he and Lloyd were ingulfed in the flames.
The others were making their way out of the volcano as Garmadon tried to struggle free from Celestia's and Wu's hold. "Lloyd! LLOYD!" He screamed out as they were making their way to the bounty. As the ship took off the volcano finally erupted and they looked on in fear.
"Trail," Aqua whispered in dread.
"Son," Garmadon said with sorrow, bowing his head.
Celestia frown at him with sympathy, "Oh, Garmadon," she said softly placing a wing over him. Flash sighed at the loss of two of his friends until he looked up and saw something.
"Guys, look!" He gasped, pointing to the volcano. Everypony looked and saw a ball of red energy and fire spewing out of the volcano. but instead of falling to the ground the ball flew straight towards them.
"Could it be?" Rarity asked in awe, as from within the ball was Trail, his body glowing with fiery energy and carrying Lloyd on his back.
"It's Trail! He's found his True Potential!" Thunder said as Trail landed on the deck with Lloyd exhausted covered in ash and soot but very much alive. He flipped his hood up and smiled at Wu who was up in the bridge and the old stallion smiled back and nodded.
Trail then powered down and fell to the floor as the other rushed to his aid.
"Good job bro, and I'm glad your okay" Aqua said to Trail with a smile and hug.
Trail gave a tired smile back but it turned into a frown as he turned to his, "I'm sorry everypony, I lost the Fangblade." he said with guilt.
Luna however smiled. "But you saved young Lloyd." she reminded him as Garmadon took the colt into his hooves.
"You did the right thing," Flash added as he placed a hoof on Trail's shoulder with a smile.
Spike then coughed, "Um look, I love a reunion just as much as the next dragon, but maybe we could it somewhere away from the volcano?!" He suggested and with that the Destiny's Bounty flew away from the Volcano and out of the Dragon Lands.
Soon they all gathered on the bridge as Garmadon was holding his son close to him while Fluttershy checked him. "Dad? Is it really you?" Lloyd asked as he looked up to his father.
"It is, son." Garmadon answered as Lloyd looked down at his father's body.
"Dad… why do you have six hooves and dragon wings?" Lloyd asked.
Fluttershy smiled. "He's going to be just fine," she said as everypony cheered and Garmadon turned to Trail with a grateful smile.
"Thank you, Trail," he thanked as Trail smiled back.
Cozy went up to Lloyd and hugged her best friend, "Welcome home Lloyd," She said as Lloyd hugged her back.
"But how did you survive?" Frost asked.
"Yes, how did you discover the key to unlocking your powers?" Gaia added.
Trail then explained, "I knew when I had to make a choice, I wanted the Fangblade so badly to prove I was good enough to become the Light Ninja," the others shook their heads in amusement, for that much was obvious, "But when I saw Lloyd in trouble, I remembered that as a Ninja, it was my duty to protect the people of Equestria." Wu and the royal sisters smiled and nodded. Trail then bowed his head, "And then that's when I realized something: all of our training to become the best Ninja we could be, wasn't in preparation for one of us to become the Light Ninja," he said as the others listen with confusion, before looked at Lloyd and smiled, "It was, to protect him." Lloyd frown in confusion while Garmadon looked down at his son in shock.
The others soon caught on to what he meant and were shocked as well, Pinkie's jaw literally hit the floor. "What?" Lloyd asked as he wondered why they were all looking at him. "What's everypony looking at me for?"
"Of course, Lloyd is the son of Garmadon, and both he and Wu are sons of the first Spinjitzu Master," Flash pointed out.
"So that would mean..." Twilight said before she, Celestia and Luna gathered the six weapons and place them in front of Lloyd. All six weapons hovered in the air as light surged around Lloyd.
Wu gasped in shock. "Lloyd is the Light Ninja," he realized as Lloyd looked around him in awe. "I had thought it would be one of you, but it was him the whole time. It all makes sense. Not only have you six been chosen to protect the Golden Weapons, but also to protect the chosen one," he said as the weapons stopped glowing and he placed a hoof on his nephew's shoulder.
Garmadon smiled with pride at his son for finding a destiny away from his path until he realized something terrible. "That means..." he said with a frown on his face as Celestia turned to him.
"The battle lines have been drawn, brother," Celestia spoke in a sad tone as she turned to Lloyd who had realized it too. "Sadly, this family has only become more divided. First it was brother versus brother, sister versus sister, and now, son versus father."
Lloyd shook his head and he jumped into his father's hooves, the father he would one day have to fight and Garmadon hugged the one destined to stop him tightly. The other watched with sympathy until Rainbow interrupted the tender moment.
"Heh, okay, I get this is a lot to take in and all," she said before she frowned, "But could somepony tell me whatever happened to THE FANGBLADE?!"
Back at the volcano, Pythor and the rest of the Serpentine were making their way down till something caught Pythor's eye. The Fangblade had survived the lava and was now sticking out of a lava flow before Pythor used his staff to reach in and pulled it out.
It spun in the air before striking the ground as Pythor smiled in its reflection. "Ah, so beautiful," he said before turning to two Venomari. "Cool and clean it off boys. Because we've only got one more to go," he said before whacking the Fangblade over to them. The two yelped as the Fangblade was still hot, passing it to each other. Pythor ignored them as he chuckled evilly as he was now closer than ever to unleashing the Great Devourer.