Miles away from the Celestial Palace...

A figure dressed in a black cloak made his way across the rooftops of the current town. As the sun set below the horizon, an odd flash drew the cloaked figure's attention. He stopped dead in his tracks. Pulling down the hood of his cloak, Tai Lung observed the horizon, his ears twitching and his fur standing on end.

"Celestia?" Tai Lung muttered. "What... sorcery is this? I can't feel your presence anymore..."

Realization slowly set on the snow leopard's face, before he was distracted by a scream. Tai Lung spun towards the scream. Though he could feel what lay at the end of his path beckoning to his soul, he let out a low growl... and changed course, racing for the source of the scream.

"The Celestial Scroll isn't going anywhere," Tai Lung muttered. "It can wait... whoever that is can't."

Tai Lung ran across the rooftops until he came across a dark alleyway. In the shadows, he heard a voice fill with malice and greed:

"Make another sound, and your eyes will match your arms and legs, freak!"

The voice had come from a red unicorn stallion, holding a blue earth pony mare by the neck. Her sweater and pants were shredded, and she was cowering in his grip.

"Now, is that any way to treat a lady?" Tai Lung purred, careful to keep himself hidden. Though he had a harder time hiding the growing anger in his voice. "Why don't you let her go?"

"Who's there?!" the man demanded, dropping the mare and turning towards the ally entrance. With a grin, Tai Lung jumped down, rising up and flicking his hood back.

"They call me... the Great Dragon," he replied.

The man snarled.

"You're no dragon," he said, walking towards him. "You're just Luna's reject..."

Before he could finish, Tai Lung seized the man's head. With one quick but brutal motion, he slammed the man's head against the wall, letting his limp body fall to the ground. A trail of blood painted the wall in a single line.

"T-thank..." the mare tried to say, but Tai Lung turned to her, his golden eyes narrowed.

"Change back," he ordered, the growl of anger not leaving his voice.

"What?" the mare stammered. "I don't know what...?"

"I saved you," the snow leopard growled. "Don't insult my kindness with lies."

The mare sighed, before her eyes narrowed... and flashed green. She was engulfed in emerald flames before her true form revealed itself through the smoke. Skin pitch black and waxy like a fly. Her wings like a beetle. Holes dotting her arms and legs. Medium venomous green hair. And a curved horn on her head. Even her clothes faded away with the flames, revealing torn bottle green armor.

"Hmm...," Tai Lung purred in intrigue. "A changeling."

The changeling blinked bright blue eyes at him. "You're... not afraid," she realized.

"No" Tai Lung confirmed, smirking. "Are you?"

The Changeling gazed upon Tai Lung. Though her legs trembled, she lifted herself up.

"Yes. I am," the changeling admitted. "But not of you."

"Huh... Good," Tai Lung replied, shedding his cloak and placing it around the Changeling. The changeling bowed in gratitude.

"Thank you, Master Tai Lung," she whispered.

Tai Lung paused. His gaze turned to the stars. To the moon. His mother's sign.

"I haven't been called that in years," he whispered, shutting his eyes. "It feels... nice." He gazed back down at her. "What is your name, Changeling?"

"Urtica."

"Urtica..." Tai Lung almost seemed to taste the name, before he turned from her. "You are welcome to join me. Though... I suppose you'll be needing this fool's clothes?" He kicked at the corpse next to him.

"Thank you, Tai Lung" Urtica breathed. As she bowed, she could not hide the smile on her face... or the blush in her cheeks.

[Line Break]

Meanwhile, blissfully unaware of Tai Lung and Luna's strife, Twilight stood at the stove of the dining hall, reading carefully from a cookbook as she prepared soup. The Furious Five and their sisters lounged at the table, watching Twilight with intrigue. With the exception of Rainbow Dash, who stood further away from Twilight, preparing her own food.

"I must say Twilight," Rarity commented. "I'm surprised you know how to cook."

"Considering ya almost killed her with the acupuncture?" Applejack teased. Despite Rarity puffing her cheeks in agitation, Sweetie Belle and even Twilight managed soft chuckles.

"That really isn't funny, darlings," Rarity muttered.

"Don't worry Rarity," Pinkie chirped, leaning over the table. "I lent her a few of my cookbooks. She said she was aching to read scrolls again, so..."

"Thank you, by the way, Pinkie," Twilight said gratefully, shutting the book and blowing out the flame. "Now, this was pretty much the only recipe that didn't involve baking," Twilight continued, levitating eight bowls before using a ladle to pour soup into each one. "I did my best with it – followed the instructions, but... let's see how it worked."

Continuing to use her magic, Twilight levitated the eight bowls over to the others.

"Oh! Did you read one of the other cookbooks I gave you?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"I want to," Twilight admitted. "But it's dinnertime. I only had the time to read this one." She propped the book up next to her, pat it like it was an old friend, and dug in along with the others.

Though Twilight's eyes still darted around with worry, she perked up as gasps of delight emanated all around as the others tried her soup.

"Twilight!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "This is really good!" She practically slurped her soup in joy.

"Don't slurp, Sweetie," Rarity chastised.

"But slurping means 'delicious,'" Pinkie noted, proving her point by slurping her own soup as well. "And this is beyond delicious!"

Rarity rolled her eyes at Pinkie's antics, but did adopt a softer tone. "They are right darling," She admitted. "This soup is divine. Even pinkie can't get this soup this good"

Rarity immediately realized what she said and turned to her pink friend in apology, only to find her missing. Rarity then saw Pinkie standing before the stove pouring herself another bowl of soup.

"It's nothing," Twilight insisted. "I just followed the recipe." She gave the soup a doubtful look. "I did think about going a little overboard – using some onions or herbs – but, I didn't know if it would..."

"Twilight, relax," Fluttershy insisted with a smile. "This is amazing."

Twilight looked around with a slowly developing smile as the others enjoyed her cooking.

"Fantastic!" Pinkie agreed.

"Ah wish mah mouth was bigger!" Apple Bloom agreed.

Even Scootaloo nodded in approval. "Rainbow Dash," she commented, sliding her bowl over to her older sister. "You gotta try this."

But Rainbow Dash stuck to her daisy sandwich. "You know," she commented darkly. "I heard it said that the Celestial Warrior can survive for months at a time on nothing but the dew of a single gingko leaf, and the energy of the universe."

Twilight's grin faded. Pinkie rolled her eyes at her friend.

"Dashie, don't be like that," Pinkie chastised. "You're only saying that cuz you're jelly."

"Jelly?!" Twilight and Dash exclaimed. Rarity and Applejack choked, trying to stop Pinkie, but with their mouths full, they were too late.

"Peanut butter and jelly," Pinkie continued as they motioned for her to stop. "Just because Twilight's the Celestial Warrior and not you doesn't mean that..."

"Pinkie!" Apple Bloom barked, on the desperate motioning from her sister. But the damage had been done.

Twilight stared at Dash as she glared down at her food. She put a hand to her heart.

"All this time... you've been... jealous?" Twilight asked.

Dash huffed, and looked away.

"Rainbow Dash," Twilight said with a small chuckle. "What do you have to be jealous of? You're the leader of the Furious Five; one of the greatest groups of warriors in Equestria! Have you read any of the books that have been written about you?"

Dash glanced at her curiously.

"Master Luna doesn't give us much time to read," Fluttershy admitted quietly. "Unless it's related in some way to training."

Twilight briefly stared at Fluttershy in horror before shaking out of it.

"M-My point is," Twilight continued. "The scrolls and books depict you guys as the greatest heroes since Spitfire's Wonderbolts!" Before the others could comment, Twilight went on a roll. "I mean, the Battle of Weeping River? Outnumbered a thousand to five, and you all didn't stop! You just..." She jumped up and mimed several kung fu moves.

Rainbow Dash chuckled. "We were awesome there, weren't we?" she admitted. She glanced up with eager intrigue in her eyes. "What else have they written about us?"

"The time when you went up against the Diamonds of Death?" Twilight practically squeaked in awe. "How does someone manage to turn their enemies into sequined dresses?"

"To be fair," Rarity said with a sweep of her mane. "I aided a lot in that." She gave a worried look to Rainbow Dash. "But I wouldn't have been able to if you hadn't worn them down."

"Yeah..." Dash admitted. "Yeah, you're right."

Pinkie shot up. "Oh, what other adventures did they write about?" Pinkie asked. "Did they write about the time Dashie and I managed to eat five all-you-can-eat buffets out of business?"

Twilight gave her a long, confused stare. "No," she admitted. "But they did talk about the time you went up against Discord with the aid of Master Luna!"

"No way!" Rainbow Dash breathed.

"I thought Discord destroyed the library," Rarity exclaimed.

"Turned all the books into birds."

"Nope," Twilight replied. "A.K. Yearling got every word you guys spoke that day." Proving her point, she stood up from the table and growled out a perfect impersonation of Rainbow's voice. "Your reign of terror ends here, Discord."

Twilight then switched to Luna's voice

"Surrender now, foul beast, or face the consequences of your actions!"

Hearing Twilight mimic their Master the five couldn't help but laugh, while Rainbow dash just smiled. Emboldened by their positive reaction, Twilight pushed forth into a mockery of Discord's voice.

"Oh, you truly are a treat, Lulu. 'Oh, look at me, I'm Master Luna!"

Pinkie howled with laughter. "He sounded exactly like that!" she gasped through tears of laughter.

"What is that sound you make?" Twilight continued to growl in the mock Discord-Luna voice. "Laughter? I've never heard of such a thing!"

Rainbow Dash bit back a chuckle. Encouraged to try and make the cyan mare laugh, Twilight cast an illusion spell to mimic Luna's hair.

"Work hard, my little ponies," she mimicked. "And maybe someday... you will have hair like mine!"

But just as an impression of Luna's night-colored hair cascaded down Twilight's head, the five's laughter turned to dead silence. Twilight stared at them in dismay, failing to notice Luna glaring at her from outside the room.

"Did I go too far?" Twilight asked. "I mean... I'm pretty sure Discord said that in the book."

"No, darling," Rarity hissed. "It's Luna."

"Of course, it's Luna who else would it..." Twilight started to say before realizing where everyone's eyes were darting to. "Oh, dear Celestia..." She spun, whimpering as she beheld Luna's angry visage. "Master Luna, I was, uh..." She desperately tried to dispel the illusion magic, but in her panic, she only ended up turning her fake mane a bright pink.

Luna grimaced, privately remembering a time when Celestia's mane had looked like that. The muffled chuckles of her students brought her back to attention.

"You all think this is funny?" Luna demanded. As she stepped into the light showing everyone her red eyes and the dried tear trails. "Tai Lung has escaped from prison and your acting like children!"

At her words, the little bit of humor struggling to remain faded. Pinkie's mane deflated like a balloon, and Rainbow Dash started to stand.

"Wait... what? What was that part about Tai Lung?" filtered through the students.

"He's after the Celestial Scroll," Luna said grimly, turning to Twilight. "And you are the only one who can stop him!"

Twilight stared at her in terror. At that moment, Twilight's illusion spell wore off, and faded away with a small explosion of pink sparkles. Her eyes turned right to Pinkie.

"Pinkie, I thought Master Luna didn't have a sense of humor," she whimpered.

"She doesn't," Pinkie whispered. The implication hit Twilight like a deer in a road.

"B-But... I..." Twilight turned back to Luna. "W-What about Master Celestia?! She stopped him before..."

"Celestia cannot," Luna said darkly, her expression faltering as she gazed at the staff in her hands. "Not anymore."

Dread settled over the table as everyone processed what Luna was saying. Pinkie's mane deflated even further. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom snuggled close to their sisters, almost fearing that they'd leave them. And Fluttershy put both hands to her mouth, struggling to hold back tears as Rarity tried to comfort her.

"B-But that ain't possible," Applejack burst out. "Master Celestia's immortal. Just like you!"

Luna didn't look up at her student. "She gave it up to save me from Nightmare Moon," she said.

Applejack slowly sat back down, disbelief etched across her face. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom shared a scared look.

"What do we do?" Scootaloo asked Rainbow Dash, who could only look up to Luna for confirmation.

"Nothing," the alicorn replied. "Our only hope... is the Celestial Warrior."

Rainbow Dash's face went beet red. "The unicorn?!" she demanded.

"Yes, the unicorn," Luna snapped back, prompting Dash to stand up, practically kicking her chair back.

"Master Luna, please," Rainbow Dash argued. "Let us stop Tai Lung! This is what you trained us for!"

"No!" Luna protested. "It is not your destiny to defeat Tai Lung! it is hers!" Luna said, pointing towards Twilight... and finding herself pointing at empty air.

The group looked around in shock.

"Where'd she go?" Luna asked... before her head whirled to the window.

Outside, Twilight was flat out sprinting for the stairs that led down to Ponyville. Though her training had given her a little more stamina, she still huffed and puffed as she raced for her life... and when Luna landed in front of her, Twilight's scream was clogged by exhaustion.

"You cannot leave!" Luna barked at Twilight. "A real warrior never quits!"

"Well," Twilight said with a strained smile. "Good thing I'm not a warrior!" She flared up her horn, preparing a teleportation spell. "Bye-aw..." her squeak turned to a whimper as Luna surged forward and seized her horn, cutting off her spell. "Come on!" Twilight protested. "How am I supposed to beat Tai Lung?! I can't even beat you with magic!"

"You will beat him because you are the Celestial Warrior!" Luna said, prodding Twilight's chest with the staff.

But Twilight had enough of Luna's abuse, and when she spoke, her voice was equal parts scared and angry.

"You don't believe that!" Twilight snapped, shoving the staff away and pulling at Luna's grip on her horn. "You've never believed that! Ever since I got here, you've been trying to get rid of me!"

Twilight struggled against Luna's grip, but Luna let her horn go, reeling her back and allowing her to trip Twilight up with her staff, sending Twilight to her back.

"I was" Luna admitted, pointing her staff in Twilight's face. "But now, I ask you to trust in your master. As I have come trust in mine."

But Twilight glared up at her with everything but trust.

"You're not my master," Twilight snapped, shoving the staff from her face. "And I'm not the Celestial Warrior!"

"Then why didn't you quit?!" Luna demanded. "You knew I was trying to get rid of you! Yet you stayed!"

"Yes. I stayed," Twilight said darkly. "I stayed because every time you threw one of the Furious Five at me, o-or said I was weak... yeah, it hurt!" Her head lowered. "But it could never hurt more than it did every day of my life just being..." Twilight struggled for the words, before sighing. "Just being me."

Luna's glare faltered as Twilight looked up at her.

"I stayed," Twilight continued. "Because I thought... if anyone could change me. Could make me into something better, it was you! The greatest Kung-Fu teacher in all of Equestria."

"And I can change you," Luna insisted. "I can turn you into the Celestial Warrior! And I will!"

Twilight laughed bitterly. "Tai Lung is on his way here right now?" Twilight demanded. "And even if it takes him a hundred years to get here, how are you going to turn a weak, pathetic, scrawny little bookworm into the Celestial Warrior?! Tell me, how?!"

Luna stepped back at the hurt in Twilight's eyes as she said it. It may have just been part of the training, but Luna had really underestimated just how badly Twilight had taken her words and actions. She looked away, seeking an answer to Twilight's question.

"How?" Twilight asked again.

Luna shut her eyes. Truth was, she didn't know. Part of her still believed Tai Lung had been destined for the role of Celestial Warrior. Indeed, how was she supposed to train someone that she didn't believe deserved it?

"HOW?!" Twilight screamed.

"I don't know!" Luna finally snapped. Her head lowered in defeat. "I don't know..." she repeated softly.

Twilight didn't even look at her. "That's what I thought," she whispered in despair.

As Luna walked away from the depressed unicorn, neither of them were aware of a pair of rose-colored eyes watching them.

Perched on the roof of the Celestial Palace, Rainbow Dash shook her head in sorrow at the two's despair. They needed her. Rainbow Dash knew it. Luna was her master; though she had never gotten over Tai Lung, she was still the closest thing Rainbow Dash had to a mother. And Twilight... Rainbow Dash couldn't kid herself. Twilight may have taken what was hers, but right now, Rainbow Dash couldn't see some thunder-stealing wannabe. She saw a frightened and scared civilian.

A civilian she had to protect.

Turning away from the two, Rainbow Dash stared up at the stars. Then, her wings flared, and she surged into the air, dive-bombing towards Ponyville. Wind rushed pasted Rainbow Dash as Ponyville drew closer, at the last moment the master flared her wings and landed on one of the houses. She looked back towards the palace.

"This is what you trained me for!" Rainbow Dash insisted, to herself, and even to her master – never mind that her master couldn't hear her.

Turning her gaze forward, Rainbow Dash launched off the rooftop and flew for the outskirts of town. But as she neared the borders of Ponyville, she failed to pick up the shadows of four ponies pursuing her.

"Rainbow!"

Rainbow turned. Behind her, Fluttershy was keeping a steady pace, while Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Applejack ran in formation just below her.

"Don't try and stop me," Rainbow Dash barked, trying to pull ahead. But Pinkie made a massive bound, briefly putting herself at Rainbow Dash's side before gravity pulled her back down. Undeterred, Pinkie gave another massive jump.

"Don't... be... silly... Dashie!" Pinkie said, getting a word out with each bound. "We... aren't... stopping... you..."

Rainbow Dash slowed. "Huh?" she asked.

"We're coming with you," Fluttershy said, floating to her side.

"No one should