“Phew, we made it,” Twilight thought, setting the ship into an easy orbit around the planet.
“Did you see that back there, when you looped the ship around? I blasted three of those Heartless ships in one shot!”
“Yes, Rainbow, we heard ya the first time,” Applejack replied, annoyance creeping into her tone.
“So,” Spike quickly said, hoping to cut off an argument, “Do we know anything about this world?”
“Nope, it’s completely unexplored!” Gadget chirped.
“Right. Here we go then.” Twilight nudged the controls, bringing them down. Enormous buildings, skyscrapers, came into view as they descended through the clouds.
“Kinda reminds me of Manehatten,” Applejack said, peering out of a window. “Ah hated Manehatten.”
“Alright, I’m setting us down just outside of town,” Twilight said, twisting the control stick. Soon they were landing in a grassy field beside a road that led into the city. The unicorn turned off the ship’s engines. As everyone grabbed their packs, Twilight had an idea. “Hey, Gadget, want to come?”
“Hm.” Their mechanic seemed to think it over, then shook her head. “Exploring a whole new world does sound like a lot of fun, but I have some maintenance and after flight checks to do. Besides, I think I can get a little more kick out of the laser gummies if I tweak ‘em just right.”
“Okay, maybe next time?” Twilight opened the ship’s hatch to let the others out.
The little mouse shrugged. “Maybe. Oh hey, if you see any more gummi blocks or nice tech, bring ‘em back! I might be able to make something interesting!”
The keyblade wielder laughed and nodded before closing the hatch. She stretched a bit, thankful to be outside after that long flight.
“Hey Twi’, aren’t you going to use that transformation spell or whatever?” the pegasus asked.
Twilight shook her head. “I would have been fine without it back at the coliseum. If I think we need it, I’ll use it, but I don’t want to get too used to being human. I am a pony, after all!”
Applejack let out a laugh. “Darn straight! Now let’s get goin’!”
They began walking down the road, chatting along the way. After a while, Spike spoke up. “Um, Twilight, please tell me that sign doesn’t say what I think it says.”
“Huh?” Twilight looked to where her assistant was pointing. Beside the road a billboard rose up into the sky. A strange looking creature was painted on it, waving a tentacle, with a little word balloon connected. “Welcome to Monstropolis,” the keyblade wielder read aloud.
“Are ya’ll sure comin’ here was a good idea?” Applejack asked, looking longingly in the direction they’d came. “Ah never thought Ah’d say it, but that ship’s lookin’ awful good right now.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine!” Twilight reassured her friends. “And it’s not like we’re defenseless or anything. If they turn out to be hostile we can just leave.”
“Yeah, we can take some lousy monsters!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, punching an imaginary foe. “Let’s go!”
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“Lemme guess, tourists?” the creature running the newspaper stand they’d stopped at asked. He looked like an odd cross between a porcupine and a slug.
“Uh, yeah, sure,” Twilight replied. She watched all sorts of monsters pass by. “It’s like they’re just normal people, going about their day.” she thought.
“Well, you sure picked a bad time to visit. We’ve been getting blackouts all over the city. And look at this!” He waved around one of his newspapers. “Now we’re getting news that the power company is going out of business!”
“What’s wrong?” Applejack piped up. “Are they runnin’ out of fuel?”
The salesman raised an eyebrow. “Fuel? What are you talking about?”
“Er, nevermind,” the unicorn nervously replied. “Have you seen anyone else like us in town? We’re trying to find a friend who’s supposed to meet us.”
“Miss, it’s a big city. I can barely keep track of where my home is half the time.” The monster paused, scratching its slimy chin. “But now that you mention it, I do remember seeing somebody who looked kinda like you.”
“Really? What did she look like?” Twilight excitedly asked. “What color was her fur?”
The monster shrugged. “Sorry, I only saw her at a distance and I wasn’t exactly paying attention. Maybe you could... jog my memory?” He rubbed two tentacles together.
“Huh?” the unicorn asked.
“Um, I think he wants you to pay him,” Spike whispered into her ear.
The mare growled in frustration as Rainbow Dash shouted, “Tell me what you saw or I’ll beat it out of you!”
The shopkeeper laughed, gesturing to the passerby. “Sure, right in front of all these witnesses. I’m sure you’ll get a real good tour of the jail.”
Twilight sighed, pushing the pegasus’s raised hoof down. “Alright, fine, we’ll pay. Will fifty munny be enough?” The slimy creature nodded.
“Alright,” he said, after his bribe had been counted out, “She had wings and a yellow coat of fur.”
“Fluttershy!” they all shouted in excitement.
“As for where she was headed...” the monster trailed off. Twilight sighed and got out another fifty munny. “I saw her walk into the power plant, Monsters Inc., on my way to work yesterday.”
“What’s Monsters Inc.?” Spike curiously asked.
“What’s Monsters Inc.?!” the salesman shouted. He rolled his three eyes. “It’s only the biggest scream processing factory in the world! Sheesh, what hick town did you rubes come from?”
“What the hay would Fluttershy be doin’ anywhere near a ‘scream processing factory’?” Applejack wondered. The pegasus and the little dragon shrugged.
“What’s the quickest way there?” Twilight excitedly asked.
“Well...” The monster rubbed his two tentacles together greedily.
“Oh no, yer not connin’ any more out of us! Come on, Twi’, we can find our own way there!” Applejack pulled her two friends away from the disappointed huckster.
“Why’d you do that? He could have told us where to go!” Rainbow Dash complained.
“Ah know his type,” the earth pony grumbled. “He’d have sucked every last bit out of ya. Scum like that ain’t worth the ground they stand on. Wait here, Ah’ll get us a map.” She ducked into a nearby store. A moment later, she came out bearing a small map of the city.
“Hm, let’s see,” Twilight said, unfolding the map. After a moment’s study, she continued, “We’re actually not that far away! All we need to do is cut through this alley here.” She pointed out a small passage between buildings. “And go to the end of the street here, and we’ll be there!” She rolled up the map and slid it into her saddlebag. “Right, follow me!”
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The unicorn lead her friends across the street, stepping into the shadowy alley. The sounds of the city faded into the background as they passed piles of trash and dumpsters. Suddenly, a barrier of energy flashed into view, blocking their path. “What in tarnation?!” Applejack exclaimed.
Twilight looked back the way they’d came. “Another barrier!”
“I’ll go get help!” Rainbow Dash cried, flying up into the air. “Whoa!” A final barrier appeared in her way, forcing the pegasus into a sudden dive. She landed beside the others. “Now what?”
“Now, what did I catch this time?” a voice said, seeming to echo from everywhere at once.
“Who are you?” Twilight’s keyblade floated beside her at the ready. “What do you want?”
“I just need some new test subjects.” The source of the voice seemed to be getting a little closer. “You should be honored, being such an important part of the project that will save Monstropolis! Now, say good-night!”
On instinct, the unicorn angled her keyblade behind her, just in time to block a knockout blow to the back of her head. There was a smack of metal against flesh. “I don’t think so!” She turned to look at her opponent, but there was no one there!
“What in tarnation?!” Applejack shouted, as she watched Twilight struggle with some unseen force.
The keyblade wielder disengaged from her opponent, her keyblade floating beside her warily. “I think it’s someone using an invisibility spell,” she quietly said, her weapon whirling as she blocked a flurry of attacks before launching a few of her own. The keyblade wielder thought she hit her foe a few times but couldn’t be sure.
Suddenly, their enemy backed off, footfalls echoing away. “Ugh, how do you keep doing that?!” The voice shouted, frustrated. “No one has ever been able to keep up before!”
“It’s the power of the keyblade!” Twilight replied.
“Keyblade, huh? Very interesting,” the voice mused. “I wonder what kind of power it runs off of?”
“Heartless!” Spike suddenly shouted, as a swarm of dark beasts emerged from the shadows, Soldiers, Darkballs, and Large Bodies. The lesser Heartless circled around them as the Large Bodies moved to block the ways out.
“I’ll just let these guys have their way with you, then take that ‘keyblade’ when they’re done. See ya!” The voice laughed creepily. “Oh wait, no I won’t!”
“Stay together, don’t get separated!” Twilight cried, concentrating just as Cloud had taught her. “Blade Beam!” The glowing keyblade swept down, unleashing a wave of magical energy that cut a path through the Soldiers before slicing through one of the Large Bodies at the end of the alley.
“Weren’t plannin’ on it!” The farmpony hooked a Darkball with her spiked rope. She spun the creature through the air, building up momentum, before smashing it into the crowd of Soldiers like an oversized mace. They vanished into wisps of darkness.
Rainbow Dash laughed as she leapt over a charging Large Body. "Oh man, you guys are way too slow!" She flew back, destroying the oversized Heartless with a two hoofed strike to the back, yet more Soldiers rose to attack them. "Hey, Spike, gimme a little fire!"
"Um, okay!" The little dragon spit out a few balls of flame as the agile pegasus quickly whipped up a small whirlwind. The miniature tornado absorbed the dragonfire, before Rainbow drove it into the middle of the horde. It exploded in a maelstrom of wind and flame, obliterating the last of their foes. As the last one vanished, the pegasus started shouting, demanding that their foe show himself.
“I think he’s gone,” Twilight said, stepping up to the barrier. She floated up her keyblade.
“Yeah, I guess. Hey, what are you doing?” the pegasus asked.
The mare sighed. “I’m trying to take this barrier down, but I need a second to concentrate, alright?” Rainbow Dash nodded and stepped back to wait. Magic gathered within her mystical weapon before shooting forth in a beam, dispelling the barriers. Suddenly, the sounds of the city began pressing in, much louder than before.
“Well, Ah’d say that did it. Good job, Twi’!” Applejack said, trotting out onto the sidewalk. They began walking down the street.
“Thanks, it was something the princess showed me once. The keyblade has a lot of special abilities. One of them is the ability to lock or unlock nearly anything.”
“So, ya’ll ‘unlocked’,” here the earth pony made little quotation marks with her hooves, “The barrier?”
Twilight nodded. She was about to explain more when her pegasus friend butted in. “Bah, who cares how she did it? All that matters is that Twilight did it!”
“I think the details are important,” the keyblade wielder grumbled to herself.
“So, what are we going to do about that guy that attacked us?” Spike asked.
Twilight shook her head. “I’m not sure. We don’t even know who it was or what he looked like. We do know a couple of things for sure though, he was able to turn invisible and could control the Heartless.”
“And don’t forget, he said somethin’ about a project to save the city,” Applejack spoke up. “Ah wonder what he meant?
“Hey, look!” their pegasus exclaimed, pointing ahead, “There it is!”
Twilight raised her eyes to look up, and up at the sprawling factory. “Wow, this place is huge!”
“How’re we gonna search all this?” Applejack said, looking through the crowds of monsters walking into the power plant.
“Well, we can only start at the beginning. Come on, girls, let’s see if someone inside knows anything!”