//------------------------------// // Chapter 22: Panic and Smoke // Story: Hearts of Harmony // by Legrio //------------------------------// “They work together so well,” Twilight thought, looking on as Riku and Sora wiped out the last of the Heartless they’d run into on their way back through the Second District. They’d agreed to let the less experienced members of their group fight alone, so that they’d get used to working together, yet they smoothly flowed around one another, perfectly complementing each other’s skills. “Maybe they practiced fighting together back on their home world?” she mused as Sora dodged around the last Large Body’s punches, leaving it wide open for Riku to vanquish it with a burst of fire. With the street now clear, Sora punched the air in victory and shouted, “That’s the power of the keyblade!” The other boy merely rolled his eyes at his friend’s antics, banishing his weapon. “Come on, Sora, let’s get going.” “Right!” the young keyblade wielder let his own weapon disappear before rejoining the larger group. They began walking towards the big wooden doors that separated the First and Second Districts. “So, how’d we do?” He asked after a few moments. “Hm?” Twilight muttered, breaking out of her inner musings. “Oh, you and Riku worked together really well. Did you practice together back on your world?” Sora nodded. “Yep, me and Riku’d spar all the time. All we had were wooden swords though, not the cool stuff we’ve got now.” “Just spar, huh?” Riku asked, “I won most of the time. I remember this one time when we were fighting over a paopu fruit and you just wouldn’t give up.” A teasing grin stretching across the boy’s face. “You wasted so many potions that day.” “Oh come on, Riku, why’d you have to mention that?” Sora whined as the others laughed. Twilight was just about to ask what a paopu fruit was when Applejack spoke up. “Does anypony else smell smoke?” Goofy sniffed the air and frowned. “Ayup, smells like it’s comin’ from the First District, alright.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The First District was in chaos. Smoke choked the air as people ran back and forth, some carrying buckets of water, others just panicking. Looking around, Twilight saw Leon trying to organize the crowd while an irate old mallard of a shopkeeper was yelling at him. “Leon!” she called, as their group pushed their way through the crowd. “What’s going on?” “Ah, it’s you again,” he acknowledged, before turning to direct some people carrying buckets of water. “There was an explosion of some sort in Mr. McDuck’s warehouse-” “That’s right!” Scrooge himself interrupted, “Millions of munny’s worth up in smoke, and that’s not the worst of it! My poor nephews were last seen going in there with some yellow pony like yourselves!” “Fluttershy!” the trio of ponies gasped as Donald groaned about his three wayward wards. “And on top of all of that, this young brute here won’t let me go in to rescue them!” Scrooge continued. The ‘brute’ let out a sigh. “Like I told you before, it’s far too dangerous. You said yourself that you were storing several volatile alchemy reagents inside along with who knows what else that could explode at any moment, besides which, we don’t know how far the fire has spread inside. It could already be too late.” “Oh, to heck with this rubbish!” the old duck exclaimed. “I’ll go in and rescue them myself!” “What?!” Donald yelped. “Uncle, you can’t! Remember your old injuries?” “I, oh, you’re right, but I can’t just sit here and do nothing either,” Scrooge said, leaning heavily on his cane. Twilight looked to friends questioningly and received two nods in return. The unicorn cleared her throat before stepping forward. “Don’t worry, Mr. McDuck, we’ll take care of this.” “Yeah, and we’ll help too!” Sora chimed in, his keyblade hefted over his shoulder, with Riku nodding solemnly. “Oh, thank you all!” Scrooge said. “I’ll give you all a nice discount for this, I promise! Now, my warehouse is over there,” he said, pointing in the direction of a pillar of smoke rising into the sky. “Just follow that alley right there and follow the signs to the McDuck warehouse, you can’t miss it.” “Well, I can’t stop you, but take care. We can’t afford to lose you, the keyblade wielders, most of all,” Leon said, moving to direct the chaotic situation. “Right,” Twilight began, taking charge. Plans were already being formed in her mind. “Rainbow Dash, I need you to help put out that fire. Whip up the biggest rain cloud you can as fast as you can and put it over that burning building!” The pegasus saluted. “I’m on it, Twi’!” she cried before taking off, blurring into motion. “Mr. McDuck, is there anything else we should know about that warehouse?” The unicorn asked the elderly duck. “Hm, let me think,” he said, “No, nothing special comes to mind. Just your normal assortment of alchemy reagents, potions, armor, weapons, tools, preserved food, a little bit of old treasure, a few old artefacts from my treasure hunting days...” he trailed off. “Of course, if you could rescue some of them, I’d be most grateful, but saving my boys and your friend comes first. Now, if those boys kept their wits about them they’ll be hiding in my office, it’s the sturdiest room in the building.” “No maps? A floor layout? Anything?” Twilight pressed. “Sorry lass, it’s been a while since I’ve actually inspected the building, most of that stuff’s been sitting in there for months if not years.” “Horseapples,” Twilight cursed to herself. “If I knew the layout I could just teleport in and blow a way out, but without knowing where I’m going I could end up in a wall or something.” After a moment, she looked up. “OK, here’s the plan. Sora, Donald, and myself will lead the way with Blizzard spells to put out the fires while Riku and Goofy will be on the lookout for any falling debris. Riku, you’re good with those barrier spells, right?” The boy nodded. “We’ll need you two to be on your toes, if the three of us spellcasters get knocked out, well, we could get trapped in the fire.” “What’ll I be doin’, Twi?” Applejack asked. “Since you’re probably the physically strongest out of all of us, I need you to be ready to clear any fallen debris that gets in our way.” “Gotcha!” the earth pony replied, making sure her hat was on tight. “OK everybody, let’s-” “Twilight! Why’s everyone running around? What’s going on?!” Spike cried, running up to them. “Spike?!” the unicorn shouted, bewildered. “How’d you get here? Marie was supposed to be watching you.” “I’m not some little baby, Twilight, I don’t need to be watched all the time!” the little dragon exclaimed. “She was distracted with everybody running around so I was able to slip away. So, what’s going on?” As quickly as she could, Twilight explained the situation. “Fluttershy’s trapped? We’ve gotta go save her!” Spike exclaimed, beginning to run off before the unicorn’s magic stopped him in his tracks. “Oh no you don’t, you’re going back to Marie’s, where it’s safe.” “But Twilight, I’m a dragon! What’s a little fire going to do to me? Besides, I can get into really small spaces the rest of you can’t. What if they’re trapped under something and you can’t get to them, huh?” The little drake asked, looking up at her with pleading eyes. “He has a point,” a traitorous thought made it’s way through Twilight’s head. Shaking her head, she let out a long sigh. “Alright, you can come with us,” she finally relented, setting Spike on her back. “But only because I don’t have time to argue with you and take you back to back to Marie’s. But rest assured, we’ll be talking about this later.” “Come on, we’re wasting time here,” Riku quickly said, his sword in hand and ready for action. “Let’s go!” And with that, they ran for the burning warehouse.