Magic of the Heart Chapter 6
Rotten Core
Twilight wanted to believe she was ready. She had just fought the heartless, and won, but that was with the help of another pony. Could she take them on alone? She was not a fighter. At least not with a weapon of any kind. Best she could possibly do is use what she learned from Zen, and some minor things she learned from books. At least she had her spells. Come to think of it, she was near Sweet Apple Acres, which is where Rarity and Applejack ran toward. Twilight adjusted her weight turning toward the Apple family orchard. Going there she could make sure a fair amount of her friends were safe, and possibly get help from a strong fighter like Applejack? No. No she couldn’t imagine putting any of the girls in more danger. She was chosen to use the keyblade, and this was her responsibility.
When Twilight’s hooves touched the ground right away she could feel something just wasn’t right. The orchard was quiet, and though the sun was up with little to no clouds, it seemed darker. “Hello?” Twilight called out, voice breaking a bit from fear. Could the heartless be here? That one question echoed in her head. Twilight tried to pull herself to a full gallop to the farm house, but she just couldn’t. Fear struck her to the very bone. The wind causing the trees to creak was not helping in the slightest either. Wait…there was no wind on that one. Twi was afraid, but she looked toward the tree that made the noise, just to catch it moving closer.
…
MOVING CLOSER?! Twilight was stunned. This could not be true. Trees don’t normally move on their own. Finally after clearing her thoughts…at least slightly, she as able to figure out that this was not a normal tree. Instead what she was starring at had been one of the many apple trees uprooted, using it’s roots to crawl toward the alicorn princess. The heartless emblem appeared on it’s now noticeable front. Yellow angered eyes above the emblem, making the emblem almost appear like some kind of mouth. Twilight starred at this creature for a moment not sure what to make of it.
“THUNK!!!””OW!” Echoed through the whole orchard. Twilight put a hoof to the back of her head feeling a large bump. Something had smacked her hard in the back of the head. She noticed something land shortly after, peering at it. A apple? Simple but effective. And it hit her with such force she was honestly sure any harder would’ve knocked her right out. Twilight turned to see what had put some much force on the apple that had clonked her so hard. What she saw was her worst fear realized.
Just a few steps away from her was a pony lowering it’s hind legs after bucking said apple at Twilight Sparkle. The coat on this pony was a dark orange, looking moments from turning black if any darker. Her mane and tail were blonde, yet them too had the dark tones on them. Both also were tied up in a pony tail. The mares eyes glowed a bright yellow, similar to the heartless Twilight had seen so far. Her cutie mark was the final nail in the coffin for Twilight’s fear. On the pony’s flank were three red apples, however they were surrounded by the heartless emblems, being crossed out by the stitched pattern in the middle. Twilight was starring at her friend, the Element of Honesty, Applejack, as a heartless.
The two ponies eyes locked together. Can you save her? Twilight remembered that voice. It was the one from that strange world when she first got the keyblade. As if on queue it appeared before her, quickly grabbed by her magic. She is not lost. Her heart fights on. Shall you? The voice seemed somewhat forceful. Fight her friend? She couldn’t do that. At that very moment a orange hoof came flying at her. Thinking fast Twilight blocked the oncoming attack with her keyblade. Twilight couldn’t believe it; one of her best friends had attempted to attack her, and not just once. A few more punches and quick turns to buck at her kept coming. Twilight could barely keep the mental strain as she did block everything with the keyblade, but each heavy hit faltered her magic more and more. She knew AJ was strong but she appeared to have no mercy.
She does not hold back. Another buck came, striking the keyblade so hard it was knocked from her magic, and kept going. Applejack’s back hooves hit Twilight square in the jaw, sending her flying back, spinning around and landing lying flat on her stomach. Why should you? Twilight’s eyes shot open as AJ reared up to stomp the last out of the princess. Get up! AJ brought her hooves down…right onto the keyblade that was grabbed by Twilight once more. This time though force was being applied back holding the heartless mare in place. Twilight focused her magic into the blade, remembering the feeling of using that fireball from before. This time instead of shooting it through she wrapped the spell around the blade causing it to ignite in flames. AJ jumped back in pain, though no noise escaped her mouth. Twilight flapped her wings a few times to help herself quickly get up to her hooves. Once more the two ponies eyes locked. “I…I will save you Applejack!” Twilight screamed out through pained breaths. “I will free you from this…this Rotten Core!” She felt the need to name this creature. Though Applejack was within it, this was not her.
Rotten Core did not look pleased that her chance to strike down this keyblade user had been foiled. It wasn’t too big of a deal however. If what she had first witnessed was her strength it wouldn’t take much longer to overpower her. The heartless pony hopped back behind two of the tree like heartless using them for protection for now. If she did have fight left in her, the trees could soften her up a little more. Twilight picked up on why she was hiding, and quickly rolled away from a incoming apple. It was not propelled as fast as the one from Rotten Core earlier but it still would’ve hurt. The trees, no, the Dark Roots, as Twilight thought, seemed to be protecting their master Rotten Core.
Twilight glared at the Dark Roots, eyeing everything about them. Repeatedly she found herself dodging apples, or blocking them. Rotten Core every so often would buck apples herself at a high velocity. “Come on Twilight, these things must has a weakness.” She thought aloud. That’s when a idea hit her. “Oh AJ, I hope this doesn’t have a chain effect, or you are going to hate me!” Twilight’s keyblade glowed once more with the energy she used to summon the arcane magic.
Rotten Core kept herself hidden behind one of her defending trees, preparing for a new attack. This keyblade wielder was formidable when she was angry. No matter, she is still weak! Wait, what was that smell? Rotten Core flinched, jumping away from the heartless shield she had, seeing it catch fire. A wooden defense against a keyblade wielder who discovered her fire magic in hindsight may not have been smart. Though in honesty Rotten Core knew her intelligence came from the flicker of power Applejack still had. If she was lost, she’d be working on instinct alone. Regardless, her heartless companions were on fire, and weakening fast. Without saying a word, she gave the commands to the heartless to shake as hard as they could. The Dark Roots followed orders, causing their apples to fly high, giving Rotten Core ammo raining down.
Twilight didn’t like to see any of the trees in AJ’s orchard ignited, but it was necessary if it meant saving what remained of the orchard in the first place. The work she had done as not over however. She noticed these trees spreading their apples high into the air, and soon they were coming at her like bullets. Rotten Core was on the offensive again. Her attacks came fast, hard to dodge, and blocking was taking it’s toll on Twilight. She couldn’t use her magic like this, too much focus. That’s when a idea struck her. A crazy idea, but hey, maybe it’d work. Through the focused struggle, the alicorn princess watched each apple coming at her, timing them. She finally saw the speed she wanted, pulling her blade away from blocking.
Rotten Core grinned a bit seeing as her defense was down. This one would surly hit her hard enough to knock her out; then the keyblade wielders heart would be hers. A loud crack echoed through her ears, but it didn’t sound like it hit Twilight’s skull. No it hit something else, coming back at the same speed. Rotten Core was too surprised to dodge. She was smacked square in the skull, causing her hooves to fall out from under her. Twilight responded a fast as Rainbow Dash, running in and striking Rotten Core. She didn’t like it, but right now she shut out all thoughts that this was her friend. Right now, it was a creature hurting her friend. She struck at it a few times, every attack got stronger, as if not only was she striking, but another pony did as well. “Applejack…” She said, striking one final time. She felt the strength of her Earth Pony friend helping her.
The creature in her friends place laid there. There had to be something Twilight could do. Was Applejack forever going to be Rotten Core? “There must be a reversal spell…” she thought aloud, fear retaking her. Just as she thought that, she felt the keyblade tug at her magic. “What the?” The blade pointed itself at Applejack, summoning up a strange light. Fear struck her instantly. “No! We can’t hurt her more!” She is safe. Trust the key. Twilight’s eyes widened. Trust the key? It was the weapon that could save all of Equestria. Though she was greatly afraid of the outcome she nodded, following the orders of the blade. The light on the weapon glowed brighter and brighter, before finally firing directly into the shadowed earth pony. “APPLEJACK!?!?”