Chapter 29: Dome Magic
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Ponyville, Sora and Mogson’s House
Next Day
“Wake up, Slouch!” Something tapped on Sora’s head repeatedly, causing the stallion to wake with a start.
“Huh? Wha?!” The first thing to greet his somewhat blurred sight was Mogson floating above him with his tiny arms crossed.
“Wake up, kid! You’ve been sleeping for WAY too long, it’s almost noon so breakfast just became brunch.” He watched the floating little plush toy of a Shopkeep fly off with a grumble. “Gonna need your help with something after that, so quit wasting time.”
Sora blinked a few times to get some clarity in his vision before slowly rising from the bed with a yawn. He was glad that the soreness from yesterday was gone, otherwise getting up would have been a more irritating process. It was a miracle he even made it to his own bed when the Princesses dropped him and the girls back home.
After waiting a few more moments for the grogginess to leave his body, he hopped off the bed and got ready for the day by heading to the shower, which by now had become routine. It seemed that despite being covered in fur ponies do, in fact, sweat ...and therefore stink. A fact that Rarity had all but drilled into his head. You see he and the girls had to listen to her complain about all of them being huddled in a cramped chariot the whole ride home, inhaling the “Smell of Victory” as Dash would’ve put it. It wasn’t like he had any intention of going his whole stay here without washing up and all. I mean what, did people think he just went through his adventures with some kind of magic spell that prevented him from needing to shower every now and then? ( 
: Yeah, you’d think people believed was some sort of video game character or something, hee hee! )
He was a very active fighter, it’s only natural that he would sweat and need to bathe. So he washed up, brushed his teeth, then reminded himself to thank Mogson for actually supplying him with a toothbrush from his shop. Though that did beg the question of why he had toothbrushes for sale when his main business was selling adventuring gear and synthesizing items. Or maybe he was just asking too many questions and shouldn’t look a gift horse in the- ...Ok, that was probably a saying he should avoid using from now on, given the circumstances.
Eventually he was clean, dressed and on his way down the stairs before taking a seat in front of the dining table. Pancakes with orange juice today, though they weren’t piping hot since they had been sitting there for awhile. He didn’t seem to care much, cold pancakes didn’t taste that different from warm pancakes anyway. Also his mind was elsewhere at the moment, causing him to not pay much attention to the taste as his mind replayed yesterday’s events.
~~~~~~~~~~
Canterlot Throne Room
Yesterday
“The Beasts of Tartarus?” Sora wondered aloud at the unfamiliar name as he looked on at the distraught Princesses.
“Yes, it’s no surprise that none of you know of them.” Celestia gestured to the girls.“Their existence had been all but forgotten by society, it was before Luna’s banishment after all.”
While the girls looked at each other with worried faces, Sora was just confused. “Well, why would they be a problem, you said that was a thousand years ago right? So then wouldn’t they be long gone by now?”
“That would be the case, If they were mortal beings.” Celestia shook her head.
Twilight’s eyes widened at this new information. “Wait, are you saying that they’re immortal?” the other girls were taken aback by this and turned to Twilight before looking at their rulers for confirmation.
Both sisters nodded solemnly before the youngest continued “The Beasts of Tartarus is actually what we dubbed them for their abuse of power and the immortality that they have either stolen or received through dark methods.” At the questioning looks she received from those present she continued. “Here, allow me to explain.” Luna’s horn glowed before a magical projection appeared in front of her.
“There are four in number, each one just as terrifying as the others. One focuses his power on brute strength.” a silhouette of a rather beefy Minotaur appeared. It looked somewhat cartoonish, but its might was made apparent as similarly cartoonish silhouettes of mountains appeared. “Able to crumble mountains with his fists or cleave them with his axe, he finds entertainment in wreaking havoc wherever he goes.” They watched as the minotaur punched one of the huge mountains into oblivion before it reached toward its back to pull out a big axe. It jumped and brought its weapon down on another large mountain, cutting it in two and watching the two halves fall away from each other. One half landed on an unsuspecting village, leaving the minotaur laughing at the destruction. Some of the girls, especially Fluttershy, started to grow a little pale at the idea of meeting such a terrifying foe. Applejack however, with her newfound increase in power seemed to hold a measure of determination in her at the thought of challenging it in a match of strength. It just didn’t sit right with her that such a strong guy would use his power to hurt other ponies.
“Another focuses her power on the arcane arts and many forms of destructive magic.“ A silhouette of a lanky cartoon unicorn appears. As its horn glows, raging fires and terrible beams of lightning surged around her before images of helpless ponies were levitated and cast into the flames as she smiled. “Her most frightening ability is seeing into the future, the ability to predict and anticipate. We’re not entirely sure if she expected this day to happen, but it is safe to assume that she might have.” Twilight stared at this one, incensed at the notion that someone would abuse magic in such a way. Not if she had anything to say about it, immortal or not.
The silhouette changed into that of a griffin “A being that could control time in such a way that one would believe they were swift. His insatiable lust for violence grew exponentially the more he used his ability.” Silhouettes of Royal Guards seemed to charge after the griffin, but then the image of a clock appeared above them and the guards slowed down immensely. This left the griffin to stroll up to them and take them down at his leisure, each one a more violent beating than the last. Rainbow looked upon this as a challenge. Some faker pretending to be fast when he was actually only controlling time? She’ll just have to take this griffin down a peg.
“Finally there was one that would use manipulation and hypnosis abilities to satiate his infinite greed.” The image finally changed to that of what looked like a dragon. Its eyes suddenly glowed red and it stared at a group of pony silhouettes. The ponies stiffened up in fear for a moment before finally slumping a little and dragged their hooves as they offer up to the dragon their valuable treasures and throwing them into a pile for the dragon, who now was sporting a toothy grin as he watched. “Make no mistake that should he so choose to, he could use his powers for more deadly purposes, just like the others.” The dragon would look at some of the hypnotised ponies that seemed to carry either nothing or useless junk before swooping down on them. The image changed to those ponies completely oblivious and entranced before jagged teeth closed upon them, teeth which contorted into a sinister smile afterwards. Rarity for one was appalled to see such a brute using his powers to steal what ponies would hold dear to them. She harrumphed and stomped a hoof, she would give this dragon a piece of her mind when they find him. However, the devouring part of Luna’s explanation unnerved her a bit… She decided to make sure she wasn’t alone when she did scold this ruffian.
Celestia then started to speak. “It was not an easy task to apprehend them, and when we finally did capture them, we could not send them to any normal prison or dungeon. They were far too dangerous, even to the other inmates of those places. At the time, the best thing Luna and I could do to protect our ponies was to seal the four of them away in the deepest darkest pit we could find. The sealed room would drain them of most of their magic and strength, to where they could either rot for eternity or until we could think of a better solution for them… However, as time passed on, we had put their true punishment aside as we continued on with our royal duties. Then the Nightmare Moon incident…” she looked at Luna who seemed to look away with a hint of sadness on her face. “In time so many things happened that they were the last thing on either of our minds, until today.”
Sora took in the information of these new foes, it seemed his mission here has gotten much tougher now. “So, you think Maleficent and Chrysalis recruited these guys to their cause?”
“I believe so, but it would be rather unwise, none of the beasts would cooperate with each other, let alone someone they just met.”
“Maybe they don’t have to...” Sora realized.
Everyone looked at Sora with confusion, before Luna asked what they were all thinking. “What does thou mean?” Slipping back into her archaic speech pattern for a brief moment.
Sora held a hoof to his muzzle “Well, Maleficent has made it known, through all my times running into her, that she can control the heartless. That must have been her plan in the first place.”
Twilight tilted her head “Control heartless? What would that accomplish other than to-” and then it clicked “She was after their hearts! To make them into powerful heartless.”
“Exactly!” Sora pointed to her.
Everyone else was surprised, then the two sisters donned an even more worried look than before as Celestia spoke. “If what you say is true, then those Heartless will be a fearful addition to their dark forces.”
“That’s not all we have to worry about, Princess.” Sora regretted to say.
“Oh great, more bad news?” Rainbow groaned
When he had their attention he continued. “I’m pretty sure I said this before when I told you all my story, but when a strong individual loses their heart to the darkness, their body will remain and do things on its own. They would become a nobody, a being without a heart.”
“Yes… You have explained that, and Master Yen Sid has discussed as much with my sister and I beforehand as well.” Celestia shook her head. The situation just kept getting worse and worse.
Luna decided to confirm it for everyone. “There is no doubt that the beasts of Tartarus were strong individuals, so it is almost guaranteed that we have a new threat to deal with as well. At the very least there is some positive to take from all this.”
“Yes, thank you for reminding us Luna.” A smile finally returning to both their faces, albeit a small one. “Which is why we have a new task for you Twilight.”
The purple unicorn immediately straightened up at that. “Anything, Princess.”
“We’d like you to oversee and give us reports on our new method of protecting our towns and cities. When you’re not training with Merlin to learn otherworldly magic of course. Sora and your friends can also help as well when they aren’t busy.” Celestia looked over toward the others, just in time to hear Sora speak.
“Oh right, I do remember you two mentioning something about that the last time we were here. Something only this world could do because of its magic I think.”
Luna nods “Indeed, It is simply a test, a protective shield that can encase a town designed to prevents heartless from entering. At the same time anypony can freely enter or exit from it, so long as they don’t harbor darkness. Construction on the device has already begun and the professors and workers should already be on their way there.”
Twilight puffed her chest out proudly. “You can count on us, Princesses! I’ll be sure to write a report the moment anything comes up.
“Thank you, Twilight. However, don’t overextend yourself when you don’t need to. You’re not exactly at your best when you are sleep deprived.” Celestia giggled as the other girls seem to either join in or hold a smug look on their face, causing her student to blush in embarrassment. Sora could sorta see where they were coming from with this, however he has yet to see this version of Twilight with his own eyes. It was only a matter of time however.
~~~~~~~~~~
Ponyville
Present Time
Sora snapped out of his trip down memory lane when Mogson cleared his throat. “Hey, kid! You almost done eating or what?” Looking down on his plate, he saw it was pretty much empty.
Guess I was on autopilot there. He grabbed his glass of orange juice and practically chugged it down before hopping out of his seat. “Alright, I’m done! Now what’s this about helping you out?”
“You, kid are gonna help me with advertisement!” Mogson pointed toward him before flying out the door.
Sora tilted his head “Advertisement?” He followed the Moogle out of the house “How long will this take exactly? I still have to do my job and get some training in.”
Mogson flew into his kiosk and under the counter, seemingly digging around for something. “You’ll have plenty of time for all that later, I’m sure. I only need you for a short display then you’re off on your merry little way. Oh speaking of business, it looks like some new products have been added into the catalog. Care to take a look before we set out?” He then pulled out his catalog book and opened it for the stallion to see.
Sora decided to take a look. Apparently there were some new cooking appliances up for sale next to the cooking set he saw last time, these ones coming from Equestria to be exact. It would seem fitting to have that for the kitchen being as he was in an equine form, and it even ran a special deal on some “out of this world” ingredients, though even then it was still rather costly. He immediately started thinking of sea salt ice cream. As the thought that Pinkie might like to try some rose in his mind, he also recalled Twilight mentioning that Spike liked ice cream as well. Well who doesn’t, but Sora was wondering if Spike or the ponies here would even like it
Next on the list seemed to be a pet bed, it seemed to be the universal size for many common domesticated animals at least. He didn’t own a pet, and he would only be here for a year, yet the thought remained. It wasn’t like he couldn’t come back to visit, plus Mogson seemed to have set up shop on this planet for the long run so at least someone would look after it whenever he’s not around… Perhaps it was best to get advice from an animal expert.
Up next was a book case, it was the same bookcase from before, but after that big battle and all the munny he got from slain heartless the price seemed much more affordable in his eyes. In addition it seemed a couch and coffee table was for sale as a set, it was still one of the more expensive items on the list, but it was versatile and would make his home more cozy for guests. Not to mention it’s a great idea to have for whenever he wanted to make tea or read a book. After much delegation with his inner self, he decided to go with the the couch and table set for its multiple uses and comforting look. Along with that he bought the cooking appliances with other wordly ingredients. It was a good thing half the kitchen appliances had to be purchased with bits since they came from Equestria, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to afford it and still get the other things on the list. Even with him paying half as much Munny it still only left him with BARELY enough to purchase the usual things he would buy like potions and ethers, as well as payment fees for synthesizing items. Fortunately, the bookcase only required bits to purchase it, so he figured after doing some odd jobs today he’d be able to afford it it later.
His shopping completed for now, Mogson nodded and took the catalog to store it away for later. “Alright, I’ll have your new stuff in your house by tomorrow morning. Now that we got that out of the way, we can get to you helping me advertise.”
“Yeah, about that. What exactly is your plan for that?” Sora asked as he watched the moogle fly about.
Mogson simply waggled his finger. “Haven’t been keeping up to date with the news? Apparently the Mayor is gathering all the citizens to talk about some new thing the Princesses are planning.” He then started dropping bags and items in a cart he pulled out from the side of the house. Every day this Moogle seemed to be boggle Sora’s mind with questions of where he would get all these items from.
“Sorry, I was kinda out of touch with it since I was fighting an invasion at the capitol.” Sora then scratched his head. “Everything was sort of vague the last time I was talking to the Princesses. They probably said something but I was too tired and sore to pay attention to much else other than what was important at the time for me to know.” He recalled the conversation with the Royal sisters being longer, but only the information on the Beasts of Tartarus really stuck with him since they sounded powerful.
“Such is the life of Keyblade wielder I’m sure.” Mogson continued as he finished dropping things into the cart. “Now get over here and start pulling, I wanna be there before the event starts so we can set up a stand.”
“Hey, why am I pulling this?” Sora glared back at Mogson who was now pushing the stallion from behind towards the cart.
“Really, son? You’re gonna make this poor old timer pull all that heavy stuff by himself? That’s just beyond cruel, my friend.” Mogson shook his head and clicked his tongue as if casting shame on the boy.
Sora simply snorted with a deadpan look. “Then why do you act like a child when girls are around?”
“Because no matter what shape or form, the ladies are a joy and it is a privilege for mature men like myself to indulge in their radiance and beauty. And the greatest way to achieve such beauty is give them something to share it with.” Mogson held a hand to his heart while the other hand casted out toward the heavens as if he was putting on a shakespearian act.
Sora felt a cold sweat forming. “So you act cute so you can be close to girls and be creepy, got it.”
Mogson simply turned his nose upward and folded his arms as he grumbled. “How rude, I wouldn’t expect such an immature child like yourself to understand anyway.”
“Hey!”
“Less talking and more pulling!” He pushed Sora toward the cart and got him set up. Because Sora could not deny Mogson’s old age, he reluctantly started pulling the cart into town.
As he pulled the cart along, Sora had an interesting thought and had to ask “So, if you’re going to sell your stuff to the citizens, how are you going to get Munny from them? It’s not like a lot of them go out of their way to fight heartless after all? And I’m sure the guards and the Princesses would rather them not be so close to danger.”
“Don’t you worry about that. You see the guards and I came to a little deal that’s a win-win situation for the citizens, the guards, AND yours truly.” Mogson sat at the front of the cart and would constantly fly back to check on his wares. “But none of that is going to happen if we don’t get there quickly, so chop chop!” He clapped his tiny little hands twice leaving Sora to simply roll his eyes and keep on walking.
~~~
Town Square
Later
Sora and Mogson had finally reached the square and could see it was already quite busy there today. Ponies were gathering, guards were patrolling, and it would seem a group of construction workers were building some kind of tower. Sora would ask around, but apparently that would have to wait as the Mayor hasn’t explained yet, and Mogson decided to take advantage of this opportunity.
“Ladies and Gentlecolts! Feast your eyes on these otherworldly items that can make your lives a thousand times better!” As Mogson started his pitch, Sora was directed to stand in front of him. It wasn’t made apparent until after the “show” started that Sora was designated as Mogson’s special little guinea pig to demonstrate the quality and functions of his various potions and items. Of course for him to show how well the his potions worked, it required Sora to take damage.
“Where’d you get a bomb?!” Sora could only ask as Mogson rolled a short-fused round explosive in his direction, blasting the poor boy back and into the cart. After tumbling out in a daze, Mogson then cast the potion on him bringing him back to his senses and to his previously normal self again. No aches, no pains. “You little-”
“And there you have it folks! He takes a beating, but with a potion, he keeps on ticking!” Mogson continued to pitch and with great success. The crowd grew with more and more amazed ponies, now asking for his products. “Now hold up a moment, everypony! As much as I would love to sell these things to you, I’m afraid bits will not be able to buy any of these.”
“What do you mean?! You can’t just show us these great things and then tell us we can’t even buy them!” One of the ponies yelled shaking his bag of bits.
“Now now, I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t already a solution.” Mogson turned to his left and nodded. At that moment a guard stepped forth and stood next to the business moogle.
The stallion cleared his throat before speaking. “We have come to a business agreement with Mr. Mogson here, which has also been approved by the princesses. In order to do business with him, you must have this exotic currency he calls Munny.” The guard then pulled out a few from his own wallet. “These are collected when we defeat a heartless.” Murmurs rushed through the crowd now after hearing this. “However, although you are all free to do as you choose, The Princess and we gaurds would prefer that you do not go out looking for heartless. They are still a dangerous threat and you should stay away from them at all costs and notify your nearest guard if you come across one.”
“Then how can we get Munny?! I want to buy some potions!” another voice in the crowd yelled.
“We have come to an agreement that we guards will be more active in defeating heartless, in order to collect Munny. If you wish to collect Munny safely, simply head over to our barracks down the road and speak with the receptionist. You can trade in bits for Munny there as we have already accumulated a sizeable vault of it. Your bits will aid the guard in purchasing much needed equipment and supplies, so you would be adding to the funds for your protection.” Already a lot of the ponies were chatting about making a trip to the barracks, so it seemed as though Mogson’s pitch would be a success.
Sora had to put up with a bit more “assistance” to prove the quality of store products before he was free to go as the Mayor finally showed up and started gathering everyone’s attention. Since he was there, Sora was curious on what this was all about and what those construction workers have been working on.
“Hello everpony! I thank you all for taking the time out of your day for this important announcement and I will try to keep things brief.” She began “As you are already aware, times have been dangerous with this new threat called the heartless, and I don’t have to read your minds to know your fears and concerns of your safety.”
A hushed murmur washed over the crowd, and Sora could pick up a few voices telling their worries to one another about it. It’s hard to believe it, but these ponies really must have been isolated from heartless and outside worlds for them to not even know of such things… I guess I was sort of the same back then. It doesn’t really hit ya until they’re on your doorstep I guess.
The Mayor continued “However, the princess has decided to have our fair town try a new method in order to give us that extra bit of security we so badly need.
I’m guessing it involves those guys Sora thought as he turned his gaze back to the construction workers.
“Those ponies over there are here to set up what the Princesses are calling a Shield Pylon, and with it, you all can rest easier in your own homes again.” The Mayor gestured to said workers and a few of them even bothered to wave back at crowd before returning to their business. “By the end of the day, their work should be completed and they’ll be able to test it out for the first time.
“Test?! You mean it hasn’t been tested before?! How can we trust it will even work?!” A voice called out from the crowd. This got a few other voices to raise similar worries.
However the Mayor seemed to have expected as much as her rebuttal was swift. “Would you rather nothing be done at all about this threat?” Now THAT shut them up. After few moments of silence she finally continued. “I understand you are all worried, and are undoubtedly concerned at hearing that the reliability of this new method of protection has yet to be confirmed, but with no other options this is the best that Ponyville, no, all of Equestria has now. We all know that Princess Celestia and Luna would do anything to protect us, and THIS-” Mayor Mare gestures to the unfinished tower, “is their answer for that.”
“I don’t know about you all,” all heads turn toward Sora who was now seen walking towards the mayor, “but I like the idea of not being woken up in the morning to take out a heartless that managed to slip inside my house, so I’m for it.” he sat on his haunches and placed his hoof on his muzzle. “And of course if you ever need something that’s outside of the range of this thing, you can always count on me. After all, my job board is right over there.” He then gestured to the bulletin board the Mayor erected for him. After a moment he figured that he might as well make a sales pitch about his abilities as well. “And I am more than used to fighting Heartless to get the job done.” He held his hoof out to summon his keyblade as proof.
Even more chatter was going amongst the ponies now. A lot of them remembered his battle during Pinkie’s blockapalooza party, that memory already filled them with confidence towards the idea. Now that the mood started to change to a happier one, Sora simply turned to the Mayor and nodded. The Mayor smiled and mouthed a “Thank you” as she nodded in return before addressing the citizens. “I for one am glad that such a hero is willing to aid us in anyway he can and am more than willing to take a chance on this plan our Princesses have with this pylon. So I shall pray for its success so that all towns, villages, and cities in our wonderful country can also have safety. What say you, good ponies of Ponyville?! For a better tomorrow?!” Her reply was a round of cheers and hooves stomping the ground. “I thought so!”
Seeing that his work was done and Mogson was seemingly busy with his new customers, he decided to take the moment to sneak out and head back home to train. That was when something suddenly swooped him off the ground and high into the sky. “Whoa!”
“Hey there Spiky, I was looking for ya!” when he looked up he saw Rainbow giving him a smirk as she carried him away from Town Square.
“Hey Rainbow, what’s with the airlift?”
“This time for sure! No interruptions, we’re gonna fuse!” That same confident look never wavered. She was seriously determined this time.
Should’ve seen this coming He thought as the pegasus carried him off towards his home. “Well I was heading off to train at home anyway.”
“Oh yeah! You got a dojo or something at your place right? Sweet! Let’s crash there!
~~~~~~~~~~
Golden Oaks Library
“And you’re sure that’s how you did it?”
“Sure as sugar, Twi. At least as far as ah’ can tell ya.”
Twilight was a very busy mare today, after Merlin had told her and Fluttershy to take a break, she finally decided to take that time to gather Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity and discuss with them the process of fusing with Sora. Her progress… hardly much farther than what said girls and Sora already knew about it so far. “I just don’t get it. Where is it that you go? Some sort of pocket dimension? What kind of magic is that?”
“I’m not sure that’s what you would call it, darling.” Rarity shook her head before placing a hoof to her chest. “It’s honestly hard to describe what it is. And for that matter, when you fuse with him you feel as if… as if you are him… and yet you’re not… Oh dear, how can one explain such a feeling.”
“It’s your heart!” Pinkie giggled and bounced on her seat a few times. “It’s gotta be after all. Sora always talks about how important they are, and he and that spooky voice seemed to talk about connecting hearts whenever we fuse!”
Twilight looked at her skeptically “So, he connects to your heart and that’s how you fuse?” She was scribbling away at her notes everything that they said, but the whole explanation was hard for her to wrap her head around. Hearts… last time she checked, that used to be what you would call that organ that pumps your blood. But now there is this intangible object within her that’s also called a heart and it’s supposedly her very being? And now this heart apparently can do so many things that would seem impossible in her opinion, and she would vanish from reality if a heartless took hers away. She rubbed her temples. “How can such a thing be real?”
“Not sure Twilight, it just is.” Applejack replied “Maybe it’s just sumthin’ that’s beyond our understandin’ this time”
Twilight immediately waved her off with her hoof “Nonsense Applejack, there’s an explanation for everything. I just have to figure out how to explain this anomaly.” she then set the tip of her quill tapping against the paper as her mind started turning out a hypothesis. Her friends meanwhile were just reminded of her little episode with Pinkie Sense. “Perhaps this is some sort of advanced spell that Sora casts subconsciously on willing individuals to absorb their powers and abilities, taking them for his own?”
Pinkie Pie started giggling. “Silly Twilight, he doesn’t suck away our strength, that sounds too mean. We become his strength!” She lifted her forelegs high above her as confetti flies out of her hooves for some reason. This left an uncomfortable moment of silence with the girls before Rarity finally spoke.
“That.... That seems rather accurate for a simple explanation of what it does.” Rarity turned to Twilight. “No offense, Twilight but your method sounds rather cruel, as if he just rips away our strength for his own gain. It’s nothing of the sort, I assure you.”
Twilight gave it some thought “Well, while I didn’t mean it that way, perhaps you’re right. But how does it all even work? We’ve seen the process of how he gets it to work, but nothing concrete on the cause. I’ve asked Sora and he’s pretty much in the same boat. It’s all educated guesswork and improvising on his part.” Twilight wanted to help Sora in anyway she could, that resolution she made in the Everfree was still strong in her mind, that meant more than just helping in a fight. She wanted to help him understand things that were mysterious or unknown to him. “As far as he and I have gathered, we believe it’s safe to assume that the elements resonate whenever an act that compliments their specific trait is performed within a certain proximity to Sora.” She started scribbling again with her magic.
“Ah’m not gonna pretend ah understood all of what ya just said. If from what ah did get from it is correct, then yer sayin’ that finding something that goes with the element’s meanin’ is what gets it goin’? Like Honesty earns Trust.” Applejack stated.
“Ooh ooh! Laughter brings Joy!” Pinkie waved her hoof in the air like she was in class.
“And if I remember correctly, Generosity begets Gratitude.” Rarity placed her hoof under her muzzle as she thought about it.
“Trust… Joy… Gratitude…” Twilight finished writing and was reading out the diagram she made on it. “So perhaps deciphering what the individual elements give birth to is how we can unlock the other ones?”
“From how it sounds, that does seem to be the case.” Applejack nodded after giving it some thought. “So goin’ off that, what would Loyalty make? Rainbow has been buggin’ me nonstop about how it works, and the sooner we get her fusin’ the sooner she’s outta my mane.” She snorted.
“Yes, she has been rather focused on the process as of late. Whenever I would mention it she would definitely give me a look about it.” Rarity giggled quietly recalling the memory.
“She’s just jelly of our sick new element powers!” Pinkie popped up from behind Rarity, spooking the unicorn before she activated her element and was sitting in her magic turret. Rarity inside of the cockpit with her as well since she was too close to avoid it.
“Pinkie! No cannons in the library!” Twilight pointed a hoof toward the Party Pony stopping her from pressing one of the big shiny buttons.
“Awww, party pooper!” Pinkie groaned before making the turret retract back into its backpack form on Pinkie. Rarity was still shaking a bit from how fast everything went for her as she found herself once again sitting on her seat cushion as if nothing happened.
Twilight gave a sigh. “I suppose for now we at the least have some sort of lead on how to activate the other elements. Maybe I’ll just have to talk with Sora again about it, add him to our circle here next time.
“Sounds good, though ah’ll be busy with the farm tomorrow, so the time after that’ll have to do fer’ me.
“I’m free whenever Twilight! Hee hee!” Pinkie Pie smiled.
“I suppose I should take the opportunity tomorrow to continue working my new Adventure Chic product line” She then squealed and clapped her hooves in excitement. “I already have customers requesting to have custom orders for it!” During their battle in Canterlot the other day, the ponies that had gotten a chance to look at her, Sora and the girls’ outfits had nothing but compliments for the designer’s work. As a result through the whole conversation Rarity was wearing hers and was walking around town all day with it in hopes to gather more fans of the fashion in Ponyville. It was definitely getting some positive looks from other ponies, though that could have also been due to the fact that her outfit complimented her beauty. It certainly grabbed the attention of some stallions that happened to look her way.
With a sigh Twilight filed her notes away for the next meeting. “Alright then, same time the day after tomorrow?” at everyone’s nod she got up. “Alright, you’re free to go then, but don’t be late.”
“Ah’ have to say Twilight, you’re takin’ all this pretty well. Normally you’d still have us here til the next day if we didn’t stop ya’.” Applejack chuckled
This made Twilight cringe a bit and look away with light blush. “Hey, I’m working on it… it’s just... there have been so many things going on lately these days since Sora arrived, it’s hard to focus on one thing you know. Plus Celestia asked me to check on the Pylon for her today, it should be completed soon.”
“Oh yeah, I remember the Princesses talkin’ about that. I haven’t been to town yet so Ah’ haven’t seen it. It’s suppose to keep Heartless out, right?”
“That’s the idea. The Princesses experimented on a smaller scale to see that it could work using the magic in the atmosphere as a power source, which it did. We’re basically just the first town to have it since it’s the first test on a larger scale.” Twilight stated.
“Well, do you think it’ll reach as far as mah farm, or Fluttershy’s cottage?”
“At the very least Applejack, I am confident that the both Fluttershy’s and your home will be under its protection. I’m not entirely sure about your orchard however since it expands much farther out, but you and Big Mac haven’t had much trouble before right?”
“Ah’ reckon ya got a point there. We tend ta’ avoid any we come across, then buck any that get in our way along with the trees. Normally they're just small fry but the Crusader’s Clubhouse had to be declared off-limits because of the varmints.” Applejack looked off to the side with a sad expression. “The three of them have been pretty bummed about that ever since. Ah’ was at least hopin’ that it would reach that far, for them.”
The girls soon shared the same look before Twilight continued. “That would explain why I see them around here lately with Spike and Merlin.” She then nodded “Well, we won’t know until we try, right?
“Right, sugarcube.” Applejack nodded, though her confidence didn’t seem to rise much. This was all new territory for the lot of them.
~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile
Sora’s Training Room
“Yah!” Spike leapt at the enemy, his weapon lifted over his head to bring an overhead strike down upon his target’s head. The strike connected, but he didn’t stop there, he spun his body in mid air to deliver a single handed upward cross slash to its body before gravity took hold, bringing him down to land feet first on the ground. That’s when he started up a new combo; right slash, upper slash, spin hop to add more power to his downward cross strike, thrust, side roll around to the back of his foe, pivot on his foot and give a backslash before back stepping from his opponent in a guard stance. The target remained in place. “Ok…” He rushed back in again and slashed it horizontally on the back “Hah!”
!! An Incoming Strike!
Spike ducked and rolled forward under the attack before twisting his body so he was facing the enemy again, weapon held out with his right hand and his left hand supporting his body as he bent low. He immediately lunged forward and gave an upward cross slash from right to left, then strung up another quick combo off of it with a downward cross slash, spin hopping to make another heavy downward cross slash, then finished with the same twirl and side swipe move that Sora once used at the end of his ground combos back when he first got the keyblade. Normally that would send smaller heartless flying back, but this foe remained in place, although it would recoil from every strike it took. Spike was ready to keep going-
“Alright, Spike! I think that’s enough for now.”
Now finally out of his imagination mode, the formidable foe Spike faced was actually just a training dummy and the battlefield around him was in actuality Sora’s training room. Off to the side was Merlin who was retrieving some floating Struggle weapons with his magic. He had them floating around by Spike and the dummy to act as enemy attacks for Spike to block or dodge. Spike’s weapon, in reality was a simple struggle sword
“A splendid job for your first time, my boy. Now I do believe a break is in order.” Merlin turned to the doorway and saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders trot in with tea and snacks balanced on their back. Of course they weren’t the ones that made the food, Spike made sure to tell them NOT to cook, rather just ask to get some from the library and have the bearers that were already there help if they needed to make any more. Since Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity were there talking to Twilight about something he didn’t pay attention to, neither he nor Merlin would have to worry about the fillies trying to “make snack time a million times better!” as quoted from Applebloom. It was the weekend so they wanted something to do and figured they could get their cutie marks helping Merlin and Spike. Spoiler Alert: they’ll still be blank flanks after this.
“Yo, Merlin! You’re training Spike and all, but what about us?” Scootaloo asked as she placed Pinkie’s cupcakes down, don’t bother asking how she found all the ingredients, time to make them, AND the frosting in Twilight’s kitchen. “If even Spike can fight them then I can too!” she spoke proudly.
“Hey! What that’s suppose to mean?” Spike glared at the pegasus.
“Ooh, do you think we’ll be able to ride on that tank again?!” Sweetie Belle had set Rarity’s tea down next to the cupcakes before she started hopping in place reminiscing on that fateful day.
Applebloom placed her sisters apple slices with caramel dip in the center. Quick and simple but hardly ever refused. “Ah’ reckon we would have to train on aimin’ then if we do. No offense Scoots, but you’re not a crack shot.”
“Oh and YOU are?!” Scootaloo pointed a hoof at her farmer friend while Spike and Merlin were already snacking away.
Merlin was sitting on his haunches, holding his tea cup and saucer with his hooves while a few apple slices dipped in caramel and a cupcake floated magically by his head. He took a quick sip before speaking. “Now now ladies, there will be plenty of time for you to take a crack at it. However, resting is also an important lesson when it comes to training, so how about we take this time to relax and chat? For example, I’ve heard news about that new tower contraption they’re building in town.”
“Oh yeah, Twilight says that the Princess wants her to oversee it later today for her. It’s suppose to cast some sort of protection spell over Ponyville, right?” Spike was already munching away on his cupcake first.
“That is what the Princesses said during their conversations with Yen Sid and I.” Merlin stroked his beard in thought.
“Wait! You know the Princesses Mr. Merlin?” Sweetie Belle was sitting and was about to take a bite out of her cupcake when Merlin brought it up.
“Oh, why yes! I suppose it hasn’t been explained for you children but I know of them by extension of Yen Sid himself. He however has known them for far longer than I.”
“This Yen Sid guy… He’s the one training Sora to be a key master?” Spike turned toward the wizard.
“Keyblade Master, Spike, and currently yes. I’m sure Sora has already told you his story , so you know that he was basically self taught for a lot longer than he was trained by Yen Sid. However, now that he has guidance from Yen Sid that will only add on to his already growing powers and abilities until he can finally reach the title of Master. After all, Yen Sid did train King Mickey to be a master, and not too long ago gave Sora’s friend Riku the same title.
It was at that moment when they heard something crash through a window, causing them all to jump from the sound. “What was… No, you don’t think…” Spike turned to the girls who seemed to share the same look before they all got up, Merlin trailing behind with curiosity. When they left the training room and entered the living room, there was Sora sprawled face down on the ground, with Rainbow lying on top of him, both of them dazed and covered in glass. “Rainbow Crash strikes again.” Spike shook his head.
“Sora! Rainbow!” The crusaders rushed passed Spike in excitement to see the two heroes as they finally started getting up.
“Ugh…” Rainbow shook her head. “That window came out of nowhere…”
Sora groaned. “I feel like it’s the other way around, Rainbow.” Then the two of them noticed the girls and Spike. Sora shook off his dizziness before he continued. “Spike? Girls? What are you guys doing at my house?” He then noticed Merlin entering the living room. “Merlin too?”
Merlin simply smiled “I believe some explaining is in order.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Town Square: Pylon Construction Site
Several Hours Later
Twilight stared at the tower before her. It was an interesting design, the top part of it looked like a lighthouse, with the inside of it holding the sun and moon symbol back to back from each other within it where the ‘big light’ would go. Apparently that part was made specifically by the princesses with the aid of magic professors and court unicorns. The rest of the pylon below the lighthouse part seemed to have a swirling design as it gradually expanded in width towards the bottom. “Quite the landmark.” Twilight remarked in awe.
The tower stood much higher than town hall, which she assumed was meant to help increase the effective radius of the protection. “Um, excuse me, Ms. Sparkle was it?” The foreman of the construction crew trotted up to her, breaking her from her thoughts.
“Huh? What?! O-oh, yes that’s me.” She cleared her throat. “I take it everything is ready?”
“Correct ma’am, all that’s needed now is to activate it.” He then stepped aside and gestured his hoof toward the device.
With a nod she walked past him and toward a particular side of the pylon. On that side there was a sort of panel with a hole fit for a horn, and just below it a circular slot that seemed as if something should be placed there. Twilight reached into her saddle back and pulled out some kind of medallion. Engraved on it was the Sun and Moon symbol in a swirling yin and yang design. She turned it over a few times on her hoof and memorized the design before looking up at the circular slot. “Please… let this work.” She placed the medallion in the slot and immediately the medallion lit up and made a quarter turn clockwise before sinking a few inches deeper into the tower, then turning back to its normal position. Then a covering within the slot shot down from above, hiding the medallion behind it and away from prying eyes as it pushed forward to the front of the slot and locked in place.
The next thing to happen was the hole above started to light up. Twilight stared at it nervous of the outcome. What if… if it fails? Her mind asked.
“Well that’s fancy.”
She shrieked at the voice that was literally right next to her and immediately turned her gaze to the source “S-Sora! Don’t do that!”
Sora just held a big goofy grin. “Do what? I just came by to see how everything was going over here. The Mayor said this thing would be done by today right?” He was sitting on the ground and amazingly for his pony anatomy managed to get his hooves behind his head. He immediately looked up. “Certainly looks done, and the sun is going down.”
This caused Twilight to look up at the sky. Sure enough she realized that everything was cast in twilight as the sun turned orange upon its descent toward the horizon. “Oh, uh, right… I should activate this now so nopony will have to worry.”
“Yeah, I’m looking at one of those concerned folk right now. She’s the purple one standing in front of the tower.” He joked causing Twilight to blush in embarrassment. “So what’s with the second thoughts?” He got up onto his hooves and waited for her response.
Twilight was about to deny his claims at first, entering into a stutter, but then looking into his eyes she could tell that no matter what she came up with or claimed he wouldn’t buy it. Eventually she heaved a sigh and looked away. “I’m just nervous I guess. This is a BIG project, one that the princesses asked ME to look after.” She gestured toward the tower, slumping a little. “What if something goes wrong? What if I mess up, or a mistake in construction-”
“Hey!” They heard from behind, it was apparent that the foreman was a nosy busybody
“Oh, uh, no offense sir! Really.” She looked back at the tower, yet another embarrassing blush appearing on her face. However, she continued. “What if… What if we were all wrong about thinking this would even work?” She hung her head. “I know this is probably all pointless to think about it, and I can’t really claim whether it will fail or not if I don’t activate it but… But, what can I do to get rid of this doubt I’m having?”
When she finally lifted her head to look at Sora, she got a close up look at his face as he was now leaning toward her, smooshing his face with his hooves and making a rather absurd and comical duck face while his eyes went cross eyed as he said “Bleeeh!”
She reared back for a moment from shock, but after really looking at him, she couldn’t help but snort out a laugh she desperately tried to hold in.
“Wasdamattah! Sumfin on mah facesh?!” He spoke through his squished lips that now looked like he was imitating a fish gasping for air. And that’s when then the floodgates opened leaving Twilight to crack up and start giggling up a fit. Seeing his success, Sora finally released his face and joined her laughter with his own before cracking that big grin… you know the one. When the two of them calmed down he spoke again. “Feel better?”
She looked at him for a few seconds before turning away. “M-maybe a little bit, but I still feel kinda worried.”
“That’s good then.” Sora stated, causing her to gaze at him again with confusion. “I’m not saying you should try to forget that feeling. If you’re confident, you’re confident. If you’re worried, you’re worried. What matters right now is that you have an important job to do.” He looked up at the tower. “If the tower fails, then we figure out what’s wrong, fix it, and try again. If we can’t fix it, then we’ll think of something else. Simple as that.” At that moment he wished he had thumbs to give her a thumbs up. However the sincerity in his voice and the confidence on his face seemed to be enough to move her.
Twilight stared at him for a moment, unsure of how to reply to that, before smiling once more. “You sure are optimistic about everything.” She turned toward the pylon’s panel again. The hole for her horn was still giving off light and waiting for her. “Well… Here it goes I guess.” She stepped toward it, horn alight with a magenta glow. She gently and tentatively inserted it inside the hole and with her magic, activated the pylon.
Light escaped briefly from the hole when she pulled her horn out, but then immediately vanished. The sound of gears moving came from above them as the sun and moon at the top started to slowly turn clockwise, then accelerated a little more before reaching its optimal rotation speed. From the bottom light seemed to rise upward along the grooves toward the top. When lines of light finally reached the sun and moon, for a moment nothing happened. Twilight was on edge and felt her stomach drop. It felt like ages before they finally witnessed a reaction.
From what Twilight could assume from what she saw, it appeared as if the Light and Magic were suddenly being absorbed into the Sun and Moon symbols. The two of them started glowing brightly, the Sun glowing a light yellow as the Moon glowed a light blue. That’s when it happened. Coming out of the top of the pylon was some sort of shield made of magic. It rapidly extended out to all directions, reaching both high above them and outwards over the town.
Though the two could not see all of it from where they were the shield went over the town square, the market area, many resident buildings, Carousel Boutique, Sugarcube Corner... even Rainbow’s house was under its protection. The shield continued on over Fluttershy’s home (It scared the daylights of her, unfortunately), the Golden Oaks Library AND Sora’s home (Spike, Merlin and the Crusaders were in awe at the display above them). It even stretched out toward Sweet Apple Acres, over the farmhouse, barn, stables, pastures, coops, even part of the orchard itself until finally... it came to rest just past a cute little treehouse. This event caught a lot of attention in town and they all watched the dome finally turning transparent. The only indication of its existence now present was the occasionally pulsing wave along the whole shield every few seconds. Cheers could be heard from all over town. The pylon worked… with flying colors.
Twilight could hear the ponies around the town, but she was too distracted by the happy feeling of relief within her as she continued to stare at the top of the pylon. Sure it was more than likely this would all work just fine, but there was always a chance that it could have failed in any number of ways. She just had to see it work with her own two eyes before the doubt could melt away within her. With a smile on her face and a heavy burden lifted from her body she sat on the ground looking skyward. “With this, Equestria will know a little more peace again.”
“Well then we can’t stop there, can we?” Sora walked up and sat next to her. “I say we try to give this kingdom, no this WORLD as much peace from the heartless as we can give it.”
Twilight turned toward her friend, not surprised to see that big grin of his remained glued to his face as he looked up as well. She knew that she would regret this later and NEVER hear the end of it. It was even something that she would never have done before now, in private or in public. She rested her head on Sora’s side and continued looking up at the the top of the pylon. “I like that idea... Thanks Sora.” Another blush became apparent on her face. However, she didn’t care at all about any of this right now. Right now, she was just relieved and happy.
Sora, the poor boy, stiffened like a board. Who would have seen that coming? He knew he didn’t. He felt his face heat up from the contact, but continued looking in the same direction as before. “Uh, n-no problem, Twi.” He tried to remain composed. He decided to let her stay there, he knew she was just feeling relief and needed to lean on somebody right now, so he didn’t want to ruin the moment, at least not now. He knew he would eventually, once he told Twilight what Merlin had planned for Spike. Better enjoy the peace while it lasts He thought.
It was gonna be a LOOOONG Night.
Hello All, posted you guys a chapter Bright and Early for ya! it's probably because I'm posting so early that my mind isn't all there as I right this Author's note. So this will most likely be a short one.
Things I wanted to accomplish for this chapter: Munny to Bits economics, more customers for Mogson, revealing the Princesses prototype town defense system, fingers crossed that it stands the test of time. A little peak into Spike's training to be a... Well I wonder what I was gonna say there?... Hehe 
Ah, and of course, just for you twilight shippers reading this. Alittle taste of that for ya.
In case I didn't say this before (Pretty sure I did I'm just woke up so I don't brain good right now.) every romance path with get their mini moments, and larger moments, and if I'm skilled enough, their own short chapters. But, I'm not gonna line them up one after another all the time. Cuz then you guys would expect them and that's no fun haha. Of course Alternate paths in chapters are considered their own thing as well as it is the reader's choice which path is what they decide is the right one. Hoping I can set up something cool for that to make it easier for the reader to get to the ones they want. I also have every intention to mix two or more ships together in certain scenes as well just cuz, you already seen a soft version of that with Rainbow and Applejack. and as for the no shippers that are reading this... *shrugs* I dunno man, just think of it as a really close friendship thing or sumthin. I dunno what to tell ya cuz it ain't stoppin. Figured I'd say that part as people tend to be pretty clear in the comments how they feel about this and that. Huh... guess I had alot more to say then I thought for a half asleep guy, lol.
Should probably note this in case I didn't say this either (PRETTY SURE I did, again, mah brainz) but this downtime arc is gonna be lengthy. there are some things I want to cover and do before getting back to main plot. Ofcourse some main plot elements will end up in this arc as well, like new fusion! That's one thing anyway. So action will be in this. I mean come on, I freaking love writing battles, it's like telling me to look at a place of my favorite food with an empty gut and say "don't eat it". I'm gonna eat it... Ok now I'm starting to speak nonsense. Better cut this and move on.
Next Chapter: Sora called it, but maybe some Hunny can soothe the situation.
As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to future ones!
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Loved the chapter. The Beasts of Tartarus sound like very intriguing antagonists and it seems they earned some rivals amongst the Mame 6 despite not having met them in person. I liked the system of Munny/Bits conversion as it's a clever way of allowing ponies to buy KH objects from the Moogle shop. The bit about Twilight going mad scientist when discussing with the girls about how fusion works was funny, though not nearly as much as when RD tried to make Sora fuse with her and they both crashed at Twilight's place. Sora comforting Twilight with the famous goofy face was funny yet heartwarming and the ending was sweet with shipping giving how Twilight decided to lean with Sora. Overall, this is an amazing chapter and even though it's a downtime arc, I'm excited that there will be a fusion coming soon. Thanks for all the thought you put into the story as I can't wait to know which lucky girl will fuse with Sora next.
Good chapter as always, just gotta watch your "it's" vs. "its" and "their" vs, "they're".
7596288 I just went through the Gdoc and... ouch, how did I screw up that badly?
Anyways, I went through it and fixed all the errors I could find... again... after the chapter was already posted...
...FML.
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Right Right, On it!
7596375 Again, I apologize for that.
Also, and I hate to keep bringing it up, but that little thing I keep mentioning about the end of chapter 27? It's still there.
7596404
huh, thought I fixed that. alright, I'll go deal with it
Now this was an amazing Chapter and a cute moment with Sora and Twilight at the end of it. I admit I ship Sora with Twilight since they do hold something in common aka the magic or Power of Friendship and both could have what the other was lacking. plus Sora keeps Twilight at ease and I admit SoraxTwilight is my second ship of the crossover with the first being SoraxKairi and the third being RikuxTwilight.
This is so cool. Can't wait for more.
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They do fit together easily based on that. Power AND Magic of Friendship.
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Edit: P.S.-You should have him quote this, only to have Pinkie say something like: "Yeah! Although you aren't exactly a slouch on your own either, what with the Awesome MacGuffin Sword, OP magic, and temporary transformations with enhanced abilities."
7598518
*nods nods* exactly my point, Thank you for the assist!
7598535 No problem, but did you see the edit to my last comment?
7598541
Lol I did now
Can't wait for the next one! To be honest, if there are more Disney characters that have a chance of appearing (depends on what the story is taken place) I'll be surprised like you did with Merlin
7598575 nice chap man. Very well detailed.
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Why thank you :)
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You sir, I commend you for bringing that up. Hilariously when I was deciding what it was that phrase popped into my head and I was like "Eh, Why not?" haha
It's starting to look like I'm gonna get my wish for Spike. Poor kid deserves more respect.
7614801 I'm loving this story a lot I hope u can upload more chapters soon
Hey dude i just found a typo in this line here when you can fix it you misspelled the word guards there "The Princess and we gaurds would prefer that you do not go out looking for heartless."
YOU MUST CONSTRUCT ADDITIONAL PYLONS!!!
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Perfect
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*bows* Nice to know I'm doing my job.
This was a awesome chill and sweet chapter. But Twilight is going to flip when she here's about Spike, and I'm so happy it covers the CMC club house.