Hearts of Harmony

by Legrio

Chapter 5: Night of Fate

Hundreds of lights streaked through the clear night sky above, as a young keyblade wielder galloped toward the Everfree Forest. “Why is there a meteor shower, tonight of all nights?” Twilight wondered, slowing as she reached the outer edges of the forest, panting from the exertion. Stopping a moment to catch her breath, she looked up at the vast expanse of falling stars. “Is this connected to the Heartless and Nightmare Moon?” She shook her head clear of the distractions. “Either way, I need to get going.”

Carefully, she began following the dirt path into the forest. Within moments she was deep inside. Strange, she hadn’t encountered any Heartless yet. She’d half expected to be swarmed with Shadows the moment she stepped inside, but aside from some yellow eyes in the distance she hadn’t seen any trace of them. Their absence only made the young keyblade wielder more nervous, and if the edges of the forest were frightening, actually being inside was a hundred times worse. In the day and at a distance, the trees had looked dark and foreboding, but now, up close in the darkness, they looked downright evil. It was as if someone had designed their limbs to resemble grasping claws, and the knots on their trunks looked like leering faces! Forcing down a shudder, Twilight began to trot past one of the twisted trees that overshadowed the path.

On instinct, the mare whirled, her keyblade aglow with purple magic as she blocked a slash from those horrible clawed tree limbs! She grunted, straining against the sharp branches before throwing them aside. “What the hay?!” she thought, backing away as the tree slowly uprooted itself. A familiar emblem emblazoned itself on the fake tree’s trunk as yellow lights glowed in its eye sockets. “More Heartless!”

Twilight’s horn glowed as she unleashed a quick spell, lightning arcing from her keyblade to the false plant. The creature simply began to creep forwards, not even noticing the electrical assault. “It’s immune!?” she exclaimed incredulously. The keyblade wielder thought for a moment, before raising her keyblade once more. “It’s based on a tree, so it should be vulnerable to fire. I’ve just gotta be careful, I don’t want to set the whole forest on ablaze!”

With a cry of “Burn!”, crimson flames erupted from the tip of her keyblade, engulfing the menacing Heartless. It let out a keening wail as the fire spread all over the creature, before it vanished into wisps darkness. “Well, that wasn’t so bad,” she muttered. As if on cue, more trees along the path began to uproot themselves as dozens of Shadows gathered under their branches. “I just had to say it.” The lesser Heartless swarmed towards the young keyblade wielder as she began casting another spell. “Slow!” Just as in earlier that day, an image of a clock appeared momentarily as the swarm’s movements slowed to a crawl.

“Thunder! Thunder! Thundara!!!” Twilight shouted, forcing out more and more lightning as she tried to obliterate the oncoming swarm. Shadows vanished under the coruscating bolts of energy, but they just kept coming! As the numbers of the smaller Heartless finally began to thin, a branch came up from behind, clawed tips scoring the keyblade wielder’s back. A cry of pain broke out as she was forced to break off her spell. More Shadows began to circle around her as the wooden Heartless came ever closer. Twilight’s eyes widened with fright as the dark creatures suddenly pounced. Pouring all of her power into a single spell, the unicorn shouted, “Barrier!”

A transparent dome snapped into being around around her, as the Heartless’s wicked claws rebounded off of it. “Oh Celestia, I’m trapped! Why did I run off like that? I’m so stupid!” Cracks began to appear in the magical shield as the Heartless continued their relentless rain of blows. Anger suddenly welled up in the mare as her fear and frustration grew. “No, I won’t die here to these stupid Heartless! I can’t let Nightmare Moon win! I refuse!” An aura of darkness began to grow around her body as she roared, “I won’t!”

The barrier suddenly shattered, but Twilight wasn’t there. A keyblade shrouded in dark purple energy suddenly blew through one of the Heartless trees, shattering it with a crack. Splinters rained down upon the forest floor as a pony clad in dark energy materialized in the air above, her keyblade beside her. Pointing it at the swarming monsters, she growled, “Dark Firaga!” Black fireballs burst from the tip of her blade, screeching through the air to their targets below. Shadows and false trees alike were obliterated under the barrage of black magic, yet more swarmed in out of the shadows, the clattering armored Heartless mixing in now as well.

Twilight grinned as she dove to the ground. She was stronger now, faster. Without even bothering with telekinetic tricks, the darkly glowing mare slashed her way through the endless hordes, her keyblade tightly gripped in her mouth. “Dark Break!” she cried, vanishing into the darkness before reappearing over one of the clattering Heartless. With a shout of exhilaration, she crashed back to the ground, obliterating the monster with her Keyblade.

Silky laughter echoed in the forest as the Heartless suddenly drew back into a ring around the darkly shrouded keyblade wielder. “Very good, just what I need in an apprentice.” A voice said.

“Nightmare Moon,” the unicorn growled around the handle of her weapon. “Show yourself and let’s finish this!”

Laughter filled area once more. “Isn’t the darkness wonderful? It makes you stronger, feeds off your rage! You’ve felt it before, I know. So much better than your princess’s light, isn’t it?”

The echoing words awoke something in Twilight. “What am I doing?!” she thought as the dark energy around her began to fade. “Never! The light will always triumph over the darkness!”

“Oh, will it?” the voice mocked. Before Twilight, dark energy suddenly gathered, coalescing into an image of Nightmare Moon, wispy and transparent. “If you could see poor Celly right now, you might disagree. Still, I am pleased with your fine work, my apprentice. In fact, I’m going to give you a gift!” A beam of black energy shot from her ethereal horn towards Twilight. The darkness flowed around the mare’s neck before solidifying into a necklace of cold, black metal, with her own cutie mark set in dark purple crystal.

“What is this?! What did you do to me?!” Twilight shouted, struggling with the thing around her neck. Now matter what she did, it wouldn’t come off!

The transparent pony laughed wickedly. “Oh, you’ll find out in time. Now, fight on, my little pony! Abandon that feeble light and embrace the darkness forever!” The Heartless began to close in from all sides as the image of Nightmare Moon vanished in a swirl of dark power.

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As the Heartless closed in, Twilight’s keyblade swept out in a circle, banishing the weaker beasts while beating back the stronger. Charging her keyblade with what little power she had left, the keyblade wielder threw it forward, bowling aside her foes as she raced after the flying weapon. More claws swept over her sides, nearly making her stumble from the pain. Fleeing blindly in fear and pain, she soon found herself trapped against a cliffside with Shadows closing in. They would have been easy targets for bolts of lightning, plumes of fire, or lances of ice, but Twilight’s magic was spent. Parrying a jumping slash with the keyblade gripped in her mouth, she looked about for another way out, seeing nothing but more monsters. The darkness felt so close now, and the light so far away. Unseen, a dark aura seemed to spread from the necklace. It would be so easy to just tap into the darkness and obliterate all of her foes...

“No!” she wildly thought, banishing the offending Shadow with quick twist of her weapon. “I won’t use it again! There has to be another way!”

“Twilight!” She heard a familiar voice call from above. She looked up to see a rainbow comet streak through the air and a glint of light from a falling bottle. Even in her weakened state, it was mere child’s play to catch it and bring it close so she could read the label. Elixer

“Ugh, this doesn’t help!” she thought, gritting her teeth as she blocked another claw strike from the vicious Shadows. “I don’t have any time to drink it!”

Almost as if in response to her thoughts, she heard a chorus of voices shouting taunts from the other side of the Heartless swarm. The monsters seemed to hesitate for a moment as their heads turned towards the newcomers. Seeing her chance, the unicorn desperately pulled the cork free and gulped down the magical fluid. Energy swept through her body as the cuts on her back and flanks knit themselves back together. Her keyblade shone with power as she thrust it into the air. “Zero Gravity!”

The Heartless around her suddenly found themselves floating in the air, caught in a field of negated gravity. Running under the helplessly flailing beasts, Twilight found herself coming face to face with her rescuers. “You, you came after me!” she said, unshed tears welling up in her eyes.

“Course we did! We’re your friends, Twi’!” Applejack exclaimed, sweeping her in for a quick hug.

Rainbow Dash landed before them, clad in several golden plates of light Royal Guard armor. “Totally!”

“Why, of course,” Rarity calmly stated, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, as she conjured several hovering needles of ice..

“Oh yes, we couldn’t let you come out here all alone,” Fluttershy softly said, getting out some more potions, just in case.

“Er, gals, I hate to interrupt but we still have the Heartless to deal with,” Pinkie said, a deadpan expression on her face as she pointed at the oncoming tide of darkness.

“Right!” the ponies shouted, arrayed for battle.

Against six friends united, well, the Heartless didn’t really stand much chance at all.

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“So, everypony’s safe in town?” Twilight asked as they ran down the path.

Rainbow blurred ahead for a moment, punching one of those snapping balls of darkness with an armored hoof as it appeared out of the shadows. “Of course! I wouldn’t leave my post if it wasn’t safe.” The Darkball shuddered another hoof strike before disappearing. “Sorry it took so long for us to get out here, I had to get my old guard armor first!”

“And Spike? Where’s he?”

“My big bro volunteered to watch over all the foals. Your little dragon’s with him!” Applejack looped her lasso around another of the Heartless, binding it just long enough for Rarity to impale it with another shard of ice. “Don’t ya’ll worry none, there ain’t no Heartless that can beat Big Mac!”

“Yeah, little Spikey-wikey’s fine! And I gave him all the jalapeno cupcakes he could eat!” Pinkie chimed in.

Rarity spoke up, “My dear, I’ve been meaning to ask, but wherever did you find that necklace?” Twilight stumbled for a moment as the fashionista continued, “Now, I’m not saying it doesn’t go with your coat fabulously, but there’s something... I don’t know, it just seems a little off.”

The keyblade wielder hesitated. “Should I tell? What if they think I’m tainted by the darkness, or... No, they’re my friends now! I can’t lie to them like that! Maybe I just won’t say everything...” Twilight looked around for more Heartless before clearing her throat. “Everypony, wait a second, I have something important to say.”

She explained everything that had happened, with her fighting off the Heartless and talking to Nightmare Moon, having the dark piece of jewelry put on her, to when she met up with the other mares, leaving out the part where she’d used the darkness to devastate the Heartless horde.

“Oh, we have to get that off, quick!” Fluttershy said, reaching for the darkly shining necklace. A small bolt of dark energy shocked her hoof as she neared the black metal. “Ow! That hurts!” she exclaimed, cradling her aching limb.

“Hey, what’d ya do that for!” Rainbow shouted, getting into Twilight’s face.

“It wasn’t me, it was the necklace!” she cried, tearing at the accursed item, to no avail.

“T’weren’t nopony’s fault.” Applejack shrugged. “So nopony needs to worry about it.”

Rainbow Dash mumbled an apology as Rarity peered closer at the accessory, keeping a respectable distance. “I’ve never seen a magical item like this before. I think we should let it be for now, there’s no telling what might happen if we try to force it off.”

“Messing with evil artifacts of doom that we know nothing about is a bad idea, blah blah blah!” Pinkie dismissively said, bouncing over to the yellow pegasus. “Hey, you ok?”

Fluttershy nodded and slowly got to her feet. “Yes, I’m fine. Sorry for worrying you.”

The pink pony laughed. “Aw, it’s no trouble at all! Well, come on, what are you all waiting for?! Let’s get going!” she cried, jumping up and bouncing down the path.

Together, the six friends began moving ever deeper into the corrupted forest...

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“Ready, Rarity?” Twilight asked, pouring more power into spell she was casting.

The other unicorn nodded, her eyes closed as she concentrated. “Whenever you are, darling!”

At this, Twilight released her magic. “Freeze!”

Supercooled energy ran down the length of Twilight’s keyblade before shooting out into the middle of the raging river in their way. Rarity’s own horn began to glow as she shaped the wintery magic, spreading it out in thin, long line that stretched from their side of the water to the other. A sharp hissing reached the ponies’ ears as an ice bridge about three feet wide was snap frozen into being.

“That was totally awesome!” Rainbow Dash shouted, jumping up into the air.

Fluttershy got out two more mana restoring potions, but Twilight shook her head. “We need to save ‘em for an emergency, alright?”

“Um, are you sure?” the pegasus hesitated, still holding the bottles.

“Ooh, Twilight’s right,” Rarity unhappily answered, sighing as she shook off the magical fatigue. The yellow pegasus nodded as she reluctantly put away her medicine.

Pinkie trotted out on the bridge, leaping a few times. “Yep, all ready to go! Hey, do you think maybe we could make some ice cream later?!” Cracks began to spread from under the excited pony’s hooves. “Because I heard that if you make ice cream while it’s really, really cold-”

“Pinkie, move!” Twilight shouted, running down the slippery bridge as fast as she dared, Rarity and Applejack galloping behind her. Pinkie looked down before letting out a shriek. The pink pony raced towards the other side fast as her hooves could carry her. Just as they set hoof on the riverbank, a loud crack filled the air. The keyblade wielder looked back to see the ice bridge begin to break up into big chunks before floating out of sight down the river.

Rainbow and Fluttershy landed near the four panting ponies. “So, ice cream, yes, no?” Pinkie asked as soon as she caught her breath.

“You almost drowned and all you can think about is ice cream?!” Applejack incredulously exclaimed, shaking her head.

“What? Ice cream is important!”

Twilight laughed wearily. “You know what, Pinkie? After we beat Nightmare Moon and rescue Princess Celestia, we’ll make you all the ice cream you can eat!”

“Yay!” The joyful mare jumped in excitement. “Let’s get going then!”

As the girls began walking down the path once more, Rarity leaned over to the keyblade wielder. “You might regret saying that,” she whispered.

“Huh? Why?” a puzzled Twilight asked. “Is she a picky eater or something?”

Rarity tittered elegantly. “Oh no, quite the opposite! Pinkie Pie is a, how to put this, voracious eater when it comes to sweets. We might be making quite a bit of ice cream after this is all over.”

“Oh, sorry,” the other unicorn sheepishly apologized, “I guess I shouldn’t have volunteered you like that.”

“It’s quite alright, darling, I don’t mind,” the fashionista reassured, “I just felt you should know what you’re getting yourself into, that’s all.”

Comments

[Aki_Iokua]

So Twilight's got some darkness issues, eh?

But the power of darkness is no match compared to the power of friendship!

...
...
...
...
...okay, that was cheesy.

[Rocket0007]

2297091
Not as cheesy as either Sora or Twilight would say already.

[TwiDavid]

Very Good Chapter again. Quick Updates. What else to say...? Can't wait the next. :)
PS.: Ooh dear. Looks like I wrote a little late .. or soon? :) Unbelievable speeeeeeed :)

[DarthPony]

2297091 But Darkness isn't evil =(