It took over two hours for all of us to get used to combat. As it turned out we were horrible as a unit. When we tried to strike the first target I would either run into one of the mares. Spitfire managed to work around each of the others but never managed to work well with the others. Octavia and Vinyl managed to work well around each other but Octavia had horrible coordination with Redheart for some reason. Vinyl, herself, had trouble coordinating with Fresh Coat as Sunshower did with Spitfire as well. Strangely, the earth ponies couldn’t work well together which was the same with the unicorns and the pegasi. When mixed they worked well together, almost harmoniously one would say. I didn’t understand why the diversity worked well for them while the similarities worked against them.
They were in utter disharmony throughout their training although I managed to work well with each of them one on one, though, that was probably because of the connections they wanted to make with me in the long run. I had to find a way to fix this so that they would get along enough to call themselves a family. In some blind foresight, I knew I could trust them to watch out for each other when the chips are down but I didn’t want it to get to that point just to force them to get along. It needed to be natural and through the adventures we would eventually take we needed that unity to get us through.
“What are we going to do?”
I muttered under my breath so as to not attract any attention while the girls still worked on their forms. I noticed more often than not the looks and gestures that those particular pairs would give each other whenever they thought I wasn’t looking. They kept it under control and not explode even when the exercise was over. They needed to communicate more before those arguments slowly boiled to the forefront and caused mistakes to happen. Merlin did his best to curb the focus that they sometimes lost but it could get out of control at any moment.
“Gray, there has been a call for you.” Yen Sid quietly announced to me.
“From who Master?”
“Montblanc. He has apparently finished your item already.” Yen Sid explained while the girls stopped their training to look at me.
“Good to know. I’ll go take a look at it. Thank you.”
I trotted out of the room noting a strange bit of magic separating the room from the rest of the tower. Merlin prepared it most likely after the first time I visited. I went back to the study and activated the moogle gem. Hopefully this project would reach fruition and bring me to a higher level.
“Welcome to Moogle Synthesis Emporium. Stiltzkin here to deliver- oh, Gray there you are. I have your order prepared for you. Are you sure you want this? Montblanc was worried that this thing we created… well, it’s a bit beyond our understanding.” Stiltzkin explained while he wrung his paws.
“I’m sure I can handle it. I knew that I was getting something more dangerous than I could possibly imagine.”
“Fine buddy. Your funeral then… “ Stiltzkin muttered loud enough for me to hear.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence there. Appreciate that.”
He merely shrugged at me as a narrow beam of light shot off from behind him and in a flash a small keychain floated before me. When I equipped it the keyblade changed shape and color. What had been a Golden lever lock key was now more ornate mixture of blues, blacks and purples. The hilt took the shape of Nightmare Moon’s helmet while the shaft resembled the Pumpkin Head keyblade. The teeth were in the shape of a stylized crescent moon with a reptilian eye on the guard above the grip. It wasn’t what I was expecting at all.
When I held the keyblade in my wing a new whispering began deep in the back of my subconscious. The constant droning of making the night reign supreme which was on the tip of the iceberg apparently. The muttering of darkness and pushing oneself to the edge was the epitome of expression which made me smack it against the floor until it stopped. After the sixth hit it went back to muttering about night before fading back into silence.
Once the new keyblade was secured and now known to me as Nightmare Cascade, I trudged back up to the room and saw that the girls were all exhausted and nearly asleep. I picked up all of them and place them on my back which thankfully Merlin assisted me by keeping them balanced with his magic.
“You seem to have your own share of problems, don’t you?” Merlin slyly mused.
“I wouldn’t say they are problems. They are part of my life now. I think that’s all I need to say about that.”
Merlin wryly nodded as I put all the girls in one of the nearby bedrooms. The Three Good Fairies had gotten the beds ready for each of them. After placing them in their respective beds I decided to rejoin Yen Sid in the study. Merlin prepared a spell which created a sphere which showed me a recording of how capable each of them were.
As was predicted Spitfire and Redheart managed to be the most coordinated with their attacks complementing each other when they had to fight next to each other. I suppose that the royal guard training Redheart took meshed well with Spitfire’s Wonderbolt training. Vinyl and Octavia were easily the most well rounded pair of the bunch able to anticipate what the other did before they did it. Strangely, their ears moved whenever they were working together. A left twitch made Octavia go right and a right twitch was left. On lowered was duck and the other was jump. That really surprised me when I realized that they were communicating with ear signals apparently. It was also really weird in hindsight and noticeable enough to be a distraction. Fresh Coat and Sunshower were the two extremes of magic. Fresh excelled in advanced magic like magnet, gravity and stop. Sunshower was more into combat magic favoring fire, ice and lightning. When they fought together Fresh would set up the combos and Sunshower would end the enemies.
“Looks like I at least know which pairings I could rely on when they fight together.”
“It seems so. We tried multiple pairing but whenever it was two of the same race they messed each other up. When Redheart and Octavia fought together against the dummies we noticed the significant differences between the two.” Merlin explained as he pulled a highlight of the match.
On the sphere I saw Redheart and Octavia charging the same foe only to run into each other. Octavia from the looks of it went for a graceful charge straight for the opponents legs. Redheart went for a quick overhead smash. They then tripped over each other. Before they could start to argue with each other the dummy attacked them relentlessly. It merely bopped them but it seemed to annoy them enough to get them to focus back on the dummy.
“Octavia is a pragmatic fighter on the ground going for graceful movements while targeting limbs first before going for the torso. Redheart, on the other hand, fights like a standard warrior always targeting the most vulnerable place on an opponent. It’s a sign that the training she received wasn’t fully complete but she can fight competently.” Merlin explained.
“They both are fast learners and seem to prefer fighting based on the strength they wield having more defense than the others and tanking through some of the weaker blows.” Yen Sid commented.
“I know who to bring when I need somepony to last out a fight then.”
The next scene showed Vinyl and Fresh Coat casting magic at a dummy. Unfortunately they also casted the opposing spell everytime canceling each other out. Vinyl favored blizzard spells while Fresh favored fire spells. All that was left was steam. A lightning spell would be fizzled out by the earth spell and a wind spell would cancel out the reflect spell. They nearly yelled at each other before Merlin was forced to use the magnet spell to keep them from flying into an argument. They seemingly agreed on the spark spell though which amplified the light spell to dangerous levels.
“Vinyl is very slow on the draw preferring powerful single target spells while Fresh Coat went through multi targeting spells. Unfortunately their opposing viewpoints made their magic fizzle out when they attempted to work together. Vinyl is the more offensive type making sure she overwhelms opponents before they become a problem. Fresh Coat instead goes to handle the group keeping allies safe from the masses. An attacker and defender respectively.” Merlin explained more thoroughly.
“Magic is their forte but they sometimes lose sight when they are forced into melee. Luckily they favor long range due to their telekinetic abilities. They need to learn more extensive magic eventually to make sure they can keep up. Right now all of them at least know tier one magic to an extent and have already found the element that they favor.” Yen Sid mused as he made his comment. He sounded nostalgic for some reason.
“So they are more skilled in magic than me. I still haven’t learned either fire or blizzard.”
“You could learn it right now if you like. I just need to cast it on you if you can handle it.” Merlin coyly spoke while adjusting his glasses.
“No...no I’m good. I’ll learn it eventually.”
I didn’t want to get hit with magic so soon. I already got hit with three spells and didn’t need to be hit with more anytime soon. Merlin chuckled while Yen Sid stroked his beard most likely trying not to laugh at the situation.
The next scene showed both Spitfire and Sunshower flying around quick enough to be hard to clearly see. They targeted the same part and flew into each other. Sunshower quietly apologized while Spitfire merely glared and continued to fight the dummy. Their coordination was off every third strike and they would accidentally fly into each other ruffling their feathers in the process. It was a bit hard to watch and Merlin was forced to heal them up after every impact. They were the first ones I needed to work on since the others at least didn’t hurt each other during their training session.
“Both Spitfire and Sunshower were exemplary in fighting off the dummies. They moved faster than most of the dummies whenever I wasn’t controlling them directly. Sunshower does favor magic more to enhance her strikes while Spitfire only keeps to defensive spells to push herself farther and faster than ever. While the two earth ponies hit much harder the two pegasi hit much faster and more often. Picture it like the difference between using a trowel shovel multiple times to using a full length shovel once.” Merlin looked over his own notes seemingly lost in his thoughts.
“So they favor power over defense then. Truly Gray you found a diversified team to assist you. Are you taking them with you then?” Yen Sid asked while he looked back through the magical footage seemingly making mental notes at everything he saw.
“Yes. I’ll take them with me. Things will be better with them around rather than them waiting for me to never come back should something happen.”
“That is also a dangerous road Gray. One should never joke that way.” Merlin scowled though it was tempered by actual concern.
“Not joking honestly. I’m worried about what would happen but this is their decision and if they want to come with me I couldn’t find it in my heart to actually say no.”
“While it is not ideal this should be good for you Gray.” Yen Sid answered.
“Sir?”
“This will help in your test. These bonds I wish for you to create must be cultivated and made whole. This will make them stronger but at the same time it will also put them in danger. You have experienced loss once before… No you can’t hide it. I can see it in your eyes. Be careful out there.” Yen Sid explained.
I merely nodded and headed out of the study. While I couldn’t say much to that claim it made me pensive once again. I quietly checked on each of the girls since they were in the same room. All of them were still passed out which was comforting at the very least. Tomorrow when it was time to wake we would be traveling to a new world. One they knew nothing about and it would take time for them to get used to the idea of that. I trotted over to my room and went to the bed that was prepared for me. I was tired but this particular sleep would mess up my sleep schedule once again. I sighed as I closed my eyes.
We all woke up promptly. As it turned out Merlin did update something on the gummi ship while I slept. It now kept time in both Equestria and whatever world we went to. As it turned out every world had its own time dilation in effect. Equestria was one of the slowest worlds strangely enough. It moved at it’s own speed relative to other worlds and the one day we experienced with the Mysterious Tower was only one minute in Equestria. That completely shattered my mind and made me want to question everything I ever knew… though at the same time I didn’t know where Merlin was.
“Master Yen Sid where is Merlin?”
“He returned to his world already. He said there were matters that he needed to take care of before things get worse.” Yen Sid answered nonchalantly enough.
“I see. I supposed I will have to see him later to ask him more about the upgrades to the ship.”
The girls slowly got up trudging along into the study still exhausted by the entire debacle they went through the previous day which I found out that it was actually three weeks training due to Merlin’s machinations. Merlin seriously tore the time space continuum a new one every single time speaking about how it was a localized event that would keep things from getting out of control.
“Morning ladies. How are you all feeling?”
“I want waffles…” Vinyl muttered.
“How long have we been here?” Octavia asked.
“Do we get more bad guys?” Spitfire pounded her hooves together with a smirk on her face.
“Is there anything else we need to learn about?” Redheart quirked an eyebrow mostly at Yen Sid who merely nodded.
“I hope we get breakfast soon.” Sunshower grumbled out.
“I want a morning kiss.” Fresh Coat stated.
I felt the room drop several degrees and I couldn’t even tell how cold it felt. Everypony was frozen staring at Fresh Coat who casually stepped up to me and waited. I pecked her on the cheek if only to not get dragged into anything worse. I did so for everypony quietly afterwards so as to not have any problems later. Yen Sid merely chuckled and waved out a book from the shelf.
“I need to tell you about the enemies you may face out there in the universe. Please pay close attention because this will cover a lot of information.” Yen Sid explained as everypony sat down in front of the wizened wizard as he opened the book in front of him.
It took two hours but we finally explained everything about the enemies roaming the universe. The heartless discussion was the shortest luckily due to my foresight in explaining them before we left Equestria. They were surprised at the classifications of Purebloods versus the Emblem heartless. Sunshower seemed a bit scared of the emblems and what they meant for anyone out there in the world.
The discussion of the Nobodies took a lot longer due to needing to explain what it meant to be a nobody. There was confusion on being nobody and being a nobody which was a distinction I didn’t think needed to be addressed that intently. Still it was quickly understood that they were much more dangerous but disorganized at this point. Yen Sid wasn’t even sure that they were still an active threat at this point but it paid to be careful.
The Unversed were a different matter altogether. While there hadn’t been sign of anyone with a split heart in ages he mentioned about how they were negativity given form. Each were created as the opposite of sentient life. The conversation had taken a dark turn when the specifics of how Unversed came to be made everypony’s stomach crawl.
When we finished Fauna made us those pancakes which Vinyl voraciously ate. It was a quiet affair as everypony seemed to be contemplating exactly what this lifestyle meant for them. Only Octavia was still curious about how long we had been here. When I told her due to Merlin’s magic we had been here almost a month she freaked out for a good twenty minutes. The others accepted the magic reason since he effortlessly trained all of them with a flick of a wand. I physically grabbed Octavia forcing her to lay on my lap while I sat awkwardly like a human. She was confused and utterly panicking but I eventually ran my wing against her cheek which distracted her enough to calm down.
“You good?”
“Yes… Sorry about that. Just… not used to losing that much time. What about Equestria?” Octavia asked.
“Each world works differently on the time scale. A day here on this world is one minute since we are all synchronized with Equestria’s time scale. It’s weird and messes with my own understanding of temporal physics but I’m gonna just accept it as fact until I’m told what this really means. Okay?”
“I suppose so… It’s just weird to know that this is real… Vinyl am I dreaming?” Octavia looked at Vinyl.
Instead of answering Vinyl pinched Octavia’s flank with her magic getting her to yelp and cling closer into me. It was not lost on her on how compromising this position was as she clumsily got up and sat back down in her seat. I chuckled and continued eating as we all quieted down and enjoyed each other’s company.
It took a few minutes to get everything ready and Flora was the last to see us off on the Gummi Ship. It was what she brought that surprised me.
“Girls and Gray I have something important for you before you go that you must keep on you at all costs when you go to different worlds.” Flora explained.
“Why am I singled out?”
“Because you’re the only dude, dude.” Vinyl answered leaving me to groan jokingly.
Flora handed each of us a small bracelet with our cutie marks on them except for mine which was of the Kingdom Key D. I merely helped everypony place their bracelets on. I’m sure I was misinterpreting what it meant in hindsight but the blushes I saw from each mare should have tuned me in.
“Wear these bracelets whenever you travel to new worlds. They will help disguise you as the native population. While we are here to help save others the last time someone told one of the natives of another planet about the worlds amongst the stars he almost sent the world spiraling into darkness destroying everything that possibly lived in his quest to understand. Watch your pronouns as well when dealing with others.” Flora warned as she cast another enchantment on the items.
My armor was also returned with the notes detailing what it meant. The battery, as I called it, was fully compatible with Equestrian magic at this point allowing me to store hours worth of time to use the armor. At that point in time it had three hours worth of magic stored to allow me to use the armor.
“We’ll have to work on making armor for all of you another time. I’ve gotten your measurements and we’ll make sure it’s ready for all of you to use as soon as we can. It might be a bit red which should suit your needs.” Flora said.
“I thought we were making it blue.” Merryweather interjected.
Their argument led them back into the tower while Yen Sid finally came down and waved us off as we entered the Gummi Ship. Everypony strapped themselves in while I took the pilot’s seat. Octavia had neatly forced herself into the co-pilot seat which left a few of the mares salty. I didn’t understand why exactly but it must have been important since each mare was giving Octavia the stink eye. I thought back to it and realized that the position of the Alpha was still in contention at this point.
I pushed the thought out of my head as the ship lifted off the ground and the course was plotted for this first new world.
Forgotten Terrace
The ship instantly found one of the paths that led to the next world and we were instantly attacked by several heartless ships I had seen during my time playing Kingdom Hearts 2. They instantly targeted us.
“Hold on!”
I instantly jerked the controls forward as we dove straight through the offensive. Luckily the ship was built for speed at this point as the turret and laser did their job striking any foe stupid enough to get in our way. The structure of a giant terrace where the ships were congregating was a misgiving site as we flew through the constant barrage of rival ships and barrages of shots flying past us. The heartless were not well equipped to deal with the small, fast-moving ship effectively which is what let us get through relatively unscathed. The few shots that grazed us did elicit a scream but they were short lived as we punched through the blockade that had formed around the world we were going to.
“What’s that whirring sound?” Fresh Coat brought up.
“What whirring sound?”
A huge ship of rotating blades surrounding a ship popped in from below and started targeting us. Several lasers were fired forcing me to perform several aileron rolls. I seriously considered saying a certain phrase I heard when I was a kid but I knew it was wrong. Regardless, I fired back aiming the laser at the weapons that the enemy ship had on it.
“Is this going to happen often!?” Sunshower cried out.
“If there are heartless around then yes. Yes it will.”
The enemy ship flew straight up and took ramming speed as I maneuvered around each blade. I nearly choked when one of the blades came apart and the shrapnel pierced the leg of the Diablos. Luckily the arms and legs were superficial decorations but it still caused me to panic internally. It immediately shot off and took position to fire on the ship once again.
“Hold on to something…”
Everypony immediately grabbed onto their seat as the ship lurched into position as the laser was given a workout and forced to target the remaining turret emplacements. Several rolls later and the turrets were removed from play forcing the ship to fly away while the path forward was finally free. The ship slowly made it’s way through as the planet came into sight. As Yen Sid had said, it was covered in water but the city was still visible.
“Ladies… It looks like we’ve made it to a new world. Shall we explore?”
Everypony said yes but a few were still shaking from the excitement. I put the ship on autopilot as I got up and gave each of them a hug until the pounding of their hearts would calm down. This was going to be an exciting turn of events.