//------------------------------// // Ch. 13 - First Strike // Story: Equestria World, Book 2: The Rise of Harmony // by Gear Works //------------------------------// Wednesday was know to be a short day of a short week. But Jack and his team knew that it wasn’t going to be short for them, because they had some serious training to go through. And Miss Luna and Coach Spitfire plan to make sure they were ready. Now wearing the silk uniforms like before, they decided to have practice back in the clearing just outside of the city that Jack and Sunset knew well. And this time, Doctor Whooves and Whiteblaze were in tow. “So this is where you two love birds went to after homecoming,” Rarity said. “The view is simply breathtaking.” “Glad you like it,” Sunset replied. “And it’s nice that you made some improvements in our uniforms for this kind of weather. It has gotten cooler than last time.” “Oh believe me. I realized that I need to add some padding to the uniforms to handle the colder temperatures. I’ll have some time to make more of the summer uniforms later on.” “As long as it’s not as… revealing as what you had in mind.” “Oh come on,” Dash responded. “We’re here to practice. And get some new gear this time.” “Well, some of us will be,” Applejack corrected. “Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight already have their weapons. The rest of us are still waiting for our own.” “And Jack and Sunset have those katanas assigned to them,” Soarin added, pointing to the blade on Sunset’s side. “What about Chrysalis? Isn’t she going to have a weapon as well?” Rarity asked. “She’s a part of the team as well.” “She’s gone to get her driver’s license with Jack’s mother,” Applejack answered. “And she already has her weapon in tow,” Spitfire added. Almost everyone responded. “SHE DOES!?” “You wouldn’t even know she was carrying it,” Spitfire replied. “When you see it, you’ll be surprised.” “Speak of which, how does she plan to get here without Jack’s mother knowing of this place?” Flash asked. “I already have Coach Fleetfoot covering that part,” Spitfire replied. “She’ll be bring the girls along later on.” “Not that I want to sound rude,” Applejack said, “but are you sure it’s a good idea to have them here? I mean, they are here to help us out.” “And they do know about this place,” Sunset added. “But wouldn’t it be best to stay out of the loop in this?” Applejack continued. “The less they know, the better,” Twilight said. “I can understand your concern. But Sugarcoat might have unlocked a power that could benefit Jack, if he can unlock it. And she said it would be easier to display it in a private setting. And this place it all we have at this time.” Her eyes started to light up. “Plus, I was to see what kind of power it is. I mean, it can be something that Professor Star Swirl has yet to discover in his research.” “At least Whiteblaze was able to join us,” Fluttershy said, with their white tiger companion next to her. “He’s been wanting to find an open spot to enjoy.” This got the tiger to let out a roar. As the others were talking, Luna, Jack, and Doctor Whooves were unloading some of the equipment. “I’m glad that you were able to come, doctor,” Luna said. “I’m sure that once you have the readings of the Shadowbolt Five, maybe we can get some answers, now that we’ve seen this… Sonic Screwdriver of yours.” “I’m glad to be of service,” the doctor replied. “And if what Twilight said about Sugarcoat’s discovery is true, I might be able to get some readings on her power growth.” “I would like for Indigo to do some Soul Shifts as well for you to read,” Jack said. “I want to know why she’s having those dizzy spells afterwards.” “If there’s a reason for that to happen, I’ll figure it out,” the doctor replied. “At least, you, Sunset, and Applejack are ready for the Harvest Festival,” Luna said to Jack. “I think this will be the best way to help recruit new members in the future.” “Seeing as to what’s going on, there might come a point when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are going to have to understand why we took this move,” Jack said. “I can understand your concern,” Luna replied. “But it’s best that they don’t know… for now. If I feel like they should know, then I’ll be the one to tell them that. SO you don’t worry about them knowing, understand?” “Understood… master.” The trio started making their way to the others with the equipment in their hands. Sunset saw this and yelled, “Everyone! Line up!” Everyone did as they were told and stood in attention, side by side. Sunset went to grab the equipment that Doctor Whooves was holding and waited next to Jack as Spitfire and Luna began their session. “Alright. Today, you will be given your assigned weapons,” Luna ordered. “These weapons are to be used in combat only. They are not some silly toy.” Luna stares at Pinkie, who keeps a straight face. “There’s no telling with our enemy will strike. So we must be ready. I believe that each one of you have a certain talent in combat. Rarity has been assigned the twin sabers and will be learning the shark fin style.” “And Fluttershy has the twin iron fans and will be learning the deer style,” Spitfire added. “Plus Twilight has been given the twin ring blades and is learning the crane style,” Luna said. “It is time to make sure each one has a weapon that would fit themselves.” Luna first grabbed a spear-like weapon with a one sided blade on the tip of the spear and walked up to Dash. “Rainbow Dash, this is the naginata. It may look like a spear, but it’s curved blade and long staff can allow you to strike and stab from a distance.” “Awesome!” Dash soon reclaimed her composure. “I mean, thank you master.” “You will also be learning the eagle claw style in hand-to-hand combat,” Spitfire added. “It will allow you to maintain a tight grip on your enemies, as well as your weapon of choice.” Luna then grabbed a pair of gloves with spikes on the knuckles and went up to Applejack. “Applejack, these are the fighting knuckles. I know you are skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and these weapons will give you an edge in close combat. I’m also hoping that with future training in the iron palm technique from Maud, you will be able to break rocks with ease.” “Until then, I will be teaching you the bear style technique,” Spitfire said. “It will help you build your strength in combat.” Applejack slip on the glove-like weapons and said, “Thank you, master.” Luna then grabbed a pair of baton-like sticks and went to Pinkie. “Pinkie Pie, these are the tonfa. They are like a baton, but they can be used to either strike, or guard. After seeing how you were able to wield the pair of sticks against Jack, I feel like this would be the best weapon of choice.” Pinkie took the weapons and started to swing them for a moment. Then she said, “Cool. What kind of animal style will I be learning? Dog? Frog? Roadrunner?” Applejack stared at Pinkie, saying, “Seriously?” “I’ve decided to teach you the leopard style,” Spitfire responded. “I think your fast pace and quick thinking will make this style more… suitable for what we are dealing with.” “Sweet! I’m a leopard,” Pinkie replied. Twilight started to clear her throat. “Excuse me, but what about Flash and Soarin?” “We need more time to decide what would be best for them,” Luna answered. “So for now, they will each be assigned the staff.” She handed both of them a long staff. “I want to experiment with them in one-on-one combat on a couple of styles to see what would best fit them,” Spitfire added. “A couple of styles do come to mind, but it would matter if they have the endurance to learn it.” “We understand, masters,” Soarin replied. Jack soon walked up to Spitfire. “Coach. You mention over the weekend a few other styles.” “If you mean the mantis style, that’s know to be a challenging style, and requires strength and stamina. Monkey was another style, and with the practice of the bo staff, I can figure out who would be best with what.” “Then I think Flash would be best to learn the mantis style,” Jack recommended. “He has the strength, agility, and stamina to overcome anything.” “And what makes you say that?” “Working with him during the championship game made me see what talents he has. And I think with he role in most sports, the mantis style would be the best fit for him.” Spitfire took a moment to this about this, to which Flash decided to step forward. “I can do this… master.” Spitfire saw the determination in his eyes and came to a decision. “Alright. I will teach you the mantis style. But don’t expect me to go easy on you. Soarin, you will learn the monkey style. I have a feeling that combined with Rainbow Dash’s eagle style, the two of you can make a formidable team.” “Looks like we’re almost set,” Luna said. “Once we get started with practice, then-” Whiteblaze quickly growled and was in an attack stance. Fluttershy was quick to respond. “Whiteblaze. What’s the matter?” She looked at the direction that the white tiger was staring at. “I don’t see anything.” The others started to look at the same direction, only to see the wind blow the tall bushes in front of them, just not far from where they walk up, seeing their cars parked in the distance. “I don’t see anything either,” Dash added. Twilight walked up to Jack and asked, “Sense anything?” Jack took a moment to look around, getting a feel of what was around the team. “No, I don’t-” He stopped short of his answer, second guessing himself as he started to tighten his grip on his blade’s handle. If he wasn’t sensing anything, but his white tiger was alarmed, then he knew it could be one thing. He waked up to Doctor Whooves and whispered, “Scan the area.” The doctor, knowing that his sonic screwdriver couldn’t scan wood, but would scan other things. He pulled it out of his pocket and started to scan the area without it being visible to anyone. When he completed his scan and looked at it, he gave a stern look at Jack. This caused Jack to grip the handle of his blade even tighter. The doctor put his finger on his lips, asking for the others to remain quiet. Then he started to get out hand signals about what he discovered. Four to the left, four to the right, and five to the entrance. The other side was clear, but that was only because it was more of a cliff like view. This caused all the others to worry. Luna decided to bring these creatures out of hiding. She walked up to Twilight and requested one of her ring blades. Once she held it, she flung it to the direction of the bush that they were looking at. The blade cut through the bush, taking the top off of it, and coming back to Luna. But a blurred figure quickly jumped out of it and landed in front of the bush in an attack stance. It was covered in camouflage from head to toe. “A ninja!” Luna said. “A ninja?” Dash replied. “I thought they were dressed in black.” “Looks like this one knew how to blend in to the forest,” Applejack replied. Soon then, more camouflaged ninjas appeared from the bushes and trees. They looked around a saw a total of thirteen ninjas surrounding them. Jack and Sunset were quick to draw their blades. “I think the odds should be in our favor,” Dash said. “Not to mention they don’t have any weapons on them,” Pinkie added. “Works for me.” Applejack was the first to attack, striking one of the ninjas in the face with her knuckle gloves. But the strike tore off some of the mask, reveling a metal face, causing her to back up. “What the hay?” “They’re… robots,” Dash replied. “Not just any robots,” Twilight corrected. “Cyber-mechs.” Soon then, the cyber-mechs were able to draw out blades from their arms. “Forget about practice, everyone,” Luna said. “This just got serious.” “Sunset looked at Jack and said, “Think we can do this?” “We knew that they would be coming for us. Only one way to find out.” Just down the road, Indigo’s motorcycle was making it’s way to the meeting spot, with Lemon sitting behind her. Behind them was Fleetfoot’s car, with Chrysalis in the passenger’s seat, and Sour, Sunny, and Sugarcoat in the back seat. Chrysalis was still looking at her new driver’s license. “So, you going to be driving Jack’s old truck, now that you have a license?” Sour asked, then whispered, “Just hope it doesn’t fall apart.” Sunny jabbed her elbow into Sour’s side. “Dearie, she’s been long overdue for this. Now she has some freedom to go where she wants to, if she needs to.” “And that truck is never going to fall apart,” Indigo said on the speaker. “Man I love this new earpiece. I can hear everything you girls say. And I mean EVERYTHING, Sour.” “Knew that they would come in handy” Sugarcoat said. “Now we have our own design.” “Not to mention a main speaker to keep tabs on all of you in the car,” Fleetfoot added. “But it doesn’t allow us to listen in to any of Twilight’s earcoms,” Sour said. “What good is that?” “It’s called fair play, Sour,” Fleetfoot replied. “And I would like to leave it that way.” Sunny reach over and tapped Chrysalis on the shoulder, causing her to turn around. “So, would anything be done to the truck, dearie, or do you plan to leave it as it is.” “Not sure, right now,” Chrysalis replied. “I’ll have a better idea when I take it to auto shop class with Coach Iron Will, since I plan to take the class with Jack.” “Well, I’m sure that it will need a fresh coat of paint to start with,” Sunny replied. “Hey girls. Hate to interrupt, but it looks like someone has broken down on the road,” Indigo said. The girls looked ahead and saw an old, gray truck with the hood open in the distance. “OK, now that’s old,” Sour said. “It sure is,” Sunny added. “But who would be out on this road? It doesn’t really go anywhere.” The face of a young lady appeared from behind the hood. She had gray skin and straight, violet hair that reached her shoulders. Chrysalis was the first to recognize the lady. “That can NOT be who I think it is.” She let out a sigh and said, “Better pull over and see if she needs any help.” “Roger that,” Indigo said. “You know her?” Sunny asked Chrysalis. “Surprisingly, yes.” They pulled over to the side of the road behind the old truck. Indigo and Lemon got off the motorcycle and removed their helmets. The others got out of the car behind them. “You need any help?” Indigo asked. The gray lady walked up to Indigo. She was wearing a grayish blue dress and black boots, and had a plain look on her face. “Dad’s truck broke down,” she replied with no emotion in her voice. “I think it’s the engine.” “Wow. You don’t have to be excited about us being here,” Lemon replied. “She’s always like that.” Chrysalis walked up to the lady and said, “Hello Maud.” “Hello Chrysalis,” she plainly replied. “Pinkie tells me that you’re still in school.” Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “Yes I am.” She turned to the other girls and said, “Everyone, this is Pinkie’s older sister, Maud Pie.” Maud simply waved, saying, “Hi.” “Wow. I know Pinkie is full of energy,” Sour said. “But this girl is the complete opposite.” Chrysalis turned back to Maud and asked, “I’m guessing you’re here to see Pinkie and the others at the training spot, right?” “That is correct,” she plainly replied. “I can guess that these are the test subjects that I have been told about.” This got Sour’s blood boiling. “I AM NOT A TEST-” Indigo quickly turned around. “SOUR! That’s enough!” This got Sour to back off. “Sorry about that,” she said to Maud. “She can be… a loose cannon at times.” “So, you’ve been informed about what going on?” Fleetfoot asked Maud. “Yes. I am fully aware of what is going on. And I am here to help where I am needed. But my dad’s truck is another story.” Indigo rolled up her sleeves and went to the hood of the truck. “Well, let’s see what the problem is.” As she was looking at the engine, sounds of blades striking each other could be heard in the distance. “Sounds like Jack and Sunset must be training hard. They’re the only ones who have swords with them.” “The sounds of the metal are different to each blade,” Maud plainly replied. “You must be skilled in this kind of stuff,” Sugarcoat said. “I study rocks,” Maud explained. “Metals are like rocks, but in a forged state. They can produce a certain sound based of it’s texture. Like the two blades you hear in the background. One of them is made in a forged form of steel. But the other blade is not.” This brought confused looked on the girls faces. “What makes you say that?” Sugarcoat asked. “The other blade is made of a rare metal. It is one that is unknown in this world. But I was able to find this metal in a temple that I was researching. It is very light, but very strong, and can be hard to bend without the right tools.” The girls were trying to make sense to Maud’s logic. Lemon was the first to respond. “Dude, that’s doesn’t make any sense.” It was Chrysalis who responded next. “Wait a minute. Are you referring to… Mythril?” “I believe that is what the professor said that it was,” Maud replied. “I never read anything about it in any books. But I was told that there would be new minerals to discover that has not been found.” “OK. Now it doesn’t make any sense,” Chrysalis replied. “None of the weapons that we know of are made of Mythril. Unless we need to have them looked closer by an expert.” “Maybe Maud can look at the blades and see if one of them is made of Mythril,” Sour recommended. “That would be highly impossible,” Sugarcoat replied, matter of fact. But during that time, Indigo was trying to shake a strange feeling that she was sensing. It was light, but it kept nagging her. She decided to ask her friend a question. “Hey girls. Sense anything… odd going on?” The girls responses were mostly related to a “No.” “Why? Do you sense anything, dearie?” Sunny replied. “Maybe it’s just me, that’s all,” Indigo replied. But that quickly changed when someone yelled out “JACK!” in the distance, causing everyone to look at the direction of the sound. Indigo said, “Did you-” “Already did,” Sugarcoat quickly replied. She looked at Sunny, who was having problems with her data bracers. “Something wrong?” “I don’t know,” Sunny replied. “I’m having a problem readying any life forms. Including us.” “Scrambler perhaps?” Sugarcoat asked. “Maybe.” “Then we need to move. Truck’s going to have to wait.” Indigo started to make her way back to her bike, but was stopped by Chrysalis. “Hold on. If they’re in danger, then it could be the robots that we were hearing about.” Chrysalis look at Maud and asked, “Have you been told about your role in all this.” Maud nodded. “Yes. I’ve been trained in the iron palm technique. I use it to break rocks on the family rock farm.” “What about metal?” Chrysalis asked. “Depends. If it is the metal known as Mythril, then I am not sure.” Indigo started to catch on to Chrysalis’ thinking. “Then we have to take a chance. Lemon, hand Maud your helmet and ride with the others.” “Why?” “Because I can get there faster than coach’s car. And I’m hoping that Maud can strike on the fly in the process.” Chrysalis went up to Lemon and said, “Ride shotgun. I’ll hold on to the roof.” She grinned and added, “I have something special that could help us.” So Indigo and Maud grabbed their helmets and got on the motorcycle, while the other girls got into Fleetfoot’s car, with Chrysalis jumped onto the roof, holding on. The motorcycle quickly raced off, with the car slowly behind them. As they disappeared from view, a man in a yellow robe appeared from the trees. “So, it is finally time.” Jack was thrown back after a failed attempt on striking one of the cyber-mechs. Sunset quickly went to Jack’s side to check on him. “Are you alright?” “Yea,” he replied as he got back on his feet. “It’s that one mech that keeps getting in my way.” “They all are getting in our way,” Dash corrected. “Not that one,” Twilight said, pointing to the one who was in a different attack stance. “Every time he tries to attack one of them, that one keeps getting in his way.” “You think it’s the lead unit?” Applejack asked Twilight. “Maybe?” “Whatever it is, there’s something different about that unit,” Jack explained. “I don’t know what, but something is... coming from it.” “Whatever it is, that should be the main target,” Spitfire recommended. “Where’s help when you need it,” Dash said. That was when Jack’s senses started to go off. “Ask, and thee shall receive.” A motorcycle started to pull up with two riders. This got the lead unit’s attention, causing it to turn it’s focus to the incoming motorcycle. But as the motorcycle started to pass the unit, the second rider jumped off and tackled the lead unit to the ground. In a quick motion, she pressed her palms into the center chest of the unit, destroying the clothing and leaving a dent in the robotic armor. The unit saw this and decided to strike back, causing her to grab the unit’s bladed arms. The other rider took her motorcycle and came up to a few of the cyber-mechs and lifted the rear wheel, swinging it around and hitting the mechs in the face before landing on both wheels and removing her helmet. “Sorry we’re late,” Indigo said. “Truck broke down on the road.” “Who’s truck?” Sunset asked. Indigo pointed to the other person who was still struggling with the lead unit. Another unit started to make it’s way to the lead unit, preparing to strike. It leaped in the air, about to strike, only to be push back by an invisible force. Everyone looked to see Sugarcoat with her arms pushed forward, nearly out of breath. Her friends were following behind her, joining up with her and making their way to the main group. The lead unit was distracted by this, causing the other person to release her grip and fall back to the main group, removing her helmet. “Nice of you to show up, Maud,” Luna said. “Sorry for the delay,” Maud plainly replied. “Dad’s truck broke down.” “We’re just glad that you’re here,” Luna said. “But it looks like your attack didn’t do much.” “It’s... because... they’re made... of... Mythril,” Sugarcoat replied, still out of breath. “What’s wrong? Can’t keep up with the others,” Dash taunted. “Now’s not the time,” Twilight yelled at Dash. “Sugarcoat, what was that new power you just did back there?” “Bending... the fabric... of reality... so to speak. But something... of that size... takes to much... energy... to do.” “And Maud was able to catch on to the robots being made of Mythril,” Sunny added. “Not to mention that they are scrambling my data bracers.” “That would be me,” Doctor Whooves replied, holding up his sonic screwdriver. “We’re trying to make sure they don’t get any messages sent about what’s going on, if they are able to do that,” Luna added. “But are you sure that they are made out of Mythril?” “It is,” Maud plainly replied. “The dent I made is proof that-” “Not now, Maud,” Twilight quickly replied. “We just need to find a way to stop them.” “Aim for the spot that I made the dent,” Maud replied, pointing to the lead unit. “The power supply is located there.” “But how-” Twilight shook her head. “Never mind. Jack! Take that unit out! Maybe we can finish off the others with it out of the way!” “On it!” Jack knew who his target was, and where to aim. And only the Blade Cutter art would be needed to make it’s mark. He stood in an attack stance and quickly Soul Shift himself in front of the lead unit. But as he was able to strike, the lead unit retracted one of its blades and grabbed Jack’s arm, releasing an electric shock on him. The shock caused him to lose his grip on his blade, falling to the ground, and leaving him weak, but still conscious. “Jack!” Sunset, without any hesitation, took her blade and ran towards the lead unit. But she was stopped when another cyber-mech jumped in front of her, retracted one of its blades, and grabbed Sunset’s arm, releasing the same electric shock that was given to Jack. This caused her to lose her grip on her blade and leaving her unconscious. “Sunset!” “I HAVE ACQUIRED THE SECOND TARGET,” the cyber-mech responded, still holding on to Sunset. The lead unit looked at the blade next to Sunset. Then turned it’s focus on the blade next to Jack. “THESE ARE NOT THE SWORDS THAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR.” It looked at Jack. “WE WILL FIND THE SWORDS YOU ARE CARRYING.” “WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS?” another cyber-mech asked. The lead unit looked at the group. “ELIMINATE THEM ALL. BUT CAPTURE THE TEST SUBJECTS IF POSSIBLE. OUR MASTER WILL WANT THEM ALIVE.” Sour responded, “I am not a TEST SUBJECT!” “Dude, we need to do something,” Lemon responded. “Like what?” Dash replied. “Most of us can’t even make a dent. And you girls don’t even have weapons.” The one cyber-mech picked up Sunset over its shoulder and walked up to join the lead unit. But as the lead unit was about to pick up Jack, a mysterious man in a yellow hooded robe appeared out of nowhere and strike the lead unit, releasing his grip on Jack. The lead unit had both blades out of its arms again, ready to attack. But the mysterious man grabbed his white thin bag from his back and pulled out a three pole nunchuck, displaying it in attack formation like a pole. The lead unit lunged its blade toward the man, but he took a part of his nunchuck and wrapped it around the blade and make a clean break of the blade, disarming a part of the lead unit. It then lunged its other blade at the man, but he was able to repeat the same trick and break off the other blade, disarming the lead unit. “He just broke those blades with ease,” Rarity said. “And not just any blade,” Applejack added. “His style. Is that… who I think it is?” Spitfire thought. The man quickly put all three pole pieces together and thrust it into the dent of the lead unit, pushing it farther back. He spread it back out like a pole in an attack stance. Seeing Jack still awake, he said, “If you wish to save your friends, then fight like you mean it! Or they will share the same fate as your students did long ago!” Hearing those words cause something to snap inside Jack. Something so powerful, that it created an aura glowing around him. He grabbed his blade, Masamune, near him in his right hand and rose to his feet. He looked out at the distance to where Muramasa was laying and reached out his left hand to it. The blade shook before it flew into the air and straight into Jack’s left hand. Sugarcoat was shocked to see what just took place. The same style that she was able to discover. But this also raised concern to the lead unit. “POWER LEVELS RISING. EXECUTE-” “BLADE CUTTER!!!” In one quick motion, Jack took both blades and sliced the lead unit across the middle of the body where the dent stood in two. The top part fell off, exposing electric sparks from the body, before it fell to the ground. Both parts of the lead unit finally lost power. “LEAD UNIT TERMINATED. EXECUTE OMEGA PROTOCOL.” The cyber-mech that was carrying Sunset went to strike Jack with its blade, but Jack blocked it with one blade and lunged the other into the center of the mech, creating sparks before it lost power, releasing its hold on Sunset and falling to the ground in the process. “THREAT DETECTED. KILL, KILL, KILL.” “I don’t like where this is going,” Indigo said. All the other cyber-mechs in the area focused on the rest of the group. This caused Jack’s focus to be moved to the remaining cyber-mechs. He crossed his blades in front of him, and the wind started to blow in the area. “Um, is it getting colder around here?” Fluttershy asked, starting to shiver. A shocked look came across Luna’s face. “It can’t be. He’s… doing it. The fourteenth art.” “SOUL ART #14: BLINDING… BLIZZARD!” In one swift motion, he swung both blades in front of him, creating a fierce blizzard storm around the area in front of him. The blizzard was so fierce that no one could even see the other around them. “VISIBILITY NEGATIVE. SWITCH TO SENSORS.” “NEGATIVE. SENSORS JAMMED.” “How is anyone supposed to see in this mess!” Rarity yelled. “That’s the point of Blinding Blizzard,” Luna explained. “To blind your opponent.” “But we can’t see in this mess either,” Dash said. “We don’t need to,” Applejack replied. “Just shut up and listen.” Everyone went quiet as the blizzard went on. But Applejack was able to catch on to something in the distance. Something that she was able to hear. A creaking sound. She focused her direction to the sound, but was stopped when a hand touched her shoulder. She quickly looked and saw Maud next to her. Maud was also able to pick up on the creaking sound. Applejack pointed in the direction of the sound, to which Maud simply nodded. They went towards the sound until they could see the shadow of someone. When they noticed the blades from the shadow’s arms, they knew it was a cyber-mech, and quickly pouched on it, pinning the arms to the ground. Maud saw this chance and thrust her open palm into the chest in full force, this time breaking through the metal armor. She was able to grab a box from inside and pulled it out with the same full force as before, causing sparks to fly before the cyber-mech lost all power. “Was that made out of Mythril as well?” Applejack asked Maud. “Yes.” “That means…” Applejack turned towards where her friends were. “The blizzard must have weaken their armor! Now’s the time to take them all out!” “But we still can’t see,” Twilight replied. “Not for long,” Flash replied. “Look.” The blizzard started to let up. Spitfire turned and yelled, “Chrysalis! Now’s the time to put your training to the test!” Chrysalis nodded and placed her hands on her belt, opening it up and revealing small throwing knives inside the belt. She grabbed one in each hand and looked for one of the cyber-mechs. When she saw one, she threw the knives at it, striking the eyes to blind it. She kept repeating the process until all the remaining cyber-mechs were blinded. When the blizzard was lifted, the group could see that all of them had small knives in their eyes and frost around their bodies. They also saw one on the ground with a hole in it, with Maud holding a small box in her hand. “Everyone, aim for the center chest,” Luna ordered. “That’s where their power source is located.” The entire group nodded and went into action. Rarity was the first to attack, finding one of the mechs and lunging her swords into the chest, breaking the armor and striking the battery unit inside, disabling the unit in the process. Fluttershy saw one wandering towards her and just started to fling her metal fans at the mech, shredding the armor in the process. When she stopped and saw what she did, Whiteblaze quickly leaped on the mech and ripped the battery unit out with his teeth, shutting down another unit. Rainbow Dash was busy with another one that was flinging its bladed arms. Indigo and Soaring were quick to respond by grabbing its arms from behind and holding it still, allowing Dash to stab the mech in the chest. Pinkie Pie leaped over a mech and struck it in the rear, finding the battery unit and destroying it. Flash was able to trip another mech to the ground and ram his pole into the chest, destroying its battery unit. Twilight was able to throw her blade ring at another mech with Sugarcoat’s help, forcing the blade into the chest and through the battery unit. Applejack went to another one and forcefully punched through the chest plate and grabbed the battery unit, ripping it out. Both Sunny and Sour were able to grab another mech, allowing Maud to repeat her attack and grab the battery unit from it. Spitfire and Luna decided to work together and grabbed another mech, easily ripping the arms off and lunging the blades into the chest. Lemon went for the last one and started to call it towards her, distracting it so that Rarity could attack it from behind, lunging her swords in the back. All the cyber-mechs were defeated. “We… we did it,” Rarity said out of breath after taking out two mechs. “I… never knew it could be that hard.” “We should be glad that Chrysalis was able to blind them while the doctor scrambled their sensors,” Applejack added. “That was some good work you did there.” “Thanks,” Chrysalis said as she was recovering her small knives. “When coach showed me the hidden belt, it was easier for me to be armed if something bad would happen wherever I go. Throwing the knives was easier to use when I started to work on them.” “I knew you had a special talent,” Spitfire added. Twilight and Luna ran over to where Sunset was laying, checking on her. “Jack, how were you able to do all that?” Twilight said. But Jack was in a bit of a daze, wondering what just happened. “Jack. Are you OK?” Jack shook his head. “I’m… not sure. The last thing I remember was hearing that man’s words. Then, everything went black.” He soon saw that he was also holding Muramasa in his other hand. “And how did I get a hold of Sunset’s blade?” “Dude, you just called it to come to you,” Lemon explained. “And it flew into your hand.” “As if you just repeated what I just discovered,” Sugarcoat added. “Speaking of which,” Dash said. “Where is that man anyway?” Everyone looked around to see that the mysterious man disappeared. “HE’S GONE!!!” Everyone looked at Pinkie. “No, seriously. He’s gone.” “She’s right,” Indigo added. “I can’t sense his presence anywhere. Whoever he is, he’s good.” “But who was that guy anyway?” Fluttershy asked. “I don’t know,” Dash replied. “But he looked like on of those monks that we learned about back on the basketball court Saturday.” “That… is correct,” Spitfire explained. “The clothes, the fighting style, all of it was the style of a shaolin monk. And something tells me that it’s not the last time we’ll be seeing of him.” Sunset started to wake up and looked around. She was shocked to see the cyber-mechs all destroyed and all her friends still alive. “What… did I miss?” “It’s kinda a long story, partner,” Applejack replied as she walked over to help Sunset on her feet. But before anyone could explain, Maud went up to the top half of the lead unit and grabbed its head, ripping the top part off. “HEY! We need it intact so we can find out where they came from!” Twilight yelled. “Don’t even bother.” The doctor finished scanning another mech with his sonic screwdriver. “All the units memory banks are fried.” “Must be a safety measure if they were destroyed,” Sunny explained. “Just like hackers not leaving a trace of their work, dearie.” “There was something different about this unit.” Maud reached in the unit’s head and pulled out a green crystal. “I felt it when I struck it earlier.” Luna’s eyes went wide open. “A soul crystal.” Everyone went up to see the crystal. “This one is bigger than the one I found in the temple,” Maud plainly explained. “So that’s how it caught on to Jack’s actions. That could explain why all the soul crystals were taken.” Twilight looked to Maud. “How were you able to know about the battery packs in the robots?” “We found part of a robot in a river near the temple. We only saw the shell and parts, but the electronics were rusted and of no use. Sunburst believed that this was the power source.” Maud pointed to the box that was sliced in half inside the unit’s body. “The metal plating was the same as the plates that I also found in the temple.” “That same metal. Were you able to work on it as requested?” Luna asked. “I was able to bend the metal as requested,” Maud replied. “The others at the school are working on the other details. They believe they should have it complete in a month.” “You think they can work on metal like that?” Applejack asked. “The metal plates are much thinner than this robot,” Maud explained. “They have the tools to make it work. And Professor River Song is overseeing all work in this.” Spitfire carefully picked up the two broken blades off the ground. “The detail on this is beyond anything I’ve ever seen. Feel the weight on it.” She handed one of the blades to Luna. “Your right,” Luna said, lifting the blade up and down. “It’s very light.” “But how could have it been easily broken,” Indigo said. “We saw how the frozen conditions made Mythril weak to break.” “Only because it become more like ice,” Twilight explained. “Maybe intense heat would also weaken it as well.” “So we could guess that extreme temperatures would be a weakness, right?” Sugarcoat asked. “It’s possible. But this… I don’t know what to make of it. A clean break like this would be-” “Possible,” Spitfire quickly finished Twilight’s sentence. “It was a focused break. Only trained monks would be able to do something like this. That’s what my master taught us back then.” “So Mythril would be strong and light, but it’s not invincible,” Flash said. “Could the crystal enhance that?” “I don’t think so.” The doctor pointed to the other cyber-mech that attacked Sunset earlier. He asked Maud, “Can you do the same with this one?” Maud nodded and grabbed the other mech and ripped off the top half of the mech’s head. It didn’t reveal a crystal inside. “Just as I thought. That’s why this one,” as he pointed to the earlier mech, “was known as the lead mech. It was calling all the shots and issued the orders to the others before I could scramble their signals. When the lead mech was destroyed…” Twilight snapped her fingers. “The omega protocol. A fail safe program designed to take out all targets that are believed to be a threat, overriding all goals to the mission. Jack was the prime target to capture. And it also knew that the Elite 5 were targets to be taken in, since they were known as test subjects. No offense, Sour. But this proves that your school is being used as a testing site for students who could carry the gift that Jack has. And if they were after Jack, then they need him alive to complete their project.” “Just like they tried to do when they raided the temple long ago,” Sunset explained. “They needed a male with the gift alive. When Master Edge was killed, then any chance of completing their goal back then went south.” “But why did they wanted Sunset as well?” Soarin asked. “She doesn’t have the gift, right?” Jack placed his blades into the ground and decided to grab the crystal, looking at it as if it was calling to him. As he was staring at it, it started to glow, and a flash of light emitted from it. Jack started to see random images of various events at the same time. The flash quickly died down and Jack started to blink and shake his head. “What the hay was that?” Applejack asked. “I don’t know,” Twilight replied. Maybe a reaction to Jack’s powers.” “I saw it,” Jack said. “Images. Scenes. Lots of… memories.” He seriously looked at the others. “This mech was at the game.” “The championship game?” Luna asked, to which Jack nodded. “It was during the fourth quarter when I returned. It was also at this spot when we first practiced. And… it was at the basketball court at the park.” He looked at Sunset. “When Sunset attacked Sour with water.” An idea came to mind in Luna’s head. “Soul Link! It wanted Sunset to find out the bond they had through Soul Link. That’s why they wanted her as well.” “Were there any other images that you could see,” Twilight said. “Maybe a location, or-” “I’m… not sure,” Jack quickly replied. “There were too many to make out right now. Those three images were the only ones that I could-” Jack stopped short when he was able to match another image with a picture that he saw back during their meeting. “Radiant Hope! There was another image of her being taken from the car off the side of a road.” “That could mean that she’s alive, right?” Sour asked. “I don’t know,” Jack said. “But it might be proof that she has the gift. If she was alive or not is another story.” “And if she’s-” “Let’s worry about the other details later,” Spitfire said, cutting off Twilight’s train of thought. “We need to do something about all of these mechs. Can’t let anyone find this stuff.” “Maybe we can take it somewhere safe,” Twilight said. “I can see if I can-” “To risky,” Luna interrupted. “We need to dispose of it. Chances are that Dark Star would know about Jack’s gift already. And if they don’t report in, it could be bad news for all of us if they saw this.” And idea came to Jack’s mind. “Gather all of it to one clear location,” he ordered, clutching the crystal in his hand. “I’m going to try something.” Everyone started to grab all the pieces of the cyber-mechs and laid them in the center of the field. Some of them were about to throw in the intact battery pack when Doctor Whooves intervene. “Hold on there. I can use those battery packs.” “What for?” Twilight asked. “Miss Luna said that-” “I understand the reasoning for that,” the doctor quickly replied. “But these three battery packs can still be useful to us.” He looked at Luna. “If they were able to use that crystal to find students that carry the same gift that he has, then I think I can do the same a maybe shield them from being scanned. With the battery packs and that crystal, I can create a device that could generate a protective field that might protect Jack from being detected by others like the ones we faced. If so, you can use the school grounds to continue your training with the students.” “He’s right,” Spitfire said. “We can’t rely on this area again to train if they know about this place. We have to assume the worst.” “How long will you need to create this device?” Luna asked Doctor Whooves. “A little over a day. I just need to get with River Song on the plans and make the device with what I have back home. And I’ll need time to install it without anyone knowing. The battery packs are harmless, while the rest of the parts could be traced if active.” Luna nodded. “I’ll let my sister know of what you’re doing.” “Would the broken blades be safe as well?” Spitfire asked. The doctor took his sonic screwdriver and scanned the blades. “It’s nothing by metal. And it’s unclear if they would be able to scan metal. But, since Whiteblaze will be wearing armor like this, I don’t see any problem with it.” Spitfire looked at Luna. “I need it for a few days, at least.” Luna nodded. With the exception of the broken blades and intact battery packs, all the broken cyber-mech parts were placed in the pile on the field. “Everyone stand back.” The others backed far away from the mech pile as Jack went to grab his blade, Masamune. With his blade in one hand, and the soul crystal in the other, he displayed the blade in front of him, pointed up and started to focus. A glow started to emit for himself as some kind of energy started to appear around the blade. “SOUL ART #15” The energy around his blade turned into a black orb. “SHADOW… FLARE!!!” With one forward slash, he flew the black orb towards the pile of cyber-mechs, making contact with them. The black orb started to swallow every part of the cyber-mechs until there was nothing left of them. Then, the orb grew big, and shrunk and exploded into nothing, leaving no trace of the mechs anywhere. “He’s done it,” Luna said. “All fifteen arts.” Jack looked at the crystal. “I think this might have something to do with what just happened to me earlier. As if it was telling me who I was and what I was able to do.” He went up to Doctor Whooves and gave him the soul crystal. “Somehow, I think that crystal, and what the man said, must have awaken Mater Edge from within,” Luna said. “And now that you have mastered the fifteenth art, I think it’s time to work on the next five arts soon. If you and Master Edge are now one, then learning these arts shouldn’t be a problem.” “I’m still surprised that he was able to call Sunset’s blade to him,” Twilight said. “Sugarcoat, do we have a name for this new power? You did discover it, right?” Sugarcoat took a moment to think of a name. “Let’s see. How about… Soul Force.” “Dude, that’s a cool name,” Lemon responded. “The power… of the force.” “You have been watching too many sci-fi movies, Lemon,” Sour said. “I think we’ve done enough work here,” Indigo said. “How about we get back to Maud’s truck and get it running again. I could use some help on the engine.” “You said it,” Pinkie replied in agreement. As they all started to leave the area, Sunset went to grab her blade and join Jack. She looked back and saw Luna, Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Doctor Whooves. “You coming?” “We’ll catch up. You just get that truck going,” Spitfire said. Sunset nodded as they went to catch up with the others. Applejack and Rainbow Dash started to explain what all happened as they made they way to cars and started to drive off, with some members of the Shadowbolts riding in the back of Jack’s truck. “You know that man,” Doctor Whooves said, causing the others to look at him. “I can see that look in your eyes.” He pointed at Spitfire. “No doubt it had to be him,” Spitfire said. “I can recognize that fighting style of his anywhere. And his weapon… No doubt it was him.” “But how does he know about Jack’s connection with Master Edge,” Luna asked. “Or that we would be here.” “You think he would have known about Blades’ gift?” Fleetfoot asked. “I have a feeling that we’ll get our answers tomorrow,” Spitfire replied. “At the Harvest Festival. If I know him well, he’ll show up.” Luna started to walk forward for a moment, then looked back. “Doctor, you got to Friday to have that device ready. If Spitfire’s correct, something tells me that he’ll be needing the school to train a couple of students for what’s to come.” She then looked forward, into the distance. “The stakes have changed. If Jack has evolved in some way, and Dark Star has made its first move, then we all need to be ready… for what’s to come.”