A/N: And now for another crossover you probably didn't see coming.
Back in the training room of the Hall of Harmony, the rookie heroes were trying their best to master their powers. At one point, Spring Breeze asked a valid question.
"Twilight? I've noticed something."
"Yes?" the lavender leader responded.
"When i get to a certain point with these devices, these exercise machines, they release these different coloured orbs... but they disappear as soon as I touch them. What's up with that?"
Twilight facepalmed. "Of course! The bonus orbs! I forgot to show you how to use those. Well, it's better that somepony asked eventually. Come along, all." Twilight said, motioning for the others to follow.
Going into another section of the base, there were several large, glowing platforms. "Can I get a volunteer, here?"
Winter Breeze stepped forward and stepped onto one of the platforms. It immediately lit up, eliciting a "Whoa!" from the white coated mare.
"Don't worry!" Twilight was quick to reassure her teammate, "That just signifies its activation."
A short few seconds later, a screen appeared before Winter Breeze.
Strength
Skill
Will
Harmony
Twilight was quick to explain this. "Over at the top-right you'll see how much of each kind of bonus you've collected. These you can spend to increase your powers, and learn new ones besides!"
"So... Why not just dispense these instead of the whole gym setup?" Autumn asked, with a tilt of her head.
Twilight smiled. "A valid question with two easy answers. One: Your body still needs practice to allow you to get the most with your training. If you just did it this way, you'd never get fully used to the effects of the Energy P flowing through you. Secondly: Some of us enjoy working out and the feeling you get from the gradual progress, and not everyone likes going "the easy way". Thus, we have both methods. Moving on." Twilight turned back to Winter, who was perusing the menus.
"Stength Orbs (the red ones) will allow you to improve your Prowess (your physical strength), Stamina (how hardened you are against damage) and Vitality (how many hits you can take).
Skill Orbs, (which are yellow), will allow you to improve your Accuracy, your Speed (both attack and movement) and Stealth.
Will Orbs (the blue ones) will allow you to increase your Font (maximum enrgy capacity), and allow you to learn new magical abilities.
General Orbs essentially can be spent on any of these if you don't have enough of the main one."
"What about the pink ones?" Summer asked.
"I'm getting to that. Those are Harmony Orbs. Those will allow you to learn new team attacks, and increase your resistance to certain effects you may come across in the near future. Naturally, the energy within you is different from the next pony and your abilities will be different, but this is a method we can all use to improve."
Winter elected to improve her Prowess and an instant later felt her increase in strength, as indicated by the new muscle mass she put on. Flexing a bit, she said, "Awesome..." in wonder of the amazingly effective technology. "It's like part of a video game come true." she added.
At that, Twilight blushed a bit. "Well, funny you should say that... but no matter. Now you all know how to bring your powers to the next level, and can do so at any time. That's the important thing." she concluded.
One after the other, the training heroes took their turns on the platforms, incraing their own abilities.
Applejack decided to mostly invest in Strength attributes. By the end of that, she'd gained at least two ranks of each. But she'd also invested in other things, having the amount to do so. One of the first magical abilities she invested in was control over her Harmonic Blades, as it called them.
Winter had largely invested in increasing her Skill abilities, and by the time she was done, she could practically merge with the wind for a brief period of time.
Summer and Autumn also followed Applejack's suit, increasing dramatically in strength. Spring commented, "Will you look at this? We look like we should be on American Gladiators or something!" At that, she struck a few classic poses, eliciting laughter from the others.
The others spread their points out about evenly.
Just as they finished, there was a strange sound.
"What'n th'hay was that?!" Applejack queried.
"That would be our doorbell. Which means we either have fans at our door.... or new applicants!" Twilight responded.
Shortly thereafter, they were greeted at the door by two mares in costume. "Friendship Force? We're Flicker and Flare. We... wanted to sign up." Flicker said, blushing lightly.
Twilight smiled. "The more the merrier. Come on in!"
As the two newcomers did so, they caught sight of the more seasoned heroes. "Ai yi yi! Santa Maria! You gals are looking swole!" Flicker commented in amazement.
"Swole?" Spring queried.
"You know! Swole! Like..." Flicker thought for a split second. "Like unexpectedly buff. Dios Mio! How did you manage THAT?"
Twilight chuckled and said, "I was explaining that just a bit ago, funny enough... Let me show you around..."