//------------------------------// // Prologue, Part One - The World of Beyblade // Story: Beyblade: Metal Masters - New Harmony // by Mkchief34 //------------------------------// As the midmorning sun shone over Ponyville, the clouds lazily drifted past, stirred by the occasional breeze. It was quite an idyllic scene, as if taken directly from a postcard and given life of its own. As the citizens of Ponyville went about their daily tasks and business, at the newly formed Castle of Friendship, one of these ponies remained inside, hard at work. Twilight Sparkle, the newly crowned Princess of Friendship, was quite enveloped in her current task, cataloguing all the new features, facets, and inventory of her new home. The destruction of the Golden Oaks Library still lay fresh in her mind, and many of her possessions had been lost in the attack by Lord Tirek and ensuing fire, many of them were still dearly missed. Twilight turned the page in her notebook and continued to write, mentally reminding herself to relax and not to dwell on the past, that advice being given to her by Princess Luna. She had told Twilight in the dreamscape, during a rather vivid nightmare of the fire, that this was something she would have to endure and triumph over through her own strength. Dreams of this magnitude were beyond her aid, and she would learn to pass ahead of them in time. But for now, it was time to continue working, for there was still much to do. That was Twilight's plan, until the moment when Spike, her assistant, hopped up onto the desk and poked her in the face with a scroll, quite forcefully. She flinched, and then fell out of her chair in a heap. "Good grief, Spike!" Twilight yelped, glaring fiercely at the dragon. "What was that for?" "I needed to get your attention." Spike replied, shrugging. "I just got a letter from Celestia." "Where is it?" Twilight asked, looking around, then realizing what she had said, slammed her face into her desk with a groan while Spike began to laugh. After a few moments, she joined in. "Gosh, that was so stupid of me." she sighed, taking the scroll and thanking Spike. As she unfurled it and began to read, her eyebrows raised up with every line she read. Dearest Twilight, Though I understand this will be abrupt, I am coming to Ponyville to speak with you and the rest of the Element Bearers, though this primarily concerns Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. An old friend of mine and his assistant have come to Equestria, and they will be with me when we arrive in Ponyville. They have come from their world to extend an invitation to you and the Elements. To what event that invitation refers to will be his honor to reveal. And though they may seem strange in appearance, my friend is close with me for good reason. Come to the train station with the Element Bearers as soon as you can. I will arrive within the hour with my guests and Prince Shining Armor, who has volunteered to come with us as well. Best Wishes,  Princess Celestia. Twilight resealed the scroll, and as she nodded to Spike, they proceeded out of the Castle and into Ponyville to fetch the Element Bearers. ==== To Twilight and Spike's luck and sheer disbelief, they found the other Element Bearers,as they were already at the Train Station waiting for them. Apparently Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense had, as she put it, had alerted her to an incoming "super-mega-ultra-doozy supreme". As a result, she had zipped around Ponyville at breakneck speed and gathered the Elements up like a sheepdog herding its flock, and brought them to the Train Station. Twilight was greeted by the winded Elements Bearers looking like they had just been hit by a tornado, and Pinkie Pie bouncing merrily. "How did you know to meet us here in the first place?" Spike asked, hopping down from his perch on Twilight's shoulders. "Plot convenience!" Pinkie replied happily, causing the others to groan or face-hoof at her usual level of unintelligibleness. "Besides, now that we're all here, we can wait together! Waiting together is the best kind of waiting! Not that there are many other kinds, though." "Okay...forget I even asked." Spike replied, giving a sigh of annoyance. "Why do I even bother asking if the answer's tougher to understand than the question?" As the girls laughed and Spike rolled his eyes, a train pulled into the station and came to a stop with a puff of steam from the main engine. As the Elements formed a line in front of the doors, Prince Shining Armor and Princess Celestia disembarked. As Twilight happily greeted her brother with a hug, she asked if he knew what was going on. "I do, but I'm not gonna spoil it." he replied with a smirk. "Princess Celestia was clear on that, she wanted her old friend to do the big reveal." "So, what is going on?" Rainbow Dash asked. "What big reveal? And who's this friend we're talking about?" "That would be me!" said a male voice, excited and eager. As the doors opened and two figures disembarked, the Elements dropped their jaws. Two bipedal beings, one older male and one younger female, came forward. The male was about forty, with flaming red hair and a stubble beard. He wore a brown and red suit and pants, along with a blue tie, and the text "WBBA" was written on his left breast pocket. The girl was considerably younger, about fifteen or sixteen, with spiky, long blue hair. Her lilac eyes contrasted with her pale blue suit jacket and dress with various highlights, and she carried a silver briefcase with her, also inscribed with "WBBA". "Twilight, Element Bearers, this is Ryo Hagane, the director of the World Beyblade Battles Association, or the WBBA for short, and his assistant Hikaru Hasama." Celestia said proudly. "They are humans from the world of Earth." "Human?" Twilight gasped, causing the Elements to look at her with curiosity. "Humans are a myth! Nearly every great scholar or archeologist in Equestria has said so!" "They're quite wrong." Ryo smiled back. "We've just never been beyond our World to make it otherwise, at least until now." "Now, let's head to Twilight's new Castle for the reveal." Celestia said. "Come along." As the still partially-confused Elements followed Celestia, Ryo, and Hikaru, Twilight could only feel that something big was going to happen. She just didn't know how big it could be. ==== As they arrived at Twilight's Castle and took their seats inside a living room, Celestia cleared her throat once everyone was settled. "Ryo?" she asked. "Would you care to begin?" "Not at all." Ryo replied. "Element Bearers, Princess, from the WBBA and United Nations, we'd like to invite you to join the Beyblade World Championships as members of Equestria's representative team." The Elements went slack-jawed as they processed Ryo's words. Eventually, Twilight spoke up with a mystified tone. "What exactly are we getting into here?" she asked. "What even is a Beyblade?"  "I'll be glad to tell you." Ryo smiled, as Hikaru handed him her briefcase and they set it on the table. "But first...let me tell you of the history of Beyblade...and the two stars that fell from the sky, thousands of years ago..."