Twilight began pacing back and forth around the throne room, breathing heavily upon hearing the news of her two remaining friends putting themselves in danger.
"When did this happen?"
"It was... oh, just a while ago, several hours after the curse taken taken its effect," said King Sasune.
A flash of light appeared in Sasune Castle. And from it emerged a familiar white unicorn and a purple dragon.
"Where... where are we?" asked the dragon.
"I'm not sure in the slightest, Spike," the pony replied. "But if I had to guess, I'd say we are in some deserted castle with no talk to..."
"Who goes there?!" a voice shouted. Looking around, the two couldn't find the source of the voice until they gazed upon the throne and found an invisible, yet outlined figure.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! GHOOOOOOOOOOOST!!" the mare screamed.
"Goodness me! A little pony and... a lizard...?"
Spike sighed. "First off: I'm not a lizard. I'm a dragon. And second: Why are you inivisible?"
"It's... because of the Djinn's curse," said a new voice. The two creatures turned to see a beautiful young woman in a white dress with a blue collar and circlet.
"And you would be...?" asked Spike.
"I am Sara, the Princess of this castle and daughter of King Sasune."
"Oh, please accept our apologies for coming unannounced," the white mare said. "I'm Rarity and this is Spike. We come from the land of Equestria."
"'Equestria?'" asked the king and his daughter. The Equestrians told the two humans everything about where they came from and why they came here. The princess pondered this and asked if they could come with her to break the curse of the Djinn, for she held in her hands a Mythril Ring.
"And that is how your friends came here and joined the princess," the king finished.
"There's only one thing to do then," said Twilight.
"Ooh, what's that?" asked Pinkie Pie.
Luneth answered, "Go to the Sealed Cave, find Princess Sara, your friends, and fight the Djinn."
Agreeing with their new companions, the group left the castle and went back aboard the airship. The trip wasn't a long one, for their destination was only a few miles northeast.
As they entered the cave, our heroes looked around and went through the maze-like area and obtained items such as a potion and a book that taught its reader how to use Cure. Refia read the tome and the incantation was placed in her mind.
On the second floor, the group opened a chest containing 500 gil. Continuing their trek through the cave, they heard voices coming from the other side of a seemingly closed wall. As she and the others were looking around for an opening mechanism, Applejack saw three skulls lying on the ground. Normally, she wouldn't hesitate to get her hooves dirty, but there was also the risk of disrespecting the deceased.
While staring straight at the wall, Pinkie Pie absentmindedly placed her hoof on a nearby skull, inadvertently moving it, and causing the cave to shake. The rest saw what had happened: the wall had disappeared revealing a path leading further into the cave. With the doorway open, our heroes made their way through. There, they encountered a young blonde-haired woman in a white dress with a blue collar and circlet. By her side were a certain white, purple-haired unicorn and a puprle, green-scaled dragon the Equestrians recognized right away.
"Spike! Rarity!" Twilight cried.
"Oh, my stars! You've all come!" Rarity cried in joy.
The Equestrians ran towards the two and embraced once more.
"Are these your friends?"
"Why, yes, Your Highness. Let me introduce you to Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack."
"Pleasure's all mine," said Twilight, bowing before the woman who they knew to be Princess Sara.
"Ingus! Thank goodness you're alright!"
"Yes, milady." the soldier replied. "You must hurry back to the castle! We will take care of the rest here!"
"But before you go," said Refia, "we'll need to borrow your Mythril Ring."
"There's no need, I'll go with you."
"Really, milady," said Rarity. "You should listen to them. My friends and I have faced dangerous creatures before. I'm sure they will be--"
"It will be fine," Sara insisted.
"It's gonna be dangerous," said Applejack.
"This young lady here," said Twilight, gesturing to Refia, "came to save her people."
"Her Royal Highness has spoken," said Luneth. "What should we do?"
Refia spoke up. "She should be alright, as long as Ingus, Rarity and Spike look after her."
The soldier agreed, "No harm will come to Lady Sara, as long as I live and breathe."
They all nodded in agreement. Thanking them, Princess Sara joined their team.
As the group walked down the path, they introduced themselves to each other and told them of each of their accomplishments.
They trekked through the third floor which consisted of only several pathways leading them to a large area where at the top sat a rotund figure with pointed ears and a full beard. This being wore only a pair of light blue harem pants and red pointed footwear. At long last, our heroes came face-to-face with the evil force that had caused misery to the people of Kazus and Sasune Castle. The group stood their ground as Sara stepped forward with the ring in hand.
"Prepare to meet your doom, Djinn! This ring will banish you once and for all!"
As she held it up high, the ring began to glow a warm light. However, the effects of the ring did not work on the spirit as expected.
"Um..." said Rainbow Dash.
"...Nothing's happening! Buy why?"
Grinning, the Djinn let out a haughty laugh. "Your little bauble has no power over me now that I am infused with the power of darkness!"
"The power of... darkness...?" Twilight inquired. She then gasped, realizing that the Wind Crystal was correct: the balance between light and darkness was shifting in favor of the latter.
"No time to be lost in your thoughts, Twilight!" Applejack said. "We've got a curse to break!"
"Right!" the purple mare replied.
The Djinn laughed once more, finding their confidence amusing. Unfolding his arms, the evil being unsheathed a scimitar, inviting them to do battle with him. The ponies requested that Sara stand back as they took the positions, protecting the four youths. Ingus made the first move slashing at the Djinn with his dagger, followed by Applejack kicking him with her rear legs. The evil being responded by attempted to slash the cowgirl with his scimitar, only for his target to dodge sideways. Angry, the Djinn cast a Fire spell this time hitting the mark.
"Applejack!" cried the ponies.
Thankfully, the orange earth pony shook off the effects of the spell and stood guard. Luneth struck the Djinn three times causing considerable damage. Refia quickly cast Cure on Applejack, making sure of the mare's safety.
Arc began to close his eyes and began chanting, and at that moment Pinkie Pie dug into her mane and grabbed her trademark Party Cannon and blasted it at the Djinn, succeeding only in annoying him.
"Oops," she said sheepishly.
Now seething with anger, the Djinn attempted to slice Pinkie into two until Rarity pushed her out of harms way; the white pony attempted to dodge the next attack, however... Only her beautiful tail was not so lucky. The Djinn laughed loudly, leaving Rarity surprised... and angry.
"First you curse innocent people..." she said, getting angrier and angrier with each passing word. "Next you try to kill my friends... and then you destroy my beautiful tail, and now you LAUGH AT OUR MISERY...! It... is... ON!!!" she yelled as she charged toward the Djinn and delivered a powerful kick to the abdomen, causing the Djinn serious pain as she backed away.
Arc finally completed his chanting and unleashed a Blizzard spell, greatly weakening the creature and bringing him to his knees.
*music ends*
Upon the spirit's defeat, Princess Sara used the power of the ring to seal it away forever. The Djinn screamed in denial as it was sealed away, never to harm anyone ever again.
As our heroes celebrated their victory over the wicked Djinn, Twilight and Rainbow Dash's bodies began to glow and flash rapidly until they discovered that they had gotten certain physical traits back. Twilight's horn and Rainbow's wings had returned much to their joy. The celebration had to be put on hold when they and their friends found themselves becoming transparent.
"Hey, what's going on?" asked Luneth.
"I don't like this," said Rarity.
"You must return to the castle, Milady," said Ingus, attempted to reassure the princess. "Do not fear for us--we will be fine!"
"What is happening?" Sara cried. Just then everyone vanished. The princess called for Ingus and rushed toward him only to trip and fall.
The group materialized once more, only to find themselves in a place very familiar to Luneth, Twilight and Applejack. Except for the aforementioned three, everyone began thinking the same thing.
"Wh-Where are we...?" asked Ingus.
"I know this place," said Luneth.
"Us, too!" said Twilight.
"We're back in that cave with the big crystal," Applejack added.
"Correct," said the voice capturing everybody's attention. "It is I who summoned you." Recognizing it, Luneth walked toward the crystal and the others followed. "These four have been chosen to be the Warriors of Light, the bringers of hope. And you, visitors from Equestria, have been summoned to aid them on their journey and prevent the darkness from destroying our worlds... You must take with you the last of my light... and the last of our world's hope. Unless you act, the light will be lost and the balance forever broken... Once you take in the light, you will be able to extract the power from the other Crystals."
As the Crystal flashed, our heroes shielded their eyes; at that moment they began to feel something: warmth. The warmth of light emanating from the Crystal.
The four young humans began to imagine themselves as different people, reflecting their most notable traits. Luneth, courageous saw himself as a powerful warrior. His friend Arc kind and wanting to help his new friends overcome anything imagined himself as a black mage. Refia, as motherly as she was, saw herself becoming a white mage. And Ingus, loyal soldier of Sasune Castle, found himself in the robes of a red mage.
The Equestians, too, began to feel as if their most positive traits transforming them into more powerful classes. Twilight, wanting to study all forms of magic possible, saw herself as a red mage. Rainbow Dash, eager to look for adventure and a fight, imagined herself as a warrior. Applejack, with the strength of several men, saw herself as a monk. Rarity, wishing to do what was best for her friends, imagined herself as a white mage. Pinkie Pie saw all the possibilities but chose to become a black mage. And finally Spike had found himself as a monk, believing that he could help protect his friends not only with his fire-breathing, but with his bare claws as well.
*music changes*
As our heroes opened their eyes, they found themselves wearing new attire, fitting the classes they had somehow seen themselves as.
"Wha... What's happened?!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
"We've been granted the powers of the Crystal," Luneth answered. "We've become warriors that best fit our personalities... At least, that's what I think."
"Why am Ah wearin' this... this... whatever this is?!" said Applejack not too pleased at her new gi.
"Well, I can't certainly speak for Applejack," said Rarity, "but I love this white cloak with the red patterns! It's simply divine!"
"Look at me! Look at me!" said Pinkie Pie. "I'm all dressed like a black mage just like Arc is now! Does this mean I get to use magic on whoever we meet as long as they're our enemies and whatnot?"
Just then, our heroes heard the sound of a magic spell not too far from them.
"Behind the altar is a magical circle that will return you to the surface. The path to the other Crystals is now open... Go, Warriors of Light!"
I knew it... Twilight said to herself. She then adjusted her new red cap and gestured for everyone to follow her.
Armed with the power of the Wind Crystal, our heroes went straight behind the altar as directed and stepped onto the circle, ready to begin their journey...
