//------------------------------// // Almost there // Story: New Beginnings // by Saro0fdemonz //------------------------------// "No." "No?" "Yes." "Yes?" "No." "So you won't do it?" "Not only that, but I can't. It was one thing to do it before but this is entirely different. Those memories make Nyx who she is. If I remove them she'll forget everything, you, Twilight, everything that makes her who she is. Would you take that away from her just to be rid of some mild discomfort?" The Doctor asked. Riku sighed and laid his head over the Alicorn snuggled against him. "I just can't stand seeing her like this. It just gets worse and worse everyday and there is nothing I can do to help her." He murmured "There may not be anything you can do now, but in time you'll find a way." The Doctor said with a small smile "Thats what you said to me back in Karakura Town." Riku grumbled "I was right though wasn't I?" The Doctor pointed out. Riku opened his mouth to argue and chuckled. "Yea I guess." He agreed, turning to look at Nyx. He would find a way to rid the Alicorn of the darkness that haunted her. She had done the same for him years ago, now it was time he returned the favor. Strawberry sighed, being the only one awake besides Dinky and Amethyst. The two were going over plans on how to get into the dungeons where Celestia and Luna might be held, while also arguing that they might be with Discord. All the while Piper and the others slept. The zebra couldn't help but worry about the Pegasus. Besides the fact that he was covered in blood, which she had cleaned for the most part. There was still some caked around his more serious wounds that she wouldn't go near in fear of accidentally removing the scabs that had grown over the holes in his neck. She nuzzled his side gently, smiling as his wings lifted up a little in his sleep. Something seemed to be bothering him though, he kept mumbling and apologizing. "Probably a nightmare." Strawberry jumped in surprise at the voice, looking up to see a pegasus in a cloak. Her ears twitched and she felt her stomach flip. "YOU'RE...!" The figure put a hoof over her mouth and shook its head. "Shhh, theres a lot at stake here, kay? The others can't know I was here, its bad enough that I'm here already. How is he?" he asked, tilting his head toward Piper. "H-He's okay, I'm really worried. But I know he'll be okay." Strawberry whispered. The figure nodded, his face hidden by the hood of his cloak. "Good. I wanna thank you for watching over him. Its kinda important, though you probably know that already. Listen, the nightmares are going to get worse. He won't admit it, but he needs you Berry. Don't let him forget that, ever." she nodded and smiled. "I Strawberry Swear I won't let him forget." She said with a salute. The pegasus chuckled and though she couldn't see it, she knew he was smiling. It was a gift her mother had passed on to her, bringing happiness to others so easily. Not a day went by that she didn't cherish that gift. "I need you to do the same about me, the others can never know who I am. Ever." "Never ever? But what about me?" She asked "I trust you. I just need to hear it is all." He said, looking around quickly. The zebra nodded, turning to look toward Amethyst and Dinky, finding that they had walked off somewhere when she wasn't looking. "I strawberry swear, nopony will ever know you were here." she stood and kissed the pegasi's cheek, giggling a little to herself. "And I Pinkie Promise that nopony will hear from me that you were here." She winked, crossing her hoof over her heart. The pegasus nodded. "Thanks. I'll be seeing ya around..." The pegasus turned away and ran, stretching out his wings and taking to the air. Strawberry watching him go and sat down by Piper again, smiling to herself. He needs me...Me! she squealed internally and snuggled closer to the pegasus, all of her worries vanishing as she dozed off, though the pegasus was still wide awake, smiling as the zebra fell asleep against him. Strawberry knew who that pegasus was, but he couldn't ask her to tell him. She had created her own promise to keep the strangers' identity a secret. He had said he was a guide from Harmony, but so far he had stolen his hoofblade, stalked him through the forest, left him to fight Timberwolves on his own, and knocked the air out of him. Just who the hay is that guy? and why did Strawberry kiss him?! Piper blinked as the thought came to him. Why should I care if she kissed him? She's her own mare, she can make her own decisions. Its none of my business. But... He looked over at Strawberry. I do care...she's my friend and all I've done is make her worry. I'm such an idiot. Piper yawned and closed his eyes, drifting to sleep. When he opened them he found himself in the white void once more, Harmony waiting for him as well as the cloaked figure. "You! How did you get here?!" Piper demanded, flaring out his wings. "I already told you Piper..." Harmony raised a hoof, silencing the cloaked figure who gave a nod of acknowledgement, taking a few steps back. "Piper, how are your wounds?" Harmony asked. "My wounds? You mean my neck?" Piper put a hoof to his throat, finding that the blood was gone, only a few small scabs remaining. He turned his head to look at his wings, finding the feathers all in place and many of his scars already gone. "But...thats impossible..." he mumbled "For a normal Pony, yes." "A normal pony? So i'm some kind of freak?" "No. You are blessed Piper." "Blessed? what the buck do you mean Blessed? This is just fantastic, everytime I go to sleep I'm either here or in some nightmare" "No one ever said Blessings were good Piper." the cloaked figure spoke up, silenced once more by Harmony. "So what? Did you do this to me? Was I born this way?" "I am afraid I cannot explain any further right now. What you need to know is this. you are not immortal, you are not invincible. No matter how much your body heals, it still suffers. It is by luck the Timberwolves bite didn't kill you and you were lucky to have a zebra like Strawberry around to tend to your wounds." Harmony explained, smiling softly as Piper blushed and cleared his throat. "Speaking of Berry. What was all that about earlier when you were talkin' to her?" Piper asked. Though this time the figure had nothing to say. "All will be revealed in time Piper." Harmony answered for him "NO! I'm sick of the puzzles, I'm sick of the secrecy, I just want some straight bucking answers! Who are you?!" Piper asked of the figure. The figure glanced up toward Harmony who nodded, the figure turned back to Piper and pulled off the cloak. Pipers eyes snapped open as Strawberry shook him awake. "Piper...Piper wake up!" he leapt to his hooves and looked around, finding himself back in the castle with the others. Had it just been a dream? Or was it more? What was this 'Blessing' and why did he have it? "Piper? are you okay?" Strawberry asked him. He glanced over at her and paused. Her coat had smudges of his blood on it from her hugging and cleaning him. He glanced back at his wings, finding that she had preened him as he slept. "Y-Yea...I'm fine." He stammered. The zebra pouted and poked his side with her hoof. "Piper..." She grumbled "I'll be alright Strawberry..." he stopped and turned back to her, pulling her into a hug. "Thanks Berry." the zebra blushed and returned the hug, carefully nuzzling his neck. "Awwwwww, ya'll are so cute." Sunburst said from just a short distance away. The two ponies broke away from one another, quickly arguing that it was just a hug. The pegasus merely rolled her eyes and stood, stretching a bit. "We should probably get movin'. Now that everypony has had some time t' rest up we can think clearly and get th' Princess' outta here." Sunburst looked around. "Where's Dinks and Amy?" she asked. Piper and Strawberry shrugged, looking around. "Right here, sorry!" Dinky called, peeking around a corner, she motioned them to follow her and after waking the others they quickly did so. Around the corner they found Amethyst, his eyes glowing and sparks flying around him. "Whats going on?!" Emerald asked, rushing toward her brother, Dinky stopping her midway. "Watch." she said. Amethyst's body shook a little, his wings spread wide and his head thrown back as magical runes etched themselves into his body, the walls around him and into the ground beneath him, spreading past the others as they watched. "Hold on!" Dinky called out,the ground shaking as the walls faded away and reformed slowly, Amethyst grunting with the effort of the spell. The sparks began to fade, though several runes remained on his body. He slumped against one of the walls and smiled. "I-I know...where...they are..." he said, exhausted. "What did you just do?" Emerald asked as she helped him stand, Nova on his other side. "I asked him about that spell of his, the one your father taught him and with some adjustments I found a use for it. Though it had to be done on a much larger scale. We've rearranged the castle a bit and this hallway will take us directly to Celestia and Luna." Dinky explained with a grin. "Wait, how can you be sure they are there?" Piper asked, Strawberry squeaking beside him and bouncing a little, her eyes wide. "Thats the room! They ARE in there!" she said. "Okay, how could you have known that before Strawberry?" Nova asked. "Amethyst can Feel everything around him when he uses the Transmodification spell. His senses become a part of whatever he is casting the spell on. It was simple for him to extend his sight and his hearing throughout the entire castle by rearranging some of it." "Not exactly 'Simple' but yea, thats pretty much it." The kirin confirmed. "Won't Discord have noticed a huge chunk of his castle has been moved around?" Piper asked. "Well...yes, Thats the downside to this so we really should get moving." Dinky said quickly, heading for the door. The others followed after, Amethyst falling behind for a moment. Piper's ear twitched as a screeching sound reached his ears. Turning around he spotted it. Something he had only heard stories about from his parents, something that should have only been a fairytale, a story to make him sleep and be good. Right on Amethyst's tail, was a Heartless. Left ear twitch, left ear twitch, nod, tilt head right. Scootaloo thought for a moment and repeated the motions, tilting her head to the left instead. Sweetie Belle faked a yawn and scratched at her nose, Scootaloo nodded and leaned against the bars of her cage. They weren't sure if Discord had figured them out yet, but they had been communicating silently for over an hour, planning their escape. Neither of them knew it, but the rescue team was already on its way. They weren't going to wait for it though. Scootaloo turned to look at Applebloom. The mare looked at her friend and Scootaloo gave her a comforting smile and a nod, telling her everything was going to be alright. The pegasus stood, as did the Unicorn. After a moment and a sigh, the earth pony stood as well. "NOW!" Scootaloo yelled, her Keyblade appearing in her teeth. Applebloom's blade appearing around her hoof as she stood and Sweetie Belle's blade floating in the air around her. The three threw their blades outside of their respective cages, letting them collide with one another. From them Sweetie Belle's magic spread, reaching to her friends, the three of them vanishing from their cages. The Keyblades swirled around the form of an Alicorn as she stood tall and proud in the center of the room, her long flowing ethereal mane swirled with red, pink and purple. Discord clapped and smiled. "Well that IS impressive. But what now? Do you want to fight me little filly?" Scootaloo held back her rage. They couldn't fight him. They all knew it, Their only choice was to escape and this was their only means of getting out of here alive. "We'll return." the Alicorn said, vanishing in a flash of light, leaving the others to stare in shock. Twilight however was pensive. There was no reason for Discord to have let them escape, he easily could have separated the form and thrown them back into their respective cells. So why didn't he? Her eyes stopped on Pip. Because he knows they will come back...its a trap. He's just playing games with us. Discord's gaze drifted towards her, a knowing grin on his face. He knew she had figured him out, he also knew she could do nothing to stop him. She opened her mouth to speak, to warn the others, but no words came out. Discord had stolen her voice. "MOVE!" Shining Armor called out as the beast rushed toward them. It was a massive thing, roughly the size of an Ursa Minor, though its body was horribly deformed, his head twisted at the wrong angle and horns jutting out of its body like a porcupine. Shining Armor stood his ground as his guards scattered around the beast, pegasi taking to the air with spears ready. The unicorn captain rushed forward, roaring as he leapt into the air, the beast tearing through everything in its path. In a flick of his hoof, Shining Armor's blade unsheathed, before being jammed into the creatures eye as he landed atop its head, quickly pulling the blade free and jamming it into its skull. The beast roared, flinging him off. He rolled in the air, blinking as a pegasus zipped by him, spear ready. Though she surprised him by slamming the spear into the ground and using it as a spring, launching herself high into the air and drawing its attention, Zecora mimicking the movement. The two landed on the creatures nose, Fluttershy Staring into the beasts good eye and Zecora standing ready, a spear on her shoulder. The beast blinked several times and whined, stepping backwards, trying to escape The Stare, though Fluttershy kept herself balanced on the beasts nose until it sat down, covering its eyes with its deformed claws. Fluttershy nodded, padding the beasts head with her hoof gently. "Good, now, take us to Discord." the beast whined and stood, Fluttershy on top of its head and Zecora on its back. "Lets move out!" Fluttershy called out, surprising the guards. Rainbow Dash just stared in shock before following after her friend. Shining armor just grinned, chuckling a little as he followed them. With friends like this, theres no way we can fail. I see it now Twily. The bonds you've made with these ponies. Just hold on a bit longer, we're almost there.