“Congratulations, Dashie!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, hugging her friend tightly. The ponies and Swiftblade were all gathered at Sugarcube Corner, celebrating the good news that Rainbow Dash had received.
“Uh, thanks, Pinkie,” she replied, smiling uncertainly. Pinkie zoomed off to gobble down some cake with Fortune.
“Uh, is somethin’ the matter, RD?” Applejack asked, noticing her forced smile. “I thought for sure you’d be more excited about gettin’ recruited into the Wonderbolts.”
“Yeah, isn’t it what you’ve always dreamed of?” Fluttershy asked.
“Well, yeah,” Rainbow said, unfurling the letter that Twilight had delivered to her from Celestia. “But… this isn’t exactly how I imagined getting in.”
“There’s no use in complaining,” Swiftblade said, looking up from his tea and breaking his long silence. “There’s a war going on, and we all have to do our part.”
“I… wasn’t complaining,” Rainbow said, looking a little bit downcast.
“Rainbow, the Wonderbolts have been given a great honor, and a very important job,” Twilight said. “Not everypony could be relied on to relay messages back and forth between Canterlot and Ursaxia.”
“I know, I know, and I’m grateful and all, but… I’d always imagined getting in based on my skills and athleticism, you know?”
“But Rainbow Dash, you are getting in because of your athleticism,” Fluttershy said.
“Yes, darling, that’s what Twilight’s trying to say,” Rarity said. “The Princess obviously trusts that you will be able to deliver messages in a timely manner.”
“I guess you guys are right,” Rainbow said, perking up a bit. Pinkie and Fortune trotted up to the group. Applejack looked over their shoulders.
“Uh… did y’all eat all of the cake?”
“Uh… oops?” Fortune said, shrugging. Pinkie giggled.
“Hey, where did Lucky go?” Twilight looked around the room.
“Uh, she went for a walk,” Fortune said. “She hasn’t really been in a good mood lately.”
“Yeah, we noticed,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes.
“That’s enough time wasting,” Swiftblade said, standing very suddenly. “Fortune, it’s time for training.”
“What? But we just got back a couple hours ago.”
“The Heartless aren’t taking breaks. Neither should we.” Swiftblade walked out the door without checking to see if Fortune was following. The seven ponies just stared after him.
“He’s… kind of a serious little guy, isn’t he?” Rainbow said.
“He’s probably edgy ‘cause his home’s under attack,” Applejack said. “Can’t say I blame the poor fella.”
“Well, I’d better go,” Fortune said, trotting slowly out of the shop.
“Wait! Fortune…” Twilight said, motioning to her mouth.
“Oh, thanks,” Fortune chuckled, licking the cake frosting from his lips.
Swiftblade was waiting outside, staring at ponies who shot him nervous glances as they trotted past at noticeably quickened paces.
“Let’s go,” Swiftblade said, turning and walking briskly back in the direction of the library.
“But what about Lucky?” Fortune asked as he caught up with Swiftblade.
“We’re not waiting around for her.” Swiftblade did not look at Fortune as he walked.
“What? But she needs to learn this stuff too!”
“She is not a fitting Keyblade Bearer. At least, not yet.”
Fortune stopped as Swiftblade continued to walk. “What? Didn’t you see her Keyblade? Do you think she stole it from somepony? And I suppose she stole her cutie mark too?”
Swiftblade stopped, but didn’t turn around. “My father is well-versed in the reading of auras. I wouldn’t treat what he says lightly.” Swiftblade continued to walk, leaving a confused Fortune to once again catch up.
“Well, will you at least train her if she shows up?” Swiftblade bowed his head affirmatively.
When they reached the front of the library, Lucky was nowhere to be found. Fortune shook his head in frustration.
“Hey Swiftblade, can–”
Fortune was cut short as a bamboo blade smacked him across the jaw. He stumbled and fell backward onto his haunches.
“What was that about?” he shouted angrily, rubbing his jaw.
“You need to be ready to defend yourself at all times,” Swiftblade said, wielding his practice blade in a ready stance. “The Heartless aren’t going to warn you before they strike.”
“Well, this is all new to me! Can’t you take it a bit slower?”
Swiftblade sighed. “Have you ever been swimming before, Key Bearer?”
“You can just call me Fortune,” he said. “And yeah. Back in the palace, there was a huge swimming pool. That used to be our reward for doing well in our classes.”
“Was the water cold?”
“Yeah, but if you jumped right in, it wasn’t so…” Fortune’s eyes widened as realization dawned on his face. “Ohhhhhh.”
“Now you understand.”
“I guess,” he grumbled, still rubbing his jaw. “But maybe you can tell me what I’m doing wrong instead of just hitting me.”
“You’re not paying attention to your surroundings,” Swiftblade said. “Before we do any combat training, you have to hone your senses.”
“What?” Fortune’s shoulders drooped. “I thought I was going to learn some awesome fighting stuff!”
“You’re not ready to fight,” Swiftblade said. “I doubt you could even stay upright if a light breeze hit you.”
“Hey!”
“Sorry. But you understand what I’m saying.”
Fortune stared at the ground. “I guess.”
“Wait here for a moment,” Swiftblade said before disappearing into the library. He reemerged a few seconds later with his metal sword at his waist in place of the bamboo one.
“Follow me.”
They walked in silence for almost an hour before they reached the edge of the Everfree Forest.
“Uh, Swiftblade? I don’t think we’re supposed to go into this part of the forest without permission.”
“Don’t worry so much.” Swiftblade continued, undeterred, followed by a hesitant Fortune.
They finally reached a large clearing in the trees. Swiftblade stopped, as did Fortune.
“Hey, what are we doing here?” Swiftblade suddenly turned to face Fortune, pulling a sash out of his robes and tying it expertly over his eyes.
“Hey, what gives?” Fortune felt around blindly for Swiftblade, but his hooves contacted nothing but air and grass.
“How many rocks are in this clearing?”
“What? How should I know?”
“You weren’t paying attention.”
“Sorry, I was too busy worrying about timberwolves.”
“Don’t worry about the future. Keep your mind in the present. I’m going to give you five seconds.” Swiftblade untied the sash around Fortune’s eyes, and he quickly counted up the rocks before Swiftblade redid the blindfold. Fortune smiled smugly.
“Now. How many trees are immediately bordering this clearing?” Fortune’s smile very quickly faded.
“What? I thought you were going to ask me about the rocks!”
“Never assume anything in battle. The most dangerous enemies are the ones that are fluid like the river, able to adapt to any situation. In order to combat such an enemy, you, too, must be as the river.” Swiftblade undid the blindfold once again. “Do you understand?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Fortune said. Swiftblade smiled, almost imperceptibly.
“Good. Perhaps there is still hope in this war.”
Fortune heard a low growl behind him, and slowly turned around, his heart sinking. Swiftblade looked past him.
“So, those are timberwolves,” he said calmly, drawing his sword.
“Y… yeah,” Fortune stammered.
Four creatures with glowing yellow eyes stared at them. They were large, wolf-shaped creatures made entirely out of wood, with thick, sturdy branches in place of bone and sinew.
“Buck up,” Swiftblade said with a straight face.
“Har har,” Fortune said sarcastically.
“If you can’t face pests like this, you have no chance against the Heartless.” Two of the creatures began circling around to the other side of the clearing, and Swiftblade turned with them, leaving the pony and panda back-to-back. Fortune summoned his Keyblade.
“Remember to be aware of your surroundings,” Swiftblade said.
The Timberwolves attacked.
Time seemed to slow down for Fortune.
All right, I can do this. I just need to focus. I beat that big shadow thing in my Awakening, I can beat these two timberwolves.
Fortune’s Keyblade rose to strike.
I can do this.
A claw hit him across the face, and he immediately flew sideways into a tree, his Keyblade falling to the ground. He sat up dizzily and shook his head.
Maybe I can’t.
Swiftblade glanced over at him between blows and rolled his eyes as all four timberwolves slowly converged on him. He backed up, and what happened next shocked Fortune.
Swiftblade’s sword began pulsing with a powerful dark energy, which quickly engulfed the entire blade. Swiftblade rushed with blinding speed at one of the timberwolves, and it fell to pieces as the sword impaled it. Swiftblade suddenly vanished, reappearing less than a second later in front of Fortune, rushing at the next timberwolf with similarly imperceptible speed, leaving almost nothing to be seen but a shadowy afterimage. The remaining two timberwolves turned and fled into the woods, and the two defeated piles of wood reassembled themselves into their wolf bodies before fleeing as well, howling piteously.
How hard did I hit my head?
“That was pathetic,” Swiftblade said, walking over to Fortune as he spun his sword in a quick figure-eight before sheathing it.
Fortune was still too shocked to register the insult. “How… what… what was that just now?”
“That was Chaos Blade,” Swiftblade said.
“No, not the name of the move. I mean… you used magic just now!”
Swiftblade pulled Fortune up to his hooves. “So?”
“So? Only unicorns are supposed to be able to use magic!”
“What makes you think that?”
“I… That’s just… We’re the only ones with horns, right?”
“Every creature has magic inside of it, Fortune. Unicorns just happen to be one of the very few creatures with an innate ability to channel that magic.”
“Then how do you do it?”
Swiftblade pulled out his sword once more. “This is Gan Jiang. It has been passed down in my family for centuries. It is forged from Orichalcum, the rarest and most magically potent ore in the known world. It once had a sister sword, Mo Ye, which has been lost to time.”
“That’s so cool!” Fortune exclaimed. “I want to learn stuff like that!”
“In time, Key Bearer. First you need to learn to take a slap on the cheek without flying into a tree.”
“Very funny,” he said, chuckling.
“I think that’s enough adventure for today,” Swiftblade said, turning to leave the forest. Fortune followed.
O O O O
Lucky screamed in frustration, her voice echoing off of the high cavern ceiling. She lay before the mysterious door, head buried in her forelegs.
“Why can’t I do anything right?” Tears streamed down her face.
“Why can’t I get my Awakening, like Fortune? I just want to be good with the Keyblade! Isn’t that supposed to be my destiny?” She looked up the at the door and screamed again, her screams turning into sobs as her head sank back into her hooves.
A voice suddenly sounded from behind her. She lifted her head up and spun around.
“Who says you need an Awakening to master the Keyblade?”