“Look! Look, Twilight!” Derpy exclaimed excitedly as two small lights danced together like a duet down from the ceiling and in front of her. She pulled out the folder from her mailbag and opened it. The two lights slid themselves into the plastic sleeves next to the Fortune card. The lights dimmed and eventually revealed two new cards that Twilight had never seen before. One had a lone, kingly figure standing at his throne before a mural. It gave off a sense of loneliness, yet that of strength as well. The other was a mare raising a single hoof in front of her to a lion, as if passively halting it in its tracks.
“The Emperor and Strength Arcana,” Derpy lamented, “always such sad cases, yet somehow they turn out OK in the end.”
Twilight first watched the Emperor card as it shifted from its original picture to moving pictures, much like Applejack’s Fortune card next to it. It showed her time spent with Caramel, from the moment they met, all the way through her dates with him, the break up, and finally when they made up for the best.
The Strength card next to that one began showing her the moments she and Big Macintosh spent sharing each other. The scenes were few, but she never realized just how many hours they spent with each other the few times they did see each other, almost all of it while doing the last-minute farm work before the season changed. Both cards ended with Big Macintosh and Caramel walking up to Twilight and Applejack at the Apple cart. She never really realized how intertwined these two situations were until she saw them played before her simultaneously.
“Trying to understand what they go through kind of inspires me think about what I could have done differently. . .”
Twilight looked up at the gray pegasus to see her eyes tear up slightly. The assistant seemed to realize that she was crying and quickly wiped the tears and shook her head, slammed the folder, and put it away.
“Until we meet again.” Igor’s raspy voice almost made Twilight jump after being silent for so long. They waved her goodbye before her vision faded to black.
*Satruday, 9/30*
*Afternoon*
The wind danced around the trees, the dry leaves’ rustling bringing a calm to those who heard it. The wind changed color along its journey, sometimes red, other times orange, and on occasion yellow. At times, they would all blend together into a beautiful zephyr to show off the autumn season’s true glory.
The leaves resounded in a satisfying crunch under Twilight’s hooves as she trotted down the colorful road to the edge of town. Something special was happening today, something she had never seen in Canterlot. Everything there was done by unicorn magic, while the earth ponies here kept tradition, making some boring activities in Canterlot infinitely more fun and interesting here.
She soon came upon a crowd of ponies, most of them standing to the side while a small group faced down the road together. The small group seemed to be doing exercises, warming up and stretching for what was yet to come. You have to be ready, after all.
She took her place in the line, making sure to stay in sequence with the numbers on each pony’s flank. She was number forty-two, a number that made her laugh for some reason, as if it were an inside joke she’d long forgotten. She did her own stretching, following her guide she memorized as perfectly as she could remember it. As she stretched her forelegs out, sticking her rump in the air, she heard a voice next to her.
“Twilight?”
She turned to see a familiar large, red stallion standing next to her. How she managed to miss him she’d never know. She lit up even brighter than she was, the nerves she wasn’t aware she felt melting away at the sight of a familiar face. An orange figure popped up on the other side of him, her hat bobbing as she waved her hoof.
“Hello, Big Macintosh, Applejack!”
“Nice ta see ya gettin’ some exercise after the farm.” Applejack commented with a smile.
“Well, I’m not really racing,” Twilight admitted, “I’ve never seen the leaves fall back in Canterlot. I’m probably going to stay in back and watch the view.”
“Good afternoon, everypony!” a shrill voice echoed from high above. The ponies looked up to see a hot air balloon hovering just above the trees with a bright pink pony holding a megaphone. Her voice bubbled with excitement as she continued her intro, “Welcome to the annual Running of the Leaves! I’m your announcer, Pinkie Pie, ready to tell you exactly what’s going on exactly as it happens! What are we waiting for? Let’s get this party started! Everypony, on your marks. . .”
The racers halted their stretching and prepared for their anticipated race.
“. . . Get set. . .”
The racers laid low to the ground, ready to kick off at the signal.
“. . . Go!”
Pinkie somehow managed to let off the sound of a small explosion, and the ponies raced off into the forest. The ponies kicked off clouds of dust and dirt behind them, leaving a coughing Twilight behind. The thundering of their hooves on the ground felt like an earthquake, threatening to knock the unicorn off balance.
When the dust finally cleared, the sight she was presented was worth it. The leaves from the trees fell simultaneously and the wind picked most of them up, brushing them along the road that stretched before her. The different colors landed like splatters of paint, creating a sort of art that could never be recreated.
A smile stretched across her face, almost splitting her face in half. Her pace slowed to a simple trot as she looked at the colored wind fly by her and far across the field behind the now-bare trees. The swirling colors painted the field as well, the new art spreading like a fire.
She increased her speed as the leaves stopped falling near her and the racing ponies grew farther away. How was she to keep watching this glorious view if all the leaves fell before she could even get there?
“And they’re off! Thunderlane gets an early lead, only to be cut off by Berry Punch! No wait, it’s Rainbow Dash! Now it’s neck and neck between the Apple siblings, Applejack and Big Macintosh!”
She could still hear the pounding of hooves pounding the ground as the racers picked up their paces, each one trying to outdo the other. She did the same, if only to keep up with the beautiful view of the falling leaves before they all hit the ground.
They all soon reached the small forest that lined the middle of the path. The falling leaves seemed to form walls as they fell, blinding everypony until they had blasted through. An idea struck her as she saw the autumn-colored wall ahead of her. She picked up a little more speed and leapt into the air. She flew headfirst into the leaves, colors exploding around her as she came through and landed without a lost step. She couldn’t help but laugh at how much more fun the changing of seasons was when you were part of it.
However, her laughter was soon cut short when a loud crash echoed ahead of her. She saw a pegasus pony, cyan in hue with a mane that encompassed the entire rainbow, flat on the ground with a hind leg caught awkwardly behind a tree stump. Twilight stopped and offered a hoof to her. The pegasus, either ignoring Twilight or she simply didn’t notice her, groaned as she lifted herself up with her front hooves before flapping her wings once, shooting her body high enough land safely on her hooves. She dusted herself off and brushed back her mane once, letting it fall back in front of her while the rest settled in a mullet down her neck.
“Are you OK?” Twilight asked after deciding she didn’t need help getting back up.
“Oh yeah, totally fine,” the pegasus replied nonchalantly, “Just took a stumble. It’ll take more than that to keep me off the race.” She flashed Twilight a cocky smile before preparing to take off in a gallop. She took off faster than Twilight could imagine, only to fall shortly ahead of her, her launch speed sliding her farther than she actually ran.
Twilight noticed her hind leg spasm and raced over to her again. She applied quick magic to the limb, attempting to discover the problem. She couldn’t get a full analysis done before the pegasus managed to shake off the unicorn’s magic, although she’d done enough to know what’s wrong.
“What are you doing?” She shot an angry glare at Twilight.
“I’m only trying to help. I think you sprained your fetlock.”
“I know what I did!” the pegasus huffed at her, “I told you, it’s going to take more than that to keep me from the race!”
Twilight couldn’t help but huff herself after getting yelled at. “You can’t even run with that leg!”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t fly!”
“You can’t fly in the Running of the Leaves!”
The two looked away from each other with a “hmph!” towards the other. Twilight started a prance past the pegasus.
“Fine, if you think you can run the race anyway, feel free to try!” She said as she passed. She increased her pace to a gallop, waiting any moment for the inevitable sound of a falling mare crashing into the ground.
She was met with surprise as the cyan mare raced past her, keeping her injured leg in the air and galloping while balanced on three legs. She watched as the mare used a flap of her wing to substitute for the missing hoofstep. Despite her previous frustration, she couldn’t help but marvel at her creativity.
The inevitability was still met, however, when the wing flapped just a might too hard, flipping her on her side and on the ground again. Shaking her head, Twilight approached the mare again, this time keeping her injured leg steady as the mare struggled to free herself.
“What’s going on, Twilight?” The unicorn turned around to see Pinkie Pie float down with her hot air balloon next to them, landing softly on the ground.
“She’s hurt and needs to get to a hospital. Do you have any medical supplies in there? And can you get someone over here to take her?”
“Nope! I don’t have any medical supplies in here! I do, however,” Twilight and the pegasus watched as she hopped out of the basket and zoomed over to a nearby tree, reach her hoof into a crevice in the trunk, and reveal a box of basic first-aid, “have some medical supplies stashed all over Ponyville, in case of a medical emergency!”
The other two ponies rolled their eyes, though Twilight graciously accepted the first-aid supplies. She then quickly began sifting through the contents for what she needed to make a splint.
“And don’t worry Dashie, that help is on the way!” She then pulled out a walkie-talkie from the basket and began speaking to whoever was on the other end.
She found what she needed to make a wood splint and applying it to the pegasus’s injured leg, even through the pegasus’s struggling to break free from Twilight’s gripping magic. This time, the unicorn would make sure she couldn’t escape.
“I keep telling you, I don’t need your help!” the cyan mare yelled, “I can keep racing! I just need to get the hang of using that wing!”
“That’s not what I’m worried about!” Twilight finally shot back, “The longer you keep this leg out of a proper cast the worse it’s going to get! So just sit tight and let me help you!”
The two mares continued like this for another fifteen minutes before a couple nurses came with a stretcher. The pegasus mare had given up struggling as soon as she was being taken away, settling with angrily crossing her front hooves and glaring up at the sky. Twilight continued down the path, letting the sound of the dry leaves crunching under her drain away the frustration she suffered around that pony. When she finally reached the finish line, the race had been long over and almost everypony had already left. The ponies that remained were Applejack and Big Macintosh.
“What took ya so long?” asked Applejack when she noticed her, “Couldn’t have taken ya that long ta look at the scenery.”
“I had to help one of the racers after she sprained her fetlock.”
“Well, let’s go! The party’s already started!”
“What party?”
* * *
“Pinkie Pie’s Running of the Leaves Winner’s Congratulations Party!” Pinkie’s shrill voice could be heard shouting all over the Ponyville park, announcing the party’s title as if to greet every new group to arrive. Twilight gazed in awe at the set-up before her. Streamers covered the bare trees, replacing the color they’d lost earlier in the day. Confetti covered the grass, whatever wasn’t already covered by leaves, as well as many of the tables. Pinkie could be seen throwing it around randomly, some of it even covering up the guests. Balloons of all different colors, shapes and animals were tied to chairs. One chair was covered in so many balloons that Twilight thought it might just float up in the sky if a pony, which AJ pointed out was the winner of the race, wasn’t sitting in it.
Loud party music was being played all over the park, each record player playing a different song. Twilight realized after a few minutes walking around that each record player was playing a certain genre of music. One section had rave music, one had slow music for couples to dance to, while somewhere near the food was a section for bad karaoke—which appeared to be the most popular one with plenty of ponies singing horrendously off-key to the latest Pony Gaga song. Twilight could only guess that with Pinkie being the mastermind of the operation it could only be intentional.
After her curious lap around the park—she’d separated from AJ and Big Mac a while ago—she decided to head for the food, hoping to get away from the karaoke quick enough to not go crazy. She turned around to head straight there when her nose met another surprisingly soft one. She focused her eyes on the pony taking up her vision, though she didn’t have to focus all the way to know it was the “Bomb Cake Maker” herself. She jumped and let out a small yelp, blinking several times as her eyes focused to a normal, comfortable level upon the bright pink pony.
“10/10!” Pinkie said with a huge smile.
“Excuse me?” Twilight asked when she’d regained her composure.
“October tenth! That’s going to be your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!”
“Oh, right!” I’d completely forgotten!
“I’m sooooooo sorry you’ve had to wait sooooooo long for it! I actually had to be completely un-Pinkie to actually make sure this party happened!”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“I had to. . .” Pinkie took a look around her before leaning in close and bringing a hoof to the side of her mouth, “. . . organize.”
Twilight’s face felt like it dropped when she got her anticlimactic answer. “Is that really such a bad thing for you?”
“Are you kidding?” Pinkie asked appalled, “I never plan or organize my parties! Or anything else for that matter! This whole party was put together after the race ended!”
Twilight’s reaction went from anticlimactic to astonished as she took another look around her, at all of the decorations and party supplies and food, the different music sections, the sheer amount of guests. How could she have possibly put together all of this after the end of the race?!
“Oh, there’s another thing I wanted to run by you,” Twilight immediately snapped her attention back to her to distract herself from the impossibility that was surrounding her, “You’re not working for the Apples anymore now that there are no more apples to buck, right?”
“That’s right. I still sometimes help at their cart, but it’s so small that it’s really just a one-pony job.”
“Which means you’re looking for another one now, right?” Pinkie’s smile turned sly as she stared her down.
Actually, the thought didn’t really occur to me until now! “Uhh, I suppose so.”
“Well, why don’t you work with me at Sugarcube Corner? I know you can’t bake, but I know you’re super organized and have those awesome managerorial skills!”
My what skills?!
“Plus, I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Cake would love to have the extra time off with their foals running around the store. Besides, they’ve already met you and know that you’re super dependable and responsibible! You already have half the interview done!”
“Well, you do make some very good points,” Twilight thought it over another minute before answering, “Alright, I’ll stop by tomorrow, then.”
Pinkie grinned from ear-to-ear as she jumped around happier than usual. “Woohoo! I can’t wait to have you onboard!”
“Yeah, me either, hehe.” Twilight’s laugh was hollow as she shook hooves with her. What did I get myself into?!
“Welcome to the Velvet Room.” Igor greeted Twilight as she woke up in the blue, royal room once again. She noticed him looking at her almost anxiously, as if he was ready to tell her something. “Now that you have grown much stronger, I believe it is time to inform you of all of our services.”
“Well, it’s about time!” Twilight replied sarcastically, “How long has it been since you first called me here?”
She raised an eyebrow as Igor chuckled for a second or two after she said that. “My, you’ve gotten rowdy since we first met,” Twilight huffed and crossed her front hooves, deciding to keep her mouth shut until he was done, “First, I want to explain the growth of your personas. As you forge bonds, personas become unlocked for you to use. However, you must be strong yourself to tame them. When you grow to the appropriate level of strength, your persona alters itself to match your growth.”
Twilight remembered back several weeks ago when she first summoned Empusa. She had meant to summon Fortuna as usual, however the Fortune card next to her felt as if it was overflowing with energy, spreading it and giving it to her. She could feel Fortuna changing form before finally breaking free of the card as she is now.
“The next service we provide, and unquestionably the most important, fusion.” Igor placed down three cards on the table as he spoke: the Emperor, Fortune, and a card she’d never seen before. It had a picture of a sun on it. The sun smiled at her, bringing a feeling of hope and positiveness. “As the name implies, you may fuse together two or more personas to make one more powerful persona. Fused personas are far stronger than other personas of their level; however they do not get stronger as you do,”
He swiped his hoof over the Fortune and Emperor cards, sliding one over the other. When the cards met a bright light shined from under his hoof. He kept it planted on top of the two cards, focusing on the task before him. When he finally lifted his hoof, the light dimmed and another card with a picture of the sun took their place.
“There is one important drawback to this,” he continued, “Once you’ve fused personas, the Arcana used in the fusion will no longer grow stronger as you do, much like the newly fused persona. In the example here, you would not be able to use another persona of either the Fortune or Emperor Arcana until you fuse one. You do, however, get a persona of the Sun Arcana that would far surpass other personas of the same Arcana and level.
“As for the Arcana the new persona is of, that Arcana grows unimpeded. In this example, it would be possible to have two personas of the Sun Arcana. The fused persona would stay at its current strength while the other grows stronger and stronger, likely passing the fused persona eventually.
“There is another important benefit to the fused persona. If you decide to use that persona to fuse for another, that persona would be able to take the spot of any of the Arcana used to fuse it, but only one spot. In this example, the fused persona of the Sun Arcana could take the spot for a persona of the Sun, Emperor, or Fortune Arcana, but only one of those spots. The last thing I want to mention is that all fusions are final. You cannot undo a fusion to increase the power of the Arcana you fused with.”
Igor bowed his head. “I apologize for the long-winded and far overdue explanation.”
Twilight stayed silent in her seat as she absorbed the information. After a few minutes of running through everything again, she looked back satisfied. “Thank you for telling me. Is that all?”
“You now know our services. I wait to see what you use them for,” he chuckled to himself again before waving her off, “Until we meet again, farewell.”
Izanagi rushed forward and swung his sword, cleaving through the shadow charging at him. He then quickly kicked his rear hooves into the shadows chasing him, decimating them as well. When he turned around he noticed several shadows aiming for Twilight instead and sped forward again. He zoomed past them and swept wide with his sword once again, knocking, but not defeating, all of them aside. A boulder for Golem finished the job.
“Is it just me or are there a lot more shadows than usual lately?” Twilight asked the farm pony behind her. They and Spike were stuck together as tightly as they could, letting the personas fight without having to worry about their summoner’s safety so much. With the way tonight’s training was going, it turned out to be a good idea.
“Now that ya mention it,” Applejack replied as Golem crushed several more shadows under its rocks, “Ah think there are.”
“Spike, could you look into this?”
“On it!” said the dragon on her back. He concentrated hard, somehow staying on her despite the blasting winds of harsh blows on both parties. Within a few minutes, he was ready to reveal his findings. “There’s something big over at Sweet Apple Acres again. It feels stronger than what we fought there before. What’s more, it seems to be practically spilling with energy. That may be the source of these other shadows!”
“Do we have to go there again?” the farmer asked grimly.
“We should,” Twilight decided, “I’m sorry, but it would put this sudden overabundance of shadows to rest.”
Applejack sighed. “Alright, if we have to, lead the way.”
Together, the two ponies charged their way through the waves of shadows, letting Izanagi and Golem clear the shadows attempting to stop them. As they grew closer to the farm, they both noticed the shadows start to become steadily stronger, to the point that they were just being brushed aside rather than destroyed. That didn’t matter, though. They couldn’t waste time and would just have to deal with them on the return trip.
The sight of the farm was shocking, to say the least.
Swarms upon swarms of shadows were treading all over the grounds of AJ’s home. They seemed to be surprisingly organized, with weaker shadows patrolling outside the orchard with some stronger ones poking out every now and then between the trees. On top of that, from the direction of the clearing, was a mass of energy that even Twilight could feel. It felt as if it were swirling around and around, acting as a barrier and making her sick to her stomach.
“Well?” AJ asked next to her, “Are we gonna go?”
She choked down her queasiness as best she could and nodded back, “We have to.”
She received a nod of determination and together bolted down the hill. Without a beat lost they charged through the front line of shadows and ran into the thick of the trees, ignoring any other shadows that may have been trying to impede them.
“The trees don’t have those faces anymore,” Spike noted, looking around him, “It must have been AJ who was causing them before. In any case, you don’t have to worry about getting trapped by them anymore.”
Before Twilight could give an understanding nod she was blindsided, pushed in the other direction so far that Applejack lost sight of her. Twilight tumbled over and over again on the ground, Spike bouncing closely behind her. They crashed into a tree, somehow still conscious after all that. When they looked up to see their attacker, fear gripped her.
Standing—no, floating before them, was a metal griffon knight upon an equally-metal stead. The horse was far bigger than they were, making the height of the griffon’s red eyes fill them both with a sense of dread. The griffon held a large shield and a long lance, which was now held high above it and pointed straight at Twilight. She instinctively lit her horn up and a flash of magic engulfed both her and the dragon, making them disappear just before the lance was shot forward. It didn’t just stab the tree that was behind them, it pierced right through it, leaving a gaping hole in the trunk. The sudden loss of support broke the thin edges of the trunk and the tree fell, resounding with a crash next to where they reappeared.
The teleportation, however, left them both dazed for a few seconds. She sat dumbly on the ground, attempting to correct her vision as the large, blurry figure grew bigger. I really need to get used to teleporting more than just myself. She noted to herself.
When her vision finally returned to normal, she realized the knight’s increasing size meant that it was approaching them, its lance ready to strike again. She jumped to her hooves and levitated Spike onto her back. She hopped to the side as the lance came down, keeping her balance as she fought against the force of the impact and the shaking ground. She finally found her opening, knowing that the knight would have to retract its lance before attacking again. With a whim, Izanagi was called from his position after the blindsided attack. He charged in sword-first, aiming right for the back of the knight.
A loud clang was heard, the sound ringing in Twilight’s ears and making the dreaded feeling return. She saw Izanagi’s sword slide off the knight’s armor, tripping him up and landing him to the side. By then, however, the knight had recovered and had its lance readied once more, this time at the downed persona. Before Twilight could call him back, the weapon had pierced through his side. The full width was almost bigger than him, destroying him on impact. The pain coursed through her as well as she let out a sharp scream. Her legs buckled under her, forcing her to kneel. Spike was immediately to her side, but could only regretfully be moral support as he watched Izanagi’s shards scatter everywhere and disappear.
The griffon knight approached the two slowly, looking down on them with its red eyes. The stallion it was riding was letting out quick huffs of air as if it were laughing. Together, they appeared to be relishing the moment, knowing full well that they’ve won. It moved its lance under Twilight’s chin, forcing her to look up at it through her pain. She was forced to watch as the lance retreated and readied for a last strike.
Just before the lance was plunged through her, she felt yet another wave of confidence. What happened next was in a split moment.
The reverberating sound of metal clashing pierced the air like swords, the force strong enough to shake a few trees around them. Spike gasped as he witnessed the spectacle and the revealing of a new persona.
This one was lean and clad in tight red armor. It had a long, black mane and tail, the mane trailing down his back and the tail leaving a smile pile of it on the ground. In his mouth was a sharp sword with two pointed ends, made as if to furiously stab the enemy rather than slice them. His tail began to swish around as if it were another limb, another sword of the same kind gripped tightly around the end of it. The shards of its card were flying around them, the pieces together revealing that this persona was of the Strength Arcana.
Spike looked at the persona as if to analyze it, absentmindedly saying the persona’s name, Rakshasa, under his breath. Rakshasa didn’t lose another moment. He quickly lashed out at the stunned knight with his tail sword, aiming to pierce right through the helm. The knight, however, managed to recover from its stupor and raise its shield to successfully guard against the attack. Rakshasa forced the clash between his mouth sword and the lance to end, shoving the lance aside and leaping up strike again, once again meeting with the shield. He brought his tail sword around him and aimed for the knight’s side. He scored a hit, the attack not doing much but just enough to cause the knight to visibly flinch and release a harsh puff of air like a grunt of pain.
The onslaught continued, Rakshasa attacking constantly with one sword and then the other, finding anywhere it could for the open spot. The blows were forcing the knight backwards with each crash of metal against metal. Sparks appeared to fly between them as the knight’s armor was getting scuffed and scratched everywhere that the persona was able to reach. Once the knight was against a sturdy tree, Rakshasa set up his finisher. He crossed the two swords in front of him and with the force unbelievable to one of his stature against a foe of that size shoved both the lance and shield away, leaving the knight’s torso wide open.
The then began spinning around, faster and faster until he became nothing less of a saw blade, ready to rend his foe. He struck right at the knight’s front, cutting it more times than Twilight would like to think. When he finally slowed down, the knight fell to the ground, his limbs appearing too heavy for him to lift as airs of exhaustion became visible on him. Rakshasa curled himself up into a ball, focusing his energy inside him and letting it build up around him. He stretched his legs out as far as they could as the energy around him exploded and made his swords glow brightly. He poised them up above him and with a speed that was faster than lightning continuously stabbed both swords, one after the other, at the knight. Their power was enough to pierce right through the knight’s armor, doing damage that felt unbelievable even as Twilight watched. The flurry of attacks didn’t end until the energy was finally spent several seconds later. The knight’s body was disintegrating by then, the purple dust flying into the air and shrinking into nothingness, never to be seen again.
He turned around to look at his summoner, his scary eyes actually making Twilight jump a little. She looked longer, though, noticing a difference between his eyes and the display that was before her. His eyes weren’t that of the fury she felt as he attacked, but that of protection. He continued to look at her as he faded into a light and returned to his card form in her crown. The warm light she felt as he returned further convinced her that Rakshasa was nothing to fear.
The summoning, along with the pain she still suffered that whole time from Izanagi’s fall, had tired her out, however, and she decided it best to sit for a while longer until her energy returned. She leaned against a tree, her breathing harsh and her lungs visibly following her breaths. Spike sat next to her, keeping his senses on for signs of danger. She let several minutes pass before finally deciding to get up, not wanting to stay in one place too long in a shadow-infested apple orchard.
“Can you see where Applejack is?” She turned to the dragon.
“I can’t sense her exact location. Either she tried looking for us and got lost or she was chased like we were. She is still here at the farm, though, and she’s alive.”
“I doubt she’s lost. She knows her farm front, back and sideways, which makes me worry . . .” Twilight thought about her friend being chased by a shadow as strong as that knight was, then shook the thoughts out of her head, knowing full well that she could take care of herself, “We may as well continue on to the clearing where that strange energy is. AJ knows that’s where we’re headed, too, so we should rendezvous there.” Spike nodded in agreement and hopped on the unicorn’s back and lead her the way through the trees and towards the clearing.
Several more minutes passed as they ventured onward into the orchard. She’d taken to a steady trot to conserve her remaining energy. She could still feel her weak legs shake under her. If she got in another big fight like that one she may be in trouble.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, she realized just how quiet the area around her was. She kept her nerves steady as she looked around. Not a sound was heard as she walked. The wind never picked up in this world, not a shadow could be heard hovering or crawling around them, not even Twilight’s hooves made a sound as the surreal night sky below them was of nothing but soft dust. She could feel sweat run down her face.
“Spike, do you feel anything nearby? I’m getting an un--” she had turned her head to speak to him when she realized something off. He looked back at her questioningly, like he didn’t know how to respond. She asked again, her eyes widening as she noticed what was wrong. Not a sound was coming out of her mouth. They both gasped, though Spike’s was the only one audible, as Spike whirled around in his seat, not trusting his failed senses.
“What?! When did you get silenced?!” He looked around frantically, his own nerves besting him when he couldn’t see anything. His senses finally kicked into overdrive as a figure burst out of a tree and swiped at them. Spike lunged his body at Twilight’s head and forced her to duck, barely managing to dodge the attack.
The figure hovered before them, its face covered by what could only be long hair. It was a pony’s upper half hanging limply from the side of a pot. Its body was ethereal like a ghost’s and its spine appeared broken as it made no attempt to right itself. Its yellow eyes were clearly visible through its long mane, giving both of them chills that extended through their bodies. The ghost shadow reared back as if it were taking a large breath and shot forward, letting out a scream that surrounded both of them. The sound affected their minds like a mental assault, forcing both of them to cover their ears to no effect.
The shadow swiped at them again, landing a few hits before blasting them away with another scream. Twilight managed to bounce off her hooves and skid safely to a halt and magically catching Spike before he flew past. To her horror, her magic had failed, however. Her horn never lit up and she couldn’t feel her connection with her magic. She saw the dragon hurdling towards her and reacted quick enough to bump him upwards and land on her back, though her stress didn’t lift. She focused her energy to her crown and prepared to bring out a persona, only to look on in horror as that became unavailable as well.
“Twilight, we have to run!” Spike stressed, “Silence wears off eventually, but until then you can’t use any magic or personas! We have to run until that silence wears off!” She nodded in understanding and took off in a gallop through the trees.
She thanked her many days spent learning the farm as she dashed between trees knowing exactly where she was at all times. She bolted left as she noticed the shadow launch at her from the front, then right when it tried again. She headed for the thin section of the orchard, the part where the dirt was less fertile, leaving a fewer number of trees that were also of less size. She knew she had a ways to go, but with a shadow that could phase through the thick trunks of trees she knew she’d be safer there.
“Behind you!”
Twilight caught sight of one of the special apple trees ahead of her, the ones that had lower branches but grew thicker apples. She jumped up as high as she could and chomped down on the lowest branch she could find. She kicked her hind legs forward to increase momentum and swung up and over the branch and letting the shadow pass right by them. The remaining momentum swung her back down the other side of the branch in a full circle. She let go and landed proudly on the ground. Had she more time to think about it, she would have been surprised at how she’d managed to pull off something like that.
She altered her course left a little to avoid running straight into the shadow again. Within a minute she was at the thin layer of trees she was looking for. She stopped up against a tree to catch her breath, waiting for a sign of the shadow. Seconds passed as her breathing evened and the atmosphere around her returned to the silent nature that it was before the ghost shadow attacked. The silence worked on her nerves again as her breathing became harsher and stress built up on her shoulders. Spike kept his head up and alert, though he was starting to feel the pressure on him as well.
He noticed almost too late the danger that was close-by. Without even having to mention it, Twilight reacted perfectly as she spun around, crown glowing, and Rakshasa appeared from the Strength card and cleanly sliced the thin tree trunk. The tree fell backwards, revealing the ghost shadow’s hiding place before he could strike. Rakshasa leapt up and spun his tail around for a follow-up attack, only for the sword to go right through the shadow. It seemed to laugh as its eyes turned white and a blast of freezing cold ice launched and stabbed Rakshasa, knocking it immediately down to the floor. Parts of him was already phasing in and out, telling Twilight that any more would be pressing her luck. Instead, she remained calm as she returned Rakshasa to his card and flipped it around to show the bright light of another brand new card. The light melted off to reveal the lonely king that took up the front of the Emperor card. Twilight cried out the name of her other new persona, ready to take on this foe once and for all.
“King Frost!”
The card shattered and out hopped a large king with a robe that covered all but his head. He carried a staff in his hand that was as tall as him with a small jewel on top. His face was plastered with goofy smile that never changed, as if he were a statue and not in fact living. The shadow fiercely fired another blast of ice at the new persona. The kingly persona seemed to laugh as the ice smashed ineffectively against it. King Frost returned the favor with his own blast of freezing ice, this one even more powerful than the shadow’s. The attack shredded the persona as the cold icicles flew through it, its dust dissipating in the air and finally laying rest the danger it brought.
“Wow, Twilight,” Spike said with amazement, “You just keep getting stronger, don’t ya?”
“Yeah. . .” Twilight said through a hard huff of breath, “but every time I do that I get so tired. . .” She let her legs bend underneath her as she collapsed on the ground, a sense of safety washing over her. King Frost disappeared as she did, further accenting her point, “Two right after the other. . . I’m completely worn out.”
“Aw, c’mon!” he jumped in front of her, ready to give her a pep talk, “You can’t quit now, Applejack’s still out there! She wouldn’t quit!”
Twilight looked at the young dragon’s emerald eyes and saw what could only be described as determination in them. She could see his want to see this extermination mission through to the end. She nodded in understanding and slowly lifted herself up. She struggled to do so, her legs wobbling violently under her.
“You’re right, Spike,” she gasped out, “I can’t let something as trivial as fatigue stop me from proceeding! I’m the one that said we should come here in the first place!”
“Right!”
“So, let’s get going!” She grabbed Spike with her magic, placed him on her back, and forced her legs forward in a run. She recognized the thin trees as the last layer before the clearing they were headed for, and, in that respect, Applejack.
She could see the clearing ahead of her and a strange feeling of happiness, mostly because she knew this would all soon be over, swept over her. She picked up her pace, determined to end this mission once and for all. As she did, though, the strange energy she felt from the entrance picked up around her, making her trip up. She managed to save herself before falling and kept going, all the way through the strange energy until she reached the clearing.
The energy had taken a form here. It swirled around and around the center of the clearing as a purple smoke, acting like a storm to keep out predators. The purple smoke started thin where she was and grew so thick by the center that she couldn’t see what was hiding inside. She looked around the thin part of the smoke and smiled when she found the pony of the day. She made a bolt for Applejack and reached her within a minute, glad that she was OK. She was hanging on, just able to stand against the force of the energy.
“Twilight!” AJ shouted over the wind, “”Yer OK!”
“What’s going on?” the unicorn shouted back.
“Look!”
Applejack pointed around them, where shadows were appearing in groups. When they reached the edge of the clearing they split apart into purple dust as if they were defeated. Instead of disappearing, however, the dust began swirling around with the smoke, adding more and more to it.
“Whatever’s in the center is getting stronger!” Spike yelled to the both of them, “But we can’t. get any closer because of the energy it’s absorbing!”
“So what do we do?” Twilight asked him.
“We just have to wait! I think it’s just about--”
Just as the smoke’s thickness engulfed the entire clearing, the whole storm was suckeed into the center, revealing what was the cause of all this. A tree, larger than even the Apple’s home, glared at them through glowing, angry zigzags for eyes. His mouth of a similar fashion roared at them, a spray of tree sap for saliva splashing the ground around them. Two lumps, one on either side, appeared on his trunk, moving and squirming around, attempting to break free. Two arms finally did, equipped with sharp fingers that acted like claws.
“—done.” Spike finished with a horrified sense of dread.
The tree shook its huge head of leaves, which seemed to awaken several dozens of shadows as they fell out or flew from the mass of leaves. Every shadow immediately homed in on the two ponies with any sort of weapon they had ready to strike.
Twilight quickly brought out Empusa while AJ brought out her persona and readied them both into a defensive stance. When they got close enough, Golem turned himself into a long wall while Empusa readied a strong wind blast. Golem swung himself at the shadows just as the wind was released, slamming the whole group of shadows together with two powerful strikes. Most of them were defeated while a few of them remained, though unmoving.
They both wore confident smiles at their teamwork. They both prepared to focus their attacks on the tree shadow when they were both hit from between them, sent apart once again. They recovered quickly only for Twilight and Spike to gasp as the griffon knight faced them while the ghost shadow faced Applejack. Twilight was ready to cry as her wasted efforts stared her down. She stood her ground, though her confidence was completely gone.
I need something stronger. . .
Then, an idea came to her. She focused whatever energy she had left to her crown. She would need to pull one, just one more trick, out of her hat. A build-up of her energy circled her as her crown glowed with a mysterious blue light. A raspy voice rang in her head asking for confirmation.
“Are you sure you want to fuse these two? You’ll never see them grow to their full potential.” Igor reminded her with his unchanging smile clear in his voice.
“We’ll see.”
“As you wish.”
Two cards appeared from her crown next to each other, the Emperor and Strength Arcana. Their Arcana pictures changed to those of the personas she was fusing, King Frost and Rakshasa respectively. A string of electric energy connected the two together and slowly began pulling them together. When the edge of the cards touched, a blinding light was emitted and stunned everything in the area, including the knight and ghost shadows and the tree shadow. Even Applejack had to cover her eyes to not go blind.
“What the hay is goin’ on?!”
The two cards were finally met as one and the bright light had faded to a glow on the card. The light melted and revealed a depressing picture of a pony hanging upside-down by one hoof in the moonlight.
“Makami!”
The card shattered as soon as the light was completely melted away and a paper-thin, dog-like persona appeared. Its body was long, waving as it moved in place in the air. As soon as it caught sight of the threats before it its mouth opened from below its flat muzzle and shot forth a large stream of blazing fire at both the knight shadow and the ghost shadow at once. The shot was so powerful that it pushed the persona back a ways from recoil. The fire engulfed the two shadows, not even leaving dust once it was finally put out.
When it was satisfied with the small victory it quickly wrapped itself around Twilight and covered her in a warm glow. It took a couple seconds for the spell to fully take effect, but by the end she was completely recovered from fatigue and damage. It then flew over to Applejack and did the same. The group met in the middle and faced the tree that finally recovered from the bright light caused by the fusion. The tree roared once again in pure rage and shot both its arms at the two ponies. Applejack gasped and braced for impact but Twilight stood strong.
Makami rushed forward and stood in the way of the tree’s quick and strong arms. Just as it would have made contact a barrier erected itself in front of it, sending both arms back at the tree and making it claw itself with its own powerful attack. Twilight looked over at AJ and gave her a reassuring nod. The farmer then shared the same confidence she shared and they stood side-by-side, ready to deal the final blow.
“Ya ready pardner?”
“You bet.”
Golem morphed himself into a single, large boulder and shot as high up into the air as he could. Makami followed it up and prepared another fire attack to launch at the right time. It was only a moment later that Golem came falling through the sky at an incredible speed. Makami shot the fire at the rock and turned it into a flaming meteor that was heading directly at the giant boss shadow. When he landed, he hit the tree right at the middle of its trunk, crushing it in half and letting the explosion of fire that followed upon impact take care of the rest.
The smoke eventually settled, a crater taking the place of the tree shadow. Makami faded to a light and returned to Twilight’s crown, but Golem stayed. Instead, he and Applejack’s necklace began to glow, growing brighter in unison. Applejack seemed to understand what was happening as she let the light spread around her in a dome. The dome stretched far and wide, past the trees they could see and over the visible horizon.
“It’s like at the library,” Spike muttered under his breath, “They’re putting up a barrier to stop any more danger from here.”
“Does that mean. . .?” Twilight asked him.
“Yeah. This farm will never be in danger again nor cause it. This place will be just as safe as the library is now.”
“Good,” Twilight said simply as she yawned, “Because I really don’t feel like moving anymore. Goodnight.”
She let her legs give out on her, collapsing to the ground once more. She didn’t realize using a strong persona like Makami would take so much out of her, even after recovering. She let her mind go blank as she lost consciousness.