//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Loyalty and Honor // Story: Kingdom Heart next generation: Friendship is Omniversal // by Starry Eyed //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash sat on a cloud high up in the sky. She was doing her third favorite thing, which of course is being lazy and doing nothing at all. The First was Winning and the second was flying in general. She had earned this rest after her prosperous time at the Wonderbolts Academy a few weeks ago. Suddenly she looked up and saw somepony flying really fast. Unless it was one of the Wonderbolts, then it could only be Lightning Dust. It was golden like her and everything. Rainbow Dash decided to watch but then noticed that it was flying straight down! It could be that one of the Pegasus was falling, but nothing fell that fast. It would have had to have fallen from the stars themselves to have picked up that speed. She decided to fly out and interact with this thing. As she got within less than 10 meters of it, she thought that it looked like a human, but it was hard to tell with it falling that fast. The second thing she noticed was that it was singing, “I am freeeeee, free falling”. Rainbow Dash flew circles around it to create a twister and slow its speed. As she flew around it, it slowed, but not nearly enough. It was going to hit the ground. She couldn’t catch it. At these speeds that would do more harm than good. The thing about gravity is, it doesn’t really give you time to think. CRASH! Rainbow Dash felt terrible. She had failed. Pegasus were designed to be able to withstand a fall from great heights, but she let this thing drop like a meteor! She had to make sure it was ok, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, are you ok? Are you alive?” She walked up to the crater and listened. “HA HA HA HA Staying ALIVE!!”. The creature, which was definitely human, stood out of its crater. It had golden hair with lightning shaped bangs and hair spiked like a Jolteon. Its muscles were very well toned but not big enough that they would make it non-aerodynamic. Its eyes were as blue as the azure sky, and as fierce as dragons. It had with it an electric guitar, which was primarily black, and but had gold patterns embroidered across it. Its edges were smoothed, they were very sharp turns, but it had no corners along its main body. The most unusual thing about the guitar is that it had no strings at all, leaving no visible way to actually play it. It turned and looked at Rainbow Dash, “I appreciate how you helped to slow my fall back there, and am impressed that you even could. My name is Musica. What’s yours?” “Rainbow Dash,” she responded. She had no idea why, but she was in awe of him. It had nothing to do with the way he looked or the way he held himself. It was in his voice. Rainbow couldn’t tell what it was, but when he spoke, you had to listen. When he complimented her it felt the same as if Spitfire had, and Soarin’ had agreed. And when he had asked her something, it felt the same as when Celestia had. She knew that she was talking to a royal, and so even a simple question carried the weight of a royal order that could not be refused; but it’s not like she would have refused anyway. They deserved to be treated and answered with respect. She realized that she was talking about Celestia and Musica like they were the same rank. Musica smiled and responded, “Well then Rainbow Dash, it is an honor. We should swap information. I know nothing about this world and you know nothing about the Enforcers. We really should talk.” So they discussed everything. Rainbow Dash told Musica everything there was to know about Equestria and Musica told Rainbow everything relevant about his crew, the Enforcers, the Crash, and the Omniverse. They talked for hours. When they had said everything that was relevant, Musica stood up. “Well then Rainbow, I’m thirsty. Where around here can I get some water?” Rainbow smiled, “Hold on a sec.” She flew up and pulled a cloud down to the level they were on. Even with equestrian physics, clouds were still made of water. Pegasus had the ability to drink clouds like they were just floating water bottles. She would probably need to make the cloud rain so that Musica could drink it though. But before Rainbow could say anything Musica bit into the cloud and drank a third of it like a Pegasus would, a before giving a satisfied, “Thanks.” Rainbow dash didn’t know how he had done that. She hadn’t been surprised like that since Twilight and her friends had just walked onto the clouds for the young fliers’ completion. She flew down and started to ask, but Musica asked his question first. “Hey you were standing on this thing like it was solid, right?” Rainbow just nodded. Musica turned and jumped up on the cloud. He nearly fell through it, but it sprung back like a trampoline and finally he stood firmly on it. Rainbow dash was thunderstruck, “How did you …?” Musica admired his work, “It’s a whole lot easier than using the water-walking technique. These things have some stability to 'em. I feel like I could keep this up indefinitely as long as I didn’t expend energy for anything else.” Rainbow had to ask, “What kind of magic are you?” Musica turned back towards her, “This is nothing. It’s just a variant of the wall-climbing and water walking technique, and not even as hard. As for my voice …” and suddenly he said something as faint as one of Fluttershy’s speeches. Rainbow Dash hadn’t heard that last part, “What?” Musica spoke audibly again, “I said that’s how loud I speak normally. I am currently amplifying my voice using the conqueror’s Haki. My particular field of magic is that I can manipulate sound with my voice, but that’s only one of my powers.” Musica pulled up his guitar and the gold lines on it where the strings should have been started lighting up, accompanied by sound. “I can also create and control electrical energy and can use it to play my guitar. Since I can create sound with electricity and I can also control sound, I can combine them to use incredible new abilities. In short, I control thunder and lightning.” Rainbow Dash looked on at this guy. Pegasus could do that too, but that just meant that Rainbow knew firsthand just how powerful this guy was. He controlled sound and electricity, and even though Pegasus could bring lightning out of a cloud, controlling the forces that Pegasus lived by made this guy all the more impressive. Rainbow Dash felt like she had forgotten something. She remembered what, “Scootaloo, I told her that I would teach her how to fly today! Sorry Musica, but I have to stay loyal. We should meet up here tomorrow.” As Rainbow spread her wings to leave, Musica turned nonchalantly and pointed at a nearby bush, “Would she happen to be one of the three tiny ponies hiding in that bush over there?” Rainbow Dash turned and looked at the bush in question. Out came Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. “I told ya’ll they'd find us,” said Applebloom. “Well it’s not like we could have left with them settin' right over there. Besides I didn’t want the alien to know we were here,” said Sweetie Bell. “Hey if it was dangerous Rainbow Dash would have mopped the floor with it. Besides, if Rainbow Dash says that this thing is ok, then it’s ok,” said Scootaloo. Rainbow walked over to the three little fillies, “What were you three doing there?” Applebloom and Sweetie Bell pushed Scootaloo out front. She had led them here and it was going to be her problem now. “Uh well,” started Scootaloo, “We noticed you and that thing fallen out of the sky and thought that we should come check it out. And then we got here and you and it were talkin', but since we had never seen anything like it before we didn’t want to leave you alone with it. So we hid and waited to see if you would need any help. But we barely heard anything. Just something about the Omniverse, and the Enforcers, and humans, and a crew, but you know nothing much.” Scootaloo put on the worst poker face since the one Applejack had tried against Pinkie on Pinkie’s birthday. Musica laughed, “I like these Cutie Mark Crusaders, full of spunk and ready for adventure. Just like my crew.” Applebloom deadpanned and looked straight at Musica, “How'd you know we were the Cutie Mark Crusaders? We ain't introduced ourselves yet.” Musica answered matter-of-factly, “My hearing extends as far as my ability to sense life force. I can hear everything up to two kilometers away, further if I stretch out my power hard enough. I heard you guys talking right after I crashed. Something about protecting Rainbow Dash and seeing what that thing was that fell out of the sky and becoming, and I quote: "Cutie Mark Crusaders fallen object investigators!” The creepy part was that when Musica said that last part, he sounded EXACTLY like the three of them. He even produced all three of their voices at the same time like he was three different people. All four ponies now looked at him in shock. Musica again answered matter-of-factly, “Sound manipulation and supersonic hearing remember?” Musica suddenly flipped about, a serious look on his face, “Sounds like they want to finish the job and finish us off.” Musica turned to Rainbow Dash, “Get the kids out of here. Those Enforcers that I told you about are on a plateau about two kilometers south and one point five kilometers east of here.” Rainbow Dash jumped, “That’s where the Wonderbolts Academy is! They probably want to make it a landing and takeoff zone. It would be perfect for that!” Musica ran that way, “Take care of the kids, I got this.” Rainbow turned back to the Crusaders, “I’m really sorry, but can you three get back to Ponyville on your own from here? I really, really, really don’t want to leave you three on your own, but he will never make it in time. I have to go and help them.” Scootaloo looked conflicted, “But we ...” Sweetie Bell interrupted, “Alright Rainbow Dash we understand, GO!” Rainbow Dash ascended, “Thanks. Musica may control sound.” She flew off in the direction of the Wonderbolts Academy, “But I can fly FASTER than sound.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~ At the Wonderbolts Academy, things were in chaos. The Wonderbolts and their recruits were doing their best to fight of the Enforcers but weren’t able to damage any of them, even with lightning from clouds, so they basically had to lead them away so that the weak could escape, or try to lead them into the obstacle courses that the recruits had to go through. Spitfire made her way back to the runway, where she rendev with Soarin’, “What's the situation here Soarin’?” Soarin’ looked despairing,“Not good Spitfire. We haven’t managed to harm any of them. We've tried everything and nothing works! Maybe they can’t be hurt. And you?” Spitfire reported, “I just lead them through the obstacle course and had the boys fire it up right behind me. They just got the thick of it, so it should slow them down considerably”… THUD! Spitfire and Soarin’ looked about and saw that they were surrounded by the dozen Scout Class Enforcers that had just finished the course in what would have been and all time record. Spitfire deadpanned, “Impossible, WE couldn’t have finished the course that fast!” Two of the Enforcers spat green blasts of energy like bullets that hit Spitfire and Soarin’ and they fell, paralyzed temporarily by the blast. Almost all the other Pegasus had already been caught and those that hadn’t had no chance of escape. The Enforcers grabbed Spitfire and Soarin’ by the back of the necks like a cat and dragged them towards the ship. The dragging hurt their bodies a little, but it was searing pain to Spitfire’s pride. The kind that where dragging them looked like humans, but had wings like cell, that she would have sworn you never be able to grant any level of flight (and wouldn’t have been able to if it weren’t for magic). Other than that they were just like the Pawn class Enforcers that now patrolled the grounds. Suddenly many of the nearby Enforcers looked up. A light blue green Pegasus with yellow hair was diving trying to pick up speed. At the last second she turned parallel to the runway, and kamikazed right into one of the Pawns, tearing its head off. Despite this little victory, the Pegasus in question was very, very badly hurt by this foolish move. She spiraled out of control and landed at Spitfire’s side. It was Lightning Dust, and she was critically wounded. Spitfire yelled at her, “You foal! Do you realize that you could have killed yourself?” Lightning Dust looked at her instructor, “You know me, always pushing my limits and putting myself and those around me at risk.” With that she passed out. Soarin’ looked to the one that she had destroyed, “At least she got one of ‘um. It means that they can be ...” Right before their eyes the “destroyed” Pawn reformed as good as new. None of the other Enforcers had seemed to take any notice of these events other than one lone Pawn making its way to collect Lightning Dust. It wasn’t like Soarin’ could move anyway, but if he could, he would have fallen flat. It was truly hopeless. These things were invincible, and the ones that could fly were better fliers than the Wonderbolts themselves. Plus, one thing about Enforcers, they are not specialists, they are perfectionists. Each new rank gets new strength and abilities, but they never lose the powers of the previous ranks. The Soldier class hadn’t even bothered to leave the ship, and the Gladiator Class Enforcers had only left to take inventory of their new territory. Truly, completely hopeless. Whoosh! Rainbow Dash had flown with a sonic Rainboom and scooped up Spitfire and Soarin’. She chided them, “You know this is the second time I’ve had to swoop down and save you two.” They were going to make it, they were going to get away and have time to regroup. ZAP! Or not. Rainbow had been shot down by the same stunning magic that the other two had. She still had some momentum, so she was still moving but she couldn’t move her body the way she wanted to. The Scouts flew up and caught the runaway Pegasus, which of course meant that they were moving at nearly sound speed, and carried them back to the Gladiator, not wasting any more of the patrol than it took to carry the three back. Once again the other Enforcers hadn’t paid any attention to this display. They all just knew that the others would do their jobs right, so they stayed at their own posts all the while, never lowering their guard or their post. A perfectly well-oiled conquering machine. The three Pegasus were brought before the Gladiator class just like the other captured Pegasus. It sat there completely unmoving, not giving the new arrivals any notice. After all there was nothing special about them as far as it was concerned. Totally hopeless. Just at that moment, the Gladiator stood, its gaze looking to the end of the runway. For once, all the Enforcers had left their posts and were buzzing about an intruder as though he was the center of their world and they were orbiting him. They threatened but dared not rush him. It was Musica, and he was mentally calculating how he was going to beat them all, AND save the Pegasus. Suddenly he vanished. None of the Pegasus knew what had happened or where he had went. But the Enforcers knew he was right beside the Gladiator Enforcer. Musica turned to Rainbow Dash, “You remember I told you I could combine sound and lightning to create incredible new abilities? Well those abilities are called SONGS and I have five of them. But first I need to charge up.” Musica held his guitar ready to play, “Thunderstorm Tuning.” Suddenly all the clouds surrounding the Wonderbolts Academy (and there were a lot) began to boil and lightning flowed out of them before converging within Musica himself. The Gladiator drew its sword and went to kill the hostages. Musica wasn’t about to let that happen, but he didn’t move. Musica sent a bolt of lightning out of his guitar and fried the Gladiator, not enough to kill it, but it saved the Pegasus. Any Enforcer that tried to get close was fried by a bolt of lightning. “This power calls electricity to me like my body was a lightning rod. Lightning always strikes the nearest object. So if anything I deem hostile gets close to me, lightning comes out of me and strikes it. This allows me to charge up and to defend at the same time. Now let's start the concert! First song: Waltz of the Soaring Lightning Spirit.” Musica disappeared and a moment later he was sparing with the Gladiator. The other Enforcers were rushing him like hornets with their hive disturbed. But he was fast, too fast to keep track of. His body was coated in a coat of electricity, as was his guitar. Rainbow now knew why his guitar had no edges, it turned from a smooth musical instrument to a blazing lightning axe meant for cleaving Gladiator Class Enforcers in half with when coated in lightning. One of the Enforcers rushed the hostages, ready to detonate itself to destroy them. Since it was going to blow up, it wouldn’t matter if Musica cut it. It would still explode and take the Pegasus with it. Better to destroy the Pegasus than let Musica save them. Suddenly the Pegasus vanished. They reappeared across the runway, their bodies coated in electricity that did not hurt. “This song coats me in my electricity and lets me move at electric speeds over relatively short distances, and super speeds up my reaction time. I can also move other things or people at this speed, but the drawback is that it seriously strains my body. Second song: Lightning Dragon’s Howling.” Musica’s coat of lightning went away and he roared, producing a blast of white hot lightning. It was not sporadic like regular lightning because it was contained within, and amplified by, sound manipulation. He then reeled back and sent out waves of white lightning orbs that tore apart the soldiers that had now entered the fray. “This song lets me compress my lightning into solid orbs or blasts of energy. It’s much slower than lightning or sound, but is much stronger. Third song: Mind-blowing concert.” Nothing seemed to be happening. Everything was relatively quiet and there was no “music”, but the Enforcers started acting drunk. They were all jumping the Gladiator like it was the enemy. Those that were afar off couldn’t fly straight anymore. “Sound is just a signal to your brain. The brain works by sending bioelectric pulses to and from the body. By controlling both, I can control something’s mental processing. Mess with their senses, even their sense of reality and reason. Fourth song: Angelic Chorus of Valhalla.” Suddenly Rainbow Dash could move again. Based on the looks of it all the other Pegasus could too. Not just move either, they felt revived, reborn even. They were all awestruck. They felt inspired and filled with pure bliss and wonderment. “This song heals everyone that hears it, but the amount of healing done by the song is the same every time I use it, no matter how loud or quiet I sing it. Meaning that I can sing louder to heal more people, or sing quietly to a few people to heal them more effectively. Any healing magic left over heals me.” The Gladiator rushed Musica, but Musica was better now. The healing had put him at 100%, and the Gladiator had been struck by Haki infused lightning, sparred with, hit by two lightning orbs and was staggering from the last song. Musica threw a rough uppercut into its gut, destroying it at last. But there were still swarms of Scouts flying overhead, and waves of Pawns and Soldiers on the ground. Musica continued, “And last but not least, Luffy with the Conqueror’s Haki took out 50,000 powerful fighters with a shot of willpower, but that was just fainting. But Enforcers aren’t alive, there puppets. If they are knocked unconscious, they “die”. This technique only works on Enforcers below Gladiator Class, and cannot take out too many Soldiers at one time. Those that are my enemy will fall at my feet. Fifth song: Trumpeting Ballad of the Conqueror!” Musica screamed his technique's name so loud it could be heard for miles. The Enforcers all fell down beaten. And the Pegasus fell down at the same speed as their jaws. They were not affected by the fifth song, but the awe of it all floored them. They would have stayed awestruck for a really long time if they hadn’t heard three voices in the background, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS PEGASUS SAVERS YAY!” The Crusaders had used a magic lift that Twilight had engineered to help non-Pegasus ponies arrive at the Wonderbolts Academy after the air balloon approach had nearly killed them. Rainbow yelled at them “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE I TOLD YOU TO RUN!” Scootaloo interjected, “But we had to help you. And we haven’t been here long. We didn’t see anything. Especially anything about five songs that he just used to beat those guys and…” Applebloom had to divert the attention away from them, “Hey, isn’t that Pegasus over there really bad hurt?” Spitfire gasped, “Lightning Dust! We forgot about Lightning Dust! You human! Can you use your fourth song to heal her?” Musica was already on it, but as soon as he looked her over, he realized just how bad it was. He could not hear her heartbeat, and he could hear everything. He could hear her body failing “mental death doesn’t occur for five minutes after physical death unless the brain is the thing that was hurt. There is still some time.” Musica turned to the Pegasus, “I can save her, but it will cost me every last drop of power I have and I’ll have to go into a coma to heal completely. In short, I’ll be helpless. You all have to promise me you’ll protect my body.” A wave of “We promise” came from all the Pegasus. They already owed him and they wanted Lightning Dust to be saved. Remember, only people who hear the song get healed, and the healing is better the quieter it’s sung; therefore, Musica has to get closer to someone to perform superior healing. Closer equals better healing. “Fourth song: Angelic Chorus of Valhalla Perfect Remix: Kiss from a Superstar of Rock N’ Roll ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Musica Kissed Lightning Dust and her whole body shone with the intensity of lightning. All of her critical injuries went away and she sat up gasping for air. She didn’t know why, but she felt wonderful beyond anything that she could imagine. It felt as good as being on fire feels bad, and it soaked through to every cell in her body. Why did she feel like this? And, what was that strange creature unconscious next to her? All the other Pegasus ran up either to take care of the sleeping musician or making sure she was okay. She thought it was strange that some of them were blushing or otherwise looked embarrassed. She looked up at Rainbow Dash, “Ok, someone’s really going to need to fill me in.” Rainbow Dash picked up Musica and answered Lightning Dust, “They can explain it to you. In the meantime, I’ve got to get him to someone who can heal him and the Wonderbolts doctor wouldn’t know best how to heal him. I’m going to take him to Twilight.