//------------------------------// // The Chariot and The Fool. // Story: Ponysona: Arcana Crusaders // by Phoenix Kitten //------------------------------// Sweetie summoned Nightmare and willed the possessed armor to drop lightning bolts on the creatures that were surrounding them, bracing as one managed to slip through the barrage and make a beeline towards her. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the pain of whatever it was going to do. Whatever never happened as she heard the creature dissipate into the black smog that they were compromised of. "Don't y'all ever try to lay a hoof on mah friend!" She heard Applebloom yell as her eyes opened. Where the creature had been a few seconds earlier was Appleblooms hoof and a small crack in the street. "Thanks Applebloom." Sweetie sighed with relief. "That was probably going to hurt." "No problem Sweetie." Applebloom smiled. "Now come on.We gotta help Scootaloo!" Sweetie nodded and sent Nightmare over to give Scootaloo some back up while they made their way over. Scootaloo was using her knowledge of break dancing moves to strike and dodge at the same time, delivering powerful kick flurries and pushing herself into the air to avoid the clumsy slaps of the creatures before her. She smiled as she spun in mid-air and brought her hindleg down in a sort of axe kick to the creatures masked face, enjoying the sound it made as it turned into a black smog and blew away. "Hay yeah! This is so much fun!" She yelled out as Nightmare leapt over her and brought down lightning bolts on the other creatures, killing them instantly. The three fillies all glowed yellow as they felt a slight boost in their physical strength. "What the hay?" Sweetie exclaimed. "Did anypony else feel that?" "Ah did... it's weird. Ah feel a little stronger now." Applebloom nodded, rolling her neck so it cracked. "It's been awhile since Ah had to use mah martial arts." "Thanks... umm..." Scootaloo scratched her head and motioned to Nightmare. "Nightmare." Sweetie told her. "Yeah. Thanks Nightmare." Scootaloo nodded. "I would've been hosed if you hadn't shown up." The possessed armor simply bowed it's helmet in silence and faded away, waiting to be called upon again later. "Can that thing talk?" "Not to my knowledge." "Hey girls! Look!" Applebloom pointed as another large group of creatures advanced across the road in front of them, a gaseous mass floating above the middle of the group. In front of the group of creatures were Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, running and screaming from the writhing black mass. A single creature noticed the three of them and broke off, the mass of black mist following the small group that broke away. "Brace yourselves Crusaders." Sweetie announced as she took up a combat stance. Scootaloo got low, ready to start dancing. "Sweetie. I need music to fight effectively." "A little bit of music would be nice. It'd make fightin' a little less harrowing, and it'd give us a base line to keep us organized." Applebloom nodded. "Mah sister and brother work to music sometimes to time their bucks." "Alright." Sweetie nodded. "I'll see if I've got some music in my head that I can play with that spell Twilight taught me." Sweeties horn lit up a pale pink as a musical bar circled around her and a collection of notes winked into existance along it, causing various songs to play as she mentally arranged the notes to find something with a solid enough beat to let them time their moves as well as something that Scootaloo could dance to. "Anytime now Sweetie..." Scootaloo said nervously as the creatures were nearly ontop of them. "Hold on... almost got it." Applebloom reared up and balanced herself on her hindlegs. "Let's see if Ah can still remember those lessons Rainbow gave me." "No way! Rainbow taught you martial arts?" Scootaloo stared up at her with amazement in her eyes. "Yeah. A few days before Ah met you girls." "Got it!" Sweetie exclaimed as a guitar started playing from seemingly nowhere. "Oh yeah. This I can work with." Scootaloo smiled as she charged into the mass of creatures and started dancing, smacking them away and launching them into the air. Applebloom shrugged and raced in to help her friend, hitting any creatures she missed with hoofstrikes and snap kicks. Sweetie watched her friends fight, curious about how she could help them. She couldn't summon her Persona while the music spell was active or else the spell would vanish, she also couldn't do the opposite because that would essentially de summon Nightmare. Seeing her friends start to get overwhelmed she quickly formed a pair of quavers over her forelegs, sharpening the strokes into scythe like blades and charging in. She kept the song spell active and started clumsily cleaving the creatures in two with her improvised weapons. "Yee haw!" Applebloom cheered as she pummeled a creatures head in with her bare hooves, unknowingly moving closer to the gaseous mass which suddenly surged towards her. Appleblooms scream drew Sweetie and Scootaloo's attention. "Applebloom!" Sweetie called out, stopping the music and summoning Nightmare. Scootaloo adjusted her pose to warn off the creatures while her and Sweetie worried after Applebloom, who was lying on her side. The creatures backed off and scurried back up the road to try and reunite with their brethren. Applebloom slowly got to her hindlegs and sagged, staring at the ground. "Applebloom... are you okay?" Scootaloo asked, trying to step forward. Sweetie raised her hoof to stop her. "Where'd the cloud thing go?" Applebloom looked at them, her eyes completely black, wordlessly taking up a combat stance. "Applebloom..." Scootaloo repeated. "The cloud thing took over her body." Sweetie guessed, dispelling her blades. Nightmare hoofed the ground and snorted, the electricity in it's body crackling violently. "Gaia" The possessed filly said, a red card appeared in front of her and shattered, a large stone golem erupting from the ground and facing down the other two crusaders and Nightmare. "No way! She's awakened hers before me? Crap!" Scootaloo complained. "The thing controlling her forced it awake." Sweetie reasoned. Nightmare snorted and pivoted on it's forelegs, bucking the golem in the stomach. Suddenly the loudspeakers attached to the storefronts around them started playing a symphonic rock beat The golem stumbled back and roared as a piece of it fell away, showing a smaller figure underneath. "Looks like we have to knock pieces of it off to beat it." Scootaloo said as she noticed the hole. Sweetie nodded and willed Nightmare to attack the creature with its hooves again. The powerful buck knocked another piece away before the golem could respond and caused it to roar with anger, swinging its stone fist and knocking Nightmare to the ground. Sweetie reeled from the impact, her head spinning for a few seconds before she shook it off, Nightmare getting back to its hooves. "That hurt. Nightmare took the hit but I felt it. Scoota-" Scootaloo growled and rushed forward, doing a windwill kick to launch herself up into the air slightly, spinning into an axe kick and dragging it down the length of the golems face and chest, finally landing on her forelegs and spinning on her head, slamming her rear legs into the golems legs again and again before pushing off and landing on all four of her hooves just out of the creatures reach, expecting a counter attack of some kind.. Which is why when the creature stumbled and fell to the ground she was so shocked. "Scootaloo!" Sweetie called out. "Come on Sweetie. Before it recovers!" "But" "Come on!" Scootaloo started glowing blue. "Scootaloo! You're glowing!" Scootaloo let out a loud cry. "Tempestas!" The blue glow from Scootaloo's body peeled off and took the form of a small card in front of her which shattered, a large green tornado erupting around the pegasus filly. Sweetie shielded her eyes from the sharp winds, Nightmare fading away to avoid those same winds. When they faded, a large blue falcon looking bird with a green tornado in place of it's tail was floating over Scootaloo. "Thou art I, I am Thou. I am Tempestas, goddess of the wind." Another shattering sound was heard as Sweetie resummoned Nightmare and galloped over to Scootaloo. "Scootaloo... you awakened your Persona." Sweetie gaped. Scootaloo was panting. "I did..?" She looked up and smiled, chuckling. "Awesome." "Ugh...ughh..." the possessed Applebloom groaned as Gaia got back to it's feet. "Lets see what you can do then Tempestates." Scootaloo smiled. "At your command." The goddess smiled. "Nightmare and I are right next to you!" Sweetie shouted as Nightmare nodded, hoofing the ground. Scootaloo nodded. "Alright." The golem roared and charged. A small green spot appeared on the ground infront of the living stone before a tornado erupted, knocking the golem up into the air, removing a large chunk of the creatures body when it landed. "Ah....ahhhh...n-noo...." the thing controlling Applebloom groaned. "Sweetie!" "Got it!" The two of them charged in, Sweetie reforming her note blades as she did, and started hitting the fallen golem with all their strength, their Persona's lending support with lightning and tornados. More and more of the golems form fell apart, revealing a small purple pony shaped creature with elongated forelegs, what passed as her mane was bright pink flower petals. "Ga...ga...gaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Applebloom screamed as the cloud seeped out of her body and vanished. The femenine golem's eyes shot open before she faded into a blue card and absorbed into Appleblooms body. "Ohh... mah achin' head..." Applebloom groaned as she got to her hooves. "Applebloom!" Sweetie yelled out as she galloped over to her friend, helping her up. "Are you alright?" Scootaloo asked, her and Tempestates following Sweetie and Nightmare. "Ah think so... what happened?" "That cloud thing took over you and made you fight us." Sweetie told her. "It used your Persona, Gaia." "Gaia?" Applebloom repeated. The blue card shot out of her body and shattered, releasing the odd pony shaped being. "Thou art I, and I am thou. I am Gaia. Goddess of fertile soil." The being said. "Whoa!" Applebloom yelled, backpedaling slightly. "I mean you no harm." Gaia told the filly as she stood up right on her hind legs. "So... you're mah... Persona?" Applebloom asked as she studied the creature. She had purple fur covering her body and her hind legs ended in hooves, the rest of her body was suitably equine aside from her forelegs which ended in five slender digits each, a constant wind whipped at her mane gently,sending small flower petals scattering around. Sweetie and Nightmare turned and headed a short distance away. "How come they can talk and you can't Nightmare?" The armor looked at her and gestured to it's blank face. "Right...no facial features. Can't you use telepathy or something?" Nightmare cocked it's head. Sweetie cocked hers as well, a voice starting to sound in her head. 'Hello?' "Hello... Nightmare?" The armor nodded, the voice starting to sound excited and more clear. 'Yes. Telepathy works. Thank you.' Sweetie smiled. "You're welcome. Will I be able to talk with you like this in the real world?" 'In more ways than this actually. If you ever need to talk with me in your world, just think my name or touch a mirror and call me, I'll take over your reflection.' Sweetie smiled. "Thanks Nightmare. Umm... You're a lot nicer than I expected you to be." Nightmare chuckled. 'I'm a part of you. So I'm reflected by your mood. If you were angry I'd be a lot meaner right now.' Sweetie giggled. "Say... you wouldn't know how to get out of here would you?" Nightmare nodded and pointed to a weird wheeled vehicle. 'Those ambulance's will take you back to your world.' "Thank you Nightmare." Nightmare nodded and faded away. "Hey Sweetie! Know how we can get out of here? Applebloom and I are beat!" Scootaloo yelled over. "Yeah. That red and white wheeled thing behind you!" "You sure. It don't look safe!" Applebloom called out. "Positive." Sweetie said as she cantered over and opened the back doors, revealing a portal to their clubhouse. "Everypony in." She announced before diving in. Applebloom shrugged and dove through as well, followed by Scootaloo. The three of them ended up in the middle of their clubhouse, the comic closing behind them. Sweetie stretched out and glanced out the window. "It's only been a few minutes this time." She noted. "Are you girls okay?" She heard Scootaloo climb into bed and Applebloom collapse onto a cushion behind her. "How can you still be standing after that?" Scootaloo asked. "Yeah... Ah'm exahusted...ah could sleep for two days straight." Applebloom nodded, her eyes barely open. "I guess because I awakened my Persona first." Sweetie said. "After you awaken them it's a lot easier to summon them later...I think..." She shook her head. "In any case, you two will be out for all of tomorrow. Don't worry though, I'll bring your homework in so you can do it." "Thanks Sweetie." "Yeah...thanks." With that they promptly fell asleep. Sweetie chuckled and stashed the comic in a drawer before trotting out and heading home. --- Status: Sweetiebella Marie Belle. Level 3. Persona: Nightmare. Level 3. Skills: Mazio, Zio, Bash Equipment: Body: nothing Hooves: nothing Accessory: nothing Weapon: Quaver Tonfa. Applebloom Anne Apple. Level 2 Persona: Gaia. Level 2 Skills: Dia, Re-patra, Agi. Equipment: Body: nothing Hooves: nothing Accessory: Mothers Ribbon Weapon: nothing. Scootaloo Casandra Darling. Level 2 Persona: Tempestas. Level 2 Skills: Garu, Cleave. Equipment: Body: nothing Hooves: nothing Accessory: nothing Weapon: Bare hooves.