5. Reunited
"APPLE BLOOM!" Scootaloo shouted happily, embracing her friend. The two fillies stood there for a time, holding onto each other.
Eventually, however, their reunion was interrupted as Riku called out, "A little help with these Heartless, if you don't mind?"
"Right!" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom said together, turning to face the Heartless. Scootaloo summoned the Keyblade as Apple Bloom threw her head forward to shift the shield into combat position in front of her face.
"Say, Scoot," Apple Bloom asked, "who's the human?"
"Human?" Scootaloo asked confused. "Oh, you mean Riku? So that's a human. Where'd you learn that term?"
"Tell ya after we squash some Heartless. CHARGE!" Apple Bloom once more charged forward, slamming the shield into the Heartless, kicking out to her side whenever a Heartless tried to attack from the side.
Grinning, Scootaloo leapt into the fray, swinging the Keyblade to destroy the Heartless.
After a time, the Heartless stopped coming. Riku looked to be out of breath, and Scootaloo had several bad cuts. Apple Bloom led them to a house. "In here!" she called. They followed her in.
-----------
Once inside, Apple Bloom gestured them to a Safe point in the corner, walking up to a man typing madly away at a computer. "Hi Uncle Cid!" she called happily.
"Yo, AB!" the man replied. "How many did you get this time?"
"30 Shadows, 2 Large Bodies, 7 Red Nocturnes...and I found an old friend!" Apple Bloom replied happily.
Cid looked up from the computer. "Huh? Oh, hey Riku. ...well, another filly, huh?"
"Oh great," a familiar voice called from the other section of the house, "another one of you."
"Stuff it, Trixie!" Apple Bloom replied, walking back to check on Scootaloo.
Scootaloo had stepped out of the safe point, fully healed, and now stared at the powder blue unicorn mare. "Looks like you made it, too, Trixie," Scootaloo said, happy that another from her world had made it, even if it was somepony she wasn't particularly fond of.
"But of course," Trixie replied. "What else could you possibly expect of the Great and Powerful Trixie?"
"Some manners and humility certainly wouldn't go amiss, my good mare," an old man in a robe the same color as Trixie's coat replied, shifting his hat as he examined some strange devices of mystical nature before him.
"I'll try, Master Merlin," Trixie replied, her voice surprisingly humble.
Scootaloo stared. "Who is that old man, and how the hay did he manage to tame Trixie?" she asked, shocked.
"With whips and a collar!" Cid replied with a gruff laugh.
Merlin glowered at Cid. Riku covered his face with one hand. Trixie turned bright red. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo tilted their heads and said in stereo, "I don't get it."
"Thank the maker..." Riku muttered under his breath.
"Trixie," Merlin said as he turned back to his workings, "I'm close to isolating that magical wavelength I picked up. Be a dear and give the new filly the magic explanation, would you?"
Trixie sighed. "Very well." She looked at Scootaloo. "As you may or may not know, the wielder of the Keyblade can wield magic-"
"Not me," Scootaloo replied. "When the voice in my dreams had me pick powers, I gave up the staff."
"You, too?" Apple Bloom asked, shocked.
"Wait, you had a dream like that?" Scootaloo replied, just as shocked.
"Uh huh!" Apple Bloom confirmed. "It was the night before the field trip when all this happened. See, it went like this..."
---------
Apple Bloom slowly pushed herself to her hooves. She found herself standing on a large stained glass window, showing the founding of Equestria, with the fire of friendship shining over all. "Where am I?" she asked, confused.
A strange voice echoed in her mind. 'A great power has chosen you...but that power must be given form...'
Three altars raised out of the ground, with items on them.
'You must choose the path you will take.'
Apple Bloom walked forward. "Well...whatever you say freaky dream voice." She looked at the three objects. A sword, a staff, and a shield. "So...what are these things?"
'Examine them, and you will see.'
"Alright." She walked up to the staff. "What's this?"
'The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Is this the power you seek?'
Apple Bloom shook her head. "Not really. I've already got inner strength, comes with being an Apple. I get strength from my friends and family. Sides, what would I do with magic? I ain't a unicorn, and I got no talent for potions like Zecora. It just ain't in me to be flinging magic around." She walked up to the sword. "And what's this?"
'The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?'
Apple Bloom shook her head. "I ain't really the warrior type. Besides, I get in enough trouble for breaking things, without wielding a sword of terrible destruction. Pass." She walked up to the shield. "Hey, it's got an Apple on it!"
'The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?'
Apple Bloom thought for a time, then nodded. "Yeah, I wanna protect my friends. That's who I am inside, a protector."
The shield vanished into her. 'You have chosen a power. But what will you give up in exchange?'
Apple Bloom backed up. "You didn't say I'd have to give anything up! This is entrapment! Cousin Apple Thesis is a lawyer, and he's gonna sue the pants off of ya! ...assuming you wear pants..."
The voice sighed in resignation. 'Unguided, the power flows equally down the three paths, never taking form. In order for the power to take form, you must choose one primary path, and block off a different one.'
"...oh. So, you're saying I have to give up either the sword or the staff?"
'Yes.'
"Okay. I'm gonna give up the staff. I'd say I'm probably gonna need courage most in the future."
'Very well.' The staff vanished into the light, and shadows began gathering. Slowly, they congealed into Heartless.
"What are those?" Apple Bloom asked, backing away.
'Throughout your journey, you may encounter those who seek to do you harm-'
"Why would they want to do that? I'm a nice pony!"
'...because they aren't nice. They're...they're evil. It's your job to stop them through any means necessary.'
Apple Bloom looked around nervously. "But, how am I supposed to-" The shield took shape, floating in front of her face. "Oh. Well, here goes. CHARGE!"
She charged forward, her simple tactic proving effective against the Heartless, as she knocked them over and trampled them into the ground.
'...well done. Now-'
"Can we finish this later?" Apple Bloom spoke up once the last of the Heartless were down. "I'm pretty sure I need to wake up now, or I'm gonna be late for school!"
'... ... ...'
Apple Bloom woke up.
------------
"Wow," Scootaloo said. "That went a lot different from my dream. I chose the sword."
"So you got the Keyblade, then?" Apple Bloom asked. "Darn, it looks right cool!"
"Yeah, isn't it awesome!" Scootaloo grinned, fluttering her wings happily. "So, what was that Trixie was saying about magic?"
"Trixie already explained it," Trixie replied, having gone back to Merlin. "It is hardly Trixie's fault if you found your friend's dreams more fascinating than Trixie's lecture."
Apple Bloom looked sheepish. "I actually slept through it when she told me the first time. I guess that put her in a bad mood."
Scootaloo chuckled. "Well, I'm going to fight the darkness and save our world! Wanna come along?"
"DO I!" Apple Bloom cried happily. "Sign me up! I ain't letting you have all the fun!"
"Cool!" Scootaloo pulled the 'Rainbow' out of her saddlebag. "Let's take a flight and see where we wind up."
"Actually..." Merlin interrupted. "I think I have a suggestion on where you should go."
"Really?" Scootaloo asked, surprised.
Merlin nodded. "It seems those from your world have a unique magical signature. I've spent the past few months since Apple Bloom arrived here-"
"Months?" Scootaloo asked, shocked.
"What?" Cid asked, disgruntled. "Did you think the Moogles and I cobbled that shield harness together for Apple Bloom in a matter of hours?"
"Yes," Riku and Scootaloo replied simultaneously. "If that," Riku added.
Cid glowered. "Took us a while to figure out how to make it work right, and fit it to her frame."
"As I was saying," Merlin interrupted, "I've managed to analyze that wavelength, and I've crafted a special Navigation Gummy that will allow you to track down that frequency, enabling you to find anyone - or anything - that survived the destruction of your world. That would probably be a good place to start."
"Cool!" Scootaloo said, taking the Gummy. "So...how do I attach it?"
"You upload it to the flight controls inside the ship, and it plots a path for you," Cid replied.
"Alright." Scootaloo tossed the ship into the safe point with a whack of her Keyblade.
"Cool!" Apple Bloom said, seeing the ship at full size!
-------------
Apple Bloom has joined the party.
Initial Equipment:
Basic Shield - It's a shield, basically.
Attack - 1
Defense - 3
Ability - Basic Guard, projects a protective field that reduces damage taken by those within. Cost: 3 Mp, duration, 10 seconds.
Memento Ribbon - A mother's ribbon, offers protection.
Defense + 2
Magic + 1
Ability - Hyper Healing, quickly recover from KO and greatly restore health
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Riku turned to Merlin. "Say, is there any way I can follow them through the dark corridor? I...don't really want to go through another flight with Scootaloo at the helm. That ship's not built for humans," he added quickly, hoping to forestall Scootaloo feeling down on herself from his words.
"I've got a way!" Cid said, shuffling around in his desk. "Here!" he said, pulling out another Gummy and another device. "This is a tracking Gummy. Hook this to that Gummy ship, and you'll be able to track it down to whatever world it's in. The tracker here will let you find your way there through the dark corridors, or communicate through it."
"Thanks," Riku said, taking the tracker. Scootaloo took the tracking Gummy.
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom climbed into the Gummy Ship. "Here we go!" Scootaloo yelled out as she plugged in the Navigation Gummy and gunned the engine. The ship blasted off through the roof of Merlin's house.
Merlin stared sadly up at the roof. "And I'd just finished fixing it..." he muttered sadly.
---------
The gummy ship came in for a landing on a strange green island. Scootaloo hopped easily out. Apple Bloom climbed out a little dizzy. "This place is weird," Scootaloo commented, walking to the edge of the island. "We're floating in space, it looks like."
Apple Bloom hook herself off. "Hey, look at that tower!" she said, pointing at a large structure nearby.
"Whoa," Scootaloo said, staring up at the structure.
Apple Bloom grinned. "We should climb to the top!" she said happily.
"Awesome!" Scootaloo stared up at the tower speculatively. "We need ropes, pitons, grapnels, safety harnesses-"
"Scoot!" Apple Bloom interrupted. "I meant from the inside." She pointed at the door.
Scootaloo stared at the door. "Oh," she said, hanging her head. "I knew that..."
Apple Bloom walked up to her friend. "Scootaloo, this isn't like you. You've never gotten discouraged this easily. What's going on?"
Scootaloo looked up at her. "You mean other than everyone we know and love being gone, possibly consumed by darkness or in torment unimaginable?"
"Scoot, I know that's bugging you. It bugs me, too. But after three months, ya need to get it together-"
"For you it's been three months," Scootaloo interrupted. "For me? First thing I remember after the explosion of light through the door is Riku poking me in the back with his sword...and that was three days ago at most. And I've only really been awake for maybe ten hours of that, about six of which were continuous combat." Her body shook a bit. "And to top it off...this is all my fault! I opened the door!" She began to sob.
Apple Bloom immediately wrapped her forelegs around Scootaloo, holding her tight. "It's okay, it's okay...let it out..." She held her for a time, letting Scootaloo cry herself out. "Scoot, it's not your fault. He'da gotten the door open one way or another. If you hadn't grabbed the Keyblade, he might have gotten that, too. At least this way we have a chance to save everyone." She held Scootaloo tighter.
After a time, Scootaloo calmed down. "Thanks, Apple Bloom."
Apple Bloom smiled as she stepped back. "Any time."
"...nopony hears about this, ever."
Apple Bloom smiled as she did the motions. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She nodded. "Now you know I'll never tell. Cause losing a friend's trust is the fastest way to lose a friend..."
They paused, looking around. However, despite expectations, there was no sign of the expected pink pony.
Scootaloo shuddered. "I don't know about you, but I want to get into that tower now. Outside here is suddenly giving me the creeps."
"Right." Apple Bloom followed Scootaloo into the tower.
Inside the tower, the two fillies slowly climbed up the stairs. "Weird place," Scootaloo commented. "The stairs lead into warps, and then twist around each other. It's making me kind of dizzy."
"Looks like a place Discord might have designed," Apple Bloom commented.
"Nah," Scootaloo replied as she walked up to the next door. "If he did, there'd be freaky monsters in here.
Stepping through the door, they were confronted by three large blue Heartless holding shield's with faces out in front of them. One of the mouths on the shields opened up, spewing fire at them.
Apple Bloom leapt in front of Scootaloo, slamming her shield into combat position, somehow generating a protective barrier around them both, deadening the effect of the flames. "Ya were sayin?" she asked, sarcasm heavy in her voice.
Scootaloo threw the Keyblade forward, hoping to cut through the Heartless. However, it bounced off the shields. "How the heck are we supposed to fight these...whatever they are?"
A calm voice spoke from the other side of the room. "More pests? Great." A barrage of ice blasts impacted the Heartless from behind, freezing them solid. Lightning struck from above, shattering them. A barrage of fireballs struck the pieces, dissolving them and releasing the captive hearts. "So who were they-" The voice stopped.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo stared at the small white filly, wearing a strange choker and holding a wizard's staff in her emerald telekinetic grip. However, she dropped it as she ran forward, wrapping her forelegs around them both.
"I knew you'd come..." Sweetie Belle whispered. "I knew you'd come..."