//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - Awakening (Revised) // Story: Kingdom of Friendship // by SkyFlare //------------------------------// -----Twilight Sparkle – Location: Unknown – Time: Unknown----- Twilight felt herself falling through what seemed to be an endless abyss. She’d been falling for a few minutes already, but it was more of a slow and graceful descent. She didn’t feel the need to struggle, no matter what her instincts were telling her. Normally, this fall would have been terrifying, but none of this was normal. She could see a circular platform growing nearer to her. As she became closer, she was more able to make out the details of the platform. It was stained glass, not unlike what could be found in the Canterlot Palace. It displayed a large image of Princess Celestia and had an image of six crystals forming an arch around the top edge of the platform. Twilight assumed that these were to represent the Elements of Harmony. Behind the princess was an image of the sun. As her hooves gently touched the glass, a voice spoke to her. “So much to do, so little time...” the voice said quietly. The voice was unfamiliar, but gave her a sense of comfort all the same. “Take your time. Don’t be afraid.” “I’m not afraid.” Twilight muttered back, unsure as to if the voice would hear her or not. Something was deeply off about everything, there was no reason for this voice to give her comfort, and she was beginning to feel the need to attribute this quality to a spell. “The door is still shut." “The… door?” Twilight asked the voice. It became silent, but not the normal silence, a perfect silence, one without ambient noises, only a nothingness, that seemed to penetrate her very being. The ground began to shake as three pedestals broke through the glass. Each one had on it a different piece of equipment. One had a shield with an image unknown to her; it was three black circles that were pushed together. Next there was a staff, the head of which had the same design. Finally, there was a sword, and where the blade met the hilt, the image appeared once more. “Power sleeps within you. If you give it form… It will give you strength.” the voice said in the same, calming tone as before. “Give it form?” Twilight asked back. “What in the hay is that supposed to mean?” There was no reply. Twilight slowly approached the artifacts, starting with the shield. “The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all.” the voice explained. Twilight then moved to the staff. “The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin.” Finally, the sword. “The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction.” “Those are my choices?” Twilight asked with a slight laugh. “Kindness to aid friends, you said? The shield is my choice.” “Now, what will you give up in exchange?” “Give up? I wasn’t expecting that.” Twilight paused and thought for a moment. “If I had to choose, I’d say the sword. Destruction isn’t really my thing anyway.” The pedestals vanished and the glass under her hooves began to shatter. She was falling again. Back into the abyss, not that she truly left. Another platform came into view below her though. As with the previous one, this one displayed a princess. It showed Princess Luna surrounded by the Elements of Harmony and a picture of the moon behind her head. “Use this power to protect yourself and others.” the voice stated as a dark creature began to pull itself from the glass. “There will be times you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong.” The creature was about as big as a school age filly. It looked like a pony, but it had small antennae behind the ears. Its eyes were a glowing yellow and seemed as endless as the darkness that surrounded her. The black body made it blend in with that same darkness, making the yellow eyes, the only way that the unicorn could keep track of the monster. The creature leapt at her, claws extending from its forehooves, but the shield formed at the last second, stopping it in its tracks. There was a metallic clang as the creature’s claws made contact with the shield. Twilight blasted the monster with a lilac burst of magical energy and it exploded into a cloud of darkness. As the shadow like creature faded away, a set of stained glass stairs appeared before her. Twilight was drawn toward them by their magnificence and soon found herself climbing up them. She looked back for a moment, checking to make sure that none of those creatures were following her. To her surprise, and her dismay, it seemed that the stairs were disappearing behind her. She was sure that she had climbed up five, but there were only four behind her and an empty space between the last one and the window with Princess Luna. She walked up the next stair backwards and saw a second stair fade away slowly. “So after four stairs, the farthest one back vanishes. So, this is the point of no return. Whatever happens next is unavoidable.” Twilight summoned forth her shield and lit her horn, preparing for whatever kind of fight was waiting for her at the top of the stairs. Instead of hesitating, Twilight charged forward and asked herself, “What would Dash do?” Atop the stairs was a third platform, and like the others, it had a princess. The last princess, Princess Cadence was displayed. Behind her image was the Crystal Heart. Around her head were the same six Elements that were on Princess Celestia’s and Princess Luna’s. Twilight slowly walked toward a bright light in the center of the otherwise empty platform. “The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.” Twilight felt a presence behind her and spun around to see that her shadow was nearly touching the edge. It slowly reached its massive hooves out, grabbing hold of the platform and pulling itself out of the ground. As it did, its form corrupted into something hideous. Its mane went from the finely combed and well kempt version that Twilight had, to a wild and mangled variant. “But don’t be afraid.” The shadow slowly stomped its way toward Twilight, backing her up to the edge. Her hoof nearly slipped off of the edge of the platform, costing her some of her balance. “And don’t forget…” “I told you! I am not afraid!” Twilight shot a large burst of magic at the monster. It didn’t seem to be very effective, but consistency can sometimes be a deciding factor in a fight. Knowing this, Twilight began to shoot these bursts at a more rapid pace, but soon found herself drained of all of her energy. She panted slightly, trying to recuperate. The creature stomped a hoof against the ground and a swirling darkness appeared around the hoof. More of the filly sized shadows climbed from the abyss. Twilight had to think quickly, and move even more so if she was going to survive this ordeal. “I’m not used to fighting like this on my own.” Twilight gasped out as the shadows grabbed her and held her in place. They formed an abyss, just like the one that they had come from. It started to take her in. “You hold the mightiest weapon of all.” Twilight tried to shake them off, but their sheer numbers were too much for the young unicorn. “So don’t forget,” Twilight began to fade from consciousness. “You are the one who will open the door.” The abyss swallowed Twilight, dragging her into an endless darkness. No matter how hard she struggled, she could not get out. ----- ~~~ ----- -----Twilight Sparkle – Golden Oaks Library – 6/18 12:06 PM----- “Twi, wake up. It’s noon already.” Spike shook the librarian back awake. The dragon bore a slightly worried expression upon his face. Twilight had been completely unresponsive in her sleep, giving him a decent scare. “Noon?” Twilight yawned back groggily. She slowly stumbled out of her bed and onto the floor. “Six after to be exact.” Spike stated, calming down slightly since his friend was finally awake again. Twilight pressed a hoof to her forehead, trying to get her thoughts straight. Was it really just a dream? No, it felt too real. “Lunch with Fluttershy!” Twilight shouted. “That’s why I’ve been trying to wake you up.” Spike groaned back. “Spike, why didn’t you wake me up sooner?” Twilight yelled back, ignoring Spike’s previous statement and frantically trying to comb the knots from her mane and make herself look at least mildly presentable. Spike silently shook his head and left the bedroom, going downstairs to start cleaning the library some. Twilight was in one of her panics and there was nothing the baby dragon could do about it. In this situation, it was best to just stay out of her way and do as she asked; that was something that Spike had learned over the years. Twilight rushed down the stairs to try and make the lunch on time. Then a moment of realization hit her. That dream, the least that she could do was look into it, especially considering how real it had felt. “Spike!” she shouted, gaining his undivided attention. “Look through the library for any references to something called ‘The Door.’ Something is bothering me, and I think that whatever it is has to do with that door.” As she zipped past the dragon, she grabbed a few bits from off of the table. She’d left them there the night before, just in case she slept in on accident. “Alright Twilight.” Spike nodded. “But you really might want to go meet Fluttershy at the Hay Burger.” “Gotta go!” Twilight shouted back as she darted out the door. The streets of Ponyville were as sparsely packed as usual. Twilight only passed by a few ponies on the way to the restaurant. Time Turner, Toe-Tapper, Apple Cobbler, and Candy Mane were each doing various activities like going into or coming out of stores and simply relaxing, a luxury that Twilight didn’t have at the moment. She was already late to her lunch. So much for keeping a schedule. This week was going to be interesting, to say the very least. She’d need to find some time to research that door. “Normal dreams don’t feel like that.” Twilight muttered to herself as she entered the Hay Burger. It was her favorite restaurant in Ponyville, and possibly all of Equestria, however, there were still so many places that she had not been to yet, that she couldn’t say for certain. “Oh, there you are Twilight.” Fluttershy said, noticing the unicorn as she passed through the doorway. “I’m so sorry Fluttershy. I slept in.” Twilight was noticeably upset about being late. “Oh, don’t worry about it. I was a little late too. Angel Bunny was being a picky eater this morning.” Fluttershy smiled back at Twilight softly. Twilight wasn’t sure if that was a lie to make her feel better or the truth. Knowing Angel, that very well could be the truth. Usually he was very defending of Fluttershy, and other times, he would exploit her kindness to keep her close. He cared about her though, and that’s what mattered. “All right, I’m feeling a little better about it now. Thanks Fluttershy.” Twilight took a seat at the table across from her friend. “So, how have you been lately? You seem to be doing a lot of studying.” Fluttershy said, worrying for Twilight’s well-being. “I’m fine; Princess Celestia just wanted me to look into a new spell. I can’t quite get it to work though. I think that I’m missing something.” Twilight yawned slightly, still drowsy from waking up only a few minutes earlier. “You seem to be doing a lot of work out near the Everfree lately. Is something wrong out there?” “The animals near the edge of the forest have been fighting. Something seems like it’s making them frightened. They act like they are trying to prove their strength.” Fluttershy answered. “They’re scared?” Twilight asked back quietly. And then, almost on cue, the voice played through her head. “Don’t be afraid.” “Di- Did you hear that?” Twilight stuttered out in a hushed whisper. “Hear what?” Fluttershy asked. “As long as the sun is shining, your journey should be a pleasant one.” “I remember it saying not to be afraid, but nothing about the sun shining.” Twilight said to herself, getting distracted. “Um, Twilight? Is something bothering you?” Fluttershy whispered in a nervous tone. “A dream that I had. It’s starting to make a little sense. The animals are afraid of something. Something that is very real.” Twilight whispered back. “What’s going on?” Fluttershy whimpered, recapturing Twilight’s attention. She could see a dark tendril creeping up to Fluttershy’s neck. Twilight jumped up and saw one of the dark vortexes from her dream. Her immediate reaction was to try to pull her friend from the darkness with both her hooves and her magic. The darkness overpowered her though, taking her friend away from her right before her eyes. “Fluttershy!” Twilight shouted, still reaching into the darkness as it faded away. “Bring her back!” She demanded as she reached through the darkness for her friend. The darkness slowly faded away and Twilight's hooves once again became visible. Resting between the two hooves that had been holding Fluttershy, was a small metal keychain. Twilight stared at it for a moment, half in shock of what had just happened, and half trying to understand what the keychain was for. “Keyblade…” the voice said. “Key… blade?” Twilight asked back. With no warning, the sky grew dark and Twilight was unable to see anything outside of the restaurant. The only reason that she could see inside was because of a few candles that are magically lit around the room. Twilight lit her horn to act as a torch so that she could see, and stepped outside. The filly sized shadows were roaming the streets of Ponyville. There was a droning sound coming from the sky. Twilight looked up and saw an orb floating where the sun should have been. It was mostly black with some dark purple swirls. The core was a deep red and seemed to pulsate. Twilight found herself surrounded by the shadows. The same creatures from her dream were now invading her home. She was right about that dream, or was it more like a premonition? One thing was certain however, those creatures were behind Fluttershy’s disappearance, and they were going to bring her back. “Celestia!” Twilight swore, aggravated that she had once again become distracted. The keychain began to glow and from the end. A grip emerged from the tip of the chain and a guard formed around it. On the guard, there were gems that looked just like the older depictions of the Elements of Harmony. On the opposite end as the chain, something that looked like a unicorn horn, only much longer extended from the grip. At the tip of the weapon was a piece that looked identical to Twilight’s cutie mark, all six stars. “So this is a… Keyblade?” Twilight asked herself. However, there wasn’t time to hesitate. Twilight knew that she was going to have to fight. She grasped the Keyblade with her magic and smacked one of the shadows to the ground with it. The others reacted quickly and jumped at her, all of them at once. Her instincts taking over, she projected a shield like Shining Armor’s shields. She gave the shield a magical overcharge immediately after forming it, causing it to pop like a giant magical bubble. The resulting burst knocked away the shadows that were attacking. That spell drained the majority of Twilight’s energy though. She didn’t know enough real combat magic to be any good at fighting, and she only knew a couple of low level defense spells. Maybe there was a book in her library that she hadn’t read yet, something that could help her find Fluttershy. Twilight started on a full gallop back to Golden Oaks Library. When she arrived, she hesitated to go inside after noticing that the door was ajar. Her choices were to either fight outside, where it would be easier to get surrounded, or go inside, where she knew every nook and cranny. She slowly stepped inside her home, and saw three shapes in the far corner, huddled together. They were shaking, terrified. “Twilight!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, jumping up and running toward her. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo remained in the corner, shaking in fear. “Girls? Why are you here? Don’t you know it’s not safe outside right now?” Twilight inquired, surprised to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders sitting in her library. “But… Rarity…” Sweetie Belle whispered back, her tone was more upset than Twilight had ever heard it. It was clear that something terrible had happened. “Our sisters're gone Twilight. Somethin’ took ‘em away.” Apple Bloom stated, holding back tears. “Tell me everything.” Twilight said, trying to be as comforting as possible. “And where’s Spike?” She suddenly realized that her dragon was nowhere to be seen “He’s gone too.” Apple Bloom shook her head. “The same thing took him just a little while after he let us inside.” “I was helping Rarity with a dress. Well, more like holding the spool of thread for her, but I looked away for a second because Opal was making a loud noise. When I looked back she was gone!” Sweetie shouted out. The filly was crying and had to constantly wipe away her tears as she told her story. “Ah was helping mah sister catch some apples that she was buckin’ off of a tree. Ah guess ah missed one and it got me on the head. Ah ended up blinkin' and Applejack was missin'. Ah saw something in the shadows about where she was standin' though.” Apple Bloom said quietly, tapping a hoof against the floor, a nervous twitch by Twilight’s assumption. “Rainbow Dash was practicing a new trick. I was holding the stop watch and I looked down to check her time. When I looked back up, something grabbed Rainbow Dash. It was really big and hit had a pointed face and sharp looking wings. There was a mark on its chest, like a cutie mark.” Scootaloo said after a few moments. She was scraping her hoof at the ground, as if trying to dig through the wooden floor. “And Spike?” Twilight asked, worried for her baby dragon. “He let us in and then he got a letter. Then a black thing pulled him into the ground.” Sweetie said, trying her best to hold back tears. Twilight stood silent as the loss sank in. Spike was gone and she wasn't there to protect him. "No..." she whispered quietly. She couldn't think straight, so much so that she was forgetting to breathe. “Spike threw the letter while the thing was pulling him in.” Apple Bloom stated, snapping Twilight out of her trance. “I think that it went over there.” Scootaloo pointed a hoof at the far bookshelf. Twilight slowly walked over toward it, and as the Crusaders had said, there was a small scroll with the princess’s royal seal. She unrolled the scroll and read what it said out loud. “Twilight, “The Heartless are coming for your friends.” Princess Celestia might have intended to write more, but she didn't have time. What was written was done messily, much unlike how Celestia would normally write. Something was terribly wrong. She had one question that she needed the answer to, what were the Heartless?