Twilight walked over to a bench and sat down. She thought back to how she arrived in Twilight Town. She’d taken a portal of unknown origins, to an unknown location, simply because there was a chance to get some answers to the questions that were burning in her mind. It was reckless, a word that could single hoofedly explain her entire life of late. She had gotten caught up with an evil king, corrupted by dark powers, a tyrant who had taken over an entire universe, and was following disembodied voices. The very definition of reckless.
“But I can’t stop now.” Twilight said to herself. “Not when I’m so close to having an answer.”
“What are you talking about Twilight?” Spike asked as he sat down next to her.
“The reason for Haze’s actions, I know that I’m getting close to the answer.” Twilight explained.
“But I thought that Vim told you that he was just crazy. He doesn’t have a reason.” Spike rebutted.
“Not that she was aware of. I won’t give up so easily.” Twilight smirked as she started to formulate a plan for once she met with Haze.
“Vim basically told you to stop looking into it, that Haze was evil from the start. There’s nothing more to it, so please, take it as a warning and stop searching for the answers, for me…” Spike pled.
“Spike…” Twilight sighed, turning her head to face her young assistant. “I have to do this, if I don’t stop Haze, then all of Equestria and this universe will be destroyed. I need to find him first though…” Twilight trailed off back into her thoughts.
Twilight climber back to her feet and walked up the hill that Hayner, Pence, and Olette had been leaving when she’d first seen them. It was a hill which meant that she might be able to see something up there, something that could help her with her quest. There was a chance that she could see something or maybe even Haze, which she couldn’t determine if it would be good or bad luck.
Upon reaching the flat part at the top of the hill, she looked out over the railed ledge. The sun was still setting in the distance and a set of train tracks seemed to go endlessly toward that sunset. As she stood there and watched, she saw a train appear from nowhere and drive under the hill. The sudden appearance of the train had piqued her interest and she turned around to follow the train tracks with her eyes. The tracks came out the other side of the hill and went to a train station.
That train had something special about it; trains don’t normally just appear and disappear. With any luck, she would be able to find it at a train station. As she spun around and started running down the hill, she passed Spike in a blur. Spike grunted as he ran after her.
She followed the train tracks until she reached a small train station that had a single train under its cover. It was not, however, the same train that she had seen while she was on the hill. But the place that she was in had been in so far was fairly small and there was no sign of anything of any significance, so she decided to take the train.
She was relieved to find out that there was no cost for boarding due to a lack of money for this universe. Twilight wasn’t sure how useful her bits would be there, seeing as they were currency from a whole different plain of existence.
Twilight quickly boarded the train, Spike following only feet behind her. They took a seat next to the entrance and only waited about half a minute for the train to start moving. Aside from the pair of them, the train was otherwise empty. Both Twilight and Spike took this as a chance to rest up a bit before they had to go anywhere else.
“We will be arriving in Central Station in Twilight Town’s Station Plaza in about five minutes. Please make sure that you have all of your belongings and have a nice evening.” a voice echoed through the train.
Twilight let out a gasp as soon as the voice started, and a second once it stopped. She began to frantically look around the train for the origin, but it was hard to pinpoint. The voice sounded like it was coming both from in front of them and behind them at the same time. It made her think back to see if she’d ever experienced anything like that before. The memory slowly came back to her, back in Canterlot High School, Twilight had heard Principal Celestia’s voice come from nowhere and Rarity had told her that it was just the intercom. She just guessed that the train had its own intercom system.
As the train slowed to a halt about six minutes later, Twilight climbed back to her feet and walked off of the train. She was relieved to see that the train that she’d seen from up on the hill was stopped in the station.
The train was only one car and was primarily purple. There was a gold trimming on a decent portion of the train. A hat that resembled Star Swirl the Bearded’s hat was on the top of the front side.
There were a few other people in the train station, most of who were sticking to the walls like flies. They casually leaned as if waiting for another person to arrive. Each one of these people wore shirts that advertised something called the “Struggle Tournament.” There was a list of winners beneath the title. Setzer, Seifer, Hayner, Sora… The list went on.
“I have arrived.” declared an overly dressed man as he entered the Central Station.
“Setzer!” a couple of girls exclaimed, falling to the side.
Twilight rolled her eyes at the arrogance of the man who had just entered the room.
“I will reclaim the title which is rightfully mine on this year’s Struggle. I’ll do it for all of you, my adoring fans. No one will be able to stand in my way, I will take back my trophy!” promised the man as he ran his right hand through his long silver hair.
“Oh brother…” Twilight sighed as she turned away and looked back to the mysterious train. “Come on Spike, let’s leave Lover Boy to his ‘adoring fans’ and get out of here.”
“Are you sure that you want to get on that train? We don’t know where it goes; for all we know it could be a trap.” Spike argued.
“I went through a random portal thing; I really doubt that the train could be much scarier than that.” Twilight stated as she walked through the doorway and took a seat on the train.
Spike scampered in after her and took a seat beside her again, just like before. The train took off without warning and sped into the distance. The ride felt like it took a couple of hours, but it was hard to tell because the sun never moved in the sky, like the entire world was trapped in a perpetual sunset.
The train skidded to a halt, catching both Twilight and Spike off guard, causing them to fall from their seats. Once back on their feet though, they walked off of the train, just glad that the fall hadn’t actually hurt either of them. When they left the train, it immediately drove off onto tracks that vanished after a few yards.
“Where are we?” Spike asked as he walked to the edge of the grassy area that they had stepped out onto.
“I don’t know Spike.” Twilight looked around them. There were a few trees and one massive tower, but aside from them, the floating piece of land was barren.
“Is it magic that’s keeping this place up?” Spike asked as he tossed a clump of dirt over the edge and watched as it fell through the emptiness.
“I would assume so, nothing else would explain it.” Twilight commented, still mesmerized by the tower. “Let’s see what’s inside of this place.”
“But Twilight!” Spike groaned, resentfully following Twilight into the door.
A set of stairs spiraled up as far as the eye could see. As the pair climbed these stairs, they reached a couple of circular rooms, after each, the stairs changed. The third set of stairs was what Twilight found most intriguing. They were in a void and simply stretched out forward for a short distance. At either end was a door. As she made her way up those stairs, she couldn’t help but feel anxious about who, or what, was waiting for her on the other side of the door.
She’d been feeling a strong presence ever since she had entered the tower, but as she climbed, it became more and more prominent. She started to wander if Spike felt it, however, she didn’t ask because she knew that if he didn’t feel it, hearing about it would make him even more determined to turn back. If he did feel it though, he would probably brush it off as something that he’d eaten so long as Twilight said nothing.
Spike froze up, unable to bring himself to move as he felt something touch his ankle. It felt like something long and smooth was dragged across his flesh. He gulped as he tried to convince himself not to look down. Despite his effort, he was unable to fight off the urge and his eyes locked with a dark portal forming at his feet.
“Twilight!” Spike screamed. “Help!”
As Twilight turned to face Spike, she saw the dark tendrils wrap around his body and drag him down into the portal. She hurriedly reached out her hand for him, but he was just out of her reach. She could see tears in his eyes as the darkness swallowed him.
“Spike!” Twilight screamed. “Spike! Come back!”
Twilight was hyperventilating at that point. She fell to her knees and held her head in her hands and wept loudly. It was one thing hearing about it happening from the Crusaders, it was a whole other thing seeing it first hoof.
“Gi- give him b- back…” Twilight sobbed. “Pl- please…”
As her voice quieted, she could hear the door behind her open. She turned around and peeked between her fingers at an extraordinarily tall man. He was wrapped in a blue robe that had a lighter blue trim on the cuffs at the wrists and the center where the two ends met. The blue hat on his head was adorned with a crescent moon and two five point stars. The long grey beard and hair covered the top portion of the body of his robe. His eyes seemed almost too large to be real as he looked down at Twilight.
“Is something the matter?” he asked. His voice was calm, but old and full of wisdom.
Twilight wanted to scream at him, to demand that he tell her where Spike was. She wanted to do so much, but instead, all she could bring herself to do was nod as she sobbed.
“Come with me, perhaps we can help each other.” the old man stretched out his hand and waited calmly for Twilight to take it.
Once their hands were joined, the old man helped her to her feet and led her up the last few stairs. Twilight was done caring about Haze, about the Heartless, about the Fissure. All she wanted to do was make sure that Spike was safe.
Spike flailed wildly as he tried to fight off the darkness. As he finally opened his eyes he noticed that he wasn’t in the tower anymore. He was all alone in a dark forest. The sun barely managed to break through the dense leaves overhead.
He slowly climbed up onto his claws… “Claws?” Spike asked himself as he looked down to his purple scaled feet. He was a dragon once more. Lost deep in the Everfree Forest, but he was himself again and he was back in Equestria.
“Twilight?” Spike called out, hoping to Celestia that he would get a response from the alicorn. “Twilight, are you there?”
A low growl replied to his call as a pair of glowing green eyes looked over at him from a bush. He could hear the familiar sound of a timberwolf moving, the unmistakable sound of wooden planks sliding across each other.
Spike summoned his Keyblade, the flash of light causing the timberwolf to recoil backwards. Once it regained its eyesight, it lunged at Spike, but the dragon was fairly easily capable of blocking the attack. Spike struck the timberwolf’s leg, causing the brittle wood to shatter into pieces. As the timberwolf hit the ground, Spike swung his Keyblade at it one more time, destroying its head.
“Spike?” asked a familiar voice. “Is that you?”
“Grey?” Spike turned around and saw the bat pony leaned up against a tree. “How did we get here?”
“I honestly have no idea. A black vortex like hole formed under me just as the two Keyblade wielders were about to arrive in the Hollow Bastion. It swallowed me and I woke up here.” Grey explained. “Where’s Twilight?”
“I don’t know. I was taken by something like what you described, but Twilight wasn’t. The last thing that I heard before I ended up here was Twilight yelling my name.” Spike shook his head.
“We’ll find a way to get her back here. If we could come back to Equestria, then it shouldn’t be too hard to get Twilight back here, we just need to figure out how we got back.” Grey suggested, walking away from the tree that she had been leaning against.
She had a bad limp as she avoided letting her front right hoof touch the ground. Her wings were pretty badly beaten, preventing her from flying. Grey looked more like a cripple than the interdimensional warrior pony that Spike had come to know her as.
“If we’re in the part of the Everfree that I think we’re in, then Fluttershy’s cottage should be this way.” Spike pointed in the direction that the sunlight was coming from. “It’s getting late and the forest isn’t a safe place to spend a night, so going to Fluttershy’s would be the safest thing to do.”
Grey nodded and the two set off in the direction of the sunset. There were no definite paths in the Everfree Forest except for the one that led to the Castle of the Two Sisters. Most of the forest was a big mess that was almost impossible to navigate… almost. Spike, thanks to his numerous trips, was getting pretty good at finding his way around. Grey only had the knowledge of the book about it and her two short trips into it, neither trip took her very far though.
As the pair moved through the darkened forest, they met almost no opposition. The closest to a fight that they came was when a cockatrice came near them. Luckily for them, it was preoccupied with a pack of hungry timberwolves and the pair was able to sneak by without a fight.
Soon they found themselves standing near a small cottage just outside of the Everfree Forest. Two or three chickens were inside of a small fenced off area at the back of the home. A light shown through a window, letting Spike know that Fluttershy was home and they needed some help. Fluttershy was pretty good at fixing ponies up thanks to all the work she did on other animals, like mice.
Spike knocked on the front door once they got around the cottage. Hoofsteps could be heard on the other side of the door. As the door slowly creaked open, the yellow pegasus poked her muzzle through the door.
“Spike!” she shouted as she flung the door open and wrapped her hooves around the baby dragon. “Where’s Twilight?” Fluttershy asked as she noticed that her friend was not with Spike.
“I don’t know…” Spike answered. “I think that she’s stuck on another world.”
“Another world?” Fluttershy asked back, almost losing her balance from the recoil of the thought. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s a long story, but we don’t have time for it right now. This is Grey, she needs some help.” Spike pointed to the bat pony mare behind him.
“Oh my!” Fluttershy gasped, seeing the bat pony’s hoof and wings. “Please come in.” she urged, almost pulling Grey into her home.
With no other choice, Grey was forced onto the yellow pegasus’s couch where she almost immediately had her hoof started on. Fluttershy pulled out some cloth and wrapped the hoof in it. Seconds later the pegasus was already working on patching up Grey’s wings, or at least keeping them still until they had time to heal.
“Here,” Fluttershy offered quietly as she passed a small pill to the wounded bat pony. “It’s some medicine that should help you feel better.”
“Thank you, but you really don’t have to do all of this.” Grey tried to explain, taking the pill from Fluttershy.
“I know, but you needed help.” the pony explained as she watched the bat pony drift off to sleep.
“I’ve got to go Fluttershy.” Spike said, speaking for the first time since Fluttershy started caring for Grey. “I need to bring Twilight home, but I can’t let Grey get hurt any more than she already has. Please keep her from coming after me.” Spike half begged.
“I’ll try.” Fluttershy nodded.
“And one last thing. Let the others know that I’m all right.” Spike requested before heading out the door before Fluttershy could answer.
Spike ran to the library, hoping that he could find a book that could help him. He always seemed to find something that could help Twilight when he looked hard enough, so there was a chance that he could find something that he needed.
He searched the library until the sun started to light up the tree’s interior. Spike was beginning to understand how Twilight felt when she was on a deadline; he could barely manage to get a breath to pass through his body. There was nothing in the entire library that told him how to get back to save Twilight.
Spike’s frustration was brought to a halt when he heard the door to the library slowly creak open. The dragon spun around, immediately calling upon his Keyblade and aiming it straight at the pony who stood in the doorway.
“I’m here to help.” said an unfamiliar voice.
“Who are you?” Spike asked, still not very trusting of the mysterious, cloaked stallion.
“A friend of a friend. You can call me Lost.” he answered.
Haze walked through the wasteland known as the Keyblade Graveyard for what felt like an eternity before he heard a voice.
“I’m in line for a new ally, and I think that you and I, we share some goals.” said a man’s voice.
“Perhaps you can be of use to me. Tell me who you are and maybe we’ll talk.” Haze said in his most calm voice, which was a little jumpy.
“Name’s Braig.”
The man wore a black hooded cloak with a chain around the collar. His black hair was slicked back and tied in a ponytail. A scar ran from just under his left eye, all the way down his cheek until it ended at the bottom of his jaw line. Braig wore an eye patch covering his right eye. In his right hand was a large weapon of some sort. It had spike looking things coming off of the back and a protrusion from the bottom that Braig was holding it from.
“Braig huh? What’s that you hand there?” Haze asked his potential ally.
“Ain’t you ever seen a gun before?” Braig asked in an arrogant tone.
“Guns aren’t around where I’m from. Tell me, what does it do?” Haze continued his interrogation.
Braig sighed and shrugged. “They shoot. Got that Mister Pony?”
“Tell me more about this Clash of Seven and Thirteen. I’d like to know just what I need to do to make everything go as planned. The ‘dos and don’ts’ of making the door.”
“Don’t rely on making other people into your Thirteen if they aren’t willing. The heart is a fickle thing and is not so easily tamed. My old master didn’t understand this and it led to his downfall.” Braig explained.
Haze nodded as he resumed his walk. “I know how to do it then, and it shouldn’t require any unwilling subjects, at least for the darkness. The warriors of the light should be willing to do anything to protect their home.”
“You sound concerned about something.” Braig commented.
“Just an old enemy who might become bothersome. Nothing I can’t handle, assuming that I am able to return to Equestria.” Haze smirked as he half danced down the path between the fields of ancient Keyblades.
“I have an idea for your return trip, but it will be tricky. We’ll need a Keyblade wielder.”
“What a coincidence, I happen to have a Keyblade wielder hunting me down as we speak. Is it a problem that she wishes to inflict intense physical harm to me?” Haze asked playfully.
“Shouldn’t be.” Braig laughed back. “I think that this’ll be fun.”
Celestia paced impatiently as she waited for her guards to come up with a plan to get Twilight and Spike back. It had come to her knowledge after being awakened by Lost that they had been taken to another plane of existence. They were possibly in danger and yet, Celestia, with all her power and wisdom, was once again unable to help her student.
Many of the evens in the past, the sun princess could have interfered and aided her student, but she’d chosen not to in the hopes of molding that student into the great leader that she was destined to be. Now though, the lack of aid was killing Celestia, she couldn’t stand not being able to do anything, being completely helpless.
She could hear the sound of hooves as they gently touched the tiles of the floor behind her. Celestia turned around to see her sister standing in the doorway with a worried expression. Unable to determine if the worry was for Equestria or Celestia, the princess decided to speak for the first time in nearly an hour of non-stop attempts to hold conversations with her.
“What is troubling you, Sister?” Celestia asked.
“She will be fine.” Luna tried to comfort the elder alicorn. “You told me this back when she was fighting against Sombra.”
“He was weaker, more open to negotiations. The Overlord is a monster that cannot be reasoned with, he cannot be imprisoned, and he cannot be killed. I do not see any way that she can succeed in this endeavor.” Celestia, for the first time in her long life, doubted in her most faithful student.
“If that was true, then the world would have ended long before Twilight was even thought of. But she is here today, and she has proven her merit well beyond anypony’s expectations. Anypony, except for you that is. You always believed in her, so why start doubting her now?” Luna explained, placing her wing over her sister.
Celestia silently nodded and stepped back inside the castle. The group of guards having the discussion froze in place the moment that they saw her. Their points dropped off mid word and a silence fell upon the room.
None of the ponies wanted to speak, but they were all curious. Had their princess been crying? Her eyes were reddened and they could almost make out the streaks on her coat where the tears had fallen. They hadn’t made much, if any progress, on deciding how to save the young princess, her dragon, or the mysterious mare that was with them.
“We’ve been unable to make a decision as of yet, princess. I am deeply sorry.” one guard stated.
“Research the spell that that were used. Once we know what it was, we can have a spell crafter make a spell to reverse it.” said a mare as she stepped into the room.
“Shimmer? Is that you?” Celestia asked, turning to face the mare.
Shimmer was a considerate mare to a point, but once that point was reached she would rush everything. Her mane was light blue and had a single black streak that ran down the very edge; her tail had no such streak. Her coat was almost a midnight blue. Her eyes were interesting for a pony, one was orange and the other was pink. The color of her magic fluctuated almost randomly over time, changing colors in almost a mesmerizing way.
“Yeah. So how’s my plan?” she asked as she took another step toward the princess.
“It may work. But we’ll need to get a team on it immediately. Shimmer, I trust that you know some capable ponies?” Celestia answered, still trying to regain her composure.
“Considering that the pony who is to blame for this whole mess is also the pony at the top of the list I would have recommended, I have a small team. I’ll be taking lead since Haze is… gone.” Shimmer explained. “The rest of the team is made up of ponies that teach at your school, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go and recruit them immediately.”
“Go.” Celestia nodded to the mare, sending her on her way. “Twilight… I’ll find you…”
“Tell me child, what is your name?” the old man asked as he sat behind a desk.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight answered fairly easily having been given time to regain her composure.
“Twilight Sparkle, my name is Yen Sid.” the old man answered. “Now tell me, why were you crying?”
“Spike was taken from me again…” it was all that Twilight could do not to cry again.
“He must be very important to you.” Yen Sid pointed out. “Things have a way of working themselves out, is something many people have said in the past. Others chose to take their challenges and face them, to take back what they cared about. Which kind of person are you?”
“I’m going to find him.” Twilight said, still shaking.
“Good. Now, tell me, how did you arrive at my tower?” Yen Sid asked.
“I took a strange looking train here.” she answered.
“That train only appears to those who have the Key. That means that you must also be a wielder.” Yen Sid assumed.
“Yes, I have the Keyblade.” Twilight nodded.
“I was once a teacher to many Keyblade wielders, however I had given up my Keyblade many years ago. I have recently however, held the Mark of Mastery Exam. The test to prove one’s merit as a Keyblade wielder, and to those who pass, they become Keyblade masters.” Yen Sid explained, standing up from his seat.
“There’s a test?” Twilight half shouted. “I didn’t study! I don’t even know what to study! Oh no, oh no, oh-”
“Relax. It is not that kind of a test.” Yen Sid tried to quell Twilight’s anxiety. “It is a test that is different for every wielder who takes it. It usually involves two wielders, but seeing as you are currently alone, I can administer a test to just you if you would like.”
“What does it mean to be a master?” she asked hesitantly.
“It is a title that gives the right to teach about the Keyblade to others. It is a sign that a wielder neither fears, nor shuns the darkness or the light, and instead embraces them for they are part of everything.”
“All right.” Twilight said calmly. “I will take this test, and I will not fail.”
“Good. I will find the perfect kind of test for you, and administer it as soon as I am able.” Master Yen Sid said with a tone of finality.