After buying a couple of weapons, armor and supplies from their respective Velvet Room attendant, the two teams galloped around the labyrinth, plowing through the enemy shadows from the first and second labyrinths of 'You In Wonderland' due to their accumulated experience of fighting between themselves and their personas, as well as the number of sub-personas that they had. Thus, the shadows that are native to the 3rd labyrinth proved to be quite a challenge, through the power of friendship and team work, the threat was pushed aside and decent experience was gathered. Of course, shadows are not to be underestimated, and one of the teams are about to find that out. During the trek, the SOES obtained one new sub-persona, while the RID obtained two. The Hind-du goddess of the rivers, patron of speech, writing, learning, and the arts and sciences, Sarasvati (as a unicorn) joined the caring ranks of Applejack to prevent the earth pony from sleeping and especially to resist the horrors of ice. On the other team, the dark green, boomerang wielding, foal-napping and eating evil spirit from Equestralian folklore, Mokoi is the first sub-persona to join Lyra to help support the mint unicorn's role of being a hard-hitting tank, as well as to support Twilight's instant kills. Finally, the "chooser of the slain" Valkyrie, an earth pony warrior mare from Horse Mythology (Norse Mythology... Get it?) was welcomed into the heart of Applebloom, to extend her physical moveset with a side order of ice.
On one side of the labyrinth, the SOES were busy with a few encounters. Throughout these fights, they were bashing, slashing and stabbing any shadow that dares to challenge them.
"Eat this!" Soarin yelled as he drove his sword through a Cowardly Maya, cutting into half and ceasing it's existence.
"I'll execute you!" Rarity yelled as she brutally kicked a laughing table down.
"Nata Taishi!" Big Mac summoned and a tan like earth pony with a black tail and a black and peculiar manestyle along with wearing a red scarf, a necklet that resembles the leaves of a lotus, black boots, gloves with rings and some red body armor with a large Chineighse word on it. Nata Taishi proceeded to slash a Jupiter Eagle twice before finishing it off with a Fusion Blast.
"Sarasvati!" Applejack summoned and a green unicorn mare with a black mane and tail. She wore a satin cloak of yellow and white covering her front legs and body, with a white sash magically floating in the wind. Apart from that, she wore a gold headdress with small purple gems and a gold belt also studded with small purple gems. The Goddess held a peculiar string instrument with her known as a sitar. With a glare, Sarasvati played a chord with such dissonance that it literally sent chills down a Sleeping Table, freezing it all around and in place. "Change sub-persona!" Applejack chanted and as Sarasvati faded from view, another gunshot from Applejack released more blue fog and Sandman came into view instead. Using some sand from his bag, Sandman thrust two strains of sand so hard at the table that it became a double piercing shot. Both shots violently shattered the ice and with it, the frozen Sleeping Table.
"Commencing annihilation," Sweetie spoke, devoid of emotion, and released countless magic bullets and magic missiles onto a Heat Balance, bashing and pushing the shadow to and fro.
"Let me help!" Scootaloo called and summoned Nemesis. With the seal of light appearing under the balance and the four cards of light rising from it. The shadow disintegrated as the light burst forth from the seal.
"Your assistance was unneeded, but greatly appreciated. Thank you Scootaloo." Sweetie bowed
"That's what friends are for right?" Scootaloo chuckled
"But be careful. There are still shadows running amok." Sweetie warned "there is another Heat Balance 50 meters behind you. It is planning to attack both of us."
"Not if I can help it!" BonBon replied and summoned Isis to cast a gust of wind to blow the Heat Balance... Off-Balance.
"Arooo!!!!" Winona howled as she summoned Cerberus. Once again, the three headed dog summoned a dark circle and seal on the bottom. The dark clouds surrounded the stunned Heat Balance and filled it with so much energy that it exploded in the most dreadful way possible.
"There's still some more shadows to clear up. Let's take them all in one blow!" Rainbow encouraged
"I'll hold you on to that then!" BonBon chuckled
"Let us join too." The Doctor volunteered
"Hang in there everypony!" Derpy encouraged
"All-out attack!" Soarin commanded and he, BonBon, Rainbow Dash, the Doctor and Derpy charged into the rest of the enemy group, slashing and stabbing like there's no tomorrow. As the dust settled, every shadow was reduced into sludge and dust.
"All right, pack it in!" Rainbow cheered in victory,
"All enemies are annihilated." Sweetie reported,
"Good, then we must continue on." Rarity commanded
In another part of the labyrinth, the RID were happily beating down any shadow that gets in their way, with their trusty new weapons and personas.
"Burning up!" Flash yelled as he summoned the demonic tempest bird Anzu, though he looks like a large bird with a lion's head. Anzu swept around the Agitating Hableries and started to whip up violent cyclones, blowing the majority of them to the ground and leaving some badly wounded.
"Here I go!" Twilight replied, summoning Sukuna-Hikona to dish out damage with her sword as well as a useful Hama skill to remove one of the Hableries permanently.
"I admire your instant-kill moves." Flash noted "but there are still more Hableries to go."
"Well, I'm in a boosted state now, so it doesn't really matter unless I get hit right?" Twilight replied
"Just be careful when that time comes." Flash replied "I need to conserve enough of my energy."
"Okay then. Angel!" Twilight yelled, summoning her sub-persona Angel. Like Anzu, she too whipped up violent cyclones to push the Hableries back even more.
"Ha ha ha!" Twilight mockingly laughed at them. That caused the Hableries to stand back up... Very very agitated.
"I think you agitated them even further..." Flash warned
"Did I?" Twilight chuckled "oops..." That was her last word before the Hableries ganged up on her with their tongues, slapping and licking her hard. One of the Hableries decided to roar and a spiky chain wrapped around it's tongue. With yet another tongue slap, the thorny chains pierced her skin and it magically wrapped around her head.
"Argh!!!" Twilight yelled, clutching her head "I can't-- use spells! This chain of thorns is constantly puncturing my concentration!
"We need help. Lady Pinkie!" Flash called and Pinkie jumped to their side.
"Somepony call me?" Pinkie asked
"Can you cover the Princess and assist me in taking out those Hableries?"
"No problemo Flashie-o!" Pinkie jumped for joy before crushing her persona card on the floor. "Jiraiya!" She chanted as the disco ninja frog pony emerged from the shattered card. "This fella's ready to try out his new move!"
"A new move?" Flash asked
"Yeah! It's a melee wind attack!" Pinkie explained "Jiraiya, let's show Flashy our new powers on those mean Hableries!" With a nod, Jiraiya flew straight towards the one of the Hableries and brandished his large yellow 4-sided shuriken on each of his front hoof. Jiraiya cut one of the Hableries in half with one hoof and with the other, cleaving another in twain.
"Behold! The slashing wind skill," Pinkie announced "Jinpugeki!" And to finish it off, Jiraiya threw both his shuriken straight through the final Hablerie, splitting him. With a clap of his hooves, the spliced Hableries exploded into black dust which fades into nothing.
"Well done Jiraiya! Hoof bump!" Pinkie congratulated, holding out her hoof and Jiraiya bumped it with his hoof, before disappearing.
"How are the others doing?" Flash asked as he tossed a bottle of medicine and a mutudi gem to a wounded Twilight.
"Oh they're doing fine! Though Applebloom's used a lot of her energy to summon and swap between Tomoe, Empusa and Valkyrie very frequently to fight out a group of Justice Swords, so she's out of energy and is sleeping peacefully!"
"I beg your pardon!?"
"She's still a filly remember? That's why she has a lack of energy!" Pinkie reminded "don't worry, Octavia, Lyra and Spike are guarding her promptly!"
"Yeah that's right, scram!" Lyra taunted as her own face instilled fear into a group of Calm Pesces as Take-Mikazuchi swung his large, electrically-charged lightning bolt against the fish shadows, bombarding them with electric bashes until they were sizzled or vaporised. Meanwhile, a small green pony that looks like it's made out of vegetation was darting his round white, pupiless eyes around the surroundings as he creeped away from Lyra, Octavia and Spike and towards Applebloom. He licked his lips as he got closer and closer to the sleeping filly and pulled out a knife and fork. As he was about to claim his dinner, a large hoof tapped him from behind. Mokoi turned around to see Tomoe looming above him. Mokoi looked down at his cutlery then back up to the female samurai with a bad poker face. Unamused, Tomoe lifted her front hoof and slammed it on Mokoi, crushing and shattering him into persona dust and fragments.
"Woah!" Lyra jumped, her thought of concentration snapped,
"Is there a problem?" Octavia asked, though she was fully concentrated on a group of Enslaved Beasts.
"I feel like something snapped inside my mind." Lyra explained "it's not life-threatening, but I feel like something happened to Mokoi."
"Your sub-persona?" Spike asked
"It seems I wont be able to use him for a short while." Lyra replied, "it feels like he's been defeated."
"But I don't recall you summoning him at all..." Octavia remembered,
"Personas can come out of their own will their host is in any sort of physical trouble." Spike lectured "Twilight told me so!"
"Or unless it depends on the Persona's history or mythology." Octavia suggested "if the original Mokoi was a spirit of evil that could kidnap and eat fillies, I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to eat Applebloom."
"I don't think it matters really" Lyra chuckled "like Spike said, Personas come out when their host is in trouble. Applebloom's protected with Tomoe around."
"Be careful girls and Spike!" Vinyl warned "I hate to break you guys up, but there's a group of Enslaved Beasts to your left and Lying Hableries to your right!"
"Let me deal with the beasts." Octavia planned "Lyra, Spike, can you take on the Hableries?"
"Sure thing Octavia!" Lyra nodded
"You can always count on me!" Spike winked,
"Come! Konohana Sakuya!" Octavia summoned the Blossom Princess once more. Looking at the 5 oncoming shadows with disgust, the flap of her wings spat out a fire ball for each of them. Hitting them hard, the Beasts rolled around in pain, eager to put out the flames burning their fur. Some that were courageous enough continued on charging.
"Quite persistent." Octavia commended "but you should know better than to face my flames. Again!" Once more, Konohana Sakuya conjured another barrage of fireballs to strike down the Beasts, 2 went down, 3 continued charging.
"Oh dear... I'd better do something or they will be on me!" Octavia gulped, as a response, Konohana sent another Maragi for a third time, but only one burnt down to ashes. The last two remaining shadows got close enough to pounce towards the Blossom Princess.
"Aahhh!!!" Octavia screamed and braced herself for the oncoming pain,
"Mudo!" A mare's voice cried out,
"Cleave him in twain!" A stallion's voice commanded. As Octavia looked up, unsure of why she wasn't feeling any pain, she saw the dissolving remains of the two pouncing shadows, one cut in half, the other consumed by darkness. She turned around to see Sukuna-Hikona and Anzu, with Twilight and Flash behind them.
"Do you suffer from any injuries?" Flash asked
"Not at all! Thank you for your help!" Octavia thanked
"Get ready!" Lyra roared as she smacked a Lying Hablerie in the face with her folding chair, she proceeded to whack it skyward before leaping towards the airborne Hablerie to knock it downward where it went splat on the ground, leaving behind a nasty artwork made from black sludge. "Who wants another?" Lyra threatened
"Rawwrr!!!" Spike growled as his claws rended through the Hablerie's flesh. Enraged, the Hablerie started strike the baby dragon with its tongue.
"Owwiee!" Spike yelped "do you want me to cut that tongue of yours!?" And with a grunt, Spike sliced the enemy in three strikes, and then summoned Kintoki-Douji to flatten the shadow with his behind.
"Quick moves Spike." Lyra commended "for somepony that's slow."
"Me?" Spike replied insulted "I may not be as fast as the rest but we all know that I'm faster than you!"
"Hah! At least I've got strength to back it up!" Lyra teased "I'm the strongest of the RID! What do you have? Luck?"
"As a matter of fact, I do! I'm the luckiest of the RID! What makes you think I can easily beat a Hablerie with just my claws?"
"Fair enough." Lyra nodded in acceptance,
"Stay focused both of you!" Vinyl communicated "you've got 3 of those shadows left."
"Then let me support your strength." Lyra replied and Take-Mikazuchi raised his sword towards little Spike and a flux of orange energy showered down on Spike, which seemed to increase tension in his muscular body. Not only did it affect Spike, but it also caused a transparent pillar of orange light to rise underneath Kintoki-Douji. As a reaction, Kintoki-Douji clutched his missile harder then started stomping on the spot sumo-style.
"All right! Now I feel fired up!" Spike grinned "Kintoki-Douji!" At that command, the Tomahawk-wielding Hero tossed his missile straight at one of the Hableries and pierced through the shadows face before exploding.
"Ha ha!" Spike yelled as Kintoki-Douji stood in victory. It didn't take a genius to know that the final Hablerie decided to take that opportunity to knock the round persona to the ground.
"Guh!" Spike gulped as he felt the pain of the tackle.
"Woah! You gotta be careful there!" Lyra jumped as she helped Spike to his legs.
"Don't worry everypony! Leave dis' ta me!" A southern filly's voice echoed as the two RID members see a brown mare with beautiful long blonde mane and tail, some parts covered with metal scale armor and wore a mask with wings on either side. She wore black boots on her hind legs and on her front legs, a silver longsword each. The brave mare standing before the final Hablerie.
"That's Valkyrie..." Spike noticed "Applebloom?" The two turned around to see the small filly behind the Chooser of the Slain.
"Hiya Spike and Lyra! Ah hope ah didn't sleep through the party!" Applebloom greeted "Ah'm fully rested and recovered, now ready to dish out some damage!" The Hablerie roared in frustration and charged towards the new persona.
"you know what to do Valkyrie!" Applebloom replied. Valkyrie sidestepped away from the Hablerie's range and with her dual swords shining with the colour of ice, slashed the shadow leaving a icy-blue X mark behind.
"What's this?" Lyra asked
"It's a special new move. Frost Link!" Applebloom answered.
"Frost Link?" Spike asked with a puzzled look on his face "what's with the 'link' word?"
"It's quite new as we didn't see or use this type of move before in the Midnight Theatre. This move doesn't really damage the enemy a lot, but it actually sets up a special follow-up attack!"
"Really? Then let me try it out!" Lyra replied with interest. With a wide swipe from Lyra's chair, the Hablerie was smacked pretty hard.
"Now look at the X!" Applebloom instructed. As the three watched the hablerie, the icy-blue X started to glow intensely as it started to attract auras of ice out of nowhere. Once it has received enough, the icy-blue X mark and the icy aura that it attracted burst forth into an icicle bomb, where all the sub-zero shrapnel pierced the Shadow to shreds.
"Dang! That's a pretty awesome attack!" Spike exclaimed.
"Everypony" Vinyl announced "the area is now clear! We are able to continue on!"
"March onward!" Flash replied, signalling with his sword to press forward.
"But be careful! I'm sensing something big that seems to be trailing around, looks to be a giant shadow. I'm also sensing that rabbit up ahead!" Vinyl warned, a bloodcurdling roar was heard throughout the labyrinth, indicating everypony it's presence.
"Acknowledged." Flash replied "we can hear it's presence."
"Oh horseapples... Hope it doesn't decide to attack us..." Applebloom shivered with fear.
"Let's hurry then." Twilight encouraged.
Now in the Ponyville Cultural Festival, Princess Celestia was busy galloping around and in search for something.
"I pray that she won't appear..." She prayed to herself "She won't be here, She can't be... It can't be possible, but the intertwining of fate... The pony in Flash's fate... Could he be a guest?" As Celestia turned the corner, she her face and hopes crumbled into fear and reality as she crossed eyes with the last thing that she'd expect to see in a haven in the rift.
"Oh no..." Celestia gulped
Back to the SOES, the team was walking around a peaceful corridor of the labyrinth.
"Man! It feels like we've been trotting for hours!" Rainbow moaned
"I guess I can agree with you there," BonBon replied as the group walked up to a door
"Let's just get this door open and high-tail it out of here." Applejack grumbled as she checked the door. Only that it didn't budge.
"You gotta be kiddin' me. Again!?" Applejack yelled as she started kicking the door.
"Restrain yourself Applejack!" Rarity commanded
"Do you not see?" Sweetie pointed at the middle of the door. A lock was holding both sides of the piano door together. "This door is locked." Sweetie explained to a very embarrassed farmer.
"Well done!" Big Mac rasped with disgust and started singing " 'how do you solve a problem like Applejack?' Yer hooves!"
"Ey! Take that back!"
"Seriously sis, use yer eyes more than yer hooves. It's common sense."
"Oh! So you think you can tell me what to do now? Is that it? Eh? Ya think ah'm still a filly?"
"She does sound a bit like Applebloom when she's in a whiny state though..." Scootaloo whispered to the others who let off a few giggles.
"You two, stop fighting... Again!" Rarity commanded with a sigh "let's just find some way to unlock the door. I'm tired of this labyrinth as everypony is."
"Well, there's only one way that we can go to." Rainbow pointed towards a pathway to their left. "Wanna find out?"
"We don't have any other choice." BonBon replied "might as well try." As the SOES continued trotting along the new hallway while trying to tolerate the verbal fighting between the apple siblings, they unfortunately approached a dead end.
"So much for finding new things in unexplored places..." Scootaloo replied disappointed. "I guess we have to find the needle in a haystack."
"Regarding to the number of hostiles and size of this labyrinth, the difficulty of finding the key will be much greater than finding a needle in a haystack." Sweetie hypothesized.
"Are you sure there's no other way?" Derpy whined
"No." The Doctor shook his head "I'm afraid we have to--"
"Hold on!" Fluttershy called "I'm sensing a door very close to you!"
"A door?" Rainbow looked around "I can't see anything but walls!"
"Arf arf!" Winona barked as she was sniffing the floor.
"What is it Winona?" Scootaloo asked, the honest dog lead the team to focus upon a door that is blue in colour, but is as the size of a mouse hole.
"What? This is the door!?" BonBon gasped "it's to small to fit in!"
"How the hay are we supposed to get in there?" Scootaloo asked,
"maybe you can easily squeeze yourself through the door! I think you can just fit in!" Rainbow suggested,
"hey!" Scootaloo replied with embarrassment "stop talking about my height!"
"Actually..." Fluttershy brought in "if this labyrinth follows the story of Alice in Wonderland, there should be something that could actually shrink the size of one's body!"
"Oh, you mean this?" Soarin pointed to a nearby table with five cuboid glass bottles labelled 'Drink Me'.
"Well!" Rainbow stared at the bottles "this definitely looks very suspicious!"
"Honestly, I'd just call miniaturization science fiction..." BonBon chuckled "but..."
"We aren't in our real world either." Soarin finished then came with a decision "we need a volunteer."
"I want to do it!" Derpy volunteered
"No Derpy." The Doctor stopped "it's too dangerous."
"I want to--" Derpy continued
"No." The Doctor interrupted
"I want--"
"No." The Doctor interrupted again. Ten seconds of suspense passes,
"I--!"
"NO." The Doctor interrupted for a third time with further volume added to his voice. It seems he immediately reacted the moment Derpy opened her mouth to speak.
"Hmph!" Derpy gave in with frustration.
"Allow me to analyse it's components." Sweetie volunteered
"It's settled." Soarin sighed "be careful."
"As they say, 'down the hatch!' " Sweetie noted as she started chugging down the contents of one of the suspicious 'Drink me' bottles. As Sweetie placed the empty bottle back onto the table, Sweetie stood in suspense as she analyses the components in her body.
"Well?" BonBon asked
"The component is mostly made of water." Sweetie replied with a sweet smile "it also has a light, fruity and natural additive for flavor. I would recommend this beverage for anypony."
"WHAT!?"
"That makes it even more suspicious." BonBon replied unimpressed "but that's not what I meant, is there any physical change to you?"
"Hmm..." Sweetie analysed herself "there seems to be no change to neither my weight or height, nor my head, legs, mane and tail. Furthermore, no components are detected harmful to the pony body."
"Hmm..." Rarity thought loudly "maybe because you're a robot?"
"In this case" Sweetie replied "a regular pony must drink it."
"I'd better not..." Rainbow shook her head
"I-I'll pass too..." Scootaloo sighed,
"yeah" Rainbow teased "don't want to get any smaller huh?"
"That's a sensitive subject!" Scootaloo replied with frustration "don't tease me with that! It's not nice!" Meanwhile, Applejack and Big Macintosh still continued fighting.
"Seriously, wha do you have to act all high an' mighty when criticizin' meh? Do you find pleasure doin that?" Applejack warbled on with Big Mac
"Ya seriously think I 'like' doin' this!?" Big Mac retorted "especially when ah have to deal with crazy ponies that occasionally start kickin' and punchin' trees, timberwolves and all sorts of nonsense in the middle of tha night? Seriously, ya gotten crazy when ya had yer hooves on yer persona."
"Yer one to talk!" Applejack continued "when ya smuggled Opalescence in, ye got Winona and Granny Smith barkin real mad! Ah even got scolded right next to ya!"
"Why you!" Big Mac roared "if yer gonna bring that up, Ah'll remind you of the time when..."
"Are they actually siblings?" BonBon asked Rarity,
"Don't worry." Rarity forced a smile "my sister and I fight like this all the time. That is, before she became a bionic pony... But then again, perhaps they would quiet down if they shrunk."
"Who would drink somethin' suspicious anyway? They'd be out of their noggins!" Big Mac overheard,
"Oh ah'll drink it, just to show how cowardly you are!" Applejack replied
"Tch... Whatever." Big Mac sighed with his head turned away as Applejack picked up a bottle and downing it's contents in her mouth. Only when he decided to turn back was Applejack nearly done drinking.
"Wha-- Stop drinking!" Big Mac ordered with shock as Applejack emptied the bottle and placed it back onto the table.
"Can't do that huh Big Mac?" Applejack taunted "now apologise to me! Say sorry that you've never cooked for me and Applebloom!"
"Wait... What!?" Big Mac jumped in horror,
"Ah know yer a good cook Big Mac, but we're all stuck with eatin Applebloom's cooking! All you ever do is cook for Winona! And yer okay with that?"
"Are you out of your mind!?" Big Mac roared without any accent "you eat Applebloom's cooking because you like them! Why in Tartarus should I cook for you!?" Then he continued back with his accent but with the same tone of anger "Ah'd rather drink this baloney of a liquid than watch you smear that protein crap all over mah dishes!" And with that, he took the third bottle and drank every last drop of it.
"Welp, there he goes!" Rainbow chuckled
"Idiots..." Rarity sighed
"Is that really why they're fighting?" Rainbow asked with confusion, only to soon drop the topic as the 'magic' begins.
The group watched as Applejack and Big Macintosh shrunk in small bursts before their very eyes.
"Wha-?" Rarity gasped
"Ahh-!" BonBon screamed
"Oh." Sweetie spoke, devoid of any emotion.
"Aww! They look like cute little figurine dolls!" Derpy giggled as the two shrunk siblings started charging towards each other.
"So that drink did this? What exactly am I seeing here?" The Doctor asked as he spectated the fight between the ponies.
"Hah!" Big Mac squeaked as he gets hit in the face. "That didn't hurt one bit!"
""Ah'm givin' you one last chance to say yer sorry!" Applejack chirped as she butted heads with her brother. In response, Big Mac headbutted her sister. "Ow! That hurts!"
"You want some?" Big Mac mewed as they continued to trade blows "give in an say uncle!"
"That's mah line!!!" Applejack whined.
That's quite enough! Sweetie!" Rarity replied enraged. To her command, Sweetie lifted the itty-bitty Applejack while Soarin lifted Little Big Mac up to Rarity's face
"What' do you think yer doin!?" Big Mac barked
"Don't get in the way of family business!" Applejack cawed. Without another word, Rarity rhetorically and icily asked
"Do you want me to freeze you two together permanently?" After the rhetorical question, the two petit ponies immediately stopped squirming around and complaining.
"Let's call truce." Applejack conceded and Big Mac nodded in agreement.
"It's amazing that they'd shrink so small..." Rarity sighed in amazement but disappointment at the same time.
"How strange, I thought my analysis of these components were flawless..." Sweetie noted
"There's two bottles of this drink left" Scootaloo noted
"Well? Anyone wants to volunteer?" BonBon asked
"Oh I will!" Rainbow volunteered "heh heh..."
"Are you trying to scheme something?" BonBon caught
"Not at all, just want to get, you know... A different viewpoint..." Rainbow chuckled
"Viewpoint...?" BonBon wondered until the answer finally struck her "You pervert! You just want to look up at our privates!"
"Oh, that was fast." Rainbow sighed in defeat.
"That's it, there is absolutely no way I'm letting you drink this!" BonBon scolded then hastily turned her attention to Soarin "you're our leader, why don't you make a decision?"
"If you two are going to squabble over this, then I'll drink it." Soarin sighed in disappointment.
"Okay then." BonBon urged "then hurry up and-- wait a minute, that means YOU'LL be looking up my privates!"
"Well, he's a stallion, you can't blame him, unlike me..." Rainbow joked
"Then you can drink the second one BonBon." Soarin continued
"Me!?" BonBon gasped
"What!? But if she shrinks, then I won't be able to see her--" Rainbow started complaining
"What was that!?" BonBon glared
"N-Nothing!" Rainbow stuttered in fear.
"Fine." BonBon concluded "Soarin and I will drink them and that's final. Got it?"
"I guess." Soarin sighed as he took the two remaining bottles and passed one to the Earth Pony
"Well, here goes nothing. Down it goes!" And the two started drinking... and shrinking.
Rainbow, Rarity, Sweetie, Scootaloo, Doctor and Derpy stared down onto the miniature forms of Soarin, BonBon, Applejack and Big Mac.
"Ugh..." BonBon squeaked, "I hope we don't get stuck like this forever..." All of a sudden, Winona barked from behind, getting up close to BonBon. Her face seemed to blush a little for some reason.
"Woah! Winona, don't get so close--eek!!!" BonBon screamed as the dog continued getting closer and closer.
"H-Help me!" BonBon screamed as she galloped away from Winona. Winona started going crazy as she jumped around and played with the mini ponies as toys, licking them tossing them around and giving them the fright of their life.
"Woah! Stop licking me!!!" Big Mac squeaked as Winona draped her tongue all over him,
"Th-That really tickles!" BonBon laughed as the saliva cascaded down her body "E-Eek! My mane!"
"Stop it Winona, please!" Applejack pleaded through every breath she can take,
"Aaahhh!!!" BonBon galloped away as Applejack and Big Mac were tossed around and shaken up by Winona.
"Yer tail's whacking me!" Big Mac screamed in pain
"Oh my, it seems that the feral nature of Winona as awakened within her." Sweetie watched as Winona stood growling and barking with pleasure. For some reason, Soarin was the only one who was unharmed and took the distraction to get to the door and open it.
"Dangnabit! Everypony head for that door now!" Applejack commanded and the four immediately galloped in. On the other side of the small door, the 4 ponies were busy trying to catch their breath.
"That was..." Applejack breathed "quite a good workout..."
"Too much... Running." Big Mac sighed
"... I'm all wet from dog slobber..." BonBon whined as she pants and gasps "I'm gonna die from all this running. This is nothing compared to what I did at that Caucus race." As Soarin took deep breaths, he looked around and spied a key hanging low from the rose bush.
"I... I think that must be it... The key to open that door..." Soarin pointed
"Let's just... take it... and hurry back..." Applejack sighed
"... Under... stood." Big Mac replied. Working together, they carried the key through the small door. As soon as they reach the entrance, the four realised they had suddenly grown back to their normal size.
"Welcome back!" Derpy greeted as she was munching on hordes of food
"Ugh... Hello again..." BonBon sighed, the squeakiness in her voice now gone.
"Oh dear, you look down... Do you want some congee? I've put lots of pepper into it!"
"Urp... No thanks, the peppery smell is to too much right now!" BonBon sighed
"We ave the key..." Big Mac handed over
"Well done, C'est Magnifique!" Rarity smiled
"Arf!" Winona barked, shocking the group
"Don't come near me!" Applejack stepped back in fear. Winona whined in apology.
"She apologies for losing control." Sweetie translated
"Don't worry about it." Big Mac smiled "we ain't mad at you." This brought the happy bark back into Winona.
"B-But we get it! Just please don't lick us anymore!" Applejack stuttered
"Winona." Rarity laughed "if these two siblings get out of place, feel free to lick them as much as you want." Winona replied in joy. As the group traversed back to the locked door, Soarin turned the key in the lock and both magically disappear.
"The way is clear!" Applejack grinned
"Arf!" Winona barked in response
"Eurgh... Flashbacks." Applejack added with worry.
"Normally, a dog won't involve itself in domestic disputes, but it seems Winona did with those too. I'll allow you to lick them if they start arguing and getting out of hand." Winona nodded with a happy bark.
"Anything but that!" Applejack replied scared
"Ah won't mind so much." Big Mac replied.
"Ey everypony! Look!" Applebloom called. The RID formed around what looks to be a plant pot with a small spout peeking out from the soil.
"Think it's a trap?" Octavia asked
"I'm pretty sure it's just a normal plant pot." Lyra sighed "it's just like one of those plants BonBon grows."
"Then why don't we water it?" Vinyl suggested "it shouldn't do any harm."
"Might as well give it a go then. Spike?" By her command, Spike pulled out the watering can from before and sprinkled a decent amount of water. As if it was magic, the spout immediately grew taller and taller until it bloomed into a very beautiful flower.
"Wow!!!" Pinkie gasped in delight "it looks so pretty! And it smells nice too!" As Pinkie smelt the flower, she smelt it so hard that the bloom was ripped off the stalk, and ended up in her nose.
"Oops!" Pinkie jumped as she pulled out the flower from her nostrils.
"Ah'm not touching that." Applebloom cringed.
"The bloom itself actually has benefits of revitalizing the spirits of ponies, increasing their energy." Twilight explained "its called a Plum Potpourri. It can be quite useful... Unless you don't mind that the flower seems to be drenched with Pinkie's..."
"Hey, I didn't know it was going to come off, okay?" Pinkie Pie interrupted "I'm sorry!"
"It's fine." Flash broke with laughter "Pinkie needs the extra SP, she has a higher magic stat after all."
"It's about time we should find the stairs downward." Soarin sighed, "I think we're all starting to lose it in this labyrinth."
"This is so endless!" BonBon moaned "I can't take this anymore!"
"I'm getting tired from turning left and right..." Scootaloo whined,
"Yeah... We need to find the stairs straight away..." Applejack replied,
"Grr..." Winona growled, her hairs on end and on alert.
"Wh-What's up Winona?" Rainbow asked,
"She seems to have detected an approaching force." Sweetie translated. "Something very big."
"She's not joking." Fluttershy added "there is something coming through!" In front of them, a large culmination of shadow ooze and dust were collected and formed a portal on the floor. A dark slimy beast rose out form the portal. It had one large horn in front of his face with a mask. The black beast let out a bloodcurdling roar as it changed it's colour from black to red. This wasn't an F.O.E, but this was a very large shadow.
"A large beetle!" Rarity gasped,
"A burning beetle." Fluttershy analysed, "this shadow is extremely powerful! I-I hope you've got some good safety measures!"
"Bring it on you beastie!" Applejack taunted as she started delivering killer blows onto the shadow. As much as the farmer tried to pummel the shadow's shell, it didn't show any signs of weakness. The beetle instead turned it's head, and swung it's horn in one massive swipe, sending the earth pony flying.
"Argh!!!" Applejack reeled as she hit the wall.
"Applejack!" Scootaloo called "are you okay?"
"Ah'm fine." Applejack replied as she picked herself up. "I ain't fallin down like this anymore..."
"Let's try taking turns to attack." Rarity instructed. "Let's use our magic skills!"
"Orpheus!" Soarin summoned, a ball of fire exploded when colliding with the big beetle.
"Io!" BonBon summoned, a gust of wind emerged from underneath beetle in an attempt to sweep it away.
"Nemesis!" Scootaloo summoned, A ferocious bolt of lightning struck down on the beetle's horn.
"Penthesilea!" Rarity summoned, a crystal of ice shattered as it crashed onto the burning beetle, the fragments of ice piercing it's shell and causing it to roar and thrash in pain.
"That's it!" Fluttershy analysed "th-that's it's weak point!" The beetle however, was not finished. Once again, he drew and swung his horn, knocking the Doctor and Derpy away from the battle.
"No!" Big Mac cried as the duo crashed through one of the doors of the room and rendering the door un-accessible.
"They knocked away the amnesiac ponies!" Applejack reported, "we can't go after them!"
"Dammit..." Soarin gritted, "everypony, we need to focus on the beetle right now!"
"That's it pal." Rainbow glared at the shadow "harming those two? You just got on my wrong side..." And with a war cry, she wildly swung her broadsword as she charged straight into the beetle.
"*Cough* *Cough*" Derpy coughed as she picked herself up.
"A-Are you okay there Derpy?" The Doctor asked as he dusted off himself.
"I-I'm fine..." Derpy replied as she grasped the Doctor's hoof "are... Are we really doing this?"
"We have to. One way or another..." The Doctor replied "we need to delve into these labyrinths. If we ever want to get out."
"O-Okay then..." Derpy replied,
"Do not worry..." The Doctor comforted "I will never leave your side. Stay with me always.
"Th-Thanks Doctor." Derpy smiled, clutching his hooves even further.
"First things first, we need to get back to Soarin and his team. We need to find the most quickest way to get there. Follow me!" The Doctor instructed. As the two began trotting, they heard a strange noise behind them. The Doctor immediately moved Derpy behind him and armed his bowguns against an oncoming group of masks and black dust, this could only mean one thing.
"Derpy, start running now." The Doctor replied "I'll follow from behind." Running through the hallways and rooms, the two galloped as fast as they could from the force of shadows in hot pursuit.
"This way!" The Doctor pointed towards a nearby door. As Derpy quickly ducked into the other room, the Doctor fired a few arrows at the incoming shadows in an attempt to slow them down before jumping in before Derpy.
"Are... Are we safe?" Derpy asked,
"Maybe..." The Doctor answered "... Or maybe not." And pointed his bowguns at a team of Justice Swords and Sleeping Tables.
"Oh no!" Derpy gasped, cowering and quaking in fear. The Doctor immediately unloaded his arrows on to the black gooey creatures, where some stuck on to the table, piercing its body, while others bounced off the Justice Swords. Regardless of the damage, they fought back.
"Ugh!" The Doctor growled as many levitating rapiers pierced his body.
"Doctor!" Derpy cried and she used her power in response to heal the Doctor's wounds.
"Th-Thank you for the recovery..." The Doctor thanked as he stood back up, "as long as you're with me, we can take on anything!" With a boost of determination, the Doctor collected the cold air around him and formed a frozen spear with a very sharp tip. Loading it onto his bowgun, he aimed at the group of enemies and fired. The frozen spear pierced through the hand of a Justice sword and pinned down a Sleeping Table, exterminating them in the process.
"Well done Doc!" Derpy cheered "we're on a roll!"
"Yes, let's keep it up." The Doctor nodded, and continued firing more frozen spears. Many were stunned and knocked down due to their weakness, but there were more shadows than spears, and one table decided to sing a horrible but effective lullaby.
"Oh no..." Derpy gasped as her body began to feel light.
"Not... Now... Can't... Die!" Doctor as he collapsed to the floor, his entire body system completely asleep. The most that he can do is to temporarily open his eyes for brief moments. All he could see are a group of Justice Swords getting closer...
And closer...
And closer...
And closer...
Swords being raised high above their heads, ready to strike...
Frozen Swords being raised high above their heads, ready to strike...
... Wait what?
Suddenly, something was inserted into the Doctor's mouth and was forcibly swallowed. As soon as the gem landed in the stomach, the doctor immediately regained control of his body and muscles as his eyes opened up to see a familiar grey face of a mare.
"Phew!" Octavia sighed with relief, "glad you're awake once again!"
"D-Derpy..." The Doctor spoke,
"Don't worry, Flash is taking care of her now, while the rest are busy fighting off those shadows... You do remember us right?"
"You... You must be Octavia..." The Doctor remembered,
"That's good to know!" Octavia smiled as she picked up the earth pony. "We could use some help right now..."
"Face mah power!" Applebloom yelled as Valkyrie charged into the horde of shadows, slashing them with her swords augmented with ice. "Bet ya can't survive mah Frost Edge! Since that is yer weakness after all." Sure enough, after a helping of 'Frost Edges', most tables and swords were ripped into shreds or shattered along with the ice.
"Let's finish this fight then! Persona!" Spike yelled and Kintoki-Douji used his signature mabufu attack, freezing and badly damaging all the shadows there.
"All enemies have been stunned or knocked down, and our morale is boosted." Twilight analysed "The opening for an All-Out attack is possible!"
"Then lets bring it on! Huurrragh!" Lyra roared as she led the charge of the All-Out attack on all the remaining enemies, making sure none were left behind before the calming of the comedic cloud of mayhem.
"Call us if ya want a rematch!" Applebloom taunted before turning to the attention of the ponies. "Are you guys alright? You weren't worried about us weren't ya?"
"Y-You saved us..." Derpy answered "thank you so much!"
"I don't understand..." The Doctor replied "what reason have you to rescue us?"
"Why shouldn't we?" Lyra snapped "we're friends, and it was by coincidence that we saw you sleeping before a pack of shadows! I'd be dammed if we didn't help you in time."
"Friends..." The Doctor repeated,
"Don't worry about it now." Spike replied, "now that we're here, we should continue again as a team."
"Yes..." The Doctor agreed,
"Check it out!" Pinkie gasped as a blue light floated down onto the group. Pinkie's eyes widened with delight as she discovered that it was an illuminated card that has the picture of a very small antennae-less breezie but had oversized wings and that it looked like the wings of a butterfly. This white, black-haired pegasi also was dressed as a king, with the crown and uniform, and the way his rapier was held.
"It's a new persona!" Pinkie gasped, "looks like a small miniature fairy breezie!"
"Not just any breezie." Twilight added as she swiped the card from Pinkie "that's Oberon! The king of breezies!"
"In mythology." Octavia corrected, "and also in a famous play."
"Either way, I bet he's going to be very powerful!" Pinkie replied, "but who's going to have him?"
"We will settle that later." Flash instructed, "for now, we shall trot on."
Back in the fight with the SOES and the Burning Beetle, things weren't looking good for both sides.
"Take this you creep!" BonBon yelled as Ukobach spurred countless flames on the shadow.
"Koropokkur!" Soarin yelled,
"Sarasvati!" Applejack yelled and a blend of thunder and ice struck down on the beetle, causing it to roar again. Instead of what it normally did, the beetle raised it's horn in the air, and summoned flames and fireballs to strike down the SOES before them.
"Yesh!" Big Mac yelped in pain, Winona whined with her,
"How dare you!" Rarity threatened, "I won't let you get away with this! Orobas!" And with the fire of an evoker, a red-white horse with human hands emerged and breathed fire against the beetle, pushing it back. In response, thorny chains sprung from the mask's eye socket and snared around the head of Rarity, causing her to scream in pain.
"My Magic!" Rarity cried, "oh no you don't, I still have one more trick up my sleeve!" And with the most horrifying and unexpected thing to ever happen, Orobas pulls out a very large knife and repeatedly stabbed through the beetle in all places, piercing it's shell, and damaging its insides. Volumes of black sludge oozed out from every wound the Goetian Demon makes with his knife. The burning beetle screamed and screamed in pain, as his insides stains the walls.
"Your torture session has been finished, now prepare to be executed!" Rarity addressed, Orobas then set the blade of the knife on fire and delivered one neat cut through the beetle's body. As the beetle could take no more, its body split in half and exploded into a large volume of black motes and dust. The battle was over, and the SOES emerged victorious.
"Hey there..." Soarin spotted a floating card. "A new persona..."
"Report the damages." Rarity commanded,
"Rainbow Dash is knocked out cold." Sweetie reported "Winona, Scootaloo and Big Mac suffer major damages. I suggest retreating"
"Not a chance." Soarin replied, "we need to find the Doctor and Derpy, stat."
"But where do you think they will be?" BonBon asked,
"A blue haired pegasus you say?" Octavia asked as the RID walked down another hallway, "don't think I know him..."
"But... He and his team says they're from a different place, and that they want to go back!"
"..." Flash listened as he led the way,
"Something wrong Flash?" Pinkie asked,
"What?" Flash looked up, then at Pinkie "oh... It's nothing, just wondering who that mysterious pony is..."
"Sigh... Is this labyrinth ever going to end?" Lyra moaned,
"Don't worry guys!" Vinyl spoke, "I'm detecting something powerful up ahead, just beyond the door a few steps away from you!"
"Let's hope that the area wouldn't contain so many F.O.E painting soldiers like that last door..." Twilight replied,
"Ah! I see the door!" Applebloom spotted and rushed to check it out. As she approached closer, she started slowing down and her hopes also started to fall as she managed to make out a lock, holding the piano doors together.
"Ah shoot!" Applebloom grunted in disgust as the others managed to catch up.
"Looks like the door's locked." Pinkie analysed,
"Does this mean we need to find a key?" Lyra asked,
"Obviously." Twilight sighed, "there's another pathway over there, let's check it out." After a few trots forward, they came to yet another dead end.
"Welp! Looks the key is in a place that we missed, looks like we have to backtrack!"
"Not so fast..." Flash stopped "something doesn't seem right here..."
"He speaks the truth." Vinyl replied, "I'm getting the reading a door, but it's very small. Look onto your left and below you." As the RID did exactly what they're told, they laid their eyes on a small blue door and a table with 4 cuboid glass bottles of water.
"Oh! How interesting!" Octavia gasped as she crouched to examine the door. "It's like a mousehole! Do you think you can fit in Flash?"
"Hah!" Applebloom laughed "if we could get in there, we'd have to shrink ourselves down to Tinyjack size in order to git through!"
"Actually." Twilight remembered "there was a drink in the story that could shrink one's self."
"Is that so?" Pinkie giggled "I'd like to drink one! That is... If I'm crazy enough to. What do you think Spike?" As Pinkie turned around, she saw the baby dragon gulping down the contents of one of the glass bottles.
"Ahh!" Spike breathed in relief "this is very refreshing!"
"WHAT!?" Lyra jumped "where did you get that!? Don't tell me that's--"
"It was just on that table over there!" Spike pointed "there weren't any drink stalls around in this labyrinth, so I think it was a life... Saver..." As he tried talking, he felt something strange in his body... "Huh?" Spike gulped as he watched the world around him grow bigger and bigger and bigger.
"Yikes!!!" A miniaturised Spike squeaked "you're so ginormous Pinkie!!!"
"Really?" Pinkie laughed "because you're the one that's gotten smaller."
"Hnnngh... He-He fits into my hooves..." Lyra blushed as she picked up the mini baby dragon followed with a scream (or loudly squee) due to the sheer adorableness and cutesy form of Spike "I think I'm going to die, my heart can't take it..."
"Noo!!!" Spike wailed "please don't toy with me!"
"I remember this!" Derpy gasped as she raised another bottle to the air "now I wanna drink some too! Here goes nothing!"
"You're not drinking it." The Doctor stood in front, knocking the bottle out of Derpy's grasp and accidentally into Lyra's mouth.
"Glub!?" Lyra gulped as the contents of the water flowed into her mouth. With every gulp, she shrank little by little until she too was fully shrunk.
"Aww!!!" Pinkie smiled "even Lyra too!"
"How strange..." Twilight examined the water from afar "from the looks of it, it doesn't appear to be toxic. But the outcome, this is just..." Meanwhile, Applebloom and Octavia decided to pick up the mini Spike and Lyra and started touching and stroking them to their heart's content.
"Aww!!!" Octavia giggled as she prodded Lyra from all directions. "The two are like fluffy little cuties!!!"
"Now Lyra and Spike got even more adorable!!!" Applebloom gleefully smiled as she stoked the scaly back of Spike.
"Woah!" Lyra squeaked, madly jumping in the palms of Octavia's hooves "Don't call me adorable!"
"Ahhh..." Spike purred "Applebloom's petting technique is so soft..."
"C-Can I touch them too?" Twilight asked, "I mean, I just want to satisfy my curiosity and all, I don't have any other plans for them other than curiosity, please don't get the wrong idea..."
"Hee hee hee... I wanna pet them too!" Pinkie giggled. Flash on the other hand, noticed the number of water bottles has been reduced to two.
"Say, can one of you fine ladies--"
"Look!" Octavia beamed as she held Lyra with her teeth "I can pick him up like this!"
"Spikey's head feels SO soft and scaly!" Applebloom laughed as she continued stroking the mini-baby dragon,
"You know... I'd like to keep them as small pets and decorations now..." Twilight smiled with a blush
"L-Let me go!!!" Lyra chirped "Please don't eat me!!!"
"Ahh... That's my sweet spot!" Spike squeaked happily as he enjoys the feeling of Applebloom's hooves and fur.
"Ha ha ha ha!!!" Pinkie laughed uncontrollably "they're so cute and soft!!! Let me touch them again, it's so ticklish and funny how they react!!!"
"Um... Mares???" Flash spoke louder to get attention, but it was no use. The Mini Spike and Lyra are the center of attention for the party and all the mares are completely engrossed with them, not even listening or glancing at the stallion's direction. Flash threw up his hooves in despair, perhaps he should drink a bottle too, just so he can get popular as well. Looking at the two bottles once again, then back at the mares, he hatched and devised a plan.
"Ha ha ha! Hee hee hee!" Pinkie laughed, tears coming out of her eyes "Oh dear! I've been laughing too much, that I feel dry! I need something to calm me down!"
"Here, have some water." Flash offered,
"Thanks Flashy! You're the best!" Pinkie replied as she lifted the bottle of water and poured the contents straight down her throat.
"Aah! That's very refreshing!" Pinkie noted, feeling very refreshed "this water tastes naturally... Fruity! Say, where did you get this amazing water Fla--?" The next thing Pinkie saw, was Flash chugging down a familiar looking glass bottle of water. Her face fell when she realised it looked just like the bottle that Spike and Lyra drank. Alternating looks between Flash and the bare table, she peered down at the empty bottle in her possession.
"You... Didn't..." Pinkie glared, feeling very light-headed.
"Yes... I did..." Flash exhaustedly smiled back, as the two ponies began shrinking in size...
A now shrunken Flash and Pinkie joined the small crew of Lyra and Spike as they stood close to the mini blue door.
"Yay!" Pinkie squealed "now we can go to places that are too small for us to reach!"
"You're actually happy about that Pinkie?" Lyra sighed "I just hope we don't stay like this forever..." While the three ponies were busy conversing with each other, the baby dragon became curious and naughty as he started examining what's underneath Octavia's body.
"Ooh!" Spike giggled "so that's what's underneath a mare!" Octavia gasped in surprise and embarrassment as she saw the mini Spike underneath. Icy anger and frustration filling her face, the shadow of her hair covered her eyes as she calmly lifted her front hoof up and furiously slammed it down right next to Spike, causing a shockwave to blow away not just the naughty dragon, but also sweeping the three other ponies far away.
"Oops." Octavia coldly growled "looks like I missed." In a hurry, Spike and Lyra quickly ran towards the now open mini-door to escape from Octavia's Icy wrath.
"Let's go!" Pinkie signalled to Flash as she galloped towards the door "as much as I like being small, I don't want to get squished by accident!" As Pinkie finally disappeared into the next room, Flash followed behind, closing the door.
On the other side of the room, a large rose bush stood before the miniature party. There, a key hung high up on a twig.
"Dang it!" Lyra grouched "now how are we supposed to get that? Since I'm so small, I can't use my magic to levitate it down!"
"I can't reach it either!" Spike whined "these bite-sized claws and feet are not helping at all!" Flash tried to flap his wings to fly, but it turns out that he can only pull a Scootaloo.
"If only we can gain our normal size back for convenience" Flash analysed "unfortunately, it would trap us in this room."
"Then why don't we form a pony ladder?" Pinkie advised, "maybe our combined heights can reach the key!"
"In that case..." Flash planned "since I'm the only stallion, I guess I'll have to stay and support you mares on the bottom. Though I'd like to go on top... Or how about you Lyra?"
"Me? Aww, you really think I'm that strong?" Lyra replied, calmly digging her hoof on the ground while lightly blushing. Realising where she was, she sweated and corrected her words "I-I mean, thanks for acknowledging me, but we can all agree that you're the stallion for the job."
"Besides," Spike spoke as he fits in the Teddie Suit, which was also miniaturised "I am always destined to stand out on top!"
"Yeah yeah." Lyra replied, agitated due to the ruined moment "now take that thing off so you'd be more lighter!" As Flash stood firm, Lyra first climbed on the orange pegasus, followed by Pinkie who stood on top of Lyra, then Spike.
"Grr! No good! I still can't reach it!" Spike growled,
"Change of plan then!" Pinkie proposed "we stand on our two hind hooves and use our two front hooves to heave!"
"This may be risky, but it does give more height. Affirmative." Flash replied, getting off, Flash got on his hind legs and stood up high, Lyra climbed on top and did the same, Pinkie magically bounced and neatly landed on Lyra's front hooves. Finally, Spike climbed on the heads of the three ponies in order to get up.
"Make haste Master Spike, I don't know how long I can hold them." Flash spoke,
"Watch the horn!" Lyra spoke,
"Nearly there Spikey-o!" Pinkie encouraged, as soon as Spike managed to rest on Pinkie's hooves, the 4 figures immediately tried to maintain the balance on each other.
"Oh Celestia!" Lyra gulped "this isn't as easy as I thought!"
"Come on Spike!" Pinkie pleaded "as he may be strong as a soldier, I don't think he can hold the three of us all day!"
"..." Flash said nothing back but the sweat flooding his face and bared teeth said it all.
"Woo!" Spike exclaimed "I'm on top of the world! Dance party! Dance party!" And started to jump around.
"Stop jumping dammit!" Lyra yelled, "you're making things worse! Just hurry up and get the key!"
"Mares..." Flash grunted, "I... My strength... Slipping... I may not be able to withstand you further! Ahh!!!" The soldier crumbled underneath the mare's and baby dragon's weight, causing Lyra, Pinkie and Spike to topple forwards and fall. Spike managed to tip the key so that it fell from the twig. However, as an unconscious Lyra landed sprawled on the ground, her face pointing towards the sky, Pinkie struck her head on the falling key and she unconsciously fell with her 4 legs wide open, and neatly fell on top of the lyre playing unicorn. As Flash propped himself up, he saw what laid before him in horror. While he kept a solid horrified face, his internals were screaming uncontrollably as he made out an unconscious Pinkie and Lyra were embracing each other with signs of blood, and an unconscious Spike lay flat on the floor, the large key resting on top of his head. Somehow, the group managed to work together in order to get the key but the ending result was... Unexpected.
As the 3 ponies and dragons hobbled out of the door with the key in their grasp, they magically grew back to their normal size.
"We're baaack..." Spike greeted with his voice returning to normal, rubbing his noggin.
"Welcome back!" Derpy greeted as she much down on some Mochi and fried vegetables.
"Flippin eck Spike!" Applebloom jumped, "what happened in there? Yer all wounded and dizzy!"
"I... I can't remember what happened to me..." Lyra answered, rubbing her head and horn "I know that I fell on my head... I think Pinkie did the same too."
"When I came to, I saw myself sprawled out on the floor, Lyra collasped right next to me and Teddie was knocked out by the big key, then Flash helped me up to his feet. How bad did we fall Flashy?"
"..." Flash looked away in disappointment,
"wow... Is it so bad that it's indescribable?"
"I... Really can't remember..." Flash spoke,
"Really? Did you fall that bad too?"
"Let's just agree that it was a serious accident, understood?"
"O-Okay then, guess you remember it after all, but it doesn't matter now, we've got the key!"
"But um... Something's weird." Lyra scratched her head, "when I fell, I think I hit my head, but my nose was somewhat bleeding..."
"Wow, wouldn't that be a pretty bad injury?" Pinkie asked "or unless you must be dreaming about your humans or worse, somepony, heh heh..."
"Ah still don't understand, did ya see anythin in there Vinyl?" Applebloom asked,
"Me? No, I-I didn't see anything at all, not a single thing..." Vinyl replied over the comms,
"Okay then, thanks for gettin the key once again." Applebloom sighed, Flash looked around and sighed too, looks like Vinyl also found out what happened in there, and the rest didn't have a clue. Maybe he should leave them be...
Returning back to the locked door, Spike volunteered to open the lock. When he turned it, the lock magically disappeared along with the key.
"Phew! If that didn't work, Ah'd be afraid that we would look fer another key..." Applebloom sighed with relief,
"Hee Hee! I'd like to do that again!" Octavia smiled,
"Please, no encores..." Lyra replied, feeling very exhausted,
"Well then, time to get going!" Pinkie encouraged.
As soon as the piano keys slid back to reveal the next room, the Doctor and Derpy immediately spotted the purple rabbit standing right in front of them, minding it's own business once again. Once it was spotted however, the rabbit quickly dashed down the hallway
"It's the rabbit again!" Derpy cried "I'll get it for you this time Doctor!" And she flew immediately after it
"Derpy! Wait!" The Doctor yelled as he quickly followed suit, managing to catch up to Derpy as the two cut around the corner, cutting their view away from the RID.
"Hey! Wait for us!" A voice called out,
"Huh?" A different voice came through, but the two were completely focused on the rabbit that they did not stop and listen for the voices as they stayed in hot pursuit as they dived through doors, slipped past FOE's and continued the chase of the rabbit down a flight of stairs...
Character Database: Applebloom
Race: Earth Pony
Character Role: Chie Satonaka (Persona 4)
Main Persona: Tomoe (Chariot)
Applebloom is the only filly in the RID, but she's not doing this just for her cutie mark, she has the determination and will to keep and maintain the lives of those very close to her. Before meeting Flash and the occurrence murders, Applebloom was always best friends with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, forming the group of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, on their never ending journey to find their cutie marks. However, the presence of shadows changed her life completely. As Sweetie Belle 'died' by the hands of the shadows, the two remaining fillies were filled with grief and sorrow for their best friend. As time goes on, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo rarely meet up with each other, and with the pegasus' announcement that 'she has to go', brought much pain to the poor Earth filly. Longing to find friends and find 'belonging' once again, she started to hunt down anypony to find friends with, regardless if they had a cutie mark or not. This is how she bumped into a heavily burdened Octavia. After helping to cheer her up every day, Applebloom decided to stick up for her and become her new friend. During that time, she introduced herself to more adult ponies rather than foals and fillies, and would talk back to anypony who messes with her. Due to her attitude, a lot of ponies quickly seemed to ignore her, dismissing her as a 'stuck-up filly', only Octavia was the one continuing to trust her. During the time when Flash transferred to Ponyville, Applebloom seemed to be always picking on Pinkie and Spike. Applebloom also tried to make friends with Flash, but seeing the way Applebloom treated his superiors, he too, rejected her offer of friendship called her a 'filly'. This always enraged the poor younger apple sister, but she never gave up on Octavia and she too never stopped following Flash and the rest. The time when Applebloom quickly dashed off with the RID in search for Octavia, she encountered her shadow, who states that she always wanted friends like Octavia because she was so popular with Canterlot and their celebrities, and that with being such an amazing and mature mare, being friends with her could also make her a mature mare too! The shadow then started accusing that it will always never work and that she'll still be a filly. As Applebloom continued on suffering the perils of her own embarrassing truth, being engulfed by her shadow. Flash scolded her for forgetting the true reason why she decided to make friends with Octavia, giving her a spark of hope. As the battle was over, Applebloom confessed to her shadow and the current members of the RID (Flash, Pinkie and Spike) with her life story and how this happened. With a determination to rescue Octavia and to apologise for what she has done, she accepted her shadow and understands what she needs to do. Such love and determination is what caused her shadow to manifest into a persona. The act of 'belonging to your own self' has convinced Flash that Applebloom has now matured into a very beautiful mare, and asked her to become friends with him, along with Pinkie and Spike. With the fog in her heart now clear, Applebloom happily accepted their offer of friendship, and eventually became the 3rd field member of the RID. As she spends time with the team, she began to regain hope, motivation and determination to seek out her old friends once again. She also knows the fact that she always has Flash, Octavia and the rest of the RID to lean on if trouble brews. Finding similarity between his life and hers, she treats Flash like an older brother and like Pinkie, she also develops a crush on him, because of his nature of being a caring brother (yes, despite her age).
Special tips:
Before coming to this haven in the rift, Applebloom had her fair share of using Physical skills along with Ice skills. Now, she mostly focuses on Physical attacks with her Persona. Applebloom is very powerful when attacking normally (even stronger than Applejack), those lessons from Rainbow Dash as well as watching Kung-Fu movies in the theatre weren't for nothing! She's got a high strength and endurance rating, followed by her agility and luck. The biggest problem, is that her magic is very low as well as her SP required to use certain skills, hindering her utility. She has two special status skills: One is power charge, where she can triple her strength for her next attack. The other is Critical Eye, where she can boost the critical rate of another pony, but like before, she has low SP and may be unable to use these skills. Despite lack of SP, her raw basic combat skills are amazing and she is best suited in the front row with her strong and trusty hooves (melee bash). Applebloom can easily shake off ice (resistant), but be careful when facing shadows that has fire (weak), she won't fare very well against them.