The Heartless. They seem to be an unrelenting species. They act on pure instinct, of that I am sure of. It seems that the transformation into one is a simple yet disgusting process. The darkness easily entraps the individual and takes their heart like its nothing. The Heartless is the same, nothing but a shell of darkness. The Heartless merely needs to touch the heart and take it's power. And yet, the darkness is something more while still being so simple. Perhaps that's the reason the light has the power to destroy it.
-Starswirl Report 20
Darkness filled the street as the two ponies stared each other down. Celestia wanted nothing but to help the filly, though it was quite obvious that the task was not going to be easy. The light blue filly's teeth grinded into her bat-winged blade as she glared at the wielder of the Sun. Several shadows began to gather around her as Celestia still showed her usual kind smile.
"Please don't do this little filly. Somepony is controlling your heart." Celestia said as her horn began to shine. "Call off the Heartless. Let me help you."
"N-n-no...Trixie will..." the filly panted as she began to slightly bend down. "Trixie...Trixie's h-h-heart..." Sweat poured down her head as the Heartless shifted up to her, two solider Heartless walking up to her. The bipedal creatures' armor clanged around as they stood by the unicorn. A resounding boom followed as another large Heartless appeared behind the filly. The Heartless looked like a giant fat ball with a pot on it's head. It beat it's chest as it stood behind the unicorn.
Great, another one of those. Celestia thought before two more Heartless appeared. These looked like the solider Heartless but with bat wings. The two air soldiers flew over their commanding master as they stared at Celestia with their hollow yellow eyes. They can also fly. Noted for the future.
"H-H-Heartless...attack!" Trixie yelled as the five Heartless charged at the princess. A volley of fireballs flew through the air in response, quickly devouring the creatures in a red-hot blaze. As the five fell to the ground, the filly rushed in, her blade fully gripped in her hoof now. The filly spun in the air as she tried to cut the princess down. But before the blade could reach the alicorn, a long blade covered in a golden aura blocked the demonic sword. Celestia cocked her neck as her blade floated in front of her before knocking the filly back.
"I'm warning you filly, stop right now. I can help you, you just need to-"
"SHUT UP!" Trixie barked as she charged again. Her hoof shook as her blade clanged against Celestia's, the filly swinging the blade left and right as she tried to get past the alicorn's guard. Two more air solider Heartless appeared behind her and charged the princess as Trixie fell back to the ground from the exchange. Celestia quickly stepped back and sliced one of the solider in half with her blade. The other spun around the princess and prepared to kick her. Celestia braced herself, knowing she didn't have time to avoid the attack. However, before the soldier's feet could reach the target, a sudden beam shined down the street, quickly blasting the creature away. Celestia glanced behind her, only to see five standing unicorn guards.
"We're here to help your Majesty!" yelled one of the guards as the others shot beam after beam at the enemy. "We've evacuated all of the citizens. We're gonna make these things pay for invading our home!"
Celestia did a quick nod as she turned back to Trixie. The filly was just standing there, her face showing a mix of anger and fear. The fear soon took over as Trixie fell to her knees, clutching her chest. "Darkness...m-m-my heart."
Empathy fell over Celestia again as she saw Trixie fall over, pain covering her face. Celestia tried to get close to the filly, her hoof extended. "Please let me help you filly! The Darkness is going to-"
"AUGH!!!" Trixie suddenly yelped as a blast of darkness surrounded the filly, pushing Celestia slightly back. Trixie fell over, sweat pouring down her face. "Master was right...the light is..." Trixie put her hoof over her mouth, feeling sick. Her mind raced from the feeling. Master was right. Just being around her hurts!
Her memories flew through her brain as she remembered what the Servant had said to her earlier.
A few hours ago...
Two ponies stood several miles away from the mountain where Canterlot lived, the duo walking down the dirt road. "A word of warning my little apprentice. Canterlot will tear your darkness apart." The Servant said as the pony tapped Trixie's shoulder. "It is a place destined to destroy ponies who worship the darkness. That is Celestia's power, her very presence is damaging to us."
"But master! Wouldn't that-" Trixie exclaimed before a hoof covered her mouth.
"The Master has commanded you to invade. The Master's word is law and you will do what The Master says or your heart will be destroyed." The Servant grabbed Trixie's neck with a think dark magic aura. "Do you understand you insignificant worm?!" The Servant then pointed to the magnificent city with a scowl, "That city is ruled by the pony of light itself and you will invade it and you will need to pour darkness into your soul in order to control the Heartless there!"
"But-"
The Servant slammed Trixie into the ground, rage burning out of the pony's eyes. "Do you understand?!"
"Y-y-yes...master." Trixie whimpered as she tried to get up. "Trixie will do as you say."
"Good." The Servant grinned as the two continued their walk. The Servant fiddled with it's cloak as they got closer, the pony's mind only thinking one thing. Figures the Master would have my apprentice go on a suicide mission. Oh well, I can always find another young foal to torment later.
Trixie looked back up as she followed the Servant, a gulp falling down her throat. Canterlot. she thought with a resounding shudder. My first mission...
The Present...
Master was right. I have to get away from her or the Heartless will devour me. Trixie thought as she slightly backpedaled from the alicorn. Her horn shined a dark aura as she tried to summon a Heartless. Gotta leave...got to get out of here! Another air soldier appeared and floating directly over the blue unicorn. "T-t-take Trixie...to the c-c-castle." she stuttered as the Heartless grabbed her waist and began to flap it's wings.
"Oh no you don't!" Celestia barked. "You aren't going to-"
BAM!
A giant metal fist flew into Celestia's nose, causing her body to skid down the street in pain. A second later, Celestia looked back up and saw the fist fly back. The fist joined a giant flying plate of armor along with another fist, a pair of metal shoes and floating helmet. "What in the-"
The fists spun around once and then raced down the street, their fingers locked into a punching stance. Celestia's blade quickly spun in the air as her magic aura covered the blade, fire brimming around the sword. Both fists went flying as the blade reflected both of them with ease. Celestia cricked her neck as she stood down the large armored Heartless. Her eyes averted for a slight second as she soon realized the real reason this huge Heartless had appeared. Trixie was gone, taken to the air thanks to the Heartless. Blast it. Guess I'll have to deal with this monstrosity first. I just hope I can defeat this thing quickly...
As another fist flew at her, Celestia quickly reflected it away with her blade again. She stepped back and looked behind her, seeing the guards around her blasting away the last of the Heartless around them. Celestia glanced back at the armored monster and back at the guards. "All that's left is this giant one! I will handle it, the rest of you go to the castle immediately! Their target is in there!"
"But your majesty-"
"Do as I command little pony!"
"Yes your majesty!" the blue haired guard said with a salute. He turned to the others and pointed to the castle. "Let's move out!"
Twilight...I hope they aren't after you. Celestia thought as she turned back to the Heartless. The giant began to walk/float over, it's flying gauntlets spinning in the air. Celestia's horn became engulfed in light again as the levitating sword turned into a fully flaming blade. "Very well Heartless...in the name of the Sun, I will strike you down!"
Meanwhile...
"Um...what is that?" Twilight said as she pointed at a bouncing figure approaching them. "And why is it hopping around like that?"
"Oh my, it's Tigger. Hello Tigger." Pooh said as he did a small wave.
Before Twilight could respond, the bouncing figure suddenly became an orange blur as it knocked the purple unicorn down. The strange creature leaned down, it's nose almost touching Twilight's face. "Uhhh..."
"Hey there! I don't recognize you, are you new here?" The orange black-striped tiger like creature said as stood over the unicorn. Twilight tried to speak only for the creature to stand up on two legs. "I'm Tigger. That's T-i-double-guh-er!"
"I'm Twilight and uh...could you get off of me?"
"No problem!" Tigger exclaimed as he jumped into air, quickly shifting into tail-bounce mode. Twilight watched the creature constantly bounce around on it's tail, a huge goofy grin on his face. Twilight blinked as she started to listen to Tigger sing. The song went on about how he was made out of rubber and springs. That and the fact that he was the only one.
That tiger thing sure is goofy. Did he just say he's made to just bounce? Twilight thought as she watched him continually bounce around, repeating his little song. Hmm...is he part of whatever I'm supposed to do here?
Twilight thoughts soon stopped as she watched Spike follow Tigger. The little moogle began singing as well as he floated behind the bouncing tiger. "Kupo! Kupo!" he cheered, causing Twilight to chuckle at the cute sight. She then saw the bear and pig join Tigger as the bounced behind him. A goofy grin plastered itself on her face as she soon joined them, her filly body bouncing up and down as they all sang Tigger's song.
Heh heh...this is fun! Maybe this is what I needed! she thought as she kept hopping around, not noticing they were going back to the honey tree. Then, she looked back at Pooh and Piglet only to hear a monstrous roar. "What was that?"
"Oh dear..." Pooh said as he rubbed his belly. "I have a serious rumbly in my tummy." Pooh let out a large sigh as Piglet slowly hid behind the stuffed bear. "If only had a good smackerel of honey right now..."
The statement caused Tigger to come to a screeching halt. He quickly zipped in front of Pooh, his hands on the bear's shoulders. "Pooh boy! Why didn't you say so? We'll just pull out the good old seesaw!"
"Seesaw?"
"That's right!" Tigger said as he turned into an orange blur, quickly grabbing a log and long plank of wood. He quickly set the seesaw up and Pooh got on one side of the plank.
Twilight blinked at the seesaw, especially at the simplicity of it. Wait a minute, are they just going to use that to get the honey? Twilight bent down and zoomed her eyes in. It's to small. There's no way this thin plank of wood could shoot that fat little bear up there. It would need to be at least three pounds heavier and the position would be- Twilight's mind became a mess as calculations covered her brain. The others on the other hoof decided to just continue their plan.
"Okay Tigger, go ahead." Pooh said as he rubbed his belly again, his tongue smacking his lips. "Oh boy...I can't wait to taste a good smackerel of honey."
As Twilight was still lost in her thoughts, Spike watched Tigger completely sit down, his tail scrunching up like an accordion. A few seconds later, the tiger bounced high into the sky and quickly plummeted down onto the other end of the seesaw. The resounding fall quickly shot Pooh into the air, knocking the stuffed bear into a large hole in the tree.
"Whoa!" Twilight yelped as the sight snapped her out of her thinking trance. She quickly turned to Tigger in a small panic. "Hey Tigger! Wouldn't that hurt Pooh?"
"Hmm? Oh don't worry, Pooh boy does this all the time!"
"H-h-he's right Twilight. P-P-Pooh will do anything for his honey." Piglet stuttered as he tapped Twilight's hoof. "P-P-Pooh will be fine. He always is..."
"Huh...okay." Twilight replied as she scratched her chin. She blinked at the tree, seeing the bear just sit there inside the tree. It worked? But I thought...huh. If that's the case... Twilight blinked and looked at the bouncing tiger. "Hey Tigger, could you send me up there too? I wanna try some honey."
"Okay!" Tigger said with a salute. The tiger soon shot the purple filly into the tree as she soon found herself in another hole inside the tree. Her face quickly became covered in honey as her body slammed into the tree. She looked up and saw Pooh above her, his face filled with joy as he snacked on a giant pile of honey.
"Oh yummy...you know, it is quite funny what I would do for some honey." the bear said with a giggle. Twilight could only chuckle at the sight. A few seconds later, Twilight began trying the honey herself, quickly enamored by the taste of the sweet nectar filled food. After a while, Twilight popped her head out of the tree along with Pooh. The two had Tigger send up a few honeypots up the tree as the two filled the pots up. The duo climbed down the tree after a bit and gave some honey to their other friends. Spike loved the honey in particular, though Twilight had to make sure the moogle didn't try to swim in the pot of sweet gooey nectar.
"That was really good Pooh, thank you for letting me have some."
"Anytime Twilight. And thank you Tigger, my tummy is full of honey now."
"No problem Pooh bear." Twilight shined a goofy grin, her mind clear of her constant self-questioning that she had this morning. "If you don't mind, could I keep a pot Pooh?"
"Of course."
"Oh d-d-dear...are you leaving Twilight?"
"Well..." Twilight scratched the back of her head, not wanting to say yes. It was then that she saw a small pillar of light in the distance. Is that where I leave the book? she thought as she looked at the pillar. She then looked back at her new friends, noticing that they couldn't see the pillar. "Yeah Piglet, I have to leave for now."
"Oh...okay." Piglet replied, looking at the ground with his ears drooping down.
"Don't worry, I'll come visit again." Twilight said as she patted the pig's head. "You'll all still be here, right?"
"Oh yes." Pooh said as he stood up and hugged Twilight. "We'll always be here Twilight."
Twilight hugged Pooh back, only to be joined by Piglet, Tigger and Spike. The four gave one last hug before Spike sat down on Twilight's head, a certain honey pot now sitting on Twilight's back. The duo gave a wave as they said farewell to their new cuddly friends. Twilight headed towards the light with her head held up high, a grin plastered on her face. As she approached the light, she remembered the last words her new friends told her.
"Don't worry Twilight...we will always be here."