Harmony Hearts

by GenerousGhibli

Ponyville I

Apple Bloom grabbed the bow pinned to her hair as a white spaceship flew low over head, sending a massive gust of wind over the orchard. The handle of her wagon fell with a thump as the craft prepared to land in a clearing nearby. She caught a glimpse of her brother in the cockpit as the ship turned around, but he and Granny and Applejack weren’t supposed to get back for another couple of days.

And that wasn’t their ship.

The Sweet Apple Acres ship was a plain old cargo ship painted red and green. This was clearly a luxury craft, even if it had a somewhat sporty design.

Before Apple Bloom even knew what she was doing, her feet were carrying her towards the ship, dodging between trees, her heart pounding faster and faster as she ran. What was going on? Who was that white-haired girl beside him? Why was he in such a fancy ship?

She got her answer soon enough, once he and Applejack exited the ship. The sound of boots on metal drew her attention back to the gangway, where a bunch of young women she didn’t recognize were exiting the craft. One of them, a lady with navy blue hair and purple clothes, put a hand on Applejack’s shoulder and whispered to her. Applejack gave a quick nod, before she held out her hand, offering it to Apple Bloom. Big Mac was quick to follow.

“Come here, Lil’ sis. We got a lot to talk about…” Applejack muttered with a smile. But it wasn’t a happy smile. It was sad. Really, really sad.

Apple Bloom’s heart sank as she took the hands and was led back towards the farmhouse.

~H*H~

“I didn’t realize she’d be so young…” Gilda whispered as the group exited the apple orchard at the top of a hill. “I figured she’d be closer to A.J.’s age…” She crossed her arms over her chest and shivered, even thought there was no wind blowing.

“That poor child… I just can’t imagine how she feels,” Fluttershy whispered, looking back at the farmhouse and holding her hands in front of her chest.

Twilight strode past them, holding up a list in front of her. “It is pretty horrible, but we have a lot of work to do. We’ll divide into teams of two and split the list evenly between us. Everyone in agreement?” She received affirmatives all around. “Then let’s get going,” she said, tearing the list apart and handing the pieces out.

“By the way,” Rainbow Dash started as she received her and Gilda’s portion, “are you sure it was really all that smart to leave Pinkie Pie behind to guard the ship?”

“She managed to beat you,” Spike pointed out as he climbed onto Twilight’s shoulder.

“And beyond that,” Rarity chimed in, “I’m not sure any of us really want to, um… enjoy her company any longer than we need to.”

Rainbow shook her head and crossed her arms. “Not my point. I’m saying she seems like the kind of girl to get distracted really easily. Definitely not the diligent type.”

“I think she can handle it,” Twilight said solemnly. She then turned towards Ponyville with a scowl. “I trust her.”

Trixie stepped up behind her and crossed her arms. “If Twilight believes in her, then so does Trixie.”

“Alright then, let’s get this over with,” Rarity said as she started off towards town. She briefly turned back and smiled at her assigned partner. “Come along Fluttershy!”

“R-right! Sorry!” Fluttershy called back. The timid apprentice followed quickly after her, jogging daintily with her arms out to the side.

The other two teams smiled and followed after them.

~H*H~

Pinkie Pie lay on top of the ship, gazing listlessly as the clouds drifted by, a dopey grin on her face. “Oh, look… a gator… head?” she muttered to no one in particular as an angular formation came overhead. “Whatever, clouds are weird.”

Despite her attention being directed at the sky, she was still acutely aware of her surroundings. She could hear everything happening around her, from a dog barking in the distance to the rustling of the apple tree leaves. She could feel the slightest of breezes as it brushed across her body, and she could smell all the apples in the trees. The atmosphere was nice and peaceful.

“But peaceful is kind of boring…” she whispered as she sat up. She held her left hand up in front of her and focused on it. After a moment’s concentration, a few tendrils of violet lightning arced around her hand. “Why can’t I just have fun like I want?” Everything always had to be so boring. Train hard, mix the potion just the right way, meditate for an hour… but now she didn’t have to do any of that. Her smile faltered, before sinking into a slight frown. Now master Zecora was gone, and she was all alone… The lightning coursing around her hand dissipated as she hugged her chest. “All alone…” she whimpered.

The hatch behind her opened, causing her to jump to her feet and draw her keyblade. As a tan Stetson appeared in the crack, Pinkie’s shoulders relaxed a bit. “Hey,” she said cheerfully, forcing a smile back on her face. “Everything alright?”

“I could ask you the same,” Applejack replied as she hefted herself out of the small hole, nodding at Pinkie’s keyblade.

“Yeah, I guess I’m just a little on edge,” she said loudly, dismissing her weapon. “So, you gonna answer my question?”

Applejack put her hands in her pockets and turned towards the apple orchard. “Nope.”

“Well tha–”

“Ain’t nothin’ right, by my account,” she said somberly as the wind picked up a little, threatening to take her hat off. “Everything goin’ south faster’n a cannonball in water. Granny’s gone, the other masters are dead, and now we’re goin’ on some crazy quest to find a bunch of jewels older’n Celestia herself. I knew I’d be doin’ some crazy things when I became a master, but nothin’ like this…”

“Um, I just meant is your sister okay.”

Applejack’s face flushed a little pinker, prompting her to pull her hat down a little. “Ah. She’s, uh… She’s takin’ it pretty hard. She weren’t but a runt when Ma and Pa passed. Granny was the closest Apple Bloom’s ever had to a parent.”

Before Applejack could respond, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind, pinning hers to her side. “I’m so sorry,” Pinkie whispered to her as tears started seeping through the back of her shirt. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose so much of your family.”

“It’s… it’s hard,” Applejack replied quietly. “You gotta grow up real fast, and it ain’t no fun being a grown up that young…”

“That’s something I think we can all relate to…” Pinkie pointed out softly. “We keyblade wielders don’t exactly get much of a childhood, do we?”

Applejack’s teeth clenched together hard enough to produce an audible creak. “No. We sure don’t.”

~H*H~

“Hey, Gilda… you okay?”

“Fine, why?”

“You’ve just been really quiet since we got to town.”

Gilda stopped and crossed her arms, sighing as she did so. “What’s there to say?” she countered. “We’ve got a job to do, so we do it. There’s nothing else to it.”

Rainbow scowled as she stepped forward and put a hand on Gilda’s shoulder. “Except there is,” she said, “You always do this Gilda. When something happens or you get upset or… whatever, you shut down and close everyone out. It needs to stop.” Rainbow paused as her best friend turned and looked her square in the eye. “It’s not just us anymore. We’re part of a team now. The others can’t read you like I can.”

Gilda didn’t respond for several minutes, but looked down at the ground in contemplation. “Dash,” she said softly, “we just lost our master, the woman that treated us like daughters-practically raised us. The people we’re up against… the ones that killed her… they’ll come after us, too. Forgive me, but I’m pretty sure they’d wipe the floor with us. So, I’m sorry if I’m not to keen on making new friends when it’s more likely I’ll lose them.”

“I understand that, but… Master Chrysalis always told us to love those we call our comrades. She said that that love gives us and them strength…”

“I… never really bought all of that.”

Rainbow sighed as she pushed past Gilda with a stern scowl, continuing ahead. She turned back briefly and glared at Gilda. “I know you didn’t. But I did.”

“…I guess you would,” Gilda whispered, jogging after her best friend as she started walking again.

~H*H~

“Twilight,” Trixie said sternly, grabbing a hold of her surrogate sister’s hood. Twilight promptly gagged and stumbled backwards. “You should head back.”

“I told you, Pinkie has th–”

“Not what Trixie means. Trixie can see how exhausted you are.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Just a few hours ago, you teleported nine people–”

”And a baby dragon!” Spike shouted from inside Twilight’s bag, where he’d taken to resting lately.

“As well as a baby dragon, halfway across Canterlot,” Trixie finished, casting a harsh glare at Twilight. “Trixie knows you have a knack for magic, but for anyone, even you, to be up and active after that is ludicrous. You need to be resting.”

“We don’t have time to rest,” Twilight shot back, pulling an elixir out of her side pouch. “A couple of these and I’ll be fine.”

“A couple?! Those are expensive!” Trixie scolded, snatching the bottle away. “How many do you have?”

“Twelve,” Twilight replied dryly. “I’ve been stockpiling them for a few months…”

“But… why?”

“Trixie, I can do magic. I’m great at it; really great. But I can’t even hold my own against you in a keyblade duel. You could barely hold up against our master for more than a minute…” Twilight gently took her elixir back and put it in her pocket, then looked away from Trixie. “My combat ability is probably the lowest of us all.”

The two of them were silent for a bit, neither one particularly wanting to continue the discussion. Eventually, Trixie spoke up. “You’re right. You do have the lowest melee ability, which is why you need to rest up and be at your best.”

“I get that I need to be ready, but resting is only going to set us back!” Twilight replied harshly.

“How?” Trixie countered, scowling at Twilight. “How exactly is it going to set us back? Each of us had maybe eight items on our lists!” she was shouting, but she didn’t care. Twilight was being stubborn and Trixie needed to get some sense through that head of hers. “Why do you always have to be so thick-headed? You always relied on items in training, and it’s not healthy! What happens when you run out of ethers? Potions? That’s not to mention how bad that is for you! Your body isn’t built to have its recovery sped up over and over again like that! It’s dangerous… and… and Trixie worries!”

“I…” Twilight gaped at Trixie in shock as several people around them stopped to observe their argument. “Fine,” she muttered, clenching her fists. “I’ll go back.”

“Can I stay?” Spike asked, climbing out of Twilight’s bag and onto her shoulder. “I can help look for stuff!”

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” Twilight muttered, kneeling down to let him scamper down her arm and onto the ground. “You keep an eye on Big Sis, okay?”

“I will!” Spike shouted as he clambered up Trixie’s arm and onto her shoulder.

“We’ll see you once we’re finished and you’ve had some rest, alright?”

“Alright… until then.” With that, Twilight turned and began the long trek back to the orchard, even as her two best friends turned the other way to finish shopping. It stung a little to be scolded like that, as if she was a child. In the end, though, Trixie was right. Twilight did need to rest, and being stubborn about it was… childish. It was childish and Twilight should have known better.

~H*H~

“Fluttershy, darling? Is everything alright?” Rarity asked as she perused a nearby market stall’s clothing selection. It was a small stall, but they actually had a fairly wide variety. “You haven’t said a word since we left Jacqueline’s farm.”

“I-I’m fine… and I don’t… I don’t think that’s her name,” her timid partner replied, nearly inaudible over the hustle and bustle of the market. It actually took Rarity a moment to piece together what she’d said.

“Regardless, it is much prettier than… why would her parents name her after a kind of brandy anyway? It’s very peculiar, isn’t it?”

“I… um, I suppose so…”

Rarity shrugged and picked up the next article of clothing, carefully examining it. Apparently, they sold ponyental clothing. How fascinating. “Then again, I suppose there are only so many apple-themed names available,” she continued, holding the top up to her chest in front of the mirror. “Ew, no. Green in certainly not my color. Might work for you, though.”

Fluttershy took an instinctive step back when Rarity turned to her, holding out a sleeveless green top. “A-apple-themed?” she asked softly, taking the shirt and holding up to her chest.

“Mmm, very nice. It definitely works on you, goes great with your softer skin tone, but a bit of yellow thrown back in the mix would be better. It does clash with the hair a bit, though.” She took the top back and placed it on the table, selecting the same piece in red. “Oooh, now I know either of us could work this. And yes, apple-themed. It’s quite obvious, really. Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom… it only makes sense.”

“I… see,” Fluttershy replied softly.

Rarity paused in the middle of folding a shirt back up and scowled down at the table. “Stop pretending it doesn’t bother you,” she whispered, too quiet even for Fluttershy to pick up. She finished folding the garment and slammed it back down on the table, before storming off in the direction of the next stall.

After staring for a few moments, Fluttershy shook her head and sprinted after her, not even sure what was wrong. She hadn’t said anything to offend her… She hadn’t even spoken enough to have offended her. Fluttershy stopped running. That was it.

She must have been annoyed at her being shy, just like everyone else.

Setting her lips in a stern line, she started back after Rarity.

“Wait up!”

~H*H~

Big Mac looked up at the clock. It was getting late. The girls should be back soon; they’d been gone for a couple of hours.

He should get the guest room ready.

But a look down at Apple Bloom, fast asleep in his lap and still clutching his shirt, gave him pause. He couldn’t leave her. He was her big brother, and that meant it was his job to keep her safe. That included making sure she wasn’t alone.

“Big Mac?” Apple Bloom shifted in his lap and looked up at him. Her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were puffy, but she otherwise looked fine.

“Hm?”

“Are you gonna go away too?” she asked, turning her head back down and burying her face in his chest.

“Nope,” was his simple reply.

Her grip on his shirt tightened. “I don’t believe you. Everyone’s leaving. You’re gonna get in that ship and you’re gonna leave and never come back!”

“Now that just ain’t true.” Mac grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up so he could look her in the eye. She still turned her head away and crossed her arms. “I’m gonna go with them; that’s a fact. I have to. But I’ll always come back home.”

“I’m coming too.”

“Nope. It’s gonna be dangerous. You have to stay here.”

“Then promise me you’ll call every day!” She shouted, looking back at him with a furrowed brow. It was actually kind of cute.

“I’ll call whenever we land. Days are hard to count in space.”

Her expression softened, and a smile came to her lips. “I can deal with that.”

“Good,” Mac said softly. He then tossed Apple Bloom up a little, making her squeal, and then caught her in a hug. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Now, how about we go get the guest room ready for the girls?”

“Okay!” she said happily, pulling away and jumping out of his lap.

As she ran out of the room, gesturing for him to follow, a soft warmth filled his heart. He’d always be there for her, even if it killed him. That’s what big brothers did, after all.

~H*H~

Some time after the sun had sunken over the horizon, five girls made their way back towards the farmhouse, arms laden with bags. Big Mac ran out and took a few from each one, his arms drooping as they all piled on. The girls laughed, most commenting on how a bunch of girls could lift more than he could.

Trixie, of course, asked about Twilight. Big Mac told her she was sound asleep on the couch, and that she had barely made it into the door.

Meanwhile, on a distant hill, a pair of glowing turquoise eyes watched the happenings intently.

“I can feel more auras down there. What’s changed?” Sunset asked as she strode up behind her comrade.

Starlight merely heaved a sigh in response. “Nothing out of the ordinary. Twilight showed up a few hours ago. Pretty much collapsed when that big guy answered the door. The rest of them just came back.”

“And your wards? How are they holding up?”

Starlight clenched her teeth. “Fine, Sunset. They are holding fine,” she practically hissed. Despite saying such, she could certainly feel the immense strain the silence and invisibility spells were putting on her body. That was not to mention the pain her eyes were bearing from the far sight spell. “Their guard's pretty sharp. Just from watching her, I can tell that she's acutely aware of her surroundings. Unnaturally so. It kind of… makes my skin crawl, actually.”

“That’s Pinkie Pie, Zecora’s apprentice. She’s tenacious. I watched her fight during the exam.” Silence surrounded the two of them for a while as Starlight watched the apprentices, and Sunset watched Starlight. After some time, Sunset finally spoke again. “The mana limiter isn’t working, is it?”

“Only barely, right now. It seems to work best when I’m using small-scale spells. This far sight would have consumed next to no mana at all if I weren’t casting two more at the same time.”

“Good, good… I got what we were after. Let’s head back to the corridor and get out of here.”

Starlight was quiet for a few more minutes before she finally responded. “You head on back. I think I’m going to watch them a little while longer.”

“Why?”

“They intrigue me.”

A growl behind Sunset made her turn towards her prize. Floating inside a large reflect shield sphere was a single Timberwolf. The semi-sentient mass of sticks, leaves and voodoo magic stared intently at her with malice in its eyes. She didn’t blame it. After all, it was being ripped out of its home by some stranger.

“Okay, Starlight. Just… be back in a few hours.”

“I will.”

“See you then.” With that, Sunset walked away, disappearing back into the wall of trees.

“Right.”

To Be Continued

Author's Note:

A bit of a slow chapter, I know, but it's important to have good buildup. There's not really much to say about this one, so I'll leave it at that.

Comments

[RTStephens]

Not bad, gives us some more character interactions. Would like to see the group split into pairs that are not accustomed to each other though, see how that works out.

[GenerousGhibli]

7770507 Stop doing that.

That... thing your doing?

Where you're guessing what I'm going to do later? Yeah stop that.

For real, though, I'm glad you're liking it so far. While I do plan on dividing them up, it wont happen for quite some time, and they won't be in pairs. I hope you continue to enjoy this!

[RTStephens]

7782600
Heh.

After a few decades of reading, I've become aware of certain... situations that tend to happen during the course of a story.