The Key to the Light

by KingJoltik

The Darkness Within, Chapter 7: The Great and Powerful

As I continue to study the mechanisms of the organism that is the heart, it seems the Darkness is always there. It's ironic to a fault, the Darkness that is. It's as if it exists only to contradict the many things that make life worth existing. All the Darkness does is kill and destroy. And yet...there is still something more there. That is why it exists, I suppose. Otherwise, I'd probably run out of things to study.

-Starswirl, Report 32

The room was silent. So quiet, you could hear a pin drop. On one side was Trixie Lulamoon, a blue colored filly wielding a blade that looked like a bat-wing. She was pointing her sword, the Soul Eater, at her opponent as her grip tightened. Her face only showed a calm, composed expression, complete with a dead-eyed glare. On the other side was The Servant. Or, at least a version of The Servant, who was standing still with a large dark flame in it's hoof. As always, the face of the pony could not be seen except for a large malicious grin.

Trixie lowered her blade barely, not even a centimeter down. Then, her eyes glowed for just a second before her other hoof began to move. The filly entered full charge mode as she rushed at the cloaked pony, her blade ready to strike. The Servant however, didn't move. The pony just stood there, the dark flame burning brightly in it's hoof.

"AAAAAAaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!" she yelled as she kept getting closer and closer. Then, as she was just a few paces away, she jumped into the air with blade in hoof. "Take this!"

Her blade swung down in a perfect vertical strike, a dark aura surrounding the blade. As the sword began to strike it's target, it let out a loud 'Tink!' as it instead hit the floor. "What?!" Trixie gasped as she suddenly lost her foe. She frantically looked around, only to see The Servant on the other side of the room. "How did you-"

"Dark Firaga." The Servant grimly said in a cold tone. The dark flame in it's hoof exploded, turning into several dark fireballs. The flames flew through the air, all aiming to strike Trixie.

But Trixie was ready. She leaned her blade back, her eyes closed as the attack got closer and closer. Then, right before the strike, she swung her blade around, knocking every dark flame away.

"Ha! How do you like-urk!" she gasped as The Servant appeared before her, strangling her neck with just it's hoof.

"Be silent filly. I will tell you this as I have told you before, you are not worthy of the gracious wondrous gift that is the Darkness." it's grip tightened as Trixie began to flail about in pain. "Now, submit that speck of Light of yours. You're barely worth my time as is."

"Shut...up..." Trixie said as she pulled at The Servant's arm. "Let...Trixie...go..."

"Give up the Light and I'll-ugh!" A blue hoof smacked into The Servant's face, causing the grip to loosen. Trixie then fell over, quickly turning around to buck her hindlegs into the pony's face. However, before she could, The Servant had already hopped backwards across the room. "Tch...I see you still got some fight left in you."

"Enough to kick your sorry flank!" Trixie yelled back as she a dark flame appeared in her hoof this time. "Dark Fira!"

"Oh please, don't think-" The Servant said as the pony swatted the fireball away effortlessly. As the flame sputtered out, Trixie appeared on The Servant's left, blade ready to strike. "You can-" The Servant dodged the blade swipe and then punched Trixie in the face. "hurt me so easily!"

The blue filly went skidding down the room, her whole body in pain as The Servant dashed towards her, quickly pinning her to the floor. It's hoof was square on top of her face, the pressure was numbing as her cheek began squishing into the concrete. The Servant let out a chuckle as the pressure continued to be applied.

"Do you see this now Trixie? Do you see the power I command?"

"Trixie..." she said, her teeth gritting as she her twitched in discomfort. "Trixie sees..."

"And? Are you not afraid of my overwhelming power? Of my strength that you rejected because you sought Light?"

"No."

"No?" The Servant's hoof forced itself even more. "Why do you say that little filly?!"

"Because...Trixie is gonna win."

The Servant began to laugh. The pony laughed so hard that it instantly hopped off of Trixie and stood at the other side of the room. "You're going to win? You can't be serious." A dark flame reappeared in the pony's hoof as the same malicious smile reappeared. "I am the fear inside your heart. I am the one you fear most...and I will never leave your side." The flame split into two and began to float in the air as The Servant put it's two hooves together to make a third flame. "I am the end of the road Trixie. Your fear will consume you and I will make it happen."

"You're wrong." was all Trixie could say as she slowly got up. "Trixie's gonna beat you."

"Brave last words." The Servant said as a fourth flame appeared. "This is the end for you Trixie Lulamoon. The fear in your heart will always win."

Trixie didn't say a word. All she did was grip her blade, her eyes fully focused on the cloaked pony. As her opponent began to wave it's hooves in a circular pattern, she merely tightened her grip on last time.

"Die you insignificant worm! Perish before me, your true fear!" The Servant yelled as the flames formed a diamond in front of the pony. "Dark Firaga Barrage!"

Each of the four flames split into five fireballs, each of them colored in a dark black hue. As the now twenty fireballs covered the room, they rushed in, ready to strike Trixie down in an instant. Trixie merely did a small spit take and said, "You got one thing wrong Servant."

The next exchange only lasted for a split-second. At that very moment, The Servant saw something in that moment that it didn't understand. At that singular moment, it was if a cloak of darkness covered Trixie. And yet, it didn't possess her. Instead, it was if she wearing darkness on her sleeve. Naturally wearing it, as if it part of her very being.

SHING!

"I'm not afraid of you anymore." Trixie said as she appeared on the other side of the room, her body free of burns. Every fireball had missed, all of them striking the floor and walls in a brilliant display of firepower. The Servant just stood there, jaw dropped. In that moment, the pony had lost sight of the filly.

"Wha..." The Servant gasped, clutching it's chest. "No...how did you..."

"Trixie's heart is better than that. Trixie knows that now."

The Servant fell to it's knees. It's hoof covered it's mouth as it felt the pain the filly had just caused. "This...isn't over. I'm...still here."

"I know. You'll always be here, won't you?"

"Yes..." The cloaked pony said as it began to fade, it's cloak become paler. It was as if you could see right through the pony now. "I am not done...I will return." The Servant then glared at Trixie will a huge evil grin. "I am your darkness Trixie. I will never give up."

"Neither will Trixie." Trixie then turned around and glared at The Servant. "And you got one last thing wrong."

"What's...that?"

"Trixie's darkness is her own. You're nothing but a bad memory."

The Servant let out one last chuckle. "Heh heh heh. We'll see...about that."

And then, it was over. The Servant vanished into nothing but a shady mist. Seeing this, Trixie let out a small sigh as the room began to fade around her. The orb that contained her and The Servant was falling apart. It was there that a smile covered the blue filly's face.

---

BOOM!

"WHOA!" Twilight yelped as the 'BOOM!' sound wrung throughout the castle. She had just finally been convinced to go to bed while Radiant had agreed to watch the dark orb that had imprisoned Trixie. Once again, she was just about to start the first chapter when her ears began to ring from the sudden noise. "What was that? It sounded like...Trixie!"

The purple filly quickly hopped down and ran through the castle, her mind abuzz with worries about her friend. She soon found herself in front of Radiant, who had just witnessed the dark orb exploding.

"Trixie!" she yelled as she quickly tackled the filly into a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Augh! Get off Sparkle! That hurts!" Trixie exclaimed as pain receptors went to work down her spine. Twilight quickly released the hug and apologized as tears fell down her face. Seeing her friend's worries, Trixie patted her on the back, saying, "It's okay Sparkle. It's over. It's all over..."

"But-"

"It's fine. Trixie is...fine." Trixie said as she hugged Twilight again, a tear appearing under her left eye. "Trixie won."

"I can see that. Well done Trixie." Radiant said as she patted the duo on their backs. The two separated and Radiant gave Trixie a 'You do realize you're still in trouble for doing that, right?' look. Seeing this, Trixie's ears lowered as a look of shame plastered itself on her face. Radiant on the other hoof, gave a huge cheerful smile. "Ah, it's fine Trixie!"

"Huh? But isn't Trixie gonna be punished?"

"We'll talk about what happened here tomorrow, alright? Let's just go to bed already, I'm bushed."

Twilight and Trixie glanced at each other in surprise before then replying in unison. "Okay!"

"Good. Now, off to bed you two!"

The two fillies quickly left the room, both of them in states of pure exhaustion. They would sleep well tonight. Radiant however, just stood there. She rubbed her chin as the previous events replayed in her mind. She did it. She repelled the darkness inside of her. And yet, she did it so early on. The chances of what she just did were about...thirty percent at best. Hmm...I can't help but think that this event happening so early will cause problems. Then again, there's only one pony I could think of that would know that this is happening. Radiant's calm face turned into a deep, hate-filled scowl as she began to think about that pony. The Master would have definitely sensed this trial over darkness. Question is...who is The Servant and did that pony also sense this?

---

Meanwhile...

The Servant had just finished giving the last order for the Heartless. As the pony then left the room, content as the pony let it's four new pawns fight minor Shadow Heartless. The cloaked pony began to enter another room, only to come to a screeching halt. What the-that other me. It's gone. I can't feel it's presence anymore. The pony's nose twitched as it began to realize something else. This...I can't sense where Trixie is anymore! Is she dead? Or...did she figure out how to conceal her Darkness? No...that can't be it. Nopony can resist the Darkness.

A loud sigh followed as The Servant sat down with a slight frown. "She must be dead then. Too bad, she had such promise..."

"Master? Are you here?" said a voice. The Servant turned to see Starlight Glimmer walk in. "Servant? Is that you?"

"Indeed. Hello Starlight. Did you succeed in driving off those other-worlders?"

"Yes." Starlight nodded. "I was about to tell The Master of my success."

"I see." The Servant then got up, a loud groan following, "The Master has retired for the day and I plan to retire soon as well. The Master told me that you have the rest of the day off."

"Oh, okay. Thanks for telling me Servant."

"No problem. Say, would you like to see the progress of the four you brought to us?"

"Sure, why not?" Starlight replied as she walked with The Servant. "Probably more fun than those wimpy off-worlders."

"Oh really? No challenge?"

"Oh yeah. Just a dumb colt and a walking talking cat...which is really weird now that I think about it." Starlight said as she rubbed her chin. "Wonder what they're up to right now?"

---

Meanwhile, very far away from Equestria...

"You did what?!" Reeve yelled, the room almost shaking from his scream. In front of him was one Hope Estheim and a cat named Cait Sith. The duo were shaking as their boss glared at them with a stare that could scare monsters. "Are you serious?! You let an intruder get on board of your ship and it's someone from Equestria?! The world that the WRO doesn't have access to thanks to it's stubborn leader?!"

"Er...yes?" Cait gulped, it's body shivering head to toe.

"And why is she here?!" Reeve said as he pointed at Maud Pie. The girl just stood there, a blank expression on her face. "Why did you bring her inside the base?!"

"Uh...because I had to since the autopilot already got us to base? I had no choice Mr. Reeve. I'm sorry." Hope replied, bowing in apology. "She told us that her parents probably won't be worrying about her being gone...yet."

"Oh really? Why is that?"

"She said her parents don't mind as long as she's interacting with some kind of rock."

"Huh?!"

A few hours ago on a certain rock farm...

"Pinkie!" yelled a rough looking stallion as he walked into a certain room.

"Yes daddy?" Pinkie replied, a huge grin shining on her pink face.

"Where's your sister? Where's Maud?"

"Oh Maud? She said she was gonna play camouflage with Boulder for a few hours."

"Oh...okay. As long as she's back for dinner at some point then I don't care." he said as he left the room. "After all, as long as she's interacting with a rock, everything should be just fine."

The Present...

"Yeah, we were uh...skeptical about it to." Hope replied as several gulps went down his throat.

However, that was nowhere near enough for Reeve. As his face began to turn red, the sound of footsteps could be heard. Before Reeve could say his words of fury, two girls rushed into the room.

"Mr. Reeve! We heard that-huh?" said a redheaded girl with red eyes. She wore a white long-sleeved blouse with a blue vest. Behind her was a pink haired girl with two ponytails. She wore various charms around her neck and waist and had a brown fur skirt on.

"Oh hey! Hope's back!"

"Hey Vanille." Hope said in a slightly still terrified tone. His eyes then shifted to the redhead. "Hey Refia."

"Hey Hope. Say, who's this little cutie?" Refia asked as she bent down to Maud's level. "You're a real cute one."

"Hello. I'm Maud Pie." Maud replied, her tone still deadpan. This toned reply didn't faze Refia though.

"Hi Maud! I'm Refia and this is Vanille!" Refia replied gleefully while pointing to Vanille. "It's nice to meet you!"

"Hello." Maud said as she looked Vanille and gave a small wave.

"Ladies!" Reeve yelled, causing the two to look back at their employer. "Why are you here?"

"Oh! Right. Sorry boss." Refia replied as she scratched the back of her head, blushing. "Shelke wanted us to tell you that we're out of fuel for the ships for the next few days. Apparently the shipment is late."

"Ugh...fine." Reeve groaned, facepalming. "Just tell her to get the reserves ready. I need to send this girl back to her home."

"But-"

"Just do it!" Reeve yelled, causing the girls to stiffen up. He then turned his attention back to Hope and Cait. "And you two! Tell me, just why do you think I'll ever let you do another mission after this slip-up?!"

"Uh..." Hope stuttered before Reeve began to yell again.

"And don't say that you'll make sure nothing goes wrong next time! You're lucky we still have two other agents in Equestria! Otherwise, I'd tear both of your hides because that would have meant that we just lost everything we had with that world!" Reeve then rubbed the top of his head in frustration, his eyes closed as anger continued to pop veins onto his face. "Thank the stars I made sure we had multiple agents on that world...blasted Celestia." He then opened his eyes again, glaring at Hope. "I'm going to give you one last chance kid. You better make it count."

"Okay." Hope gulped. "What's the mission?"

"Simple." He then pointed down. "It's taking that girl back to..." He then blinked, seeing the spot was now empty. The other two also looked down, blinking in unison. "Where did she go?"

A moment of silence soon followed as the trio looked at each other. A certain fact entered their brains as they realized something. Refia and Vanille were also no longer present. Then, as if everything would need to happen in perfect sync, they all facepalmed at the same time. "Refia!"

Meanwhile...

"Hey Shelke!" Refia said as Maud followed her, their hands holding each other. Refia and Vanille had been trying to do some small-talk with Maud as they walked down the hallway, only to hear Maud repeatedly say things related to rocks. As they entered Shelke's room, Refia spoke up, "Are you here?"

"Yes." Shelke replied as she tapped another computer screen. "What do you want Refia?"

"Do we have any reserves for ship fuel?"

"Let me check..." Shelke replied as she began to type, several images appearing and disappearing on her screen. "Hmm...not enough for a full flight. Looks like Snow took some on his last flight."

"Thought so." she and Vanille looked at Maud with slightly worried looks. "That isn't good. That means we can't-"

"Hey Shelke, I have the-" interrupted another voice as it entered the room. The voice's owner then stared at Refia and Vanille with a cocked eyebrow. He had brown hair and a face full of freckles as he wore a yellow shirt that hid itself inside a green coat. "Hello Refia and Vanille, who's that with you? Is she new?"

"Hiya Arc! This here is Maud Pie. Say hi Maud."

"Hello."

"Greetings Maud." Arc said with a slight bow. He then walked up to Refia. "I'm surprised to see someone so young here."

"Oh uh...let's just say she's stuck here with us for a bit."

"Oh. Okay." Arc replied, knowing that Refia didn't want to talk about it. He also knew by her expression that she wanted something. "Um...can I help you Refia?"

"Yeah." Refia said as she looked at Maud one more time, her brain clicking inside as she remembered Maud's interests in rocks. "I have an idea. Do you still have any of those class crystals?"

Author's Note:

Next chapter will be the epilogue of this arc. It will also include a time skip, as we'll start the adventuring part of the story next.

Also, one fact that needs to be declared here: Radiant Hope does NOT know the identity of The Master or The Servant. She has met The Master though...

Also, more FF characters! YAY! I already love using these guys and gals! As for Refia's idea...you'll see next chapter.

Hope you liked the chapter!