The Key to the Light

by KingJoltik

Predator and Prey, Prologue: Onward and Foward

Let it be said that patience is not a virtue. Not in any of my books it isn't. No matter how much I study, no matter how much I try, I still do not have any answers. There is no waiting for something like this. There are rogue beings of darkness out there, preying on others and yet I know nothing. I will continue to know nothing until I finally find it. I will find one that wields 'The Key'.

-Starswirl, Report 45

A few miles away from Appleloosa...

"Are you sure Little Strongheart? Have you truly thought about this decision?" asked a large, fur-filled buffalo. A loud, warm snort of air flew out of his nostrils as he leaned down and glared at her. "Well?"

"I have chief." the younger buffalo nodded before turning and pointing to three other individuals being Maud Pie, Eiko and Hurdy the moogle. Her face then showed an expression of pure determination and will. "I believe that what they're doing is something I must learn. They go out and fight those monsters and I...and I want to know how to fight them as well!"

The chief just snorted again, looking up to glare at Maud Pie. Letting out a sigh, he knew that he couldn't persuade the young buffalo. She was known for being quite stubborn and he knew that she would just sneak off anyways. Due to this, he firmly said, "Very well. I know I can't stop you." He then leaned down again, giving the young buffalo a small hug. "Just remember, you always have a place here. Never forget that."

"I know. Thank you chief." Strongheart replied as she returned the hug. A minute later, she waved goodbye to the tribe and walked up to her new friend Maud Pie. "I'm ready."

"I see." Maud said in usual deadpan tone before turning to Eiko. "Is this okay?"

"I'm cool with it. She did help save us after all." Eiko nodded as she walked up and patted Strongheart on the shoulder.

"I agree kupo." Hurdy commented as he adjusted his coat. "Don't worry Strongheart, I'm sure Reeve will accept you and help you gain the power to fight Heartless just like Maud here."

"Really?"

"Oh yes kupo." Hurdy nodded. "And don't worry, we'll take responsibility over introducing you to him. He'll understand after we tell him what happened kupo. We owe you one, after all kupo."

"Okay. Thank you."

And with that, the four began their trip back to Appleloosa. There, they would soon board the train, ready to go to their next location in Equestria. After all, Reeve had given Maud Pie two tasks. The first was to save Hurdy and Eiko, the second was to go to Canterlot.

---

Canterlot...

Morning broke the horizon as Celestia slowly rose the sun up into the stars, the moon quickly lowering down at the same time. On a certain balcony of the castle, Celestia stood there, her horn shining a brilliant light as she finished her morning duty. As she did, she turned to enter her bedchambers as a cup of coffee levitated in front of her. Taking a sip of the broth, she let out a small sigh as several scrolls floated around her. Starswirl...even now, every report I read holds nothing on these other worlds my protégé are going to. Why did you make those portals, only to not use or record anything about them?! I don't understand...just what was your research truly about?

Celestia scanned another report as she let out a small groan, her hooves pressing her eyes as she tried to get the sleep out of them. Oh Twilight, I hate that I did this to you. I should never made you try to summon the keyblade. she thought as she reread another report. That must have been the trigger for the Heartless, that or The Master. That monster...to think an individual like that is still around, even after all this time. Celestia then put the scrolls down and exited her room. As she did, her mind kept wondering as she made her way through her throne room. I have to talk to my protégé. I should have never let her leave without telling her everything. After all, I have a history with The Master myself, not to mention Radiant does too. Though...she probably didn't tell them about it due to...no. No need to think about that right now.

As she left the throne room, Celestia made a sharp right, proceeding down one of the main hallways of the palace. As she did, a certain voice called out, "Oh! Good morning auntie!"

Celestia blinked at the voice's owner before replying. "Ah, good morning Cadance. How are you this morning?"

"I'm fine. Just heading to breakfast, how are you?"

"I'm...okay, I guess." Celestia admitted before letting out a small yawn. "Still trying to figure out how to keep Equestria safe right now."

"I understand. Shining did tell you about Appleloosa, right?"

Celestia nodded. "Yes. I sent a group of soldiers along with some relief workers. I'm having them investigate the situation immediately."

"I had a feeling you would." Cadance slightly chuckled before walking side by side with Celestia. As she did, she looked up with an expression of worry. "Say auntie...could I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why are you letting Twilight do this? She's just a filly you know."

"I....I know." Celestia said with slight hesitation. "I told you before, I asked her to choose between studying and the keyblade and...she chose the keyblade. I couldn't deny her choice."

"Why not?"

"Because I could tell she would defy me no matter what if I didn't. I could tell the moment I accepted her as my protégé."

Cadance just giggled at this before nudging her aunt. "You mean, you knew you couldn't change her heart, could you?"

"Yes." Celestia smiled. "Twilight has a good heart. I knew it the moment I had my first lesson with her." Celestia then looked at Cadance with an ever-growing smile. "Do you know what she told me her dream was when I first asked her?"

"No, what is it?"

"She...hee hee..." Celestia chuckled, putting her hoof to her mouth. "She told me that she wanted to learn everything."

"Sounds like her." the foalsitter replied, shaking her head.

"Yes, but she wanted more than that."

"What do you mean?"

"She...she told me she wanted to use that knowledge to help everypony she could with it." Celestia's grin shined like the sun as she looked at Cadance with, the other alicorn giving a smile back. "Isn't that a wonderful dream?"

"Yes." Cadance nodded, "She has a magnificent heart."

"That she does." Celestia said before looking straight ahead again. "That's why she has to go on this journey. To help her make that heart grow even stronger."

---

Meanwhile...

Twilight and her friends were all sitting together in the castle's dining hall, all of them waiting for a delicious breakfast. Except Spike, who was still asleep in his crib, but Twilight knew he would wake up about an hour from now. Despite Radiant Hope's happy-go-lucky nature when they were training under her, the fillies and colt found themselves constantly getting up at the crack of dawn. It was only militaristic thing that Radiant would do, which Twilight constantly found strange. However, after six months of that morning routine, her biological clock had adjusted to this manner of awakening.

"So...I've never really eaten here before." Flash said as he shifted in his seat. "What's the best grub they serve?"

"I dunno." Twilight shrugged. "I always get pancakes."

"Trixie is the same. Though..." the blue filly placed her head on the table with a slight frown. "Trixie wasn't in the mood to eat most days when Trixie was here last."

"Oh...okay." Flash replied with crossed hooves. "What about Spike? Will he be okay alone while we're in here? This place is much bigger than my mom's."

"He'll be fine." Twilight said as she fiddled with her fork. "He won't wake up for another hour."

"If you say so..."

Just then, the main doors to the room opened and two alicorns entered. As they did, the trio quickly bowed before them, along with the guards. Celestia then raised her hoof, telling them to stop before she sat down at the table. "Good morning you three."

"Good morning princess." they replied in unison.

"Ah, good to see you're all in good health on this fine morning." Celestia said as she adjusted herself in her seat. "So, how are you all doing?"

"Um..." Twilight looked at her friends, who both gave nods before turning back to the princess. "We're doing fine princess."

"Good. I went ahead and talked to the chef to get us all pancakes." Celestia replied before looking at Trixie and Flash. "However, before our breakfast arrives, may I talk to you all?"

"Of course!" Twilight quickly said, glancing at Trixie and Flash. "I mean, yes princess."

"Yes, you see..." Celestia dawdled, trying to find her thoughts as she rubbed her eyes. The others just blinked at her as they watched her frustration in figuring out what she wanted to say. Finishing her eye rubbing, she stared at the others and let out a sigh.

"Auntie? Are you okay?" Cadance asked, getting up and putting her hoof on Celestia's shoulder.

"I'm okay. Thank you Cadance." Celestia replied as she tapped Cadance's hoof away with a tiny smile. She then stared at Twilight and the others and started to speak. "My little ponies, I wanted to start off by thanking you for what you did that past few days."

"Its fine princess." Twilight shook her head. "We don't mind. We agreed to go on the mission to stop the Heartless and-"

"I know you are Twilight." Celestia interrupted, "That wasn't what I was going to talk about. What I wanted to talk about was...well, its more on the fact that things may be more worse off than we thought."

"What do you mean?" Twilight tilted her head in slight confusion.

"I...Appleloosa was attacked. The Heartless tried to destroy the town." The news instantly struck the room, causing the foals to look at each other in shock. They were all unsure what to say, so Celestia continued to talk. “We believe it was The Master. Or at least one of the minions of The Master.”

“Tch. You mean The Servant.” Trixie hissed, crossing her hooves. “Sending minions is The Servant’s dirty work. Trust Trixie on that one.”

“I see...” Celestia didn’t know how to respond to that one. She knew Trixie was probably right, but she also didn’t know what to do next. Instead, she rubbed her temples before replying. “If that’s the case, could I ask you all something?” she asked, causing the others to glance back at her. They all nodded at this. “Thank you. First off, I would like to tell you that we successfully got that pony The Servant manipulated to Radiant Hope. Because of this...could I ask all of you to help the others The Servant brainwashes? If you could just bring them here, that’s more than enough.”

“Of course princess.” Twilight said as she leaned back a little in her chair. “I was planning on doing that anyways after we saved the first one.”

“Thank you Twilight.” Celestia then let out a small sigh before adjusting herself in her seat. “Now, onto what I wanted to talk about this morning when I asked all of you to be here.”

“Okay.” Twilight nodded, “What did you want to talk about princess?”

"Well...to be perfectly honest, it would be better to show you than tell you." Celestia replied, only to get more faces of confusion from the foals. It was here that the chef entered the room with a large breakfast for everypony. Seeing this, Celestia graced her usual kind smile and said, "How about we enjoy a nice breakfast first? After that, you all can join me in Starswirl's hidden lab, where I'll show you where your next world you'll need to go to?"

"Sounds good to me princess!" Twilight cheerfully replied before facing the tower of pancakes the chef had just given to her. With that, everypony dug in, letting their worries take a backseat in order to satisfy their stomachs. That is, except Celestia. Her worries floated in her head as she watched Twilight happily eat her breakfast with her friends. As they did, the alicorn could only blink at the joyful scene.

I see. she thought as she took her first bite into her breakfast. That's why you didn't tell them about your past Radiant. I can tell you haven't told Flash either. They're...they're not ready to hear such a harsh, violent tale. They're not ready to find out just what kind of monster The Master truly is. She then let out a small sigh. And if that's the case, I'll just have to watch over them and wait. That's all a pathetic, hooves completely tied ruler like myself can do.

---

Meanwhile...

"You rang Servant?" said a certain voice as it slowly entered the room. It was Number IX, Sunset Shimmer. She had just finished a good's night sleep, as The Servant had to repair the mirror Number VI, VII, VIII had used and broken afterword. The Servant had just finished the job and summoned for the young filly.

"Yes. Its done." The Servant grumbled as the pony tapped the portal, seeing it's hoof successfully go through like it was made of slimy, gooey liquid. "Are you ready to begin your mission?"

"Yeah sure, whatever." Sunset yawned, putting her hoof over her mouth. "Let's get this over with."

"I suggest you take this more seriously worm." The Servant growled back, glaring at the orange filly. "You are hunting three different numbers and they're your seniors. They could break you like a twig, that is, if they hadn't chosen the world they're going to."

"You mean that magicless world? Yeah yeah, I know." Sunset batted her hoof as she trotted up to the portal. "I just gotta bring those three back so you can put 'em back into those pods, right?"

"Indeed. I don't know how they escaped the frozen animated chambers they were in, but that doesn't matter now. What matters is that we need them back. Now." The Servant spat, putting it's hoof over Sunset's as it's glowed a red haze. "Do I make myself clear, Number IX?!"

"Crystal." Sunset swatted away the hoof. "Relax Servant, I'll catch those three ancient hags and bring them back, alright?"

"The numbers are all ancient, you shriveling worm." The Servant barked back. "You and Starlight are our newest recruits, and she is above being a number. You should remember that, failed keybearer."

"Yeah yeah, I know." Sunset looked back at the portal and scratched the back of her head. "Welp, here goes!"

Sunset then jumped into the portal, leaving The Servant to just stare at the now repaired mirror. As the pony of darkness just watched the mirror, a certain thought rambled in The Servant's mind. Blasted insect and her disgusting attitude! Why did The Master want to recruit her, and make her a number?! Grrr...even if she does complete her mission, perhaps I can convince The Master to let me cut her head off anyways. The Servant turned around and left the room. As the pony walked down the hallways of their hideout, one more thought entered The Servant's head. But first, I must eliminate the keybearer! Twilight Sparkle must die!

---

A little later...

"So this is the portal?" Twilight asked as she put her hoof inside it, slightly shaking as she saw it disappear. Spike, who had now woken up, also put his paw in, only to shiver in response. Flash then walked up and tugged the moogle away from the portal.

"Yes." Celestia nodded. "Seems The Servant has sent somepony there to cause trouble. At least, that's what we believe is happening. One of my guards noticed that it was showing off a distinct dark aura, confirming that somepony is interfering with that world."

"I see..." Twilight took her hoof out and looked down at it. "Huh. Guess we gotta go stop them."

"Yes, but before you go, I want to give you a small update." Celestia said as she walked over to another part of the room. There, a large door was framed on the wall with eight cube-shaped holes in the upper middle part of it. "Do you see this door?"

Twilight and her friends looked at each other and nodded to the princess. "Yeah. I didn't really notice it last time, but I was more interested in the portals back then. Cadance said it wasn't really important."

"It isn't...at least not right now." Celestia replied before her horn began to shine. Four small blocks then levitated around her, making the others blink at the sight. "Do you see what I'm currently 'holding'?"

"Those are the gummi blocks, right?" Flash remarked as he watched the princess put the blocks in. They fit perfectly.

"Indeed they are. As you see, these blocks fit perfectly. This door will only open when all eight are placed within the door." Celestia said as she then pointed to the portal. "The block that is currently activating that portal will also fit in this door."

"Really?" Twilight commented as she looked down at the gummi block in her hoof. She had just used the block to activate the portal before their conversation had started. "So...you have five blocks of the eight, princess?"

"Yes."

"Hold on." Trixie interrupted. "Trixie distinctly remembers that The Servant's minion had one of those blocks. Are you saying they have the other three?"

"I believe they do. That's how they're using these portals."

"Huh." Twilight looked back at the block again. "Is this the real reason you wanted to be on the lookout for these blocks?"

"Precisely." Celestia then tapped the door with her hoof. "You see, I've been down here hundreds to times over the centuries and I've never been able to get past this door. My only clue was the blocks, and then you all came back with that block along with that...poor manipulated pony."

Twilight and her friends knew where this was going. Nodding to each other again, Twilight shined a big goofy grin, causing Celestia to chuckle. "Don't worry princess, we'll find who The Servant sent and save them! We'll get rid of those Heartless for sure!"

"I know you will my faithful student." Celestia walked over to the portal and put her hoof on top of the 'mirror'. "Now, it is time for your next mission."

"Yes princess! We won't let you down!" Twilight and the others saluted.

---

Another vomit creating portal jump later...

"Ugh! That's...oh that stinks...why are these portals like that?" Flash coughed as he resisted the urge to hurl. He shook his head as he put his hand on the ground. His nerves quickly realized that he now had a 'hand' and his eyes glanced at where his hoof was supposed to be. However, this time, the hand still had fur on it. "Okay, that's weird."

"AUGH!" "OOF!" "Kupo!" yelled the others as they fell through the portal. Flash quickly looked behind himself, only to notice his three friends already trying to stabilize themselves. The pegasus then looked down at his hind legs, only to see that they hadn't changed, though he was now wearing some camo shorts and a white shirt with his cutie mark on it. He could also feel his sword and shield strapped on his back and the strap was over his shirt. Blinking at this, he got up on two feet, quickly realizing he was bipedal again.

"Great. Guess we're not allowed to be a pony when we go through the portals." Flash commented as he walked up to his friends. They looked him over and Twilight tilted her head in confusion.

"Flash? Why are standing like that? You're still a pony, you don't need to do that!" Twilight exclaimed before realizing that her hooves were now hands. "Wait a minute-" she looked down and saw she was wearing light pink t-shirt and purple-colored shorts. "I have hands and clothes again. But...why?"

"Trixie is really getting tired of these stupid roller coaster portal trips! And this is just the second trip!" Trixie interrupted as she shook her head, ascending to two feet as well. She was decked out with a light blue t-shirt and a darker blue pair of shorts. She glanced at Flash, blinking. "What the-why do you look like that Flash?"

"What do you mean?" he replied, looking down at himself. "I mean, besides the clothes that I'm suddenly wearing."

Twilight flexed her hands and stood up. Looking herself over for a second, she then spoke up, "Looks like we've become some kind of...fusion between humans and ponies. How strange." Twilight then looked at Flash, noticing something behind him. "Flash! You have your wings this time!"

Flash tapped his back before replying, "Yeah, you're right. And you two have your horns."

"We do?" Twilight touched her head and hopped in place. "We do! Oh thank goodness! I have my horn!"

"Trixie agrees." Trixie added as she lit her horn with a spark of magic. "That was the worse part of that human form."

"Yeah, and its nice to have wings again, even if its in this weird form." Flash continued as he flexed his wings up and down. "Nice. Very nice."

"Still good kupo." Spike interjected, floating in front of friends. His purple and green coat with spikes on it had transformed again. It was now purple shirt with tiny cute green pants. The others giggled at his comforting words, happy to have him along.

"Thanks Spike." Twilight said as she patted the moogle on the head. She then flicked her wrist as she closed her eyes, concentrating. A second later, her keyblade appeared in her hand. "Ah, that's good."

"Trixie agrees. The mission would be pointless if you can't summon that. Speaking of which-" Trixie raised her hand and summoned her dark blade as well. "Good. Looks like this version of Trixie's magic still works too."

"Yeah." Twilight desummoned her sword and hugged Trixie's shoulder. "Now, let's go hunt some Heartless."

"Trixie likes the sound of that."

"I'm not sure you'll like this though." Flash interjected, causing the two to look at their friend. They then noticed that he was at the end of the alleyway that the portal had spit them out on. That and they finally noticed that they were in an alleyway in the first place. Walking up to the pegasus, they glanced out of the alleyway with him, only for their eyes to go wide. "See what I mean?" Flash remarked, noticing their expressions. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"No kidding." Twilight gulped. Trixie did the same as the two looked at the sight before them. What they were seeing was almost too much for them to bear. It was a city unlike anything they had ever seen. It looked like a megalopolis on top of a megalopolis, that was how big the city looked. Not only that, they glanced down the street they were on, only to see several other animals and they were all bipedal and wearing clothes as well. The sight alone made them look at each other in complete shock. "Um...where are we?"

"Trixie thinks she knows." Trixie replied as she pointed upward. The others followed her finger, only to see a large sign on top of a skyscraper.

"Welcome to...Zootopia?!"

Author's Note:

Finally got this done. This chapter went through like...ten different rewrites. And it was all over the breakfast scene. I wrote one where it was Celestia apologizing repeatedly, one where she starts up her history with The Master that I was not ready to write or wanted to write this early in the story...ugh. I eventually chose a cop-out, but I don't mind. I think what I made here works.

Also, the Maud Pie plot will take a backseat for a while. The B plot of this arc will be about Sunset Shimmer and her hunting the other numbers. I mean, why just focus on the good guys all the time?

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Comments

[Warrior Emperor 1991 Z]

Make more chapters please

[KingJoltik]

8705430
I hope I can soon. I...its hard to get motivation to write for me. And this story is the one I want to write the most...I just need some extra oomph.