Friendship is the Key

by appendingfic

The Door With Seven Parts

Friendship is the Key
Chapter 2: The Door with Seven Parts
by Appending_fic
--------------------------
"Freeze, mister!" Riku, poised at the top of the stairs to the dungeons, froze in place at Rainbow's shout.
She trotted to his side and poked him hard with a hoof. "Just what do you think you're doing?" she demanded.
"Looking for the little colt's room?"
"Not bad under pressure," Rainbow said thoughtfully, "but not good enough!" She shoved Riku into a wall, forehead pressed threateningly into his neck. "So let's hear it - what sort of underhanded tricks are you up to?"
"Jeez, nothing!" Riku protested. "Are you like this with everybody you meet?"
"No, just the weird, sneaky ones who talk funny." Rainbow squinted at Riku suspiciously.
"I don't talk funny!"
"Are you two still at it? The rest of us went to bed hours ago." Twilight, several books trailing behind her, stood watching the two ponies from a bend in the corridor.
"We're not 'at' anything," Rainbow said. "This colt's up to something." She settled back and glared at Riku, folding her front legs.
"And like I told you, I'm not up to anything!" Riku snapped.
"Then why have you been sneaking around and acting all skittish and everything?" Rainbow demanded.
Riku glanced at the floor, glowering. "Fine. You want to know why? I'm lost. I got separated from all of my friends, and I don't know if they're ok. So I just want to get out of here and find them before something bad happens to them."
"Oh," Twilight said softly. "I hadn't known..." Her eyes softened, and Rainbow resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Well, where are you from?"
Riku sighed. "I told you."
"But I've been looking at maps all evening, and I couldn't find the Destiny Islands anywhere."
"That's because the Destiny Islands are...on another world."
"Another - that's what Princess Luna must have meant! We're supposed to go to another world!" Twilight let her books drop to the floor and darted back the way she'd come. "I've got to check out a whole new set of books, now. Riku, why don't you come with me and we can help you get back to your friends?"
"I-"
"I think that's an excellent idea," Rainbow said slyly. "You can hang out where Twilight can keep an eye on you. And I can get some rest." She then trotted off back to her room.
;;;:::::{-]
Pinkie Pie awoke thirty seconds before dawn, because she'd never let a celestial body get the better of her, and she wasn't about to start now. She slipped into Fluttershy's room and shook the bed enough to wake the yellow pegasus.
"Wha? Pinkie Pie?"
"Come on, wake up, Fluttershy! We've got a mystery to solve today," Pinkie exclaimed.
"How did you get in?" Fluttershy asked.
"Oh, don't worry about that, Flutter! Come on, we can get the others before you can say-"
"Pinkie Pie?"
"I'm glad everyone could make it!" Pinkie Pie announced to the library. "Let's get down to business."
"Wasn't I asleep?" Applejack asked.
"So, any ideas about Princess Luna's clue? I think it has to do with a party, because nopony could possibly be unhappy at a party."
"Actually, Riku and I-"
"Mostly just the bookworm over there," Riku said.
"Have been reading up on it. Riku's from another world, and he said he escaped here when shadows overran it. Based on what Princess Luna said, I suspect these shadows have a natural ability to travel from one world to another, and she thinks we ought to find a way to mimic that ability without letting those shadows in."
"That sounds like a lot of supposition," Rarity said.
"Oh, I know," Twilight sighed. "But there's not a lot about any of this in the library."
"But how are we supposed to make a doorway?" Applejack asked. "Much less one that a nasty shadow can't follow through?"
"Magic!" Pinkie Pie declared.
"What sort of magic, though?" Twilight asked. "I know plenty of spells to move things from one place to another, but none to travel from one world to another."
"Oh, that's easy. It's all in the ankle!" Pinkie Pie stuck out a leg and wiggled her hoof to demonstrate.
"O...kay," Applejack said. "Does anypony have any sensible ideas?"
"Well..." Twilight frowned thoughtfully. "It'd take a lot of power. More than I think I could manage on my own. But I don't have any idea how we could keep shadows out."
"Wait a minute..." Pinkie Pie began a slow circle of the library. "We're going to need lots of magic, and magic that won't let shadows in. And we're going to need people who know how to travel from one world to another. And most importantly...we're going to need provisions."
"Did that have a point?" Rainbow asked.
"Of course it did!" Pinkie declared. "I know exactly what we need to do!"
;;;:::::{-]
"Um..." Fluttershy, huddled near the center of the magic circle Twilight had drawn. "I don't...um...girls?" No one answered.
She glanced at Applejack. "Applejack, are you sure...do you think..."
"Don't bother asking, sugar," Applejack replied. "I haven't a clue what they think they're doing. And I may love her to the bottom of my heart, but going along with one of Pikie Pie's plans makes me a mite nervous."
"Oh. I thought it was just me." Fluttershy crouched down lower.
Pinkie was expounding at length at Riku and Twilight while Rarity sorted desultorily through a pile of precious stones. Rainbow was performing warm-up laps around the tower Pinkie had comandeered for their use. Fluttershy couldn't begin to imagine what Pinkie had planned. Only one thing was clear: it would be spectacular.
"Ohh...my stomach hurts," Fluttershy muttered.
"Look, Flutter, it won't be all that bad," Applejack said.
"No, no, you shake it like this!" Pinkie shouted.
"Just stay close to me, and everything'll be all right," Applejack amended.
"Okay, everypony ready?"
"Always!"
"No."
"Pinkie, you never told me-"
"I'm not sure this is safe..."
"Oh, fine, we'll just use this one."
"Look, the last time I tried something like this-"
"Go!"
Rainbow Dash began flying towards the sky, wings beating fiercely as she climbed. Fluttershy smiled as she watched her friend fly; it made her heart lift to see her friends doing what they loved.
"Okay. Rarity. Give that gem to Spike - don't eat it, not even a nibble!"
"Pinkie Pie, what in tarnation are you planning?"
"Oh, that's easy!" Pinkie declared. "See, the Sonic Rainboom is a big old burst of rainbow that gets everywhere. I figure, with so much rainbow around, shadows don't stand a chance. If we can use the magic of the rainboom and Twilight and Rarity combined, we can burst right through into another world!"
Fluttershy opened her mouth to ask if Pinkie knew where they were going, but then Pinkie whirled on Riku. "No, not like that! That's the Pokey Pony, which is a wonderful dance but now is not the time! You wiggle it like this!"
"Like what? You're just waving your hoof at me!"
"Fine!" Pinkie snapped. "It looks like I'm just going to have to get this adventure started on my own. Come on down, Rainbow Dash!"
"Aye-aye!" Fluttershy yelped in surprise and cowered on the platform, covering her eyes with her hooves. She'd never prayed to Princess Celestia before, but this seemed the best moment to start.
"Princess Celestia, it's me, Fluttershy. I'm terribly sorry if I'm bothering you, or if you have more important things to worry about. If you want to ignore me, go right ahead. I'll understand. Just, if it's not too much trouble, I'd really like it if you made sure Pinkie's plan doesn't hurt anypony too badly. But only if it's not a bother. And if you get this message later, and we were hurt, please don't worry about it."
"Where am I supposed to stop?"
"Stop? Where we're going, we won't need to stop! AHAHAHAHAHAHAA!"
"Spike!"
"I'm sorry! I eat when I'm nervous!"
"Rarity where's - that one will be good enough!"
"Pinkie, are you sure this is going to work?"
"Oh, heck, no, I'm just making this up as I go along. Okay, Riku, remember, wiggle like this-"
A Sonic Rainboom was more than sound. It was sound and light and magic all pulled together into a single phenomenon. The sound had color, and the color made a noise, and it all pulsed with magic more than anything in the world, short of the Elements of Harmony, and the twin princesses.
So Fluttershy knew the exact moment Rainbow broke the light barrier, because her ears caught the explosion's flash of light and her eyes rang with the noise of it. For a long minute, however, she couldn't sense much of anything else. She wondered, briefly, if she'd died. She was half-sure she wasn't, because the Pale Horse was supposed to collect the spirits of dead ponies. Of course, if he was busy, he might not have time to find Fluttershy himself, at which point, she'd have to find her own way to the next world. She fretted for a moment, until she remembered there was an adorable dog there she could ask for advice.
But then the bottom dropped out of her stomach, and Fluttershy knew she was alive, because nothing made you feel quite so queasy if you were dead.
Her vision swam, the only constant a set of blocky figures. She stumbled forward towards them; when she could focus, however, Fluttershy shied away with a yelp at the sight of the forms of seven ponies.
A pink earth pony with well-kept gold hair took a step towards Fluttershy. "Don't be afraid," she said gently. There were delicate wings marking her flank.
"I...who..."
"We don't quite have time for that," a smaller unicorn said; Fluttershy caught sight of her star-shaped cutie mark. "We're friends, though, Fluttershy. Or we'd like to be."
"Oh." Fluttershy felt her nerves ease slightly. "But what-"
"Look behind us, Fluttershy," the smallest of the ponies, a pale pegasus wearing a modest blue dress, said. Fluttershy raised her eyes, and gasped at the sight of it. A heart-shaped emblem marked the sky behind the ponies. It was the color of stone, but she could see golden lines etched into it, dividing the emblem into seven pieces.
"What...is that?"
"We're not sure," a delicate unicorn said. She sounded like Twilight, an impression strengthened by her book-shaped cutie mark. "But I know you can feel it, Fluttershy. There's...something behind it. Something that shouldn't be loose. You have to help us keep it back, Fluttershy."
"Me? But...I'm not brave...or strong...or-"
"You've shown more bravery than you think," an orange pegasus who wore a tiger on her flank, said. "And you'll need every ounce of it, and more. I won't lie. You're going to have to fight."
"And it will be hard," a pale blue earth pony with a broom-shaped cutie mark said. "But don't be afraid."
"Your heart is the greatest weapon of them all.."
;;;:::::{-]
"Ow, my head," Applejack muttered, rubbing at her forehead. "Is everypony okay?"
"For now."
Applejack spun around to face the source of the voice, but she saw nothing. "Who are you? What are you doing here? And what did you do with my friends?"
"That's...a difficult question to answer," the voice replied. "Especially to you."
"What's that supposed to mean? What's wrong with me?"
"Oh, nothing, yet. Hopefully nothing in the future." A dark shape materialized from the air, a tall creature robed in black. It didn't look like any creature Applejack had ever seen, so she remained on guard, just in case. "But there are things that must be known if you are to have any chance of succeeding at your mission."
"So, tell me."
"Speak of it, here?" the voice asked. "That would be...most unwise. I will tell you all I can. There was a man...a scientist. He was researching a matter of grave importance, but he vanished, and all of his research lost."
"What does any of this have to do with anything?" Applejack demanded.
"One who knows nothing...can understand nothing," the man said quietly. "You will have no hope of success if you do not seek out his accumulated knowledge."
"All this talk of reading sounds more like Twilight's thing."
"This is not work for a scientist, but for one who understands the value of truth," the voice insisted. "There are tools that may aid you, if you can find them..."
;;;:::::{-]
When Rarity finally summoned a light, her horn illuminated a wide, empty circle. "Hello? Is anypony there? Anypony at all?"
'Alone...'
She shivered as a word trailed its way down her spine.
"What was that? If this is some sort of joke, I have to say I don't find it very funny."
'Where is everybody?'
"Are you - do you need help?"
'What happened? Mom? Dad? Are you there?'
Rarity began pacing in a circle. "Please, if you can hear me, give a sign, and I'll find you!"
"You won't find him here." Rarity yelped and jumped away from the source of the voice. A strange creature stood there, tall and standing on two legs like a young dragon. A shock of fur fell from the top of her head, but nowhere else that was visible. Her skin was a pale pink, and she held a slender stick in one hand. She was smiling, albeit sadly.
"Who are you?"
"You'll find that at my age, names stop mattering quite so much. But you can think of me as your old auntie."
"My aunt was a well-bred unicorn pony, not a..."
"Fairy," the creature said. "And what you think of me isn't quite as important as that you listen to me. I know that you heard our little friends cries."
"Who is that?"
"A lost heart. Such creatures are pitiable, lonely and frightened, for they have lost everything they hold dear."
"Oh, that's simply terrible! Can you do anything to help?"
"Me? I'm afraid I don't quite have the talent for finding things," the fairy said. "I think...perhaps the task might be best left up to you."
"Me? I'd be happy to help, only I wouldn't know how to start."
The fairy laughed. "I think you'll find, dearie, that you have...a knack for it. Just remember, that a little willingness to help out goes a long way..."
;;;:::::{-]
Twilight could see forever. Worlds upon worlds lay stretched out before her, little pinpricks of light illuminating the darkness.
But against the dark of night, she could see even darker patches, blots of shadow where logic stated a world ought to have been.
She realized this must be the shadows that were making trouble. It was strange, though, how the shadow didn't seem to be doing much. It just seemed to be...there.
Maybe the shadows weren't all that dangerous. After all, they'd defeated Nightmare Moon...
;;;:::::{-]
Pinkie was surrounded by an endless fog that obscured all sight beyond a few inches. Dark whispers drifted through the fog, maddening sounds of endless torment and nightmare.
"Ooh, spoooooooky!" Pinkie said, giggling. "I can make scary noises too! OoooOOOOOoOOooOOOoO! See?"
The fog thickened, and a nameless terror descended upon Pinkie. It was as if her throat was closing; she couldn't breathe.
"Ooh, stop tickling me!" she crowed.
The world around her seemed to pause, as if uncertain. And then the fog dissipated.
"Aw," Pinkie said, dejected. "I was just starting to have fun."
"How...did you do that?" A delicate blue pony approached Pinkie slowly, kicking at the dirt. "It hasn't let up on me in ages."
"Oh, you just have to learn how to laugh at what frightens you," Pinkie explained. "I have a whole song about it-"
"No, that's all right. I just...you really just laugh at it?" the other pony asked.
"Sure! Why?"
"You're going on a quest, aren't you?"
"I guess we are. It'll be an adventure, anyway!"
"Then let me warn you. The darkness...is an insidious foe. It will worm its way into you heart any way it can - uncertainty, fear, jealousy...it will be more important the longer you go on to remember how to laugh."
"Wow, not to sound mean, but that's probably the biggest waste of time ever. I mean, me, Pinkie, forget how to laugh? That's like telling Rainbow Dash never to forget she can fly, or saying to Fluttershy, 'hey, remember to be nice to animals'. Or telling Rarity to primp and preen, because the FATE OF THE WORLD MIGHT DEPEND ON IT!" She stopped speaking, but only to get her breath back.
"You know what?" the other pony said. "You do whatever you want. I'm sure you'll be fine."
;;;:::::{-]
Rainbow Dash was perched on top of a wide platform, a flat circle on which was the picture of a unicorn and seven squat earth ponies. The platform seemed to hang in space, extending down as far as Rainbow could see. She'd considered jumping off to see if she could get somewhere interesting, but then three pillars had risen out of the ground, and she was investigating them.
One of them contained a sword, another a shield, and the third a rod covered in sparkles. None of them looked like they would be easy for a pony to use.
"Jeez, this would be a great time for someone to show up and start explaining things. Or even make aggravating, cryptic comments," she said. Nothing happened.
"Fine," Rainbow muttered. "Looks like I'm going to have to do this by myself. I bet I'm supposed to pick one of these." She nudged the sword with her nose, and it shook, vanishing into the floor. "Ooh, I'm dumb with awe at the strange happenings going on," Rainbow said sardonically. She looked around, and caught sight of a door on the far end of the platform. "Finally - something happening!" She darted to the door, only to find it was completely insubstantial. "Oh, come on!" she wailed. "Are you kidding me? Can I at least get a hint?"
The two remaining pillars just sat there, quietly. "What, do you want me to touch the other ones?" she demanded. "This is so stupid." She stalked to the pillar with the sparkly rod and nudged it. "There. Happy?"
The ground vanished from underneath her; only a lifetime of training kept Rainbow from falling straight down onto the next pillar. As it was, she landed a little harder than she was used to. A moment later, a sword slammed into the platform, six inches from Rainbow's flank. Her wings folded up and she bolted from the sight on pure instinct. After a moment, she stopped, panting.
"No reason to panic, Rainbow," she said carefully. "It was a close thing, but you have, again, come out on top! So..."
There was a noise behind her. Rainbow kicked out and spun to face the threat. About ten feet away, a small creature, pitch black except for its glowing golden eyes, was sprawled on the ground. Two more were much closer to Rainbow, claws out as they leapt. Rainbow bit, kicked, and slammed into the creatures, but as she fought, it slowly came to her that they didn't seem hurt by her attacks, while their claws and teeth were doing real damage to her.
With one last vicious kick, Rainbow took to the air.
"Ha! Take that, you stupid-" Something slammed into Rainbow's back, sending her careening from the sky. A purple gargoyle, chest emblazoned with a spiky, stylized heart, clawed at her wings. "Ow! Stop it, you stupid, cheating - hey, watch the wings!" The air was suddenly full of the gargoyles, leaving Rainbow in a flight for her life. By vacating the space above the platform, Rainbow had the maneuverability to keep ahead of the gargoyles, but pursuing her as they were, with single-minded obsession, she knew she couldn't keep it up forever.
"Thanks a lot!" she screamed at the sky. "This has been really awesome! I hope you're happy that you're going to get me killed! Dropping me in with a horde of monsters without a weapon I can use!"
On her next pass, Rainbow caught sight of the sword still stuck in the platform. None of the monsters had ventured close to it. Why, she couldn't imagine. Unless...
Rainbow spun, climbing above the platform, before folding her wings and diving down towards the blade. It would be awkward to hold, but if they wouldn't go near it, there was a chance-
A huge creature, dozens of feet tall, larger than the dragon they'd faced, ursa minor, or even the hydra, erupted from the platform. It stood on two legs, its forelegs ending in claws larger than Rainbow. A mane of thick dark cables hung from its head, and its skin, like the smaller creatures still amassing on the platform, was black as pitch, and its eyes were gold. Its heart was...there was a hole in its chest where any sensible creature would have kept its heart.
"Oh, come on!" Rainbow cried, slowing to hover outside of the thing's reach. It turned its head towards her, eyes flickering briefly while the gargoyles circled it. Impossibly slowly, the monster stretched its arms, and gigantic wings unfolded from its back. Rainbow's jaw fell open.
But her shock didn't last for long. She'd gotten this far in life never letting anything faze her, and she wouldn't stop now. She gritted her teeth. "Fine! If that's how you want it...bring. It. On!"
A shock like electricity jolted through Rainbow's cutie mark, and then she felt the oddest sensation, like a hand on her heart. Warmth flooded through her, and Rainbow could sense something close, something just in reach. She reached out and bit, and could suddenly feel warm metal gripped between her teeth.
She opened her eyes to see a blade held in her mouth. It wasn't quite like any other weapon she'd seen, but like an Equestrian blade, its handle was shaped in such a way that it was relatively easy for an earth pony or pegasus to hold.
The gargoyles were circling Rainbow, but Rainbow didn't feel her earlier frustration, or even the flickers of fear that had been building as she'd realized she was helpless.
She wasn't helpless now, she knew.
With a muffled war cry, Rainbow charged into the fray. No stupid monster with a hole in its chest was going to beat Rainbow Dash!
The gargoyles must have developed a fighting style that relied on their opponents being unable to fight back, Rainbow decided, because they made little effort to avoid her sweeps with the blade at first. And once they began evading her, it was so clumsily Rainbow was almost embarrassed for them.
But it made her job easier, fighting them.
That was, until the giant beast got within reach of Rainbow. A single swipe sent her spinning across the sky; she nearly lost grip on the sword, but seeing how it dispelled the gargoyles into dark mist with a few swipes, she wanted to see what it did to old heartless. She righted herself and took a few moments to take in the scene. The gargoyles were clumsy, and the giant monster even more so. She could fly circles around them.
She grinned around her weapon and started a slow circuit, building up speed. She wanted to be certain she was moving faster than everything before she got in close to those claws again.
It took a minute of flying to get a respectable speed, and only a few gargoyles had gotten close enough for Rainbow to kill already. And then she dove back into the fray, and this time, she was ready.
The heartless beast tried to swat Rainbow again, but she was ready, ducking under the swipe and coming back up to cut the thing's face. It howled, reaching up to rub at the wound. Rainbow dove down again, taking a few opportunistic attacks at the ragged edges of the thing's chest, and it screamed again. Its flailing limbs forced Rainbow back, but she was still grinning, knowing she was winning.
The thing reached a claw into its empty chest. When it pulled it out, the beast held a sphere of dark energy. It reared the hand back and punched forward. Rainbow darted out of the way and the first passed by harmlessly. The sphere exploded into a plane of darkness, from which more gargoyles emerged.
"You'ss gog fho mhg khllng moo!" Rainbow snapped. "Izzag allou gog?" She entered into a melee with the stupid gargoyles, resisting the urge to laugh as they vanished into nothingness.
A flash of light in the corner of Rainbow's eye was all the warning she got before a flare of light slammed into her, knocking her off-balance. Two more hit Rainbow as she tried to right herself. She then had to dodge furiously as more arcs of light swerved towards her. The heartless beast had landed on the platform, and had arched itself, exposing its empty chest to the sky. The flares of light came from the hole, creating a deadly rain.
Rainbow dodged another blast and tried to close in on the heartless creature. The blasts of light, however, came too close and too fast to maneuver. It was all Rainbow could do just to avoid them.
She swatted wildly with the sword, catching the edge of one of the beams of light. It richocheted into a gargoyle, who vanished with a scream of startled pain.
Rainbow couldn't help but grin. She settled herself in one place, and began hitting the beams of light as they came in, working up a rhythm that transformed the twenty-foot radius around her into a sphere of death for the gargoyles. But unless she took time to aim, Rainbow realized, she couldn't hit her real target. She took a deep breath, and readied herself. She took three beams to the back, and her chest was starting to ache, before she saw the right one coming.
She aimed carefully, and when it drew in close, she slammed the blade into it. The light refracted in a glittering arc headed straight for the heartless creature. The light struck its chest just as another beam was emerging. The creature howled, and its chest began to glow ominously. Time seemed to slow down, and Rainbow seeing the beginnings of sparks in the beast's empty heart, turned and started to flee just before it exploded.
Among the light and debris buffeting her, Rainbow felt a burst of tingling warmth through her body, and she thought she heard a voice, just before she lost consciousness.
"Your heart is the greatest weapon of them all..."
;;;:::::{-]
Riku landed in an ungainly heap on soft loam. He took a few deep breaths, examining his surroundings to make sure they were real. When he was certain he wasn't dreaming any longer, he let his head drop onto his hooves (noticing with only mild displeasure that he still seemed to be a horse) and let the first tears fall. He cursed, quietly, around the tears, because just because he was overwrought, didn't mean he couldn't also find someone to blame for this mess.
"I'm sorry," he muttered quietly. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry..."
But the voices of the world-between mocked him in their reply.
"Too late, too late, too late...all your fault!"
"I'm sorry!"
;;;:::::{-]
The Terror of the Woods

Comments

[Sora2455]

I don't know why this is so neglected. This is one of the best KH fic's I've read, period.