Friendship is the Key

by appendingfic

The Terror of the Woods

Friendship is the Key
Chapter 3: The Terror of the Woods
by Appending_fic
--------------------------
Applejack shook her head to clear it. Wherever the cryptic guy had gone, he'd left her in a foggy forest. It smelled oddly familiar, if a little unsettling.
"Hello? Is anypony there?"
There was no reply, although Applejack thought she heard a whispered voice and rustling behind her. She turned, careful not to dislodge her pack, which she hadn't finished tying up when Rainbow's Rainboom had gone off.
"Hello?"
There was that sound again, and something about the fog was still bothering Applejack. She weighed the value in staying where she was, and looking for her friends. On one hand, staying still was supposed to be the best advice, but that was when other people might have a better idea what was going on.
After a moment's more thought, she broke into a trot. She walked for about a quarter-hour without seeing anypony else; unfortunately, she also couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.
"I'm getting sick and tired of all this skulk-and-dagger stuff," Applejack finally announced to the forest at large. "If you've got a problem with me, show yourself and we can talk about it like gentleponies."
A soft noise caught her attention. Applejack crouched and listened carefully, and then caught the sound. It was singing. Quiet singing, which limited the possibilities significantly. "Fluttershy?"
The singing stopped, and in a few moments, the shy pink pegasus appeared from around a tree. "Oh, Applejack. I'm glad to see you."
"Did you see anypony else?" Applejack asked.
"No, just some birds," Fluttershy said. "They're a little shy, but I think I got through to them."
"Shy?" Applejack tried to glance around Fluttershy to see what Fluttershy would label as "shy", but couldn't see anything. "I can't imagine any little woodland critter being afraid of you."
"Well, I don't blame them. A whole bunch of strange ponies falling out of the sky. One new arrival is about enough for me," Fluttershy replied. "I could introduce you to them. Come out, my new friends!"
No woodland critters manifested. Applejack coughed. "I think we ought to find the others," Applejack said. "Something about this place gives me the willies."
For some reason, having Fluttershy made finding the others easier. Spike was assisting Twilight with research; Rarity was scouring the forest for something she couldn't explain; and Rainbow Dash was re-enacting some grand battle of her dreams.
"You should have seen it! It was some of my best flying ever!" she declared once they joined her. "Did any of you have awesome dreams while you were out?"
"Awesome?" Applejack demanded. "I think I remember somepony talking really confusing at me."
"I had sort of a scary dream," Fluttershy muttered.
"Oh," Rainbow said, deflating a little. "Well, they can't all be winners. Now, anypony have any idea where we are?"
"If it were night, I could chart our location by the stars," Twilight said.
"I wish I did know," Applejack said. "I can't shake the feeling there's something familiar about this place."
"Oh, that?" Rainbow said, flapping lazily in circles. "It's the weather. It's just like in the Everfree Forest."
"What do you mean?" Rarity asked.
"Nopony's herded those clouds in ages," Rainbow replied. "Scattered all over everywhere."
"Then that might be why those animals were spooked by Fluttershy, if they've never had a pegasus pony trying to help out."
"Then evidence is mounting that we actually did make it to another world," Twilight concluded. "Only the Everfree Forest and Untamed Desert have natural weather."
"That's all well and good," Rarity said, "but you're forgetting one teensy-tiny thing. Has anyone seen Pinkie Pie?"
"Or Riku, for that matter," Spike added.
"No, but they're bound to be around here somewhere," Applejack replied. "Come on, girls, and Spike, we've got a filly to find!"
"I could take you to them."
Fluttershy yelped. The ponies took a series of wild looks around the clearing to find the source of the noise. Spike, however, was the first to find it.
"It's a skunk, and he's loaded!" Spike shouted. Rarity was the first to move, diving behind a tree. The skunk glanced down at his striped form, and then back up at Spike.
"My friends call me Flower," he said evenly.
"Goodness, a talking Skunk!"
"Now I've seen everything," Twilight muttered.
"H...hello, Flower," Fluttershy whispered. "You're very...I'm honored you chose to talk to us. If you could show us where our friends are, we'd appreciate it very much. If it wouldn't make any trouble for you."
"Make trouble?" another voice demanded. "Of course it'll make trouble! Talking to Man-animals like you'll get all of us killed!"
"I don't know, Thumper, they look all right," Flower said. A rabbit shook his way out of a bush, scowling in a manner that was familiar to anypony who'd spent time around Angel.
"Of course they do! Friend Owl told us Man-animals don't know how to be unfriendly - that's why Man keeps them around. Although you don't look like anything I've seen before. What kind of animal are you?" The rabbit stared intently at Fluttershy, who began to fidget in the presence of a woodland critter who could talk back.
"She's a Pegasus pony, and you're making her nervous, so get out of her face!" Rainbow snapped, stalking towards Thumper. "And stop calling us Man-animals; I don't like the way it sounds."
Thumper gave Rainbow a brief, disinterested stare, and then shrugged. Flower, however, seemed to have tensed when Rainbow moved toward him, and only slowly relaxed. He glanced between Rainbow and Thumber, frowning.
"Maybe you shouldn't call them that. If Man had horses with wings on, I think Owl would have told us about it."
"But look at those things on their backs!" Thumper protested. "Those are Man things."
"Scuse me for interrupting," Applejack said. "But you keep talking about this...Man, thing. Would you mind telling us what it is?"
Thumper snorted. "Sure. Pretend you've never heard of them. I'll play along. Man's a...well, it's sort of a creature. Most animals don't see much of Man, because it tends to kill anything that gets within a hundred feet of it."
"K - kill?" Fluttershy whimpered.
Flower padded over to Fluttershy and nudged her leg. "They do, but we know how to stay out of Man's way."
"Man stands on two legs and has three arms," Thumper added. "Its third arm is the one it kills animals with."
"How do you know that?" Flower demanded, perking his head up. "You didn't-"
"I talk to other animals than you," Thumper retorted. "Anyway, if you're sure you're not Man-animals-"
"I've never even seen a Man!" Rainbow snapped. "They sound like the most ridiculous creature I've ever heard of!"
"And we've seen a molting phoenix," Rarity added.
"I guess we can take you to see Bambi."
"And who, pray tell, is Bambi?"
"Bambi's a friend of ours," Flower replied. "His father...knows a lot about the forest."
"If your friends are around, he's bound to know where to find them!"
;;;:::::{-]
Rarity trailed after the other ponies. The skunk had taken refuge on Fluttershy's back, while the rabbit had taken an unexpected shine to Rainbow Dash. She was bearing the attention with poor grace, possibly because she still blamed Thumper for calling her a...Man's pet. Which was, of course, gauche.
Also, worrying. Rarity had known they were getting into a serious adventure when leaving, but things were getting very serious very quickly. The rabbit had said Man killed animals; she doubted they would make allowances for unicorns. Plus, there was the worrying prospect of the lost heart from Rarity's dream. From Rainbow's outburst, some of the others had had similar experiences during their time between Equestria and this world. What that meant, Rarity had no idea.
The forest, however, was wearing on her. She wished, briefly and quietly in the space of her own head, that Pinkie Pie was there. She'd at least keep everypony talking.
Eventually, the rabbit led them to a deep thicket, where a young deer colt was sleeping. When they arrived, he stumbled to his feet.
"Flower, what-"
"This is Fluttershy," Flower said. "That's..."
"I'm Rarity. Pleased to meet you. My purple friend over there is Twilight Sparkle. The brightly-colored gentlepony is Rainbow Dash. The orange filly is Applejack. We're trying to find one - two - of our friends, who were traveling with us. So if it's not too much trouble, can you maybe ask your father if any...animal has seen them?" Rarity took a bow, because whether or not Flower had said it, Bambi's father had to be improtant, and you were nice to important people, at least until they proved themselves to be...not...very...nice...people, and you had to throw cake at them.
"Oh." The deer seemed dazed. He glanced at Thumper, who gave him an encouraging nod. "I don't think...we should ask Friend Owl, first."
"What? Asking an owl for help? Have you ever tried asking an owl for help before? It's all 'who?' 'who?' 'who?'! Eventually, you get fed up and just want to slap them!" Every one of the assembled animals was staring at Spike as he completed his rant. He blushed and crouched down.
"That would be lovely, Bambi," Rarity said.
The deer smiled uncertainly at Rarity. "Then just follow me. Friend Owl will know what you need to!"
Bambi broke into an uncertain trot, and Rarity followed. It was a short walk to Friend Owl's tree, but there was already a crowd gathered there.
"It's nothing at all to worry about," the owl was telling the assembled animals. "Everyone ought to know how to avoid Man, so there being Man in the woods should not be a problem."
"Pardon me for interrupting," Rarity said. "I know this must be a very important discussion, but we've lost several of our friends, and we were wondering if you'd met them. One of them is a pink earth pony named Pinkie Pie, and the other is a blue earth pony named Riku. If you could help us find them, we'd be ever so grateful."
The owl blinked at Rarity slowly. "If you don't know where your friends are, there's a very good chance they're dead already. As I was telling the others, Man is in the forest."
"Not only that, they're different this time," a fox said. "I saw one - its skin was black, and its eyes were gold. And its dogs were..." The fox shuddered.
Rainbow leapt into the midst of the animals, sending them scattering. She had her 'determination' stance; Rarity sighed, as it meant somepony was going to go haring off without thinking, and it would be left to the sensible ponies to get everypony out of trouble.
"Don't worry!" she declared. "Rainbow Dash is on the case. I promise that when I'm done, you won't have to be scared of that Man any more!"
The announcement failed to get the reaction Rainbow was likely aiming for, because the owl chortled.
"Not looking that that, you won't. Man'll see you coming from miles away. And that third arm can kill from just as far. If you plan to be safe, I'd get out of the forest as soon as possible. With or without your friends."
There was a flicker in Rainbow's eye. Rarity took a hurried step forward. "We do appreciate your taking time out to give us what you obviously consider very good advice, but I'm afraid leaving our friends behind isn't an option." She smiled politely, and hoped it would be enough to forestall some sort of further outburst.
"Hmph," the owl said. "If they're as foolish as you are, they're not just probably dead - they most likely are. And good riddance; animals that can't take care of themselves-"
Rainbow leapt forward, snarling, and it was only Applejack's quick thinking and a firm bite onto her tail that kept Rainbow from trying to knock the owl from its tree. Nopony, however, was able to restrain Rainbow Dash's mouth. She felt her cheeks flush as the depths of Rainbow's vulgarity as she screamed at Friend Owl. It was, she supposed, noble, in Rainbow's own way, how she found the thought of leaving Pinkie Pie and Riku alone in this forest unbearable. She just wished the pegasus could manage a more cultured expression, sometimes.
Most of the smaller animals fled the clearing when Rainbow Dash had first started shouting, and even the larger ones had retreated to the edge, watching the ponies warily. It didn't take long for Rainbow to wear herself out, but she still had the energy to glare at the owl. The owl, for his part, looked unfazed.
"You can shout as long as you like," the owl said, "but unless your friends were sensible enough to find a good place to hide, you can't do much of anything to help them."
"Well, where is a good place to hide?" Twilight asked. The owl glanced down at Twilight, and made a thoughtful noise.
"That's the first sensible question you've asked," he said. "There are small caverns scattered all over the forest, places where animals can take refuge. But most of them are hard to find. If they'd been looking for shelter quickly, there's a hillock about ten minutes away that would serve them well."
"Then why didn't you say that in the first place?" Rainbow demanded.
"It's not my job to suffer fools," the owl said, fluffing his feathers before smoothing them again.
Rainbow began growling low in her throat; Applejack tightened her jaw-grip on the pegasus' tail, and Rarity, walked around her, nudging Rainbow's head hard with her own.
"Calm down, darling," she said firmly. "Our time would be better served making sure Pinkie Pie and Riku are safe. And besides, sitting around arguing with an owl just isn't seemly."
That was incentive enough to get the girls moving; it took a moment for Rarity to realize that Bambi was following them.
"Are you all right?" Rarity asked.
"Of course I am," Bambi replied. "I just thought you'd want some company for the trip."
"Honey, there are five of us," Rarity said. "Not that I don't appreciate the sentiment-"
"Aw, just leave him alone," Applejack drawled. "We can use all the help we can get, especially from a native."
"I suppose so," Rarity said doubtfully.
;;;:::::{-]
"-And then we all learned an important lesson that keeping your feelings bottled up can have TERRible consequences!" Pinkie concluded. She leaned close to Riku. "Does that give you any ideas?"
"None I haven't been having for the past hour," Riku muttered.
He didn't follow the comment with a confession about how his in-between dreams had upset him, so Pinkie Pie concluded he wasn't planning to tell her, so she tried a different angle. "We're really lucky to have you along, Riku. I bet it would have taken us ages to get everything figured out if you hadn't shown up from another world."
Riku gave her a suspicious look, but Pinkie just smiled at him. He seemed to eventually decide she wasn't making fun of him.
"I hated the Islands," Riku said. "I spent years planning to get out of there, go anywhere else."
"By yourself?" Pinkie asked. "That sounds so lonely."
Riku gave Pinkie a sharp look, and hunched in on himself. "Yeah, well, that's how things worked out."
"But now you've got friends, so you don't have to go it alone," Pinkie exclaimed. "You've got me, and Twilight Sparkle and Spike, and Applejack, and Rarity, and Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash!"
"Rainbow Dash is not my friend," Riku insisted.
"Are you sure? She usually just hits people she doesn't like."
"Whatever. I didn't leave home to make new friends. I just wanted to get somewhere new."
Pinkie sighed. Riku was a tough nut to crack! If only she had help-
"Pinkie Pie? Are you there?"
Pinkie yanked her head up, slamming her skull into Riku's snout on the way there. "Twilight! We're in here!" She turned back to Riku. "Isn't this great? We've found all our friends! This is the best adventure ever!"
Riku just glowered.
"Oh, poor Riku. You'll see how great it is to have friends soon." Pinkie Pie nudged Riku before standing and crossing to the cave entrance. "Hey, girls!"
Applejack trotted in, smiling. A young deer buck trailed behind her. Pinkie gasped.
"Ooh! Who is this?"
"I..." The deer took an uncertain step back. "My name's Bambi."
"Cute!" Pinkie giggled. "Is everyone else with you?"
"Pretty much," Applejack replied. "But we gotta get out of here soon; this old owl told us there's a monster called a Man in the forest."
"Man?" Riku scrambled up. "What do you mean?"
"I don't rightly know; most of the animals have never been near one. But they say Man is really dangerous."
"I agree. We should definitely stay far away from them," Riku said. "In fact, we should get out of here as soon as possible."
"How?" Twilight demanded. "I have a sneaking suspicion we nearly got killed last time."
"And I don't want any more freaky dreams!" Applejack said.
"We can work on that," Riku said, "as long as we don't go anywhere near the Man."
Pinkie narrowed her eyes at the blue pony. "That's mighty suspicious of you, Riku."
"What?" He gave her a wild-eyed look and backed away.
"We're supposed to be on an adventure, so why don't you want to meet the Man? Unless..." He gulped. "You're a fraidey-pony!"
A distant howl echoed in the distance. A full-body shiver swept through Pinkie, but the other ponies save Riku didn't seem concerned.
"None of us want to meet a monster like Man," Applejack said, "but we're going to have to do whatever it takes to get out of here."
"Er, girls?"
"Hey, no one asked me whether I want to meet Man! I bet I could kick its rump as easily as I could kick anypony else's!"
"Ooh! Hoof-tapping and a tail swish. That's new. I think it means-"
"Rainbow, I understand your enthusiasm, but we don't understand the nature of the threat. We should be cautious."
"Screw cautious! Man can come right up here and-"
"Girls, Man's going to be UP IN OUR BUSINESS if we don't start running right now!" Pinkie shouted. The other ponies fell silent, staring at her in shock. "Yeah, I know; 'Pinkie, she's so random'! But I got my twitches, and something big and bad is coming for us right now!"
The other fillies were in shock, but it was Applejack who snapped out of it first. "Okay girls, Riku, Bambi, let's get moving. Bambi, any idea where we can go?"
"To the river," he said. "That's what my..." He trailed off, glancing at his feet. "But I'm going to stay. I'm going to hold them off."
"Bambi, that's very chivalrous, but it won't help us if you get yourself killed."
"Oh, don't worry, Rarity," Pinkie said. "He'll be all right. I mean, he's staying behind to give us time to get somewhere safe. He's going to find an inner well of strength to hold them off and give us a fighting chance. That's how this sort of story works!"
"But-"
Another howl cut through the air, and Twilight's response was cut off. More than that, the sky was darkening, and it didn't take Pinkie Sense to know that things were getting serious.
"Come on, girls," Pinkie announced, and led her friends from the cave. Riku was prancing nervously, and she just hoped he didn't panic. In short order, Applejack was at the lead as they headed downhill, towards the river.
"Oh, I hope Bambi is all right," Fluttershy said.
"Oh, he'll be fine, like Pinkie Pie said," Rainbow said airily. "A plucky kid like him? He reminds me of me when I was his age. I'm just upset we won't get to kick some Man-tail."
"I wouldn't be so sure that we won't," Twilight said. "Look!"
Pinkie risked a glance back; by the way the others broke into a gallop, they had, too. The creatures following them resembled dogs the same way the sillouette of a chair could resemble a monster. That is, if you took the time to look at them, you could see that they weren't really dogs. Unfortunately, that examination didn't reveal that the dogs were only your imagination playing tricks on you. Beneath the sillouettes was something terrifying.
Pinkie joined her friends in running, but the dog-things seemed to be catching up with them. One of them paused and howled, bringing stranger noises, like voices, from the distance.
"You know, this whole Man thing is starting to seem a little-"
"No time, Applejack!" Twilight snapped.
Pinkie caught sight of the river in the distance, and redoubled the effort she put into running. It seemed to do little good, and when she caught sight of what was on the other side of the river, her heart stuttered and she skidded to a halt.
"Pinkie, what are you-" Twilight ran into Applejack, who had also seen the shadowy form on the far end of the river.
"Ooh, this is bad," Pinkie said. "Do you think that's Man?"
A loud crack cut through the forest; a tree next to Fluttershy chipped under the impact of some unknown force, making her dart behind Rainbow.
"Third arm!" Twilight screamed. "Down!"
The ponies scattered to take refuge behind various parts of the scenery. Pinkie glanced around the side of one, ducking back behind it half-a-second before a piece of metal flashed through the air, missing her nose by an inch. "Hey, guys, guess what? Man has a cannon for a third arm!"
"What?"
Pinkie didn't have time to respond, because the dogs arrived, leaping into the ponies in an attempt to savage them. One took Applejack's back hooves to the face, and another bit its own tongue off when Rainbow slammed her head into its chin. The girls looked like they had things well in hand, at least until another crack rent the air, and Applejack collapsed onto the forest floor.
"Applejack!" Rarity shouted.
Pinkie could smell the tang of blood. Ooh, this was going bad very quickly. She was going to have to resort to...extreme measures. She crouched, readying herself, and then slipped to the far side of the river, ready for action.
She had planned to leap at her foe, but was distracted for a single interminable moment when she got a good look at it. Its features were dark and demonic, much like the dogs', but underneath was a two-legged bald monkey holding a miniature cannon.
Pinkie stared for far longer than was safe, until she couldn't restrain the laughter any longer. She fell on her back, laughing wildly.
Unfortunately, this drew the Man's attention, and it swung its cannon, its third arm, towards her. There was something vague about its features, something indistinct and, yes, menacing. Something about it niggled at Pinkie's memory, but the need to avoid the cannon made it hard to think quickly.
Thankfully, Pinkie Pie was the master of multitasking! She let her subconscious take care of things like breathing while her conscious took care of dodging bullets and her superconscious went to work at developing GREAT IDEAS. She discarded her first couple of ideas as something work on later, when she had ample time and access to a lathe. Gummy was taking a nap, so she discarded her next twelve ideas. Except - she wasn't looking for plans, she was trying to remember what was familiar about the Man.
He made more voice-like sounds, indistinct but threatening, and it hit Pinkie Pie like a brick to the head. She even had a little bit of a headache. But she knew how to beat the Man.
She leapt in and kicked its cannon from its hands.
The Man made ominous noises, and Pinkie giggled. "You're not even really a real Man, are you?" she asked. "Just the idea of one. Just what the animals are afraid of. Aren't you?" She laughed. "Because no creature could possibly look that silly!" The Man suddenly had a knife in its hand; Pinkie rolled away from it, still giggling. "You're like an earth pony that has to wear clothing just to keep warm!" she guffawed. She rolled aside from a swing the Man made with its knife. "You really ought to just give up!"
The creature was becoming less distinct, and the knife wobbled in its grasp. Pinkie chortled and ducked in, kicking the knife away from the Man.
"Ha! You're defenseless without your little tools!" Pinkie declared.
The Man stepped back. Its vague expression darkened, and claws appeared on its hands.
"You know," Pinkie said, "I've got a song for just this situation. Would you like to hear it?"
The Man shook its head vehemently.
"Too late! When I was a little filly and the sun was going dooooooown..."
;;;:::::{-]
An odd sound distracted Riku from trying to bite one of the stupid dogs (wolves?). Luckily, the dogs themselves seemed distracted, too. Riku glanced towards where the Man had been standing. He'd heard a few more gunshots, but this was more worrying.
It was...a band?
"Oh dear Celestia, she isn't-"
"She is," Applejack said, covering her eyes with her hooves.
Rarity turned her gaze away from the neat bow she’d just finished tying in the makeshift bandage around Applejack’s flank, and tutted under her breath.
"I don't think these things are susceptible to musical numbers," Riku said.
"Pinkie Pie has a way of working around things like that," Twilight said.
In unison, the dogs threw back their heads and howled mournfully at the sky. Then one by one, they laid down, curled up, and evaporated into motes of shadow. Pinkie Pie then bounded out from behind a tree.
"I got +50 XP for creative use of cymbals!" she announced.
"How...?" Riku, who'd nearly died three times fighting the stupid rabbit-things on the island, stared at Pinkie. "I..."
Rainbow Dash patted Riku on the shoulder. "It's best if you just let it go," she advised. "Pinkie is..."
"Special," the rest chorused.
"That's all you have to say?" Riku demanded. "She killed a guy with the power of song!"
"She killed a monster," Rarity corrected.
Riku glared at her, wondering if she really believed that, or whether she was justifying. At last, he shrugged. "Fine. Whatever."
"Now that that's settled," Twilight said, "We can start worrying about how to get out of here."
Riku grinned. "Well that's where you're in luck, ladies. I know how to get out of here. All you've got to do is trust me."
"Trust him? To do what? Strut around and try to flirt?" Rainbow demanded. "We don't even know anything about him."
"We're never going to get to know him if we don't trust him first," Applejack said. "Right?"
Rainbow gritted her teeth and glared at Riku. He tried not to antagonize her, but the urge to smirk at her was too hard to resist. She did not, however, try to kick him.
"I'm more concerned about how Riku's planning to do this," Twilight said. "Like I said earlier, traveling between worlds is complicated. I don't even know the spells to do it."
"It's not that hard," Riku said. "Look, every world is connected. There are doors to the paths between worlds everywhere; all it takes is a little concentration to take them."
"What? Leave now?" Rarity asked. "It would be terribly rude. We need to tell Bambi and thank him for his hospitality."
"Oh! Do you think he's all right?" Fluttershy asked.
"Like I said before, he's fine, I'm sure," Rainbow said.
It was the work of only a few minutes to find Bambi; he was crouched behind a rock outcropping near the ponies' hiding places.
"Oh, darling, you're all right!" Rarity crowed. "I'm so glad!" She gave the deer a brief nuzzle that left him bright red. Riku rolled his eyes. He was glad he was beyond that sort of nonsense.
"It was weird," Bambi said. "All of the dogs ran off after you; it was like I wasn't even there."
"Hm..." Pinkie said thoughtfully. "That bodes poorly."
"But what happened with the Man?" Bambi asked. "Did you beat it?"
"Not exactly, Bambs," Pinkie Pie said. "What we fought wasn't really a Man. It was all of your fear of Man put together. But we also learned a big secret about Man. Man just likes making tools. Things like its third arm, they're things Man makes to make life easier. I bet if you tried really hard, you could figure out how to make and use your own tools! And if you get a Man away from its third arm, it's no worse than a wolf!"
"Really?"
"Oh, yeah. They're nothing to worry about, if you go about it the right way." Pinkie winked at Bambi. "But we've got to go. Something big is going down, and we need to be on hand to deal with it!"
"Oh," Bambi said. "That's...then I wish you all good luck!"
"Don't worry! We'll be fine. Come on, Riku, let's see what you can do!"
Riku nodded, and began to concentrate. He remembered how it had felt to have darkness flowing over him, and to see the holes darkness made in a universe. He cast out for one of those holes, and when he found it, he focused, and reached out to take his companions with him.
There was unexpected resistance when he wrapped a tendril around Rainbow Dash, and a weird pain in his chest when he reached Fluttershy. But everything seemed to be going fine. So Riku tugged, and pulled the whole group through the corridors of darkness to the nearest available world.
;;;:::::{-]
"We gotta problem, guys!"
"A problem? I find that difficult to believe. We have engineered things so that there will be no complications."
"Yeah, but I saw it with my own two eyes. There's another Keybearer!"
"So? The histories suggest more than one Keybearer causes complications for them, not us. Let the Keybearer fight. She will meet the same fate as that naive child rushing to fight us."
Laughter echoed throughout the chamber.

Comments

[Sora2455]

See? Great way to introduce the FIM cast to Disney. Genius.